madwifi + wpa_supplicant + NetworkManager = Frustration

[The_Jaymz]

Hi,
I've read and re-read every howto I could find on making this work in FC5, but I still can't connect. Here's the setup...
IBM T42 Laptop with a D-Link DWL-G630 wifi card
Linksys WRT54G router running most recent firmware with WPA2-Personal PSK

Card seems to be working:

[root@JMH-LT ~]# iwlist scan
lo        Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0      Interface doesn't support scanning.

ath0      Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 00:14:BF:44:64:ED
                    ESSID:"JMH-WAP"
                    Mode:Master
                    Frequency:2.447 GHz (Channel 8)
                    Quality=49/94  Signal level=-46 dBm  Noise level=-95 dBm
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
                              11 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
                              48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                    Extra:bcn_int=100
                    Extra:rsn_ie=30180100000fac020200000fac04000fac020100000fac020000
          Cell 02 - Address: 00:16:B6:1B:5A:E4
                    ESSID:""
                    Mode:Master
                    Frequency:2.452 GHz (Channel 9)
                    Quality=8/94  Signal level=-87 dBm  Noise level=-95 dBm
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
                              11 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
                              48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                    Extra:bcn_int=100
                    Extra:rsn_ie=30140100000fac040100000fac040100000fac020000

sit0      Interface doesn't support scanning.

My access point is JMH-WAP.

NetworkManager sees the network and that it's encrypted, but gives an error when I try to connect to it.

Error connecting to wireless network

The requested wireless network requires security capabilities unsupported by your hardware.

Here's /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf:

[root@JMH-LT ~]# cat /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=10
ap_scan=0
opensc_engine_path=/usr/lib/opensc/engine_opensc.so
pkcs11_engine_path=/usr/lib/opensc/engine_pkcs11.so
pkcs11_module_path=/usr/lib/pkcs11/opensc-pkcs11.so
update_config=1

network={
        ssid="JMH-WAP"
        psk="********"
        proto=RSN
        key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
        pairwise=TKIP
}
[root@JMH-LT ~]#

And here's /etc/sysconfig/wpa_supplicant

[root@JMH-LT ~]# cat /etc/sysconfig/wpa_supplicant
# wlan0 and wifi0
# INTERFACES="-iwlan0 -iwifi0"
INTERFACES="-ath0"
# ndiswrapper and prism
# DRIVERS="-Dndiswrapper -Dprism"
DRIVERS="-Dmadwifi"
[root@JMH-LT ~]#

Could someone PLEASE help me with this?
Thanks!

[The_Jaymz]

Found this on another site:

If wpa_supplicant -D madwifi -i ath0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -dd -t fails to associate and you see something like:

Setting scan request: 0 sec 100000 usec
BSSID 00:0f:66:c8:8b:14 blacklist count incremented to 2
State: GROUP_HANDSHAKE -> DISCONNECTED
EAPOL: External notification - portEnabled=0
EAPOL: SUPP_PAE entering state DISCONNECTED
...then :
"ioctl[IEEE80211_IOCTL_SETKEY]: No such device or address".  | ioctl[unknown???]: No such device or address"),  and  what should read "RX EAPOL from 00:12:17:b8:1c:db"  when wpa_supplicant is launched  with the debug log -dd option ubstead reads "ioctl[unknown???]: No such device or address"
You've probably not gotten the kernel config right or the aes module loaded.

That seems to be the problem that I'm having. Anyone know how to load the aes module?

[Iron_Mike]

Originally Posted by The_Jaymz

Found this on another site:

If wpa_supplicant -D madwifi -i ath0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -dd -t fails to associate and you see something like:

Setting scan request: 0 sec 100000 usec
BSSID 00:0f:66:c8:8b:14 blacklist count incremented to 2
State: GROUP_HANDSHAKE -> DISCONNECTED
EAPOL: External notification - portEnabled=0
EAPOL: SUPP_PAE entering state DISCONNECTED
...then :
"ioctl[IEEE80211_IOCTL_SETKEY]: No such device or address".  | ioctl[unknown???]: No such device or address"),  and  what should read "RX EAPOL from 00:12:17:b8:1c:db"  when wpa_supplicant is launched  with the debug log -dd option ubstead reads "ioctl[unknown???]: No such device or address"
You've probably not gotten the kernel config right or the aes module loaded.

That seems to be the problem that I'm having. Anyone know how to load the aes module?

One thing I noticed in your wpa_supplicant.conf, You listed the PROTO=RSN, this is not a valid protocol, it should be WPA or WPA2. This might be causing the ieee80211 error as this is the encryption subsystem and RSN is not a valid encryption algorithim. Here is a copy of mine

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=wheel
ap_scan=1
update_config=1
network={
ssid="mesa_wifi"
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
proto=WPA
pairwise=CCMP
psk="I'll never tell" <--This is plain text with the quotes
}

Notice a few differences, the ap_scan=1, you have to broadcast your SSID, a glitch in NetworkManager. I let NM do the work by selecting the AP I want to connect to. One difference is I have an Intel Pro wireless instead of using the madwifi so I'm no help there.

[The_Jaymz]

Thanks alot for your info.
I worked with this issue for a few days and got sick of it. I had to step away from it for a while. I'll probably work on it some more this weekend.

[Brian1]

First thing to do is turn off any encryption and filtering on the router first. See if you make a connection. If that works then start enabling more security till the nic fails to connect to thr router. Post errors or what you have done to that point.

Brian1

[The_Jaymz]

That's exactly what I did. I've got the encryption turned off. I always broadcast the SSID. Connection is fine now. I might just use wep. I might leave it unencrypted though...
I'm kinda tired of fighting this issue. I'll probably try the encryption again in a week or two.
Thanks for your help! :-)