Wireless Networking

I would appreciate some assistance with the following.

I am running SuSE 9.3 Professional on a triple boot machine with Windows
98se and Windows 2000 SP2.
My wireless network card is a D-Link DWL-G510 (Rev.2, Atheros chipset),
which is functional in both Windows environments.
I have just reinstalled SuSE and the card is recognized during the
installation along with the wired network port on my ASUS motherboard.
The wired port was activated during installation, and not the wireless
card. The wired port allowed me access to the Internet and my local
network during the installation process.
Then, I copied the Windows XP drivers from the D-Link website. I changed
folders to the folder containing the drivers. In a console window as
superuser, I brought up ndiswrapper and used it to install the drivers
with ndiswrapper -i NetA3AB.inf and received a message that neta3ab was
installed.
Subsequently, I entered Yast and switched the wired port to run manually
and the D-Link card to be activated during boot-up. I set the wireless
card to Managed, entered my ESSID, and used WPA-PSK encryption with the
same key as is functional under Windows. I then finished the conversation
and Yast apparently wrote the configuration.
However, when I check communications with either Kinternet or
KWifiManger, there is no ESSID listed and the network address of my
accesspoint is given as the MAC FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF, obviously not the MAC
of my router.
I have attempted to run Yast several times to attempt to get the ESSID in
the right files. I do find it in the ifcfg-wlan-id******** file in
the /etc/sysconfig/network folder. However, if I issue the command
iwlist ath0 scan, no ESSID is listed in the output, only "". Likewise,
input the command iwconfig ath0 essid "wirelessnetworkname", the system
still does not save my wirelessnetworkname and there is no network found
under Kinternet or KWiFiManager.

Again, I would appreciate any assistance.

Steve

sgoldstn@ix.netcom.com wrote:
> I would appreciate some assistance with the following.
>
> I am running SuSE 9.3 Professional on a triple boot machine with Windows
> 98se and Windows 2000 SP2.
> My wireless network card is a D-Link DWL-G510 (Rev.2, Atheros chipset),
> which is functional in both Windows environments.
> I have just reinstalled SuSE and the card is recognized during the
> installation along with the wired network port on my ASUS motherboard.
> The wired port was activated during installation, and not the wireless
> card. The wired port allowed me access to the Internet and my local
> network during the installation process.
> Then, I copied the Windows XP drivers from the D-Link website. I changed
> folders to the folder containing the drivers. In a console window as
> superuser, I brought up ndiswrapper and used it to install the drivers
> with ndiswrapper -i NetA3AB.inf and received a message that neta3ab was
> installed.
> Subsequently, I entered Yast and switched the wired port to run manually
> and the D-Link card to be activated during boot-up. I set the wireless
> card to Managed, entered my ESSID, and used WPA-PSK encryption with the
> same key as is functional under Windows. I then finished the conversation
> and Yast apparently wrote the configuration.
> However, when I check communications with either Kinternet or
> KWifiManger, there is no ESSID listed and the network address of my
> accesspoint is given as the MAC FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF, obviously not the MAC
> of my router.

You will see the broadcast address (all FF) until ndiswrapper has associated with the access point.
This is normal.

> I have attempted to run Yast several times to attempt to get the ESSID in
> the right files. I do find it in the ifcfg-wlan-id******** file in
> the /etc/sysconfig/network folder. However, if I issue the command
> iwlist ath0 scan, no ESSID is listed in the output, only "". Likewise,
> input the command iwconfig ath0 essid "wirelessnetworkname", the system
> still does not save my wirelessnetworkname and there is no network found
> under Kinternet or KWiFiManager.

These items will be set once you have authenticated, so we need to find out why that has not yet
been successful. The fact that ath0 shows up in iwconfig, or that the iwlist command doesn't error
shows that ndiswrapper and the Windows driver are loaded and working.

Is wpa_supplicant installed on your system? From a super-user mode terminal, type 'which
wpa_supplicant'. If it lists a path, it is, but if it returns nothing, you need to use YaST to
install it. This program is needed by ndiswrapper to authenticate a WPA-PSK network.

The second thing to check is to ensure that ndiswrapper is being loaded when the network is brought
up, either at boot or manually. Under YaST -> Network Devices -> Network Card, highlight your
wireless interface and press the Edit button. Under Advanced, make sure that ndiswrapper is entered
into the Module Name box.

One other place that might be a problem. If your "personal secret" contains a $ sign, the way that
SuSE handles it requires that it be "escaped" with a \. For example, if your secret were
"Micro$oft", it would need to be entered as "Micro\$oft". My secret is quite long and very elaborate
and I got caught by this difficulty, which I found only by enabling every possible debug option when
wpa_supplicant was loaded.

I think that your Linux skills are considerable and that you may not have needed all the detail that
was given above; however, a less experienced user may use these instructions in the future.

Larry,

Thanks so much for the three suggestions. I have addressed them as
indicated in the numbered responses below. The bottom line is that I still
do not have communication between my SuSE installation and my wireless
router. Incidently, if I leave the onboard wired network enabled and
disable the wireless card (set to manual), I get access to the Internet and
my other local network computers.

Steve


> sgoldstn@ix.netcom.com wrote:
> > I would appreciate some assistance with the following.
> >
> > I am running SuSE 9.3 Professional on a triple boot machine with Windows
> > 98se and Windows 2000 SP2.
> > My wireless network card is a D-Link DWL-G510 (Rev.2, Atheros chipset),
> > which is functional in both Windows environments.
> > I have just reinstalled SuSE and the card is recognized during the
> > installation along with the wired network port on my ASUS motherboard.
> > The wired port was activated during installation, and not the wireless
> > card. The wired port allowed me access to the Internet and my local
> > network during the installation process.
> > Then, I copied the Windows XP drivers from the D-Link website. I changed
> > folders to the folder containing the drivers. In a console window as
> > superuser, I brought up ndiswrapper and used it to install the drivers
> > with ndiswrapper -i NetA3AB.inf and received a message that neta3ab was
> > installed.
> > Subsequently, I entered Yast and switched the wired port to run manually
> > and the D-Link card to be activated during boot-up. I set the wireless
> > card to Managed, entered my ESSID, and used WPA-PSK encryption with the
> > same key as is functional under Windows. I then finished the conversation
> > and Yast apparently wrote the configuration.
> > However, when I check communications with either Kinternet or
> > KWifiManger, there is no ESSID listed and the network address of my
> > accesspoint is given as the MAC FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF, obviously not the MAC
> > of my router.
>
> You will see the broadcast address (all FF) until ndiswrapper has
associated with the access point.
> This is normal.
>
> > I have attempted to run Yast several times to attempt to get the ESSID in
> > the right files. I do find it in the ifcfg-wlan-id******** file in
> > the /etc/sysconfig/network folder. However, if I issue the command
> > iwlist ath0 scan, no ESSID is listed in the output, only "". Likewise,
> > input the command iwconfig ath0 essid "wirelessnetworkname", the system
> > still does not save my wirelessnetworkname and there is no network found
> > under Kinternet or KWiFiManager.
>
> These items will be set once you have authenticated, so we need to find
out why that has not yet
> been successful. The fact that ath0 shows up in iwconfig, or that the
iwlist command doesn't error
> shows that ndiswrapper and the Windows driver are loaded and working.
>
> Is wpa_supplicant installed on your system? From a super-user mode
terminal, type 'which
> wpa_supplicant'. If it lists a path, it is, but if it returns nothing,
you need to use YaST to
> install it. This program is needed by ndiswrapper to authenticate a
WPA-PSK network.

1. wpa_supplicant had been installed at the time of the recent
installation in anticipation of using the WPA encryption system.

>
> The second thing to check is to ensure that ndiswrapper is being loaded
when the network is brought
> up, either at boot or manually. Under YaST -> Network Devices -> Network
Card, highlight your
> wireless interface and press the Edit button. Under Advanced, make sure
that ndiswrapper is entered
> into the Module Name box.

2. I followed your instructions as to replacing the entry 'ath-pci' in the
Module Name box with 'ndiswrapper'. At first, I could not get the network
configuration to write; it just kept hanging the system in between the
steps -Write device information and -Write device configuration (first and
second steps of writing the network configuration in Yast).
In a superuser console, I then ran 'modprobe ndiswrapper'. With that done,
I could not make the suggested change in the Module Name box and have the
configuration written.
I then rebooted the computer to allow the start device function to work for
the program and the network card. However, still no connection with my
wireless network; ESSID is still blank under both Kinternet and KWiFiManager.

>
> One other place that might be a problem. If your "personal secret"
contains a $ sign, the way that
> SuSE handles it requires that it be "escaped" with a \. For example, if
your secret were
> "Micro$oft", it would need to be entered as "Micro\$oft". My secret is
quite long and very elaborate
> and I got caught by this difficulty, which I found only by enabling every
possible debug option when
> wpa_supplicant was loaded.

3. I have not tried this yet as I still am not accessing my router.

>
> I think that your Linux skills are considerable and that you may not have
needed all the detail that
> was given above; however, a less experienced user may use these
instructions in the future.

Larry,

I wrote too soon.
Yast did not make the change in the Module Name as I had thought and is
again hanging during saving network configuration at the step "Writing
/etc/modprobe.conf...

Steve

> Larry,
>
> Thanks so much for the three suggestions. I have addressed them as
> indicated in the numbered responses below. The bottom line is that I still
> do not have communication between my SuSE installation and my wireless
> router. Incidently, if I leave the onboard wired network enabled and
> disable the wireless card (set to manual), I get access to the Internet and
> my other local network computers.
>
> Steve
>
>
> > sgoldstn@ix.netcom.com wrote:
> > > I would appreciate some assistance with the following.
> > >
> > > I am running SuSE 9.3 Professional on a triple boot machine with Windows
> > > 98se and Windows 2000 SP2.
> > > My wireless network card is a D-Link DWL-G510 (Rev.2, Atheros chipset),
> > > which is functional in both Windows environments.
> > > I have just reinstalled SuSE and the card is recognized during the
> > > installation along with the wired network port on my ASUS motherboard.
> > > The wired port was activated during installation, and not the wireless
> > > card. The wired port allowed me access to the Internet and my local
> > > network during the installation process.
> > > Then, I copied the Windows XP drivers from the D-Link website. I
changed
> > > folders to the folder containing the drivers. In a console window as
> > > superuser, I brought up ndiswrapper and used it to install the drivers
> > > with ndiswrapper -i NetA3AB.inf and received a message that neta3ab was
> > > installed.
> > > Subsequently, I entered Yast and switched the wired port to run manually
> > > and the D-Link card to be activated during boot-up. I set the wireless
> > > card to Managed, entered my ESSID, and used WPA-PSK encryption with the
> > > same key as is functional under Windows. I then finished the
conversation
> > > and Yast apparently wrote the configuration.
> > > However, when I check communications with either Kinternet or
> > > KWifiManger, there is no ESSID listed and the network address of my
> > > accesspoint is given as the MAC FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF, obviously not the MAC
> > > of my router.
> >
> > You will see the broadcast address (all FF) until ndiswrapper has
> associated with the access point.
> > This is normal.
> >
> > > I have attempted to run Yast several times to attempt to get the
ESSID in
> > > the right files. I do find it in the ifcfg-wlan-id******** file in
> > > the /etc/sysconfig/network folder. However, if I issue the command
> > > iwlist ath0 scan, no ESSID is listed in the output, only "". Likewise,
> > > input the command iwconfig ath0 essid "wirelessnetworkname", the system
> > > still does not save my wirelessnetworkname and there is no network found
> > > under Kinternet or KWiFiManager.
> >
> > These items will be set once you have authenticated, so we need to find
> out why that has not yet
> > been successful. The fact that ath0 shows up in iwconfig, or that the
> iwlist command doesn't error
> > shows that ndiswrapper and the Windows driver are loaded and working.
> >
> > Is wpa_supplicant installed on your system? From a super-user mode
> terminal, type 'which
> > wpa_supplicant'. If it lists a path, it is, but if it returns nothing,
> you need to use YaST to
> > install it. This program is needed by ndiswrapper to authenticate a
> WPA-PSK network.
>
> 1. wpa_supplicant had been installed at the time of the recent
> installation in anticipation of using the WPA encryption system.
>
> >
> > The second thing to check is to ensure that ndiswrapper is being loaded
> when the network is brought
> > up, either at boot or manually. Under YaST -> Network Devices -> Network
> Card, highlight your
> > wireless interface and press the Edit button. Under Advanced, make sure
> that ndiswrapper is entered
> > into the Module Name box.
>
> 2. I followed your instructions as to replacing the entry 'ath-pci' in the
> Module Name box with 'ndiswrapper'. At first, I could not get the network
> configuration to write; it just kept hanging the system in between the
> steps -Write device information and -Write device configuration (first and
> second steps of writing the network configuration in Yast).
> In a superuser console, I then ran 'modprobe ndiswrapper'. With that done,
> I could not make the suggested change in the Module Name box and have the
> configuration written.
> I then rebooted the computer to allow the start device function to work for
> the program and the network card. However, still no connection with my
> wireless network; ESSID is still blank under both Kinternet and KWiFiManager.
>
> >
> > One other place that might be a problem. If your "personal secret"
> contains a $ sign, the way that
> > SuSE handles it requires that it be "escaped" with a \. For example, if
> your secret were
> > "Micro$oft", it would need to be entered as "Micro\$oft". My secret is
> quite long and very elaborate
> > and I got caught by this difficulty, which I found only by enabling every
> possible debug option when
> > wpa_supplicant was loaded.
>
> 3. I have not tried this yet as I still am not accessing my router.
>
> >
> > I think that your Linux skills are considerable and that you may not have
> needed all the detail that
> > was given above; however, a less experienced user may use these
> instructions in the future.
>

sgoldstn@ix.netcom.com wrote:
> Larry,
>
> I wrote too soon.
> Yast did not make the change in the Module Name as I had thought and is
> again hanging during saving network configuration at the step "Writing
> /etc/modprobe.conf...
>

Try deleting the wireless configuration in YaST -> Network Devices -> Network Card and starting
over. As long as you will be using ndiswrapper, you must specify ndiswrapper as the Module Name.
Perhaps you will be ablle to write the configuration files then. I have no idea why the system is
hanging while writing. Perhaps it was because ath-pci was already loaded for that interface. Is that
a proper driver for your card? Maybe you do not need to use ndiswrapper.

Larry,
This has become more involved than I had anticipated.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will post back here when I get more time to
troubleshoot.

Steve


> sgoldstn@ix.netcom.com wrote:
> > Larry,
> >
> > I wrote too soon.
> > Yast did not make the change in the Module Name as I had thought and is
> > again hanging during saving network configuration at the step "Writing
> > /etc/modprobe.conf...
> >
>
> Try deleting the wireless configuration in YaST -> Network Devices ->
Network Card and starting
> over. As long as you will be using ndiswrapper, you must specify
ndiswrapper as the Module Name.
> Perhaps you will be ablle to write the configuration files then. I have
no idea why the system is
> hanging while writing. Perhaps it was because ath-pci was already loaded
for that interface. Is that
> a proper driver for your card? Maybe you do not need to use ndiswrapper.

Larry (and others),

I got back to the issue and found that it was my WPA-PSK passphrase. I had
to go to an all alphanumeric key as you had suggested. The inability to
effectively use the entire ASCII "alphabet" does seem to me a defect in the
programming of this OS, but it is still better, I believe, than WEP.

Thanks for the guidance,

Steve

> Larry,
> This has become more involved than I had anticipated.
>
> Thanks for the suggestions. I will post back here when I get more time to
> troubleshoot.
>
> Steve
>
>
> > sgoldstn@ix.netcom.com wrote:
> > > Larry,
> > >
> > > I wrote too soon.
> > > Yast did not make the change in the Module Name as I had thought and is
> > > again hanging during saving network configuration at the step "Writing
> > > /etc/modprobe.conf...
> > >
> >
> > Try deleting the wireless configuration in YaST -> Network Devices ->
> Network Card and starting
> > over. As long as you will be using ndiswrapper, you must specify
> ndiswrapper as the Module Name.
> > Perhaps you will be ablle to write the configuration files then. I have
> no idea why the system is
> > hanging while writing. Perhaps it was because ath-pci was already loaded
> for that interface. Is that
> > a proper driver for your card? Maybe you do not need to use ndiswrapper.
>

sgoldstn@ix.netcom.com wrote:
> Larry (and others),
>
> I got back to the issue and found that it was my WPA-PSK passphrase. I had
> to go to an all alphanumeric key as you had suggested. The inability to
> effectively use the entire ASCII "alphabet" does seem to me a defect in the
> programming of this OS, but it is still better, I believe, than WEP.
>
> Thanks for the guidance,
>
> Steve

Linux does not restrict the PSK passphrase. In my secret, I'm using the characters !@#$%^ (among
others). The only one that causes any problem is the $, which is interpreted in terms of a bash
script. The means that the dollar sign and the alpha characters that follow it are interpreted as a
variable when ifcfg-wlan0 is run. That problem is circumvented by using \$ rather than $, thereby
"escaping" the dollar sign.

There is no doubt that WPA is better than WEP as the latter can be broken with about 5 minutes of
captured traffic, even if you are using 128-bit encryption.