D-Link DWL-122 and Monitor Mode

snakeyes37 · 05-29-2006, 12:31 PM

Hello,

I have a D-Link DWL-122 REV A1

I seem to be having a problem, everytime I try and set my USB wireless adapter (wlan0) into monitor mode I keep getting the following error,

Code:

slax ~ # iwconfig wlan0 mode Monitor 6
Error for wireless request "Set Mode" (8B06) :
    SET failed on device wlan0 ; Operation not supported.
slax ~ #

I searched for a solution and I've seen a few people who have had success with getting this wireless adapter into monitor mode!!! Now someone mentioned on another forum to flash the secondary firmware to version 1.7.4, but unfourtnately I've tried that with no luck. I've used two different distros, Auditor Security Collection LIVE CD and BackTrack 1.0 Final LIVE CD with no success. Any help would greatly be appreciated.

Thanks.
Edit/Delete Message

Hangdog42 · 05-29-2006, 12:57 PM

What driver are you using for this card?

snakeyes37 · 05-29-2006, 01:34 PM

Well according to the people who created BackTrack, all drivers for prism2 based cards are automatically loaded when booting from the Live CD. It was meant with the intention of working right out of the box without setup, but D-Link doesn't have any drivers available for Linux or UNIX, only Windows and Mac. Prism 2 / 2.5 chips use wlan_ng or hostap drivers all of these drivers are supplied ready to go, in the BT v1.0 so no additional drivers should have to be downloaded.

Thanks.

pentode · 05-29-2006, 02:10 PM

The linux-wlan-ng drivers are probably being used because hostap doesn't support USB wireless interfaces AFAIK.

If you read the linux-wlan-ng FAQ and other documentation, you'll find that it does not support many of the commands in Wireless Tools (iwconfig). So I suspect you're SOL as far as using the Monitor mode feature of Wireless Tools.

Have you been able to connect?

snakeyes37 · 05-29-2006, 02:51 PM

Well if it doesn't support those features then how have other people been able to get it to work properly? Its keeps connecting to another nearby network so I guess you could say its connect.

Thanks.

Hangdog42 · 05-29-2006, 04:00 PM

I agree with pentode, you may be outta luck with this device, at least as far as Monitor mode goes. From the limited googling I've done, this beasty has a Prism 3 chipset, which is a definite step down from earlier Prism chipsets.

The linux-wlan-ng drivers don't use the normal wireless tools. You might want to have a look at the README to see what you can do with this driver.

Quote:

Well if it doesn't support those features then how have other people been able to get it to work properly? Its keeps connecting to another nearby network so I guess you could say its connect.

There is a difference between being able to work as an wireless ethernet card and being able to support monitor mode. You don't have to have monitor mode support in order to have a functional wireless card. So it is very, very possible that you can connect to access points all over the place, but don't have the ability to go into monitor mode. If you have seen people get this device into monitor mode, try posting the links and maybe we can help.

stguitar · 01-16-2007, 04:43 PM

i am running ubuntu 6.06 with this DWL-122 adapter and can connect to APs, and i can run kismet. kismet turns the adapter into monitor mode automatically, and then when you close the tool, it returns to normal use mode. problem is, i need to specify a different channel to monitor... oh yea, im also using the linux-wlan-ng package of utils and drivers

it seems this usb adapter is quiet capable of monitor mode... i just get the EXACT same error you posted

snakeyes37 · 01-17-2007, 12:12 AM

I dumped the dwl-122 and bought a ORiNOCO Gold 802.11b card that is 100% compatible and it works.

stguitar · 01-17-2007, 10:12 AM

well i actually found a way to do this! i just was using the wrong command.

i found that:

wlanctl-ng wlan0 lnxreq_wlansniff channel=N enable=true

seems to do the trick. To disable, run the same thing, except enable=false.