How do I set an ASCII key with iwconfig
 

In Slackware 14.0, according to

# man iwconfig

the following is supposed to set ascii key "blablabla"

# iwconfig wlan0 key s:blablabla

I get the following message instead

SET failed on device wlan0 : Invalid argument.

Am I doing something wrong, or is this a bug?

According to http://superuser.com/questions/42460...lays-in-ubuntu

You need to satisfy one of these conditions:

ascii string that's exactly 5 characters in length
ascii string that's exactly 13 characters in length

You may have tried this for academic reasons, but otherwise, wicd or network-manager are highly recommended.

I also recommend quotes around the password:

Partly Solved
 

If I set the password to exactly 13 characters in length, then

# iwconfig wlan0 key restricted "s:blablabla "

is accepted (note trailing blanks to make 13 character phrase)

however,

I am unable to connect to the network, and

# ifconfig wlan0

does NOT show an INET address line with an IP address
(although an INET6 line is shown)

How should I proceed from here?

you need to ask for IP Address using dhcpcd wlan0 or dhclient wlan0

It workd with Key Off
 

I got an IP address if I did the following

# ifconfig wlan0 up
# iwconfig wlan0 essid "open"
# iwconfig wlan0 key off
# dhclient wlan0
# ifconfig wlan0

I got no IP address if I did the following

# ifconfig wlan0 up
# iwconfig wlan0 essid "ciphered"
# iwconfig wlan0 key restricted "s:passphrase "
# dhclient wlan0
# ifconfig wlan0

Can you tell me what is wrong?

If you embed blanks in the passphrase by using them within quotes, they will be considered part of the passphrase and will no longer match a passphrase that doesn't have the blanks. I'd suggest looking at the information in your router to find the equivalent hex key and using that to connect instead.

How does Windows translate the passphrase into a hex key?
The passphrase I enter in my Router works with Windows.
The Router "manual" (on CD) doesn't give encoding.

p.s. I am using a LinkSys EA2700 Router. I have found that
some Routers, such as the "D-Link" DIR-601, refuse to
work with Linux, even when hard-wired...

Try this conversion form (no, it won't send your private key across the network):

http://jorisvr.nl/wpapsk.html

This will give you the hex key that you can connect with instead.

Also, I'm using a non-compliant length passphrase here with NetworkManager. The limitation you're running into is with iwconfig -- if you use a tool like wicd or NetworkManager you should be able to connect using your existing passphrase.

I'm assuming this person tried using iwconfig and fussing about with the wpa_supplicant.conf file after reading AlienBOB's Wiki page on "Configuring your network in Slackware." I was intending to finish reading it, but let me know if it's out of date and I needn't bother. I can connect to my LAN wirelessly only when running KDE. For some reason my system doesn't connect when I boot into the CLI. I'm guessing I messed up one of the files referenced in the Wiki.