problems configuring wpa2 connection on slackware 12.1
 

Hi,

I'm running Slackware 12.1 on an HP Pavilion S3400T, with an onboard wifi adapter. The router is a Linksys WRT54GL (default firmware). Having entered the proper information in /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf and /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf (using alien's guide, for most parts), my machine does not start up with a working connection.

Here's my rc.inet1.conf:

and here's my wpa_supplicant.conf:

/etc/rc.d/rc.inet1 wlan0_restart gives me this:

and I get no connection. However . . . when I do #wpa_supplicant -iwlan0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf, I get this:

and finally, after executing (and ONLY after) , I get the connection up and running, but here's the weird thing: for the first 40 seconds or so, an internet speed test (http://speedtest.wi.rr.com/) measures my speed to be about 2 mega bits, .. and after those 40 seconds, it drops to about 0.6 mega bits. Technically, I should be getting at least 6 mega bits (which it was, when this machine had Vista on it, so I'm pretty sure the adapter is capable of delivering the speed).

So to conclude, here are the problems
1) SOLVED:[rc.inet1 is unable to connect at boot-up].. not quite sure what it was I did to have this work.. but it does work at boot-up now.
2) and when I do get it running manually, I'm met with this very peculiar behavior (connection speed in the first minute is ~2.5 mega bits/down, then goes to .5 mega bits or so). Also, I noticed, that Kwifimanager reports the connection speed to be 1 MBit/sec in the first 40 seconds that the internet speed is ~3 mega bits/down.. but precisely when Kwifimanager starts reporting the connection speed to be a full 54 MBit/s, the internet speed goes down.

I'm pretty much clueless at what I can do here, so I'll really really appreciate any words.

Thanks,
-wheelie

I notice that you're never setting the wpa_supplicant driver, either in rc.inet1.conf or when you start wpa_supplicant via command line. That might be part of the problem. For rc.inet1.conf enter wext as the wpa_supplicant driver or from the command line try:

wpa_supplicant.conf -Bw -Dwext -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -iwlan0

Hi Hangdog42,

Thank you for replying.

In alien's guide, http://alien.slackbook.org/dokuwiki/...wpa_encryption -- it said But I did add it anyway, and it makes no identifiable difference.

Thanks,
wheelie

I guess that makes sense for rc.inet1.conf (I never configure my cards this way, so I hadn't seen alien's guide), but you definitely need to specify wext if you're starting wpa_supplicant from the command line.

Anyway, one thing that might help pinpoint the problem is to temporarily turn off wpa encyrption and see if you have the same speed problems as with wpa encryption. You also might try removing the commented psk line from your wpa_supplicant stanza. I know comments are allowed outside of the stanzas, but I'm not sure they are allowed inside. Finally, you might give wicd a go. There is a slackbuild for it at Slackbuilds.org and in my experience it works MUCH better than either Slackware's approach or wpa_supplicant alone.

Hangdog42,

Thank you very very much for taking the time to reply once more.

I've had this "problem" for a long while.. in fact, as so far back as 2 months (i.e., the time since first trying a nix OS), and it's unbelievable that neither I, or anyone else I had asked for help could offer the intuitive advice for troubleshooting this problem: .. temporarily disabling WPA2 enc. -- I did, and I seem to be getting a very sturdy and stable 7 or 8 mega bits down. Thank you for this. :)

So, I've isolated WPA2 as the offending culprit. I guess this leaves me with two choices to go with:
a) use WEP or WPA, or
b) troubleshoot WPA2

I'll try going with option b after coming home from school tomorrow -- hopefully running wpa_supplicant in debugging mode will further point to specific areas of interest. And if mangling with those results doesn't lead to a resolution, I'll either be back here for more help, or just start using some other enc. scheme.

Thanks again,
wheelie

edit: I've heard only good things about wicd (unless of course, if like me you idle in #slackware, .. where there are the vi-vs.-emacs kinds of wars (usually between Rob (workman) and Eric (alien) every other day or so)) -- I'll give that a try. As for putting the commented line in the stanza or not, I don't believe it makes a difference, I only added it this week (after copying alien's suggested configs. verbatim and editing them), I noticed no difference in behavior.

It does look like wpa_supplicant is the problem here, but if you're up for a touch more testing, seeing how WEP and WPA work might be helpful. Although wpa_supplicant can handle WEP, you don't need to use it for WEP, so if that still works at full speed, then wpa_supplicant is definitely the culprit.