Curious problem with /etc/network-profiles

P-J · 2007-01-11 16:54:37

Hi all. I've set up Arch to use the profiles in the /etc/network-profiles/ on boot and set up the dialog menu so I can select the profile at boot time.

However, I have a strange problem with setting the ESSID of the access point.

In my network profile, I have the following line :

IWOPTS="mode managed essid courtyard2"

I presume this line just lists the arguments to pass to 'iwconfig'. To some extent the script does work. It sets the network configuration up correctly, but the essid is set to the first letter only of the essid in the network profile. See this essid:

eth1      IEEE 802.11b/g  ESSID:"c"  Nickname:"Broadcom 4306"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency=2.484 GHz  Access Point: Invalid
          Bit Rate=11 Mb/s   Tx-Power=15 dBm
          RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Link Quality=0/100  Signal level=-256 dBm  Noise level=-256 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

If I change the essid in the profile to 'testing', iwconfig will report that I'm using essid 't'.

Any idea why this strange behaviour occurs? Using netcfg [profile] also causes it.

Only way to get it working is to manually type iwconfig eth1 essid [myaccesspoint]

Lone_Wolf · 2007-01-11 18:47:10

I don't know what is causing that , but this is how my wireless profile is setup :

ESSID=AxxxBxxxxx   # network name of router, exactly as it is set on the router
KEY=yyyyyyy           # WEP key
IWOPTS="mode managed essid $ESSID key $KEY"

P-J · 2007-01-11 22:05:25

Thanks for the reply. I initially had it set up like that but had the same problem even then.

Anyone got any ideas? I'm sure it must be something simple!

iggy · 2007-01-12 00:14:27

there is new driver-version available. do a "abs"-sync and then just change the version number in the PKGBUILD and recompile the package. could help you.

mfg iggy

P-J · 2007-01-12 11:01:18

Thanks for the reply.

Interestingly enough, I opened the 'netcfg' script in a text editor, and editted it to echo out the 'iwconfig' command it was running. It was exactly correct, so I can't possibly understand how this is happening.

The echo was :

iwconfig eth1 mode managed channel 3 essid courtyard2

Which is exactly right, it's bonkers!

@Iggy : Which 'driver' should I update? The problem seems to be between 'netcfg' and 'iwconfig'. So I'm a bit lost

Lone_Wolf · 2007-01-12 21:20:42

A friend of mine who also uses a broadcom 43xx just had the same problem and we found a workaround :

Put the network name between " (double quote) like this :

ESSID="courtyard2"

P-J · 2007-01-13 00:02:20

Lone_Wolf wrote:

A friend of mine who also uses a broadcom 43xx just had the same problem and we found a workaround :
Put the network name between " (double quote) like this :
ESSID="courtyard2"

Thanks for the info. Still no dice unfortunately.

I did manage to fix the problem though. I noticed this problem was always occuring the first time I ran 'iwconfig'. The second time I ran it, the essid was fine. So I modified 'netcfg' to invoke it twice and the problem is solved, albeit with an air of mystery

Arch Linux

#1 2007-01-11 16:54:37

Curious problem with /etc/network-profiles

#2 2007-01-11 18:47:10

Re: Curious problem with /etc/network-profiles

#3 2007-01-11 22:05:25

Re: Curious problem with /etc/network-profiles

#4 2007-01-12 00:14:27

Re: Curious problem with /etc/network-profiles

#5 2007-01-12 11:01:18

Re: Curious problem with /etc/network-profiles

#6 2007-01-12 21:20:42

Re: Curious problem with /etc/network-profiles

#7 2007-01-13 00:02:20

Re: Curious problem with /etc/network-profiles

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