Can't get wireless running

rine · 2008-03-12 10:13:10

I'm sure questions regarding wireless get annoying, but I just don't know what to do anymore and I guess I messed things up a little. I've tried networkmanager, wicd, wlassistang, manually configuring wpa_supplicant and autowifi a few minutes ago. The card is working with ndiswrapper, so that shouldn't be a problem. I had the connection once, but it was gone after a reboot and I have no idea what I did to make it work . Guess I start by posting configs/outputs:

rc.conf:

LOCALE="en_US.utf8"
HARDWARECLOCK="localtime"
TIMEZONE="Europe/Berlin"
KEYMAP="us"
CONSOLEFONT=
CONSOLEMAP=
USECOLOR="yes"

MOD_AUTOLOAD="yes"

MOD_BLACKLIST=(pcspkr)

MODULES=(e100 eepro100 mii slhc ac97_bus snd-mixer-oss snd-pcm-oss snd-page-alloc snd-pcm snd-timer snd snd-ac97-codec snd-intel8x0 soundcore ndiswrapper acpi-cpufreq)

USELVM="no"

HOSTNAME="ntbk"

eth0="dhcp"
INTERFACES=(eth0 wlan0)

gateway="default gw 192.168.1.1"
ROUTES=(!gateway)

NET_PROFILES=(eth0 wlan0)

DAEMONS=(@syslog-ng @network @netfs crond @alsa @acpid @dbus @hal @cpufreq)

wpa_supplicant.conf (after stripping it down for autowifi):

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=users
eapol_version=1
ap_scan=1
fast_reauth=1
network={
    ssid="cheezburger"
        proto=RSN WPA
    psk="64 numbers/letters"
}

/etc/rc.d/autowifi start:

:: Starting autowifi       [BUSY]
ioctl[SIOCSIWPMKSA]: Invalid argument

iwlist scan (I'm using WPA2, so that seems strange?):

wlan0     Scan completed :
.
.
.
          Cell 06 - Address: 00:1B:2F:58:B5:C2
                    ESSID:"cheezburger"
                    Protocol:IEEE 802.11b
                    Mode:Managed
                    Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11)
                    Quality:32/100  Signal level:-75 dBm  Noise level:-96 dBm
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
                              12 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
                              48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                    Extra:bcn_int=100
                    Extra:atim=0
                    IE: WPA Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK

Can't think of anything else right now, please let me know if you need more info.

gejr · 2008-03-12 13:08:46

You don't put your interfaces in NET_PROFILES, you put your actual profiles.
Try this:
# cp /etc/network-profiles/template /etc/network-profiles/whatever
# vim /etc/network-profiles/whatever

Look here if you need help configuring it:
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Network_profiles

Then simply run:

# netcfg whatever

or put "whatever" in /etc/rc.conf to have it loaded every time you reboot.. you can use netcfg --menu to display a menu if you have many different profiles:
NET_PROFILES(whatever)

rine · 2008-03-12 13:37:06

Failed to connect to wpa_supplicant - wpa_ctrl_open: No such file or directory

When I try wpa_supplicant -Dwext -iwlan0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf I get

ioctl[SIOCSIWPMKSA]: Invalid argument

bgc1954 · 2008-03-12 14:39:29

Wpa_supplicant can be a real %^&%#%$@! Just asking, did you make a new directory /var/run/wpa_supplicant? I had alot of problems some time ago and the lack of a directory will do it every time. As a matter of fact the /var/run/wpa_supplicant directory seemed to disappear after every boot so I changed the wpa_supplicant.conf and made a directory /var/run/network/wpa_supplicant directory and it's behaved ever since. Worked for me but results are not guaranteed as you'll see that many, many posts are about wireless problems.

rine · 2008-03-12 15:15:11

Wow, the directory was missing actually. But it still doesn't work. I'm trying to figure out how to configure my profile (commenting and uncommenting stuff). Here is what it looks like:

#
# Network Profile
#

DESCRIPTION="Home Network"

# Network Settings
INTERFACE=wlan0
HOSTNAME=ntbk

# Interface Settings (use IFOPTS="dhcp" for DHCP)
IFOPTS="dhcp"
GATEWAY=192.168.1.1

# DNS Settings (optional)
#DOMAIN=localdomain
#DNS1=192.168.1.1
#DNS2=

# Wireless Settings (optional)
ESSID="cheezburger"
#KEY=
#IWOPTS="mode managed essid $ESSID channel 6 key restricted $KEY"

#WIFI_INTERFACE=wlan0   # use this if you have a special wireless interface
                        # that is linked to the real $INTERFACE

#WIFI_WAIT=3             # seconds to wait for the wireless card to
                        # associate before bringing the interface up
USEWPA="yes"           # start wpa_supplicant with the profile
WPAOPTS="" #"-D wext"             # use "" for normal operation or specify additional
                        # options (eg, "-D ipw")
                        # see /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf for configuration
#AUTOWPA="yes"          # automatically configure WPA
PASSKEY='secret'          # wpa passkey/phrase. for use with AUTOWPA

When I used "netcfg home" it says ":: Starting network profile: home [BUSY]" for some time, then the "BUSY" changes into "FAIL". During that I randomly get an error (sometimes there is an error, sometimes there is none):
"Failed to connect to wpa_supplicant - wpa_ctrl_open: No such file or directory"

edit: I created /var/run/wpa_supplicant. Then I ran netcfg home and got "Failed to connect to wpa_supplicant - wpa_ctrl_open: Success". But still everything fails and after that the directory is gone. wtf?

Last edited by rine (2008-03-12 15:41:50)

bgc1954 · 2008-03-12 16:51:53

For me, after trying all the auto-network-whatchamacallits, the simplest thing to use was wifi-radar. It also has a daemon to autostart but I just find that, on my laptop at least, it's simpler just to invoke it using an icon on the taskbar and then picking the network to connect to. No hoping and praying that something is finding the network for you. You can see what's available in the area--so it's handy when I travel--and you see the signal strength of the wifi points. It's fairly easy to configure and setup--as in easy in linux terms. You can configure each connection point separately--if that's important to you--and the wiki is easy to follow.

Right...just what you need is another suggestion of something completely different to try.

Oh, and just something I noticed that might or might not be important is in your wpa_supplicant.conf. Make sure you don't have quotes before and after your passkey. This really helped me: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ndi … supplicant

Last edited by bgc1954 (2008-03-12 17:07:40)

rine · 2008-03-12 17:24:30

Nope, doesn't work. The man page also says I need a running wpa_supplicant. A litte off topic, but why is wifi radar so EXTREMLY slow on my machine? Needs like 10 seconds to grab a buttonclick.

bgc1954 · 2008-03-12 19:32:32

In the preferences of wifi-radar have you checked ifup required. Mine didn't work until I did that. Also here is my wpa_supplicant.conf which may or may not help you.

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=0
eapol_version=1
ap_scan=1
fast_reauth=1
network={
        ssid="myssidname"
        proto=WPA
        key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
        pairwise=TKIP
        group=TKIP
        psk=paste into here your wpa_passphrase "your_ssid" "yoursecret_phrase"
}

Perhaps you need to check your router settings and make sure you are setting up wpa_supplicant with the same. And no, I don't know why wifi-radar would be slow.

I also just notice in your /etc/rc.conf--if you haven't already changed it--you should bang out eth0 and wlan0 {ie. INTERFACES=(!eth0 !wlan0)} and comment out eth0="dhcp. They aren't necessary with netcfg or wifi-radar and might be interfereing--a long shot.

Last edited by bgc1954 (2008-03-12 19:38:31)

iphitus · 2008-03-13 08:40:07

that thing is netcfg v1, it sucks.

pacman -S netcfg, netcfg v2, it's a tonne better.

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Network_Profiles

rine · 2008-03-13 09:17:13

iphitus wrote:

that thing is netcfg v1, it sucks.
pacman -S netcfg, netcfg v2, it's a tonne better.
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Network_Profiles

Hm, tried to install it, but pacman says:

:: Synchronizing package databases...
 core is up to date
 extra is up to date
 community is up to date
error: 'core/netcfg': not found in sync db

edit: Just read the wiki on pacman, but my configs seem to be ok (?):

#
# /etc/pacman.conf
#
# See the pacman manpage for option directives

#
# GENERAL OPTIONS
#
[options]
# The following paths are commented out with their default values listed.
# If you wish to use different paths, uncomment and update the paths.
#RootDir     = /
#DBPath      = /var/lib/pacman/
#CacheDir    = /var/cache/pacman/pkg/
#LogFile     = /var/log/pacman.log
HoldPkg     = pacman glibc
#XferCommand = /usr/bin/wget --passive-ftp -c -O %o %u

#
# REPOSITORIES
#   - can be defined here or included from another file
#   - pacman will search repositories in the order defined here
#   - local/custom mirrors can be added here or in separate files
#   - repositories listed first will take precedence when packages
#     have identical names, regardless of version number
#
# Repository entries are of the format:
#       [repo-name]
#       Server = ServerName
#       Include = IncludePath
#
# The header [repo-name] is crucial - it must be present and
# uncommented to enable the repo.
#

# Testing is disabled by default.  To enable, uncomment the following
# two lines.  You can add preferred servers immediately after the header,
# and they will be used before the default mirrors.
#[testing]
#Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

[core]
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

[extra]
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

[community]
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

# Unstable is disabled by default.  To enable, uncomment the following
# two lines.  You can add preferred servers immediately after the header,
# and they will be used before the default mirrors.
#[unstable]
#Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

# An example of a custom package repository.  See the pacman manpage for
# tips on creating your own repositories.
#[custom]
#Server = file:///home/custompkgs

#
# Arch Linux repository mirrorlist
#

# Europe
# - Belgium
Server = ftp://ftp.belnet.be/mirror/archlinux.org/$repo/os/i686
# - Czech Republic
Server = ftp://ftp.sh.cvut.cz/MIRRORS/arch/$repo/os/i686
# - Estonia
Server = ftp://ftp.estpak.ee/pub/archlinux/$repo/os/i686
# - France
Server = ftp://mir1.archlinuxfr.org/archlinux/$repo/os/i686
Server = ftp://mir2.archlinuxfr.org/archlinux/$repo/os/i686
Server = ftp://distrib-coffee.ipsl.jussieu.fr/pub/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/i686
Server = http://mir.archlinux.fr/$repo/os/i686
Server = ftp://ftp.free.fr/mirrors/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/i686
# - Germany
Server = ftp://ftp.hosteurope.de/mirror/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/i686
Server = ftp://ftp5.gwdg.de/pub/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/i686
Server = ftp://ftp.uni-bayreuth.de/pub/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/i686
Server = ftp://ftp.archlinuxppc.org/i686/$repo/os/i686
Server = ftp://ftp.tu-chemnitz.de/pub/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/i686
# - Great Britain
Server = http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/i686
# - Greece
Server = ftp://ftp.ntua.gr/pub/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/i686
# - Hungary
Server = ftp://ftp.mfa.kfki.hu/pub/mirrors/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/i686
# - Ireland
Server = ftp://ftp.heanet.ie/mirrors/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/i686
# - Italy
Server = ftp://mi.mirror.garr.it/mirrors/archlinux/$repo/os/i686
# - Netherlands
Server = ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/metalab/distributions/archlinux/$repo/os/i686
Server = ftp://ftp.surfnet.nl/pub/os/Linux/distr/archlinux/$repo/os/i686
# - Poland
Server = ftp://mirror.icis.pcz.pl/archlinux/$repo/os/i686
Server = http://piotrkosoft.net/pub/mirrors/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/i686
Server = ftp://ftp.piotrkosoft.net/pub/mirrors/ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/i686
# - Portugal
Server = ftp://cesium.di.uminho.pt/pub/archlinux/$repo/os/i686
# - Romania
Server = ftp://ftp.iasi.roedu.net/mirrors/archlinux.org/$repo/os/i686
# - Sweden
Server = ftp://ftp.ds.hj.se/pub/os/linux/archlinux/$repo/os/i686
Server = ftp://ftp.gigabit.nu/$repo/os/i686
# - Switzerland
Server = ftp://archlinux.puzzle.ch/$repo/os/i686
# - Turkey
Server = http://server.elsistech.com/archlinux/$repo/os/i686
# - Ukraine
Server = ftp://hell.org.ua/archlinux/$repo/os/i686

Last edited by rine (2008-03-13 10:19:47)

bgc1954 · 2008-03-13 10:43:49

Try commenting out the server at the top of the mirrorlist and try again and if necessary repetez, s'il vous plais. Sometimes the servers get out of whack or aren't syncronized and up to date from what I've heard. Or just wait awhile and try again later.

Just realized that version 2 of netcfg is in core now and not testing. I'll have to try it out again, now.

Last edited by bgc1954 (2008-03-13 10:46:06)

rine · 2008-03-13 11:35:45

Wow, I feel stupid. Install worked after removing the first mirror. But there still seems to be a problem with wpa_supplicant.

bash-3.2# wpa_supplicant -iwlan0 -Dwext -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
ioctl[SIOCSIWPMKSA]: Invalid argument
CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED - Disconnect event - remove keys
Trying to associate with 00:1b:2f:58:b5:c2 (SSID='cheezburger' freq=2462 MHz)
Associated with 00:1b:2f:58:b5:c2
Associated with 00:1b:2f:58:b5:c2
Associated with 00:1b:2f:58:b5:c2
Associated with 00:1b:2f:58:b5:c2
Associated with 00:1b:2f:58:b5:c2
Associated with 00:1b:2f:58:b5:c2
Associated with 00:1b:2f:58:b5:c2
Associated with 00:1b:2f:58:b5:c2
Associated with 00:1b:2f:58:b5:c2
Associated with 00:1b:2f:58:b5:c2
Associated with 00:1b:2f:58:b5:c2
Associated with 00:1b:2f:58:b5:c2
CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED - Disconnect event - remove keys
CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED - Disconnect event - remove keys
l2_packet_receive - recvfrom: Network is down
Trying to associate with 00:1b:2f:58:b5:c2 (SSID='cheezburger' freq=2462 MHz)
Associated with 00:1b:2f:58:b5:c2
Associated with 00:1b:2f:58:b5:c2
Associated with 00:1b:2f:58:b5:c2

I need to "start" wpa_supplicant like that, right? My wpa_supplicant.conf:

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=0
eapol_version=1
ap_scan=1
fast_reauth=1
network={
    ssid="cheezburger"
        proto=WPA
        key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
        pairwise=TKIP
        group=TKIP
    psk=<secret 64 numbers/letters>
}

"netcfg2 hm" is busy for some time and then fails:

bash-3.2# netcfg2 hm
:: hm up  - Wireless association failed.                                 [FAIL]

I removed the wlan0 stuff from my rc.conf, should be ok? Here it is as it looks now if it helps: http://pastie.caboo.se/165091

My profile /etc/network.d/hm:

CONNECTION="wireless"
INTERFACE=wlan0
SCAN="yes"
SECURITY="wpa"
ESSID="cheezburger"
KEY=<secret text>
IP="dhcp"
TIMEOUT=20

I appreciate your patience btw

bgc1954 · 2008-03-13 12:14:31

Hi again,

I've been playing around with netcfg on my laptop for a bit, couldn't get it working like I wanted with netcfg ver. 1 so tried netcfg ver.2 that's now in core. Not successful at first but after doing more reading found that using SECURITY="wpa-config" makes it so you don't even need a key line as it defaults to wpa_supplicant.conf. After I made that change it works now (netcfg2 wireless gives success). Hope you have the same luck I did.:D

I also noticed in your /etc/rc.conf you need to comment out #eth0="dhcp" and bang out eth0 in INTERFACES=(!eth0) as they are handled by netcfg profiles.

Last edited by bgc1954 (2008-03-13 12:22:05)

Arch Linux

#1 2008-03-12 10:13:10

Can't get wireless running

#2 2008-03-12 13:08:46

Re: Can't get wireless running

#3 2008-03-12 13:37:06

Re: Can't get wireless running

#4 2008-03-12 14:39:29

Re: Can't get wireless running

#5 2008-03-12 15:15:11

Re: Can't get wireless running

#6 2008-03-12 16:51:53

Re: Can't get wireless running

#7 2008-03-12 17:24:30

Re: Can't get wireless running

#8 2008-03-12 19:32:32

Re: Can't get wireless running

#9 2008-03-13 08:40:07

Re: Can't get wireless running

#10 2008-03-13 09:17:13

Re: Can't get wireless running

#11 2008-03-13 10:43:49

Re: Can't get wireless running

#12 2008-03-13 11:35:45

Re: Can't get wireless running

#13 2008-03-13 12:14:31

Re: Can't get wireless running

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