Cannot SET ESSID using IWCONFIG

Fergatron · 06-24-2007, 06:17 AM

Hi,

I have a funny issue. I set my wireless information using "NetworkManager", but I cannot set my wireless information using the command console. I'm testing it on a wireless network that has no WEP, just the basics (ESSID: lynksys).

When I type in this command (as root), it gives me this result:

Code:

linux-fergatron:/home/marc # iwconfig wlan0 essid linksys
Error for wireless request "Set ESSID* (8B1A) :
  SET failed on device wlan0 ; Operation not supported.

2Gnu · 06-24-2007, 09:17 AM

That error usually indicates a driver issue - not installed correctly, not loaded, etc.

How about some details? What chipset, driver? The output of iwconfig, ifconfig, lsmod.

Fergatron · 06-26-2007, 12:03 PM

Hi,

I read somewhere that I can find out the information on my NIC by using the "lspci" command. His example resulted in about 2 to 3 lines, but mine is a bit more and at this point, it's all chinese, to me.:

Code:

linux-fergatron:/home/marc # lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82845 845 (Brookdale) Chipset Host Bridge (rev 04)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82845 845 (Brookdale) Chipset AGP Bridge (rev 04)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 83)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 03)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) IDE Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) SMBus Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 03)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M7 LW [Radeon Mobility 7500]
02:00.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1510 PC card Cardbus Controller
02:02.0 Network controller: Intersil Corporation Prism 2.5 Wavelan chipset (rev 01)
02:07.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB43AB21 IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link)
02:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB PRO/100 VE (MOB) Ethernet Controller (rev 83)

This is my iwconfig result; "Fergyville" is my home network, which I set through the network wizard:

Code:

linux-fergatron:/home/marc # iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

irda0     no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11-DS  ESSID:"Fergyville"  Nickname:"Fergyville"
          Mode:Auto  Frequency:2.467 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated   
          Bit Rate:2 Mb/s   Tx-Power:18 dBm   
          Retry min limit:8   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:7E6E-2A84-FDF4-A869-BB31-7C7B-64   Security mode:open
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

sit0      no wireless extensions.

This is my ifconfig result:

Code:

linux-fergatron:/home/marc # ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:06:1B:E0:79:60  
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:1646 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:1646 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:135104 (131.9 Kb)  TX bytes:135104 (131.9 Kb)

wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:20:E0:97:DD:1A  
          UP BROADCAST NOTRAILERS MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
          Interrupt:11 Memory:e114e000-e114f000

And this one is my lsmod result, very long:

Code:

linux-fergatron:/home/marc # lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
usbhid                 52192  0 
xt_pkttype              6016  3 
ipt_LOG                10624  8 
xt_limit                6912  8 
nvram                  12808  1 
uinput                 12800  1 
snd_pcm_oss            53376  0 
snd_mixer_oss          21248  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq                60272  0 
snd_seq_device         12812  1 snd_seq
af_packet              29320  2 
cpufreq_conservative    11912  0 
cpufreq_ondemand       10892  1 
cpufreq_userspace       9088  0 
cpufreq_powersave       5888  0 
speedstep_ich           9360  0 
speedstep_lib           8708  1 speedstep_ich
freq_table              8832  1 speedstep_ich
ibm_acpi               33024  0 
button                 10896  0 
battery                14340  0 
ac                      9476  0 
ip6t_REJECT             9344  3 
xt_tcpudp               7296  3 
ipt_REJECT              9472  3 
xt_state                6272  12 
iptable_mangle          7040  0 
iptable_nat            11524  0 
ip_nat                 21804  1 iptable_nat
iptable_filter          7168  1 
ip6table_mangle         6528  0 
ip_conntrack           52960  3 xt_state,iptable_nat,ip_nat
nfnetlink              11032  2 ip_nat,ip_conntrack
ip_tables              17604  3 iptable_mangle,iptable_nat,iptable_filter
ip6table_filter         7040  1 
ip6_tables             18756  2 ip6table_mangle,ip6table_filter
x_tables               18180  10 xt_pkttype,ipt_LOG,xt_limit,ip6t_REJECT,xt_tcpudp,ipt_REJECT,xt_state,iptable_nat,ip_tables,ip6_tables
ipv6                  263584  17 ip6t_REJECT
apparmor               55572  0 
aamatch_pcre           18304  1 apparmor
loop                   20488  0 
dm_mod                 60184  0 
pcmcia                 40892  0 
firmware_class         14080  1 pcmcia
prism2_pci             72576  0 
ohci1394               37040  0 
ieee1394              102584  1 ohci1394
e100                   39688  0 
yenta_socket           30348  1 
p80211                 34316  1 prism2_pci
rsrc_nonstatic         17024  1 yenta_socket
pcmcia_core            43412  3 pcmcia,yenta_socket,rsrc_nonstatic
mii                     9600  1 e100
ide_cd                 42272  0 
cdrom                  38432  1 ide_cd
nsc_ircc               22544  0 
irda                  132152  1 nsc_ircc
crc_ccitt               6272  1 irda
intel_agp              27804  1 
ehci_hcd               34696  0 
shpchp                 40224  0 
agpgart                35528  1 intel_agp
i8xx_tco               11160  0 
uhci_hcd               26892  0 
i2c_i801               11660  0 
i2c_core               25216  1 i2c_i801
pci_hotplug            35136  1 shpchp
usbcore               114896  3 usbhid,ehci_hcd,uhci_hcd
snd_intel8x0           36764  1 
snd_ac97_codec         95648  1 snd_intel8x0
snd_ac97_bus            6400  1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_pcm                86916  3 snd_pcm_oss,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec
snd_timer              27908  2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd                    61188  10 snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd_timer
soundcore              13792  1 snd
snd_page_alloc         14472  2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
parport_pc             42084  1 
lp                     15652  0 
parport                39752  2 parport_pc,lp
ext3                  141192  2 
mbcache                12804  1 ext3
jbd                    70324  1 ext3
edd                    13892  0 
fan                     8964  0 
piix                   13700  0 [permanent]
thermal                18568  0 
processor              34664  1 thermal
ide_disk               20480  4 
ide_core              129992  3 ide_cd,piix,ide_disk

All and all, a very funny situation because I can, again, connect using the Network wizard (set to use ifup), but I can't do anything manually. Thanks again for any help.

2Gnu · 06-26-2007, 01:16 PM

Odd.

Try # ifconfig wlan0 up
then, # iwconfig wlan0 essid linksys

short101 · 06-27-2007, 10:01 AM

make sure you don't have an instance of network manager running as well. The "notrailers" is something I haven't seen before.. take the card down (ifconfig wlan0 down) make sure NM isn't running (check with ps) and bring it back up again and try.

weaponsofwar · 08-03-2009, 03:45 AM

some funny stuff going on with NetworkManager - I was having the exact same issue [openSUSE 11.0 however]
"service network restart" as root showed

wlan0 device: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (rev 02)
command 'iwconfig wlan0 nick host' returned
Error for wireless request "Set Nickname" (8B1C) :
SET failed on device wlan0 ; Operation not supported.
command 'iwconfig wlan0 essid id' returned
Error for wireless request "Set ESSID" (8B1A) :
SET failed on device wlan0 ; Input/output error.

switching out of "ad hoc" and using managed mode in the yast Network Settings control panel solved the issue...

Also using WEP and not WPA Personal when setting up security got me a connection, I could never get WPA to work with my card on OS.11 [the quality of the card I have is questionable - connection issues are persistent]

edit:

WEP is not a good long term solution nor is WPA personal...

Rodnox · 01-30-2010, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weaponsofwar

Also use WEP and not WPA Personal when you do set up security, could never get WPA to work...

--in case anyone runs into this again...

I just registered because of that statement. That is the most stupid sentence I have read for a long time. WEP is highly insecure. You might also just leave the network open and unencrypted. Cracking WEP takes about 5 mins.

Use WPA2, its not that difficult to setup.
man iwconfig will tell you how

weaponsofwar · 02-01-2010, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rodnox

I just registered because of that statement. That is the most stupid sentence I have read for a long time. WEP is highly insecure. You might also just leave the network open and unencrypted. Cracking WEP takes about 5 mins.

Use WPA2, its not that difficult to setup.
man iwconfig will tell you how

I was obviously having problems getting it set up or I wouldn't have used WEP at all. Ended up re-installing Leonidas and WPA is working correctly now.

When debugging an issue, taking avenues you wouldn't normally take in the process is acceptable... even if it means using WEP for a couple of hours so you can actually get online to look for more solutions/known issues with hardware, etc...

I should have added that WEP isn't a good long term solution - mea culpa.

Also keep in mind that WPA Personal isn't secure either...
It can be cracked in 60 seconds.

Use AES, turn off DHCP, turn off SSID broadcast[not that that will deter anyone who is seriously looking for your network], and Bind IP address to your card MAC addresses for even more security.

that being said, this is a thread about getting your wireless card to work at all - not getting your wireless network secured.

jschiwal · 02-01-2010, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Also keep in mind that WPA Personal isn't secure either...
It can be cracked in 60 seconds.

Use AES, turn off DHCP, turn off SSID broadcast[not that that will deter anyone who is seriously looking for your network], and Bind IP address to your card MAC addresses for even more security.

Could you reference this claim? Did you mean turn off uPNP? Also, since the essid is used in combination with the passphrase, it functions as salt. It reduces the risk of dictionary attacks against the passphrase.

Rodnox · 02-02-2010, 04:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weaponsofwar

Also keep in mind that WPA Personal isn't secure either...
It can be cracked in 60 seconds.

Yes, please reference that claim.

So far I'm only aware of a caught handshake that than will have to match a word list. A good chosen password should make WPA1 pretty secure.

WPA2 is absolutely secure.

Now, I have no problem of you proofing me wrong. Please do so, if you can.

rootaccess · 03-10-2012, 12:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rodnox

Yes, please reference that claim.

So far I'm only aware of a caught handshake that than will have to match a word list. A good chosen password should make WPA1 pretty secure.

WPA2 is absolutely secure.

Now, I have no problem of you proofing me wrong. Please do so, if you can.

I know this is old but I cracked a WPA2 against a dictionary I made using a script that generates 10 digit numbers. In my case, I generated a dictionary using my local area code for the first 3 digits and then the subsequent numbers in their order. On a machine running only 100 keys per second, it was eventually concluded that the password was a phone number, like they usually are.

WizadNoNext · 04-03-2012, 11:36 AM

Tell me how do you crack CCMP/AES in 60 seconds? Do you own your private super-computer, which magically isn't appearing as most powerfull? Go on, I can give my handshake - crack it! Have a go! Just to let you know - yes I am using WPA/RSN (version 2) Personal CCMP/AES and even if you would crack my passphrase (ha ha ha), you still would be unable to use my network, as MAC do not match passphrase, neither MAC filter! Do not state such ridiculous statements, as you even don't know what you are talking about man. WPA isn't WEP and have nothing to do with WEP (apart from TKIP and even TKIP isn't easy to crack). 60 seconds to find passphrase, when passphrase could 63 characters long and keys are salted with ESSID? No way man. First of all approach is completely different, second even generating all possible passphrases would take ages and it won't fit into your 60 seconds! It won't be done even after 24 hours, so think and research subject, before you would start to talk about it! OK?