iwconfig cannot set ASCII key

Deuterium · 2010-02-19 10:26:46

Hello arch users,

I have been following the wiki http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wir … _available and installed the Intel Wireless iwl5000 firmware (for my Wifi Link 5100 NIC), then added the appropriate entry to the MODULES line in /etc/rc.conf:

...
MOD_AUTOLOAD="YES"
MODULES=(iwl5000) #This line displays a 'FATAL: cannot find module iwl5000' when booting, works the same without
...
eth0="dhcp"
wlan0="dhcp"
INTERFACES=(eth0 wlan0)
...
DAEMONS=(syslog-ng network netfs crond)

-When I login, the wlan0 interface is up, as seen by the entry in 'ifconfig' (and also a 'wmaster0' interface that seems to be brought up/down with wlan0?)

-When I type 'iwlist wlan0 scan' the interface find my WEP-encrypted network (including some others)

-Typing in my ascii passcode like this: 'iwconfig wlan0 essid "My essid" key s:asciikey' fails

Error for wireless request "Set Encode" (8B2A) :
SET failed on device wlan0 ; Invalid argument.

ifconfig shows I am 'Not Associated' and 'dhcpcd wlan0' times out, and as already shown, when trying to enter the proper, ASCII key, iwconfig errors out. So, please could someone explain, what is the issue with iwconfig? Is there something obvious I'm missing?

Deuterium

Ps. On my other laptop, 'iwconfig wlan0 essid "My essid" key asciikey' works just fine...

Last edited by Deuterium (2010-02-19 10:30:35)

ruffedgz · 2010-02-19 19:53:20

Just have a few questions:
* Why are you using the 's:' option for the iwl5000 laptop and not for your 'other' laptop? Did you try it without 's:' after the 'key' option?
* Are the laptops simular and have to use the same module? If you do a 'lsmod | grep iwl5000', what does it show?
* From the error you presented, it just seems that it didn't like an argument when exicuting the command 'iwconfig'. This goes back to my first question of did you try not using 's:' for the key?

I don't doubt your wireless card works as you said you can see it if you do a ifconfig and when you scan for wireless signals, it picks up. I feel this has more to do with the 'iwconfig' command and that 's:' part of it.

Reply back and lets see if we can get you on the wireless

Deuterium · 2010-02-19 23:02:04

hey thanks ruffedgz, sorry for the late reply, I had to sleep

Anyway, yes, I agree with you on the way im implementing iwconfig.. I tried writing my key in HEX, but the same 'Set Encode'/'Invalid Argument' error is returned.

Okay, when I leave out the 's:' and just type my ascii passcode (which is 0-9 only so it might be confused with a HEX passcode) and type 'iwconfig wlan0' I can see the signal level, link quality, noise level etc, does this mean I have supplied the correct passcode?
I cannot see 'unassociated' anywhere in 'iwconfig wlan0' or 'ifconfig wlan0', so all looks good.

However, 'dhcpcd wlan0' times out... does this mean wrong passcode (trying to use hex passoce instead of ascii)? Some other problem?

[Edit]
my other toshiba laptop has a broadcom wireless (I think - I know it has ipw2200 firmware)

Also, I just found out, when looking at dmesg I found:

wlan0: direct probe to AP xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx try 1
wlan0 direct probe responded
wlan0: authenicate with AP xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
wlan0: authenticate
wlan0: associate with AP xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
wlan0: RX AssocResp from xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx (capab 0x431 status=0 aid=3)
wlan0: associated
wlan0: deauthenticated (Reason: 2)
#Same as above repeated a few times
#Reason: 2 means - previousAuthNotValid : Client associated but not authorized.

So I guess my passcode is not correct, which im assuming is due to the whole iwconfig understanding key asciikey as a HEX key (if it doesnt have s:asciikey)
...and then 's:' wont work as it is an 'Invalid Argument'

Last edited by Deuterium (2010-02-19 23:44:02)

anrxc · 2010-02-20 00:15:03

How about you finally show us the key, what is the lenght? Maybe you can't use 256-bit WEP or whatever...

Deuterium · 2010-02-20 00:21:09

okay, here:

# iwconfig wlan0 essid "My essid" key 3322112233

will that help you? the above returns no error (but cannot authenticate properly), the following does produce an error:

# iwconfig wlan0 essid "My essid" key s:3322112233
Error for wireless request "Set Encode" (8B2A) :
            SET failed on device wlan0 ; Invalid argument

the same in HEX:

# iwconfig wlan0 essid "My essid" key 33333232313132323333
Error for wireless request "Set Encode" (8B2A) :
            SET failed on device wlan0 ; Invalid argument

anrxc · 2010-02-20 00:27:10

You need to use 5, 13 (128-bit), or 29 (256-bit which not all support) characters with "s:....", or 10, 26, or 58 HEX. If you use the wrong key you can expect that error, if you use unsuporrted key you can expect that error.

Edit: to make this harder different routers, devices, MS Windows... enumerate and call the different keys, so you must make sure to match it all on all of your devices. Find more information on this on Google.

Last edited by anrxc (2010-02-20 00:29:03)

Deuterium · 2010-02-20 01:23:15

thanks anrxc, however, Windows can use 10-length ascii passphrases, and my Arch Linux toshiba laptop can too (with the iwconfig command, although it currently cant seem to connect with the WLAN properly, neither my iphone, so im investigating that).

But if iwconfig only allows specific lengths, why do not all routers conform to this standard? everything else seems to find arbitary-length ascii passphrases find, but not iwconfig??

Last edited by Deuterium (2010-02-20 01:24:01)

ruffedgz · 2010-02-23 15:48:10

Deuterium wrote:

But if iwconfig only allows specific lengths, why do not all routers conform to this standard? everything else seems to find arbitary-length ascii passphrases find, but not iwconfig??

That is an excellent question and the answer can be found from your router maker. I don't know what you use for a router but I changed my firmware on my Linksys to DD-WRT (http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/index) if you want to step away from the firmware that is provided to you.

Back to the problem. anrxc's comment is correct and you might want to see if that helps by changing your key to probably 13 (128-bit) or 29 (256-bit) characters and then try the 's:...' for the iwconfig. If that works, then problem solved If it doesn't, then try changing the key to 10 or 26 character key and see if that helps.

This is a good time to understand the practice this on your own and become a better person. Will be crossing my fingers for it to work. Reply back with an update when you can

interceptor2012 · 2010-12-23 07:18:17

Sorry to bump such an old post, but I am having the same issue where I have an ascii WEP key that is of length 9, but I am not in control of the network. Is there any way to connect to this network with this apparently improper key? I receive the same error message as the original poster when i use the "s:asciikey" syntax. The key contains non-hex characters, so I receive another error message about an invalid argument when omitting the "s:". I have no issues connecting to this network on my Windows computer. I assume there is a way to get it to work on my Arch computer, but I am at a loss as to what to try. Thanks in advanced!

interceptor2012 · 2010-12-28 07:19:18

I decided to just use NetworkManager, which has the ability to connect to the network that I was having trouble with. It makes more sense for me to use NetworkManager anyways because I am using a laptop and plan to use a desktop manager. It still would be nice to be able to connect to networks with any ASCII key using Arch's default networking interface, but this solution works for me.

Last edited by interceptor2012 (2010-12-28 07:19:44)

trusktr · 2012-04-08 17:44:03

Sorry for posting on this old post, but why on earth is iwconfig limited to 5, 13, or 29 character long ascii passphrases when many networks don't follow that? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of connecting to a network with iwconfig???

Arch Linux

#1 2010-02-19 10:26:46

iwconfig cannot set ASCII key

#2 2010-02-19 19:53:20

Re: iwconfig cannot set ASCII key

#3 2010-02-19 23:02:04

Re: iwconfig cannot set ASCII key

#4 2010-02-20 00:15:03

Re: iwconfig cannot set ASCII key

#5 2010-02-20 00:21:09

Re: iwconfig cannot set ASCII key

#6 2010-02-20 00:27:10

Re: iwconfig cannot set ASCII key

#7 2010-02-20 01:23:15

Re: iwconfig cannot set ASCII key

#8 2010-02-23 15:48:10

Re: iwconfig cannot set ASCII key

#9 2010-12-23 07:18:17

Re: iwconfig cannot set ASCII key

#10 2010-12-28 07:19:18

Re: iwconfig cannot set ASCII key

#11 2012-04-08 17:44:03

Re: iwconfig cannot set ASCII key

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