linux WPA/WEP wireless
 

Hello all,

OS: CentOS
laptop: dell latitude d810

I managed to get Centos to see my wireless card, intel 2200bg, after installing the firmware. it works fine with network with no encryption however if i try to connect to a wpa or wep it won't work.

am i missing anything? or did anybody see that before how could point me to the right way to setup my wireless?

I am using system-config-network to setup my wireless I also, used the wireless tools to scan for network and I am sure that i see the network i need to connect to in the scan list.

Thanks in advance

you probally need to install wpa_supplicant

i have wpa_supplicant 0.5.8 installed..
wpa_supplicant.conf
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
network={
ssid="myhome"
proto=WPA
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
psk="something"
}

here is the output when i run
wpa_supplicant -Dwext -ieth1 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -d
: which be the way keeps on looping untill i ctrl C

Initializing interface 'eth1' conf '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf' driver 'wext' ctrl_interface 'N/A' bridge 'N/A'
Configuration file '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf' -> '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf'
Reading configuration file '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf'
ctrl_interface='/var/run/wpa_supplicant'
Priority group 0
id=0 ssid='myhome'
Initializing interface (2) 'eth1'
SIOCGIWRANGE: WE(compiled)=20 WE(source)=18 enc_capa=0xf
capabilities: key_mgmt 0xf enc 0xf
WEXT: Operstate: linkmode=1, operstate=5
Own MAC address: 00:13:f6:17:2m:70
wpa_driver_wext_set_wpa
wpa_driver_wext_set_key: alg=0 key_idx=0 set_tx=0 seq_len=0 key_len=0
wpa_driver_wext_set_key: alg=0 key_idx=1 set_tx=0 seq_len=0 key_len=0
wpa_driver_wext_set_key: alg=0 key_idx=2 set_tx=0 seq_len=0 key_len=0
wpa_driver_wext_set_key: alg=0 key_idx=3 set_tx=0 seq_len=0 key_len=0
wpa_driver_wext_set_countermeasures
wpa_driver_wext_set_drop_unencrypted
Setting scan request: 0 sec 100000 usec
Added interface eth1
RTM_NEWLINK: operstate=0 ifi_flags=0x1002 ()
Wireless event: cmd=0x8b06 len=8
RTM_NEWLINK: operstate=0 ifi_flags=0x1003 ([UP])
RTM_NEWLINK, IFLA_IFNAME: Interface 'eth1' added
RTM_NEWLINK: operstate=0 ifi_flags=0x1003 ([UP])
RTM_NEWLINK, IFLA_IFNAME: Interface 'eth1' added
RTM_NEWLINK: operstate=0 ifi_flags=0x1003 ([UP])
Wireless event: cmd=0x8b19 len=8
Received 2061 bytes of scan results (9 BSSes)
Scan results: 9
Selecting BSS from priority group 0
Try to find WPA-enabled AP
0: 00:0f:b5:5a:fa:e8 ssid='myhome' wpa_ie_len=24 rsn_ie_len=0 caps=0x11
skip - SSID mismatch
1: 00:14:6c:a3:aa:14 ssid='wireless1' wpa_ie_len=24 rsn_ie_len=0 caps=0x11
skip - SSID mismatch
2: 00:06:b1:14:65:21 ssid='wireless2' wpa_ie_len=24 rsn_ie_len=0 caps=0x11
skip - SSID mismatch
3: 00:12:0e:4e:d5:ee ssid='wireless3' wpa_ie_len=0 rsn_ie_len=0 caps=0x11
skip - no WPA/RSN IE
4: 00:14:bf:83:e6:a7 ssid='wireless4' wpa_ie_len=0 rsn_ie_len=0 caps=0x11
skip - no WPA/RSN IE
5: 02:18:de:00:6a:33 ssid='wireless5' wpa_ie_len=0 rsn_ie_len=0 caps=0x2
skip - no WPA/RSN IE
6: 00:0f:b5:29:a4:8c ssid='<hidden>' wpa_ie_len=0 rsn_ie_len=0 caps=0x1
skip - no WPA/RSN IE
7: 46:cc:97:91:f5:72 ssid='wireless7' wpa_ie_len=0 rsn_ie_len=0 caps=0x2
skip - no WPA/RSN IE
8: 00:0f:66:19:1f:8e ssid='wireless8' wpa_ie_len=0 rsn_ie_len=0 caps=0x1
skip - no WPA/RSN IE

I have exactly same problem. my ssid matches that found both by wpa_supplicant and iwlist wlan0 scanning, both in ascii and hex (made a hexdump of it). non the less, wpa_supplicant reports an ssid missmatch.

Unifying linux
 

I been using linux for a while now, server side, and recently decided to give it a try and use it as my personal OS. One of the early issue i saw is how come there is not a unified set of steps to do things for example trying to get the wireless to work, there is so many links, docs etc that you don't know which one you should follow

I am for sure a linux fan and i consider it my first choice of OS and nothing will change my opinion but i thought that we should unify things, steps, instructions etc... so at least for the new comers it won't be hard to get into linux.

This is a hot debate topic.


Part of what makes linux so great is its choice and flexibility. Unfortunately, that also means there are sometimes more than one way to pluck a turkey.


As an end user, there are two ways to deal with this issue. The first way, which is probaly preferable, is when searching for a problem, include the name of your distro in the search parameters so that instructions you find will usually be distro-specific.


The second way, is to try to find vender-nonspecific instructions.... usually this means using the lower level command line tools, rather than using the gui. I always try to give help in this way when I answer questions, because while GUI tools vary from distro to distro, usually the command line tools are a constant :)

The fascinating thing is the flexibility of the OS and that greatly relies on the fact that processes remain modular. guis and wrappers may be written to actually simplify configurations, but i value the fact that things are build up by many small bricks.

the problem about all this is the incredible complexity of even the most rudimentary tasks (getting characters onto the screen for example). although i enjoy that world, it still can make things annoying if you are set of to accomplish something specific. I for example want to build my own linux, for the experience. basically now i only need X to run and i want X11R7.2 . So now I'm stuck at the WPA2 encryption of my adapter for almost a week and I do not aim to find out how the single parameters of available encryption algorythms interact with the sourcecode of wpa_supplicant in order to deceiver the error messages. i only need that thing to work.

however error messages don't get me any further (the ssid is "Hive", so why is there a ssid missmatch if Hive is found???) and that is extremely frustrating.