(Hopefully) straightforward wireless problem

[Jonathan_R]

Originally Posted by Akoellh

@Jonathan_R

You are on the completely wrong path.

a) The correct driver is loaded (b43legacy)

b) The firmware is alreday installed, otherwise one would not even get any scan results

A slight oversight. Nothing more. It certainly does not mean I am on the wrong path. He still, needs to follow those articles, and still needs to set up NetworkManager as directed. I find it easier to start from the begining, and ensure everything is covered.

[Jimbo_G]

Originally Posted by Akoellh

- double check you wireless key

- remove encryption on the router temporarily to exclude problems with encryption

- if your router offers "mixed" WPA (WPA/WPA2) switch to WPA only or WPA2 only

- there is a lot of traffic on channel 1, try channel 6 or 11 in your router

Thanks very much for the suggestions.

- I have triple checked the wireless key; it is definitely being entered correctly.

- I am unable to remove encryption on the router - it is a French device (Freebox v5 - WiKi Free) that is controlled via their website. I have to choose either WEP or WPA.

- For WPA I have three options: WPA (TKIP + AES), WPA (TKIP) or WPA (AES/CCMP). The default is the first one, which I think is the same as WPA1/WPA2. I have tried the two other options with no success.

- I have tried channel 6 and channel 11: no success. Each time I noticed that some of the other nearby AP's also change to the same channel - is this normal?

- One other thing: if I run the NWData script while NetworkManager is trying to connect, I get a different error code that refers to the DHCP server. See results below:

During connection: nopaste.info - free nopaste script and service
After failed connection: nopaste.info - free nopaste script and service

My current setup is using channel 6 and WPA1(TKIP).

[Akoellh]

Although you get a DHCP error, the problem is not DHCP itself.

Association to the AP is not working, so "no IP via DHCP" is a symptom but not the "illness".

You have a (nowadays) rare device and I don't find any obvious error(s) in your setup.

Maybe it is a driver issue, so I suggest to try a newer driver.

Software.openSUSE.org

Search for "compat-wireless" and read this here first:

Choosing the correct kmp-package for your installation - openSUSE Forums

[Jimbo_G]

Originally Posted by Akoellh

Maybe it is a driver issue, so I suggest to try a newer driver.

Software.openSUSE.org

Search for "compat-wireless" and read this here first:

Choosing the correct kmp-package for your installation - openSUSE Forums

Based on the second link, my system info is as follows:

Kernel version : 2.6.27.37-0.1
Kernel flavor : pae
openSUSE version : 11.1
Architecture : i586

I have found a handful of compat-wireless packages that seem to be appropriate. However, I'm not exactly sure what I am meant to do next. I tried installing one of the packages:

compat-wireless-kmp-pae-2.6.20091009_2.6.27.37_0.1-2.4.i586.rpm

Is there another step? I rebooted the computer, and while I can still see the available APs, the blue wireless light is off and the radio button on the laptop has no effect. The NWData script returns these errors:

!!! CND0120E: Network card wlan0 has no IP address
!!! CND0380E: No WLANs detected on interface wlan0. Hardware and/or driver not configured properly
!!! CND0320E: WLAN turned off by hardware or software switch

I just wanted to check if I was making a basic error, or if I should try some of the other similar compat-wireless packages.

[Akoellh]

Looks like bleeding edge stuff (from 2.6.32rc with a completely rewritten rfkill-framework).

Try another package with 2.6.30.X based modules instead.

[Jimbo_G]

Okay, the blue light is back on. I installed:

compat-wireless-kmp-pae-2.6.30.9_2.6.27.37_0.1-8.3.i586.rpm

I'm now back to the same error codes as before, although there do seem to be a few differences in the main part of the script results:

nopaste.info - free nopaste script and service

[Akoellh]

Again, Association to the AP fails, the outputs of iwlist wlan0 scan look different, but this is due to new capabilities of the drivers.

To exclude _any_ (hopefully) issues related to NetworkManager and work on the "bare metal", do this.

- Create a file /tmp/wpa_supplicant.conf.

ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ap_scan=1
update_config=1

network={
        ssid="YOUR_ESSID"
        psk="YOUR_PASSPHRASE"
        key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
}

- Get a shell, become root with su and run

rcnetwork stop #stop all networking scripts/tools

killall wpa_supplicant # just to be sure

ifconfig wlan0 up 

wpa_supplicant -Dwext -iwlan0 -dd -B -c /tmp/wpa_supplicant.conf

iwconfig wlan0

If you are associated with the AP as seen by iwconfig, then run "dhcpd" as last command, you should be online then.

Post full outputs.

[Jimbo_G]

I have followed the instructions but did not become associated with the AP; see results here:

nopaste.info - free nopaste script and service

I tried running the final command anyway, which wasn't recognised. Was it meant to be "dhcpcd" instead of "dhcpd"?

[Akoellh]

Yes, I meant dhcpcd.

Wait for one of the driver gurus, I see no obvioius user/configuration errors.

You can also try to find a newer version of wpa_supplicant in OBS (use search site posted before) and repeat the procedure.

If the wpa_supplicant has been compiled with "nl80211"-extension*, you can use "-Dnl80211" instead of "-Dwext".

*

 wpa_supplicant |grep -A10 drivers
drivers:
  otus = Otus 802.11 WPA support interface
  wext = Linux wireless extensions (generic)
  nl80211 = Linux nl80211/cfg80211
  hostap = Host AP driver (Intersil Prism2/2.5/3)
  prism54 = Prism54.org driver (Intersil Prism GT/Duette/Indigo)
  madwifi = MADWIFI 802.11 support (Atheros, etc.)
  atmel = ATMEL AT76C5XXx (USB, PCMCIA)
  broadcom = Broadcom wl.o driver
  wired = Wired Ethernet driver
  ralink = Ralink Wireless Client driver
--
  -D = driver name (can be multiple drivers: nl80211,wext)
  -f = log output to debug file instead of stdout
  -g = global ctrl_interface
  -K = include keys (passwords, etc.) in debug output
  -t = include timestamp in debug messages
  -h = show this help text
  -L = show license (GPL and BSD)
  -p = driver parameters
  -P = PID file
  -q = decrease debugging verbosity (-qq even less)
  -u = enable DBus control interface

[Jimbo_G]

Okay, thanks for your help.

I tried a different version of WPA_supplicant (0.6.9-7.1) to replace the original version (0.6.4-15.13.1).

That didn't work either, so I'll wait for the driver gurus. I guess it might be easier to just buy a new wireless card...

I should probably change the thread title as well!