Network Manager, IPW-2915, WPA/WPA2 FC5 Issues Solved

[Iron_Mike]

This might be a little long winded but I have solved the WPA/WPA2 connections issues with NetworkManager, Wpa_Supplicant and a laptop with an Intel 2915 wireless module. I am using the default drivers that come with FC5, ie ipw2200-1.0.8, ieee80211-1.1.7 and the wpa_supplicant-0.4.8. Here are the steps:

1. I turned on NetworkManager, go to "Services" and turn NetworkManager and NetworkManager Dispatcher on for runlevels 3 and 5, and rebooted. Plugged in my ethernet cable and checked connectivity.

2. Next I downloaded the the firmware for the driver, it is on sourceforge...
http://ipw2200.sourceforge.net/firmware.php If you are using the the 2200/2915 you need the 2.4 version as the 3.0 version will not work the the default drivers. Unzip the files and copy them into /lib/firmware and reboot.

3. Open System -->Admin -->Network, Click on the "New" tab and select wireless connection. Does your card show up ?? If not check to see if the firmware is in /lib/firmware. If your card does show up go ahead and create the connection and enter your info. One thing that I do is TURN OFF the "activate on boot" option for both the ethernet and wireless connections.

4. Next comes the wpa_supplicant config files, go to the directory /etc/wpa_supplicant. Using a editor open the "wpa_supplicant.conf" and edit it, here is mine

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=wheel
ap_scan=1 <--------This is because I'm broadcasting SSID, If not broadcasting it will be 2
update_config=1
network={
ssid="mesa_wifi" <-----You need the quote marks
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
proto=WPA
pairwise=CCMP <-----This is AES, you can use TKIP also
psk="my password!" <-----Plain text, with quotes
}

ONE NOTE, it seems WPA_SUPPLICANT doesn't like weird control characters in the password!.

Save and exit.

5. Next go to /etc/sysconfig With a editor open wpa_supplicant mine looks like this:

# wlan0 and wifi0
# INTERFACES="-iwlan0 -iwifi0"
INTERFACES="-ieth1" <----Changed to correspond to my interface with quotes
# ndiswrapper and prism
# DRIVERS="-Dndiswrapper -Dprism"
DRIVERS="-Dwext" <-----Added this as I couldn't get -Dipw to work with quotes

BIG NOTE, even with FC4 I could not get the -Dipw option to work, I had to switch to the -Dwext which is Fedora's wireless extension.


6. Rebooted to get rid of the garbage and clear any hiccups that I might have caused. Now the fun, I left clicked on the NetworkManager icon to see if it was picking up any wireless networks, it was and I selected mine and hit enter. The 1st thing that popped up was a dialog box asking for the "Network Key" which is your encryption key in plain text. The 2nd thing that popped up was a dialog box asking for the "Key Ring Manager" password this is used to store keys and passwords, enter whatever password you want.

Now when I click on my SSID in NetworkManager it asks for the keyring manager, I enter the password and it connects. A couple notes that I noticed, when you reboot the computer NetworkManager sort of remembers the last connection you had so it automatically pops up the keyring manager, if you don't want to connect to the network select deny. Another note, In the "services" menu there is a process to start wpa_supplicant, there is no need to put a check mark in the box for the service as NetworkManager will start it as it deems necessary.

I typed this whole thing wireless with AES-CCMP and hopefully this helps some people that are having issues with NetworkManager, WPA_Supplicant, IPW cards. One more I am using static IP with these but should work with DHCP..

[jim]

after trying this out still unable to connect
ipw2200
essid NOT Brodcasted

iwlist scan shows this

eth1 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: 00:0F:66:21:10:45
ESSID:"<hidden>"
Protocol:IEEE 802.11b
Mode:Master
Channel:6
Encryption key:on
Bit Rates:11 Mb/s
Extra: Rates (Mb/s): 1 2 5.5 11
Quality=87/100 Signal level=-42 dBm
Extra:wpa_ie=dd160050f20101000050f20201000050f2020 1000050f20 2
Extra: Last beacon: 60ms ago


Cell 02 - Address: 00:12:17:CB:77:A4
ESSID:"linksys"
Protocol:IEEE 802.11bg
Mode:Master
Channel:6
Encryption key:off
Bit Rates:54 Mb/s
Extra: Rates (Mb/s): 1 2 5.5 6 9 11 12 18 24 36 48 54
Quality=55/100 Signal level=-68 dBm
Extra: Last beacon: 48ms ago


attached screenshot is the settings on my router

[Iron_Mike]

Jim,

I am broadcasting the SSID so NetworkManager picks up the name. I click on the name, if you don't broadcast the SSID NetworkManager will not see it.....

[jim]

I added a new network specifing the name.

[jim]

Ok for giggles, i set the ssid to broadcast still no go

EDIT
in both cases I get the login prompt

[Iron_Mike]

Does the dialog box come up asking for the key and the type?? And does the Keyring Manager popup as for a password?? The biggest issue was even if you had the 2200BG or the 2915ABG, and you tried to speciify the -Dipw driver it crashed and burned, but as soon as you used the -Dwext for the wireless extension routines it worked like a champ. It was like this in FC4 also. Also a note if you are not broadcasting the SSID you need to set "ap_scan=2" in wpa_supplicant.conf. I turned broadcasting on to eliminate various varibles to get it working.



[mmcguire@localhost ~]$ su -
Password:
[root@localhost ~]# iwlist scan
lo Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth1 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: 00:14:BF:12:41:FA
ESSID:"mesa_wifi"
Protocol:IEEE 802.11g
Mode:Master
Channel:1
Encryption key:on
Bit Rates:54 Mb/s
Extra: Rates (Mb/s): 1 2 5.5 6 9 11 12 18 24 36 48 54
Quality=95/100 Signal level=-31 dBm
Extra:wpa_ie=dd180050f20101000050f20401000050f2040 1000050f2020000
Extra: Last beacon: 104ms ago

sit0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

[jim]

Here is what I have

wpa_supplicant.conf

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=wheel
ap_scan=1

update_config=1

network={
ssid="HomeWireless"
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
proto=WPA
pairwise=TKIP
psk="*********************************"
#disabled=1
}

wpa_supplicant

# wlan0 and wifi0
# INTERFACES="-iwlan0 -iwifi0"
INTERFACES="-eth1"
# ndiswrapper and prism
# DRIVERS="-Dndiswrapper -Dprism"
DRIVERS="-ipw2200" <--- have tried all types here


See connection info screenshot (attached) Shows driver "ipw2200"


and included all screenshots of all settings

[Iron_Mike]

Your exactly right and almost there, Did you happen to type in the key for the passphrase dialog box??? This is the same as your PSK key listed in the /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf About the driver showing ipw2200, Actually it should be entered as DRIVERS="-Dipw" But trust me try using DRIVERS="-Dwext" it will still show the driver as ipw2200 under your 2nd screenshot.

[jim]

Same key every time

wpa_supplicant fails to load " e " not a valid option so it is now barking at the -eth1

[Iron_Mike]

Should be:

# wlan0 and wifi0
# INTERFACES="-iwlan0 -iwifi0"
INTERFACES="-ieth1"
# ndiswrapper and prism
# DRIVERS="-Dndiswrapper -Dprism"
DRIVERS="-Dwext"

[chocobanana]

You have an error in the /etc/sysconfig/wpa_supplicant config file:
instead of -eth1 you must have -ieth1 since this is a parameter for wpa_supplican inicialization. Also, for me it was mandatory, not an option, to disable the wpa_supplicant service, otherwise it wouldn't connect.

Other than that it's working perfectly. Thanks for your post!

[Iron_Mike]

You have an error in the /etc/sysconfig/wpa_supplicant config file:
instead of -eth1 you must have -ieth1 since this is a parameter for wpa_supplican inicialization. Also, for me it was mandatory, not an option, to disable the wpa_supplicant service, otherwise it wouldn't connect.

Other than that it's working perfectly. Thanks for your post!


Thanks, I fat fingered the -ieth1, I think I mentioned about disabling the wpa_supplicant service and let NetworkManager handle it.....But at least it works

[jim]

Well I made the changes and ......... I removed the key I had in my keyring manager and rebooted 3 times ran NetworkManager --no-daemon to see what was happening recorded the desktop while all this was going on and viola i'm freaken connected via wpa-psk Go figure. This has to get much easier to use this wireless encryption. What a PITA

[jhc]

Hi, I am able to get through the whole WPA hurdle and can finally connect to my wireless network, but I cannot gain access to the internet :confused: . Am I still missing something from my setup? Help/suggestions would be much appreciated.

[Iron_Mike]

Need to know more info, are you using DHCP, static IP's, hardware, NetworkManager etc....

[chocobanana]

jhc, take a look at this post. It is still unsolved, but it might have a solution soon....

http://www.fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=101545

[Mickey79]

4. Next comes the wpa_supplicant config files, go to the directory /etc/wpa_supplicant. Using a editor open the "wpa_supplicant.conf" and edit it, here is mine

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=wheel
ap_scan=1 <--------This is because I'm broadcasting SSID, If not broadcasting it will be 2
update_config=1
network={
ssid="mesa_wifi" <-----You need the quote marks
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
proto=WPA
pairwise=CCMP <-----This is AES, you can use TKIP also
psk="my password!" <-----Plain text, with quotes
}

ONE NOTE, it seems WPA_SUPPLICANT doesn't like weird control characters in the password!.

Save and exit.

5. Next go to /etc/sysconfig With a editor open wpa_supplicant mine looks like this:

# wlan0 and wifi0
# INTERFACES="-iwlan0 -iwifi0"
INTERFACES="-ieth1" <----Changed to correspond to my interface with quotes
# ndiswrapper and prism
# DRIVERS="-Dndiswrapper -Dprism"
DRIVERS="-Dwext" <-----Added this as I couldn't get -Dipw to work with quotes

BIG NOTE, even with FC4 I could not get the -Dipw option to work, I had to switch to the -Dwext which is Fedora's wireless extension.


I do not think these steps are necessary if you want to use Network Manager. My objections are that it works no matter wpa_supplicant.conf is configured or not but it does not work if I turn off SSID broadcast in my access point configuration (tried Netgear WG602v2 and Checkpoint VPN-1 Edge). If I use neat even ap_scan=2 does not help. The only thing that helps in my configuration is the option scan_ssid=1. But until now I could not find a way to tell Network Manager that it should use this option.

[Iron_Mike]

If you are not going to broadcast your SSID, you will have to open NetworkManager and select "Create Network Connection" and enter the SSID, key type, etc.....

[aschreiber1]

Hi, I am able to get through the whole WPA hurdle and can finally connect to my wireless network, but I cannot gain access to the internet :confused: . Am I still missing something from my setup? Help/suggestions would be much appreciated.
Make sure that you have "Automatically obtain DNS information from provider" checked off for your wireless card (or any card for that matter) under System => Administration => Network. You have to select the card and click "Edit" to modify.

[aschreiber1]

I am in quite a pickle because I have spent the last week tinkering with everything wireless and encryption related in FC5 and the only way I can connect to the internet via WiFi is if I run the following two commands after I login.

1. iwconfig wlan0 essid 'myssid'
2. dhclient wlan0

I can't use encryption b/c I can't get any of the necessary services to work. When I try running wpa_supplicant by itself it freezes my OS and when I try to run NetworkManager it reboots my computer.

Any ideas?

[Iron_Mike]

I am in quite a pickle because I have spent the last week tinkering with everything wireless and encryption related in FC5 and the only way I can connect to the internet via WiFi is if I run the following two commands after I login.

1. iwconfig wlan0 essid 'myssid'
2. dhclient wlan0

I can't use encryption b/c I can't get any of the necessary services to work. When I try running wpa_supplicant by itself it freezes my OS and when I try to run NetworkManager it reboots my computer.

Any ideas?


Do you happen to have the wpa_supplicant service enabled under services?? If so turned it off, does Networkmanager still cause a reboot???

[jhc]

There is a wpa_supplicant update at http://fedoranews.org/cms/node/548 . I have not tried it yet, but it may solve some problems that quite a few of us are having.

[chocobanana]

Hi there

I have another question

I'm connecting to a wpa protected network. How do I make network manager connect automatically without always asking me a password?

Thanks

[Mickey79]

If you are not going to broadcast your SSID, you will have to open NetworkManager and select "Create Network Connection" and enter the SSID, key type, etc.....

Of course. But this "hint" does not help.

[aschreiber1]

wpa_supplicant is stopped by default. So when I try and run NetworkManager it just reboots.

[aschreiber1]

Will this update work with the Belkin Pre-N wireless card that uses the Netgear drivers?

If you check out this page http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread.php?t=379814&page=2 about midway down the page a user named "ben666" provides a wealth of information that enabled me to at least get to the point where I am now.

The two key pieces of information he provides are:

1. If you download the Netgear WPNT511 driver (the firmware download) you'd find the timestamp is newer (as opposed to using ndiswrapper with the actual drivers for the Belkin card).

2. Add pci=assign-busses to the boot parameter of the kernel in grub.conf.

Using that information and running these commands from a terminal window:

1. iwconfig wlan0 essid 'myssid'
2. dhclient wlan0

get me online but without encryption.

[Iron_Mike]

Hi there

I have another question

I'm connecting to a wpa protected network. How do I make network manager connect automatically without always asking me a password?

Thanks


I don't think there is a way, it will ask for the "network password" or the "keyring manager" password. It would make it a little more convienent to have it automatically logon to a wpa network.

[aschreiber1]

It worked!!! Wow! I am so thrilled! No if only I could get NetworkManager to work too so I can have everything running automatically at startup.

Updating wpa_supplicant from this url (http://fedoranews.org/cms/node/548) worked!!!

[Iron_Mike]

wpa_supplicant is stopped by default. So when I try and run NetworkManager it just reboots.


How are you trying to start NetworkManager?? From a terminal window or did you enable the services from the "services" menu???

[dr.destroyer]

I also managed to get wireless network working using WPA2 encription, but in my case it was achieved in simpler way without editing any configuration files.
1. I turned on NetworkManager and NetworkManager Dispatcher in runlevels 3,4,5 (4 is probably not required)
2. I downloaded ipw2200 firmware and extracted them to /lib/firmware
3. I rebooted my notebook, NetworkManager appeared in gnome's notification area.
4 I left clicked NetworkManager icon and chose my network, it was already there.
5. In window that appeared I chose WPA2 and automatic encryption (you can also explicily choose TKIP or AES I think) and typed in WPA2 passphrase and passwords for keyring and voila, it worked.
6. In network configuration I turned off automatic activation of my wired connection.

The network works perfectly. But in System/Administration/Network there are no entries for wireles connection, only one entry for ethernet connection. But it works.

I don't know where NetworkManager stores the configuation. Does anybody know where it is stored?

[jim]

....

I don't know where NetworkManager stores the configuation. Does anybody know where it is stored?

gconf-editor

/system/networking/wireless/networks

[aschreiber1]

I think I tried both from the services menu and from a terminal window and both methods caused my machine to either freeze or reboot.

I should also add that although I successfully got WPA encyption to work using wpa_supplicant my victory was short lived. I soon discovered that by enabling wpa_supplicant to run as a service at startup it would prevent my OS from booting. As soon as FC5 tried to load the smartd service at boot the OS just stopped booting dead in it's tracks. I had to perform a hard reset and enter interactive mode and bypass the automatic starting of wpa_supplicant in order to even get into the OS and then disable it from the services menu so it wouldn't start automatically the next time I booted up.

Current Status:

Can use WPA if (and only if) I start wpa_supplicant manually after OS boots and then I run dhclient wlan0 to get my IP.

To date I have yet to find a working solution to getting my Belkin Pre-N wireless card to AUTOMATICALLY (i.e. at boot) work with WPA and also get an IP address and I am also unable to successfully use the NetworkManager GUI without it either freezing my OS or rebooting my pc.

[Iron_Mike]

Well we could try something if you feel up to it. open a terminal window change to root and run "system-config-network" without the quotes. Edit both the settings for your Ethernet and Wireless cards, and disable " activate on boot" and enable "allow user to enable or disable devices". Next run system-config-services and enable the NetworkManager services, and disable the wpa supplicant service, save it and reboot.

Does your computer boot?

[aschreiber1]

Also (in case I didn't mention it before) my wireless card does not show up under the "hardware" section of the Network Configuration panel -only under the "devices" section.

[aschreiber1]

Well we could try something if you feel up to it. open a terminal window change to root and run "system-config-network" without the quotes. Edit both the settings for your Ethernet and Wireless cards, and disable " activate on boot" and enable "allow user to enable or disable devices". Next run system-config-services and enable the NetworkManager services, and disable the wpa supplicant service, save it and reboot.

Does your computer boot?
It hangs at "Starting NetworkManager daemon".

[aschreiber1]

Well we could try something if you feel up to it. open a terminal window change to root and run "system-config-network" without the quotes. Edit both the settings for your Ethernet and Wireless cards, and disable " activate on boot" and enable "allow user to enable or disable devices". Next run system-config-services and enable the NetworkManager services, and disable the wpa supplicant service, save it and reboot.

Does your computer boot?
Now when I enter interactive startup mode it apparently never prompts me to enter y/n to start NetworkManager and instead it gets as far as a blue screen with a cursor (that I can move) but nothing else.

Mike,

I am in pretty bad shape now. I can't even get into my OS. I am not even being given a method to undo what was done.

[Iron_Mike]

Plug in your ethernet cable and reboot.......Does it boot now??????

[Iron_Mike]

Also (in case I didn't mention it before) my wireless card does not show up under the "hardware" section of the Network Configuration panel -only under the "devices" section.

Well this going to be a issue as NetworkManager needs to see the device to adminstrate it....

[aschreiber1]

Well this going to be a issue as NetworkManager needs to see the device to adminstrate it....
I can try to plug it in but since you told me to not have it activate on boot I don't quite see how that is going to solve anything.

Thanks for the help btw.

[Iron_Mike]

I can try to plug it in but since you told me to not have it activate on boot I don't quite see how that is going to solve anything.

Thanks for the help btw.


Good real time, just because it is set to "not activate on boot" doesn't mean when you plug the cable in it wil not activate....

[aschreiber1]

Good real time, just because it is set to "not activate on boot" doesn't mean when you plug the cable in it wil not activate....
Are you on IM now?

[aschreiber1]

Good real time, just because it is set to "not activate on boot" doesn't mean when you plug the cable in it wil not activate....
I plugged in the network cable and I am still left with only a cursor and blue screen after reboot. I even opted for interactive mode and made sure not to run network services. This is bad news man. How do I fix this? I was pretty much at peach with my setup before. I figured that it would only be a matter of time before fixes were released for these sorts of issues. Are you still online?

[Iron_Mike]

Are you able to boot the computer at all??? Or does it just hang when using NetworkManager???

[aschreiber1]

Are you able to boot the computer at all??? Or does it just hang when using NetworkManager???
I can't boot at all now. Even if I go through interactive boot mode and opt not to run any of the services that are network related it still won't boot. I know this has to do with your suggestion to check off NetworkManager as a service to start at boot. I am not angry with you or anything. You were just trying to help. If there is a way for you to find out for me which configuration file contains the list of services that are set to start at boot, then I could run "linux rescue" and remove the entry for NetworkManager from that list of services. The problem is that I don't know what file to modify.

[aschreiber1]

I can't boot at all now. Even if I go through interactive boot mode and opt not to run any of the services that are network related it still won't boot. I know this has to do with your suggestion to check off NetworkManager as a service to start at boot. I am not angry with you or anything. You were just trying to help. If there is a way for you to find out for me which configuration file contains the list of services that are set to start at boot, then I could run "linux rescue" and remove the entry for NetworkManager from that list of services. The problem is that I don't know what file to modify.
I answered my own question:

1. http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/custom-guide/s1-services-chkconfig.html

2. http://www.ces.clemson.edu/linux/nm.shtml

[Iron_Mike]

I think it is more than networkmanager causing the no boot hang. I would just re-install FC5

[kOoLiNuS]

Also (in case I didn't mention it before) my wireless card does not show up under the "hardware" section of the Network Configuration panel -only under the "devices" section.

i DO still have some mixed feelings on NetworkManager. i have it occasionally connect to the wireless modem/router/AP in this environment:

- public essid
- DHCP managed addresses
- running the wpa_supplicant daemon, no .conf file edited
- in system-config-network there is shown only the "cabled" eth0
- in system-config-network if i choose to ADD a wireless nic i don't see the ipw2100
- in system-config-network if i choose to ADD another ethernet card i can see the ipw2100

most of the times NM has to go 4/5 scans before gaining the connection, today after 40 minutes of that i quit and rebooted my other OS :-(

[Iron_Mike]

i DO still have some mixed feelings on NetworkManager. i have it occasionally connect to the wireless modem/router/AP in this environment:


- running the wpa_supplicant daemon, no .conf file edited
- in system-config-network there is shown only the "cabled" eth0
- in system-config-network if i choose to ADD a wireless nic i don't see the ipw2100
- in system-config-network if i choose to ADD another ethernet card i can see the ipw2100

most of the times NM has to go 4/5 scans before gaining the connection, today after 40 minutes of that i quit and rebooted my other OS :-(


There are some issues with running the wpa_supplicant daemon in the services, you need to disable and edit the wpa conf file. Also if system-config-network is only showing your wireless under the ethernet settings, there is a real good possiblity that you do not have the firmware installed. A quick in your /lib/firmware directory will verifiy that the firmware is installed. You can get the firmware at sourceforge.net

[kOoLiNuS]

There are some issues with running the wpa_supplicant daemon in the services, you need to disable and edit the wpa conf file. Also if system-config-network is only showing your wireless under the ethernet settings, there is a real good possiblity that you do not have the firmware installed. A quick in your /lib/firmware directory will verifiy that the firmware is installed. You can get the firmware at sourceforge.net

OK, i've just disabled the wpa_supplicant demon.

Edited the file {but what happens if i go @work or to a friend's house where i have to use another WPA-PSK network ?}

On the 3rd point, on NOT having ipw2100 under wireless connection cards BUT under ethernet ones, look at this:

[root@ierofante sysconfig]# ll /lib/firmware/
totale 624
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 209190 27 set 2004 ipw2100-1.3.fw
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 201138 27 set 2004 ipw2100-1.3-i.fw
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 196458 27 set 2004 ipw2100-1.3-p.fw
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 11880 3 mar 2004 ipw2100-LICENSE.txt

.... seems i've got the firware right ...

[kOoLiNuS]

So, i've added the wireless nic in system-config-network ... it is shown under "wireless nic" as: dev1804289383.

Then i've rebooted and it does connect, but after minutes i get disconnected and NM has passed 10 minutes saying "connected" and then down ... on the modem/router/AP side after the 1srt disconnection i never saw again the "green light of connection"


Should i modifiy it's name according to:
DRIVERS="-Dwext" in /etc/sysconfig/wpa_supplicant ?

Now my file looks like:

[nicola@ierofante ~]$ cat /etc/sysconfig/wpa_supplicant

# wlan0 and wifi0
# INTERFACES="-iwlan0 -iwifi0"
INTERFACES="-iwlan0"
# ndiswrapper and prism
# DRIVERS="-Dndiswrapper -Dprism"
# DRIVERS="-Dndiswrapper" --> original value
DRIVERS="-Dwext"


Should i remove ndiswrapper ? i've installed it in "just in case"
ideas ?

[Iron_Mike]

So, i've added the wireless nic in system-config-network ... it is shown under "wireless nic" as: dev1804289383.

Then i've rebooted and it does connect, but after minutes i get disconnected and NM has passed 10 minutes saying "connected" and then down ... on the modem/router/AP side after the 1srt disconnection i never saw again the "green light of connection"


Should i modifiy it's name according to:
in /etc/sysconfig/wpa_supplicant ?

Now my file looks like:

[nicola@ierofante ~]$ cat /etc/sysconfig/wpa_supplicant

# wlan0 and wifi0
# INTERFACES="-iwlan0 -iwifi0"
INTERFACES="-iwlan0"
# ndiswrapper and prism
# DRIVERS="-Dndiswrapper -Dprism"
# DRIVERS="-Dndiswrapper" --> original value
DRIVERS="-Dwext"


Should i remove ndiswrapper ? i've installed it in "just in case"
ideas ?

You have a glitch in your Network devices, notice you show your wireless device as:

dev1804289383

it should be something like eth1, wlan0, wifi0 ath0 anything but the above. Notice your wpa_supplicant.conf, it shows the interface=wlan0, there is no correlation between the network device dev1804289383 and wpa_supplicant interface wlan0. Yes the driver line is correct it should be wext.

[kOoLiNuS]

You have a glitch in your Network devices, notice you show your wireless device as:

dev1804289383

it should be something like eth1, wlan0, wifi0 ath0 anything but the above. Notice your wpa_supplicant.conf, it shows the interface=wlan0

I'm surely not the only one seeing this (i can remember at least some emails in the NetworkManager and fedora-list mailing list).
If i right click on a _connected_ NM session i can see in the nic's details the name dev***** and the voice "using driver = ipw2100". I've tested it trying to stress the connection with a Knoppix ISO. I got only 350MB and then stopped and never gained back the connection.

So, again, idea ? i was thinking to rename the dev****** thing, but i am doubtful because those names are assigned by dbus/udev ...

Waiting for tips {or reinstall it ?}

[Iron_Mike]

I would remove the profile from NetworkManager, reboot the computer and then add a new wireless connection. Does it still name it devxxxxx, if it did I would remove NetworkManager and then reinstall it with yum and try it again.

[kOoLiNuS]

Hi again,
i did a fresh reinstallation (also to try out how XFS performs on my laptop), this time all works (at least at the moment) in this configuration:

1) DHCP wireless, WPA-PSK, AES, public ESSID

2) daemons running: NetworkManager, NetworkManagerDispatcher, Network

3) wpa_supplicant installed but NON configured NOT running

4) when i've launched nm-applet i just saw my wireless essid, compiled relatives info and got connected (after having memorized the key in the "manager")

5 ) i was connected for 2 hours without never being dropped - never happened before

6) this morning after the boot & gnome login i was asked the password for the "key manager" and simply got connected ... i am now online since this morning (circa 5 hours) and going "strong" ....

i don't know what to think ....

[kOoLiNuS]

It's a pity a thread like this being "forgottend" under the hundreds of posts.

In any case, just last week in the NetworkManager mailing list Dan Williams of RedHat (one of the two main developer of this project) has stated:

Yes, NM starts wpa_supplicant for each connection attempt, and it's currently incompatible with a wpa_supplicant service started with the initscripts.

No configuration of wpa_supplicant is necessary if it's being controlled by NM.

keep ideas coming :D

{in particular how to proceed in an enviroment with a fixed IP policy @home and @work, or if you prefer in your building's network and your client's network}

[ComplexNumber]

Hi, I am able to get through the whole WPA hurdle and can finally connect to my wireless network, but I cannot gain access to the internet :confused: . Am I still missing something from my setup? Help/suggestions would be much appreciated.
i have exactly the same problem. i access the internet via the router. i can ping any web address and it successfully sends and receives data (i can see this in gnome-system-monitor). but when i fire up firefox, the blue line goes half way....and stays there whatever webpage i try to connect to. any ideas?

[planetjeans]

My NetworkManager install is doing the authentication part correctly, but times out when the DHCP address transaction takes too long.

Is there anyway for me to setup a static IP for my connection. ?
Also how can I setup my DHCP for eth1 ?

Thank you in advance



Copy of ifcfg-eth1 in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts
=============================================
[root@sayuri network-scripts]# more ifcfg-eth1
# Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX
DEVICE=eth1
BOOTPROTO=static
BROADCAST=192.168.0.255
HWADDR=00:16:6F:49:52:BF
IPADDR=192.168.0.2
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
NETWORK=192.168.0.0
ONBOOT=yes


Copy of /var/log/messages
==========================
Jun 6 21:31:04 sayuri NetworkManager: <information> wpa_supplicant(2539): WPA: WPA IE for msg 2/4 - hexdump(len=24): dd 16 00 50 f2 01 01 00 00 50 f2 02 01 00 00 50 f2 02 01 00 00 50 f2 02
Jun 6 21:31:04 sayuri NetworkManager: <information> wpa_supplicant(2539): WPA: PMK - hexdump(len=32): [REMOVED]
Jun 6 21:31:04 sayuri NetworkManager: <information> wpa_supplicant(2539): WPA: PTK - hexdump(len=64): [REMOVED]
Jun 6 21:31:04 sayuri NetworkManager: <information> wpa_supplicant(2539): WPA: Sending EAPOL-Key 2/4
Jun 6 21:31:04 sayuri NetworkManager: <information> wpa_supplicant(2539): WPA: TX EAPOL-Key - hexdump(len=123): 01 03 00 77 fe 01 09 00 20 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 3e cc 57 e4 60 e1 4e ec 25 bf a9 5a 3c 18 ac 0a 68 25 46 95 30 a2 52 71 4c 0b 07 3b bb 9b 14 e3 e0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 d1 1d 02 fd f7 01 f1 3a 0e 56 f6 b4 0a 19 63 20 00 18 dd 16 00 50 f2 01 01 00 00 50 f2 02 01 00 00 50 f2 02 01 00 00 50 f2 02
Jun 6 21:31:04 sayuri NetworkManager: <information> wpa_supplicant(2539): RX EAPOL from 00:09:5b:fa:ca:ac
Jun 6 21:31:05 sayuri NetworkManager: <information> Activation (eth1/wireless) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) successful. Connected to access point 'BIGTICKET'.
Jun 6 21:31:05 sayuri NetworkManager: <information> Activation (eth1) Stage 3 of 5 (IP Configure Start) scheduled.
Jun 6 21:31:05 sayuri NetworkManager: <information> Activation (eth1) Stage 3 of 5 (IP Configure Start) started...
Jun 6 21:31:06 sayuri NetworkManager: <information> Activation (eth1) Beginning DHCP transaction.
Jun 6 21:31:06 sayuri NetworkManager: <information> Activation (eth1) Stage 3 of 5 (IP Configure Start) complete.
Jun 6 21:31:06 sayuri NetworkManager: <information> DHCP daemon state now 12 for interface eth1
Jun 6 21:31:06 sayuri NetworkManager: <information> DHCP daemon state now 1 for interface eth1
Jun 6 21:31:06 sayuri dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth1 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 4
Jun 6 21:31:10 sayuri dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth1 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 5
Jun 6 21:31:15 sayuri dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth1 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 6
Jun 6 21:31:21 sayuri dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth1 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 10
Jun 6 21:31:31 sayuri dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on eth1 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 12
Jun 6 21:31:31 sayuri NetworkManager: <information> Device 'eth1' DHCP transaction took too long (>25s), stopping it.
Jun 6 21:31:31 sayuri dhclient: DHCPRELEASE on eth1 to 1.1.1.1 port 67
Jun 6 21:31:31 sayuri dhclient: send_packet: Network is unreachable
Jun 6 21:31:31 sayuri dhclient: send_packet: please consult README file regarding broadcast address.
Jun 6 21:31:32 sayuri NetworkManager: <information> Activation (eth1) Stage 4 of 5 (IP Configure Timeout) scheduled...
Jun 6 21:31:32 sayuri NetworkManager: <information> DHCP daemon state now 14 for interface eth1
Jun 6 21:31:32 sayuri NetworkManager: <information> DHCP daemon state now 11 for interface eth1
Jun 6 21:31:32 sayuri NetworkManager: <information> DHCP daemon state now 14 for interface eth1
Jun 6 21:31:32 sayuri NetworkManager: <information> Activation (eth1) Stage 4 of 5 (IP Configure Timeout) started...
Jun 6 21:31:32 sayuri NetworkManager: <information> Activation (eth1) New wireless user key requested for network 'BIGTICKET'.
Jun 6 21:31:32 sayuri NetworkManager: <information> Activation (eth1) Stage 4 of 5 (IP Configure Timeout) complete.

[planetjeans]

To fix the above issue, i did the following

yum update kernel
yum update wpa_supplicant

When you update kernel, the wireless network card might again go undetected.

Try to reinstall the ieee80211, ipw2200fw and ipw2200 driver packages.

Network manager started working like a charm.

- V

[idiotprogrammer]

I'm having a lot of problems.

MAIN PROBLEM is that when using the NetworkManager, 2915 shows up under ethernet devices and not wireless devices.

Actually, I got the Intel 2915 to work by downloading the ipw2200 firmware

http://www.imaginaryplanet.net/weblogs/idiotprogrammer/?p=83399019
I even got wpa2 working no problem.

But when I tried to reconfigure using Network Manager to change from dhcp to a static address, I get a lot of messups. That is when the problem started, and now I am unable to have the NetworkManager read the device as anything but an ethernet device. . (I can see in lspci )

I updated: kernel

I've tried unstalling wpa_supplicant and ipw2200-firmware and installing again. Interestingly, I don't see it listed under /lib/firmware although I'm sure I installed it. This sounds like something important. How do I verify this firmware update?


I tried removing all profiles in Network Manager and started again. I rebooted.

Previous posts mention something about ipw2200 driver. I have no idea what this is; is this available as an rpm package? Ok, I found this available as 2 rpms at ATrpm repository, but apparently there are dependencies. (see bottom of this post) http://atrpms.net/dist/fc5/ipw2200/

Stanley Finley recommends against adding atrpm to your repository list http://stanton-finley.net/fedora_core_5_installation_notes.html#Warning so I suspect the dependencies may be the result of incompatibilities between atrpm repository and others. (i use freshrpms, dries.repo and fedora-extras, but I did not see either of these two packages).


I have no idea what to do next? Ideas?

rj

below is error message when i tried to install rpms manually from atrpms

rpm -i ipw2200-kmdl-2.6.16-1.2133_1.rhfc5.cubbi_suspend2-1.1.0-40.rhfc5.at.x86_64.rpm
error: open of ipw2200-kmdl-2.6.16-1.2133_1.rhfc5.cubbi_suspend2-1.1.0-40.rhfc5.at.x86_64.rpm failed: No such file or directory
[root@mine yum.repos.d]#

[idiotprogrammer]

for the sake of posterity I wanted to mention that the default values given to the 2915 wifi device are generally not good when you configure using system-config-networking. In fact, almost every value was bad, and you need to change them.

Also, I had to make sure the wifi channel corresponded to the wifi channel of the network.

Because you couldn't activate the device, Network Manager believed incorrectly that the device wasn't working.

Mode: auto
Network Name SSID: Auto
Channel: 6
Transmit Rate: Auto

[EngineerJoe]

I followed the guide above and I cannot get my laptop to connect to the network and I'm hoping that I overlooked something. For the record, yesterday and today, I have been using my wireless connection without WPA/WEP "protection" and with a MAC address filter.

I logged into the router and re-enabled the WPA settings (WPA-Personal, TKIP, password) and now I cannot get the WPA_GUI client to connect to the router.

1. My SSID is being broadcast
2. When I scan, my SSID comes up, I double click on it and input the values, and I get nothing
3. When I simply click on "File" and then "Add Network" and configure my settings, I still cannot connect.

I know all my settings are correct cuz I just used them to get my desktop online (through XP). I even checked the wpa_supp...conf file to make sure I spelled my password correctly.

Right now, the only thing I can get fron the event history is "Authentication with 00:00:00:00:00:00 timed out."

Suggestions?

Edit: If it helps, I'm using the bcm43xx drivers instead of ndiswrapper.

[Iron_Mike]

This might be a little long winded but I have solved the WPA/WPA2 connections issues with NetworkManager, Wpa_Supplicant and a laptop with an Intel 2915 wireless module. I am using the default drivers that come with FC5, ie ipw2200-1.0.8, ieee80211-1.1.7 and the wpa_supplicant-0.4.8. Here are the steps:

1. I turned on NetworkManager, go to "Services" and turn NetworkManager and NetworkManager Dispatcher on for runlevels 3 and 5, and rebooted. Plugged in my ethernet cable and checked connectivity.

2. Next I downloaded the the firmware for the driver, it is on sourceforge...
http://ipw2200.sourceforge.net/firmware.php If you are using the the 2200/2915 you need the 2.4 version as the 3.0 version will not work the the default drivers. Unzip the files and copy them into /lib/firmware and reboot.

3. Open System -->Admin -->Network, Click on the "New" tab and select wireless connection. Does your card show up ?? If not check to see if the firmware is in /lib/firmware. If your card does show up go ahead and create the connection and enter your info. One thing that I do is TURN OFF the "activate on boot" option for both the ethernet and wireless connections.

4. Next comes the wpa_supplicant config files, go to the directory /etc/wpa_supplicant. Using a editor open the "wpa_supplicant.conf" and edit it, here is mine

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=wheel
ap_scan=1 <--------This is because I'm broadcasting SSID, If not broadcasting it will be 2
update_config=1
network={
ssid="mesa_wifi" <-----You need the quote marks
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
proto=WPA
pairwise=CCMP <-----This is AES, you can use TKIP also
psk="my password!" <-----Plain text, with quotes
}

ONE NOTE, it seems WPA_SUPPLICANT doesn't like weird control characters in the password!.

Save and exit.

5. Next go to /etc/sysconfig With a editor open wpa_supplicant mine looks like this:

# wlan0 and wifi0
# INTERFACES="-iwlan0 -iwifi0"
INTERFACES="-ieth1" <----Changed to correspond to my interface with quotes
# ndiswrapper and prism
# DRIVERS="-Dndiswrapper -Dprism"
DRIVERS="-Dwext" <-----Added this as I couldn't get -Dipw to work with quotes

BIG NOTE, even with FC4 I could not get the -Dipw option to work, I had to switch to the -Dwext which is Fedora's wireless extension.


6. Rebooted to get rid of the garbage and clear any hiccups that I might have caused. Now the fun, I left clicked on the NetworkManager icon to see if it was picking up any wireless networks, it was and I selected mine and hit enter. The 1st thing that popped up was a dialog box asking for the "Network Key" which is your encryption key in plain text. The 2nd thing that popped up was a dialog box asking for the "Key Ring Manager" password this is used to store keys and passwords, enter whatever password you want.

Now when I click on my SSID in NetworkManager it asks for the keyring manager, I enter the password and it connects. A couple notes that I noticed, when you reboot the computer NetworkManager sort of remembers the last connection you had so it automatically pops up the keyring manager, if you don't want to connect to the network select deny. Another note, In the "services" menu there is a process to start wpa_supplicant, there is no need to put a check mark in the box for the service as NetworkManager will start it as it deems necessary.

I typed this whole thing wireless with AES-CCMP and hopefully this helps some people that are having issues with NetworkManager, WPA_Supplicant, IPW cards. One more I am using static IP with these but should work with DHCP..

Updated to reflect the latest kernel changes 2.6.17-1.2145_FC5, the new kernel has incorporated version 1.1.1 of the ipw2200/2915 drivers. With this in mind you will need to update your firmware from 2.4 to at least 3.0

[sciguy125]

Alright... I've been working on this on and off for the last few weeks and I'm starting to get really irritated.

If I use wpa_supplicant directly, everything works fine. All combinations of hidden/broadcast essid with all the different encryption protocols that my router uses. The problem is that NetworkManager doesn't work if I have any encryption enabled. Without encryption, it works fine whether the essid is hidden or not. I'm also using knetworkmanager, but I don't think it's the problem.

I ran NetworkManager with --no-daemon and attached the output. I had the router setup for hidden essid, WPA-PSK, AES.

[Iron_Mike]

Alright... I've been working on this on and off for the last few weeks and I'm starting to get really irritated.

If I use wpa_supplicant directly, everything works fine. All combinations of hidden/broadcast essid with all the different encryption protocols that my router uses. The problem is that NetworkManager doesn't work if I have any encryption enabled. Without encryption, it works fine whether the essid is hidden or not. I'm also using knetworkmanager, but I don't think it's the problem.

I ran NetworkManager with --no-daemon and attached the output. I had the router setup for hidden essid, WPA-PSK, AES.

Are you by any chance running the wpa_supplicant service? Also when you tried using NetworkManager did it ask for a KeyringManager password and did it ask for the wpa password?

[sciguy125]

Are you by any chance running the wpa_supplicant service? Also when you tried using NetworkManager did it ask for a KeyringManager password and did it ask for the wpa password?
When I try to work with NetworkManager, I stop wpa_supplicant. And, yes, it asks for passwords and I supply them.

EDIT:
Problem solved. It seems to have been a problem with my router. I upgraded the firmware and it seems fine now. If anyone else is having problems with the Airlink101 AR525W, you need to upgrade the firmware to 1.0.38 (latest as of this writing).