11.1 NetworkManager (Gnome) can't connect with hidden SSID

English Network/Internet
#1

I read the stickies and have been searching this forum, but haven’t seen this one yet. If I’ve missed it, it’s not for lack of trying.

PC Hardware: Older Compaq Armada E500 laptop, with PCMCIA 802.11b adapter from Cisco. I think it’s an Air-PCM350, but the lable is kinda worn off and hard to read.

Router is a Linksys WRT54GS.

I just installed OpenSUSE 11.1 today on this machine. Fresh install, so nothing left hanging around from a previous setup or anything. Using Gnome for the desktop. Wireless driver is airo().

Neither side of this supports WAP. So, I have SSID broadcast disabled, using WEP128 for security. (No, it’s not really all that secure, I know. I’ll deal with that later.)

If I have the SSID broadcast turned on at the router, NetworkManager works fine. If I turn off SSID broadcast, I can’t get NetworkManager to establish a connection. It just keeps prompting me for the WEP key.

I know the WEP key is right, as I’m looking at the router config via my desktop machine. And, it works ok if SSID broadcast is turned on.

It looks like NetworkManager is supposed to work, but here it doesn’t seem to. Other than the obvious solutions (enable SSID broadcast, or don’t use NetworkManager), any ideas on what to do here?

#2

Hi
Scanmode :wink: whilst it’s WPA, should be the same for WEP

WPA
And Hidden SSID

–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 11.1 x86 Kernel 2.6.27.7-4-default
up 1 day 15:51, 2 users, load average: 2.28, 1.17, 0.88
GPU GeForce 6600 TE/6200 TE - Driver Version: 177.82

#3

And this one too;
Can’t
connect to a hidden SSID

–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 11.1 x86 Kernel 2.6.27.7-4-default
up 1 day 15:54, 2 users, load average: 1.66, 1.41, 1.02
GPU GeForce 6600 TE/6200 TE - Driver Version: 177.82

#4

Yes, I saw that one:

Open the wireless adapter config file (found in /etc/sysconfig/network) and add (or edit) this line:

WIRELESS_AP_SCANMODE=‘2’

The config file name will start with ifcfg- and the next part of the file name will identify the wireless adapter. (It should be fairly obvious)

except that there’s one problem with this advice. There is no such file there to edit. There is an ifcfg-eth0 for the wired connection, but no ifcfg-* for the Cisco wireless adapter.

#5

Yep, saw that one too.

#6

Hi
So what files are in the directory?

–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 11.1 x86 Kernel 2.6.27.7-4-default
up 1 day 16:32, 3 users, load average: 1.44, 0.86, 0.88
GPU GeForce 6600 TE/6200 TE - Driver Version: 177.82

#7

Another thing to check,is, which driver you are using. IIRC,it should be airo_cs you use. post the output of

lspci -v

if its a pci/pcmcia device

lsusb

if it is a usb device

Andy

#8

linux-zl13:/etc/sysconfig/network # ls -ltr
total 76
drwx------ 2 root root 4096 2008-12-02 23:02 providers
-rw-r–r-- 1 root root 239 2008-12-03 00:00 ifroute-lo
-rw-r–r-- 1 root root 27605 2008-12-03 00:00 ifcfg.template
-rw-r–r-- 1 root root 174 2008-12-03 00:00 ifcfg-lo
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2008-12-09 16:06 if-down.d
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2008-12-09 16:08 if-up.d
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2008-12-09 16:30 scripts
-rw-r–r-- 1 root root 5407 2008-12-23 11:11 dhcp
-rw-r–r-- 1 root root 177 2008-12-23 11:12 ifcfg-eth0
-rw-r–r-- 1 root root 10211 2008-12-23 11:12 config

#9

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (rev 03)
Subsystem: Compaq Computer Corporation Armada M700/E500
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64
Memory at 50000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=64]
Capabilities: [a0] AGP version 1.0
Kernel driver in use: agpgart-intel
Kernel modules: intel-agp

00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge (rev 03) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64
Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 00002000-00002fff
Memory behind bridge: 40000000-410fffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 41400000-414fffff
Kernel modules: shpchp

00:04.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1225 (rev 01)
Subsystem: Compaq Computer Corporation Armada E500
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 168, IRQ 11
Memory at 41100000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4]
Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=05, sec-latency=176
Memory window 0: 30000000-33fff000 (prefetchable)
Memory window 1: 34000000-37fff000
I/O window 0: 00001000-000010ff
I/O window 1: 00001400-000014ff
16-bit legacy interface ports at 0001
Kernel driver in use: yenta_cardbus
Kernel modules: yenta_socket

00:04.1 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1225 (rev 01)
Subsystem: Compaq Computer Corporation Armada E500
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 168, IRQ 11
Memory at 41180000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4]
Bus: primary=00, secondary=06, subordinate=09, sec-latency=176
Memory window 0: 38000000-3bfff000 (prefetchable)
Memory window 1: 3c000000-3ffff000
I/O window 0: 00001800-000018ff
I/O window 1: 00001c00-00001cff
16-bit legacy interface ports at 0001
Kernel driver in use: yenta_cardbus
Kernel modules: yenta_socket

00:07.0 Bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 02)
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0
Kernel modules: isp1760

00:07.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01) (prog-if 80 [Master])
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64
[virtual] Memory at 000001f0 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=8]
[virtual] Memory at 000003f0 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=1]
[virtual] Memory at 00000170 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=8]
[virtual] Memory at 00000370 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=1]
I/O ports at 3420 [size=16]
Kernel driver in use: ata_piix
Kernel modules: piix, ata_piix

00:07.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 11
I/O ports at 3400 [size=32]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:07.3 Bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 03)
Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 9
Kernel driver in use: piix4_smbus
Kernel modules: i2c-piix4, isp1760

00:08.0 Multimedia audio controller: ESS Technology ES1978 Maestro 2E (rev 10)
Subsystem: Compaq Computer Corporation Armada M700/E500
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 11
I/O ports at 3000 [size=256]
Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2
Kernel driver in use: ES1968 (ESS Maestro)
Kernel modules: snd-es1968, radio-maestro

00:09.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82557/8/9/0/1 Ethernet Pro 100 (rev 09)
Subsystem: Intel Corporation EtherExpress PRO/100+ MiniPCI
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 66, IRQ 11
Memory at 41280000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4]
I/O ports at 3440 [size=64]
Memory at 41200000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=128]
[virtual] Expansion ROM at 41500000 [disabled] [size=1]
Capabilities: [dc] Power Management version 2
Kernel driver in use: e100
Kernel modules: e100, eepro100

00:09.1 Serial controller: Agere Systems LT WinModem (prog-if 00 [8250])
Subsystem: Intel Corporation PRO/100+ MiniPCI on Armada E500
Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 11
I/O ports at 3430 [size=8]
Memory at 41300000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4]
Capabilities: [dc] Power Management version 2
Kernel driver in use: serial

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Rage Mobility P/M AGP 2x (rev 64) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
Subsystem: Compaq Computer Corporation Armada E500
Flags: bus master, stepping, medium devsel, latency 66, IRQ 11
Memory at 40000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16]
I/O ports at 2000 [size=256]
Memory at 41000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4]
[virtual] Expansion ROM at 41400000 [disabled] [size=128]
Capabilities: [50] AGP version 1.0
Capabilities: [5c] Power Management version 1
Kernel modules: atyfb[/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size]

#10

Incidently, here’s what I get from the “connection information” when SSID broadcast is enabled:

http://www.zaccaria-pinball.com/temp/network.png

but if SSID broadcast is disabled, it gets stuck at:

http://www.zaccaria-pinball.com/temp/WEP.png

and just loops back to this when “Connect” is selected. This is true whether I allow it to try to auto-connect, or if I select “connect to hidden network” from Network Manager.

#11

Anybody? Is this supposed to work? Does Network Manager work correctly with other wireless hardware/drivers?

#12

I got off my ass and used teh google.

Stupid knuckleheads at ubuntu didn’t bother to address this significant problem before release, people have known for awhile.

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...er/+bug/274995

Here are two workarounds:

Quickfix:
ALT+sysrq+R (get keyboard control)
ALT+sysrq+E (kill tasks)
CTRL+ALT+DEL (call shutdown)

Better fix:
sudo gedit /etc/init.d/alsa-utils

The file opens in Gedit and around the line 353 you’ll find the instruction “stop)” (or do a find for “stop)” (without quotes)). Below this instruction you should add these two instructions:

ifconfig wlan0 down
ifconfig eth0 down

So, the section of the file should look like this after editing (don’t delete/change anything after this section!):

stop)
ifconfig wlan0 down
ifconfig eth0 down
EXITSTATUS=0

Best fix:
Don’t release buggy software. Hopefully they push an update via update manager.

As it seems, the problem is with the Network Manager.
This is a possible solution for Ubuntu, but i can’t find the file /etc/init.d/alsa-utils…

If anyone that understands a little more than i do, please help.