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..
Last edited by Iron_Mike; 12th July 2006 at 04:33 AM.
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.....
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.
# 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"
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.
Last edited by Iron_Mike; 29th March 2006 at 03:34 AM.
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!
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
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
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 . Am I still missing something from my setup? Help/suggestions would be much appreciated.