Comment 42 for bug 287244

The following workaround fixed this problem for me, for 64-bit Intrepid on the CQ50-110EM laptop. It's inspired by Bogs' previous post, but avoids the need for building madwifi drivers

1) Download the alternative installation CD image for 64-bit intrepid (e.g. from http://releases.ubuntu.com/8.10/ubuntu-8.10-alternate-amd64.iso.torrent)

2) Download the 32-bit Intrepid live CD image (e.g. from http://releases.ubuntu.com/8.10/ubuntu-8.10-desktop-i386.iso.torrent)

3) Burn both images to separate CDs

4) Boot laptop from the 64-bit CD, and follow instructions to install Ubuntu

5) When the installation is complete, you will be prompted to remove the installation CD and restart. This will fail due to the faulty ath_pci module. Instead, replace the 64-bit CD with the 32-bit CD and restart.

6) Select the "Try Ubuntu without affecting my system" option from the boot menu, and wait for the live CD session to start

7) Click on the Places->Removable drives menu and select the partition containing the root of the 64-bit installation. A link to the partition appears on the desktop

8) Open a terminal window (Applications->Accessories->Terminal) and locate the partition that was mounted in step 7:

cd /media/<name of partition>

9) edit the blacklist file:

sudo gedit etc/modprobe.d/blacklist

10) Blacklist the ath_pci module by adding the following line to the blacklist file in the text editor:

blacklist ath_pci

11) Save the blacklist file (file->save) and exit the text editor (file->exit)

12) reboot the laptop (remove the CD when prompted):

sudo reboot

13) The computer now successfully boots in 64-bit Ubuntu. Log in, using username and password

14) Wireless LAN does not work as the required module is unavailable. Connect the laptop to a router with an ethernet cable and wait for the network connection to be established

15) Start a terminal window (as in step 8) and install the backports modules and any required updates:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install linux-backports-modules-intrepid
sudo apt-get upgrade

16) Reboot the computer as in step 12 and remove the ethernet cable. The computer now starts, with a working wireless connection