HowTo: WPA with wpa_supplicant

**daverave999** · November 15th, 2006

I followed this set of instructions and it all went smoothly, bar forgetting to change eth0 to eth2 in my case. I'm using a Broadcomm chipset card, Belkin F5D7001UK, if that helps anyone who's unsure whether it will work or not.

**giruzz** · November 19th, 2006

Hi,

I'm new with Linux...I'm trying to use my WPA-wifi connection with my notebook... the wifi card is a Intel 2200BG.

This is what I've done so far:

sudo kwrite /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
#ap_scan=2

network={
ssid=Sydney
scan_ssid=1
proto=WPA RSN
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
pairwise=CCMP TKIP
group=CCMP TKIP
psk=370d97a2c2d4564c0c34647ac4d57f9b49b068f06aae32 b2df243d48a74408771
}

(SSID and PSK aren't the one I use, just copy and pasted and changed a bit)

Then....

sudo kwrite /etc/network/interfaces

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

auto eth1
iface eth1 inet dhcp
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
wireless-essid Sydney
pre-up wpa_supplicant -Bw -Dwext -ieth0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
post-down killall -q wpa_supplicant

auto eth2
iface eth2 inet dhcp

auto ath0
iface ath0 inet dhcp

auto wlan0

and last

sudo wpa_supplicant -Bw -Dwext -i eth0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf

....everything should work but it doesn't...

So...anyone can help me?

I'm not sure if this makes any difference but I receive this message when I'm running Kwrite...

X Error: BadDevice, invalid or uninitialized input device 168
Major opcode: 145
Minor opcode: 3
Resource id: 0x0
Failed to open device
X Error: BadDevice, invalid or uninitialized input device 168
Major opcode: 145
Minor opcode: 3
Resource id: 0x0
Failed to open device
giruzz@giruzz-laptop:~$ sudo kwrite /etc/network/interfaces
X Error: BadDevice, invalid or uninitialized input device 168
Major opcode: 145
Minor opcode: 3
Resource id: 0x0
Failed to open device
X Error: BadDevice, invalid or uninitialized input device 168
Major opcode: 145
Minor opcode: 3
Resource id: 0x0
Failed to open device

Thanks for any help!

giruzz

**somegayname** · December 6th, 2006

First off, thanks Luca. I used your previous how-to for an install about a year ago, and this one has me close to wireless. My last problem is that for some reason it keeps dropping and picking up the access point

Code:

iablt:/home/iab# iwevent
Waiting for Wireless Events from interfaces...
23:25:57.780616   eth2     New Access Point/Cell address:Not-Associated
23:25:57.780856   eth2     New Access Point/Cell address:Not-Associated
23:26:00.882024   eth2     Set Mode:Managed
23:26:00.882091   eth2     Set ESSID:"WiFabu"
23:26:01.086865   eth2     New Access Point/Cell address:00:14:BF:39:40:EE
23:26:05.052726   eth2     New Access Point/Cell address:Not-Associated
23:26:05.053576   eth2     New Access Point/Cell address:Not-Associated
23:26:08.154450   eth2     Set Mode:Managed
23:26:08.154474   eth2     Set ESSID:"WiFabu"
23:26:08.333068   eth2     New Access Point/Cell address:00:14:BF:39:40:EE
23:26:12.296069   eth2     New Access Point/Cell address:Not-Associated
23:26:12.296097   eth2     New Access Point/Cell address:Not-Associated
23:26:15.399157   eth2     Set Mode:Managed
23:26:15.399184   eth2     Set ESSID:"WiFabu"
23:26:15.588405   eth2     New Access Point/Cell address:00:14:BF:39:40:EE
23:26:19.546805   eth2     New Access Point/Cell address:Not-Associated
23:26:19.547655   eth2     New Access Point/Cell address:Not-Associated

a similar symptom is seen with random hits from iwconfig:

Code:

iablt:/home/iab# iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

eth1      no wireless extensions.

eth2      unassociated  ESSID:"WiFabu"
          Mode:Managed  Channel=0  Access Point: 00:14:BF:39:40:EE
          Bit Rate=0 kb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm   Sensitivity=8/0
          Retry limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

sit0      no wireless extensions.

iablt:/home/iab# iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

eth1      no wireless extensions.

eth2      IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:"WiFabu"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.437 GHz  Access Point: 00:14:BF:39:40:EE
          Bit Rate=54 Mb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm   Sensitivity=8/0
          Retry limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=98/100  Signal level=-28 dBm  Noise level=-80 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

sit0      no wireless extensions.

You can see the Bit rate, signal level, noise level and the associated channel 0 then have values.

My wpa_supplicant.conf and interface files are cut and paste from your how-to, excepting for my ssid and psk. The machine has a Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection (rev 05)
I don't think this *should* make any difference, but I am running debian etch with kernel 2.6.17 Any ideas?

**marcos.placona** · December 8th, 2006

You're amazing! uch a star! I followed your tutorial and it worked on the first time. After following step by step I just rebooted and off it went.

Thank you very much!

**lcohen999** · December 9th, 2006

i'm wondering if router affect this

I have two linksys routers, one a WRT54G and a WRT54GL
both with DD-WRT v23 SP2, both with the same SSID and PSK.

The 54GL likes wpa_supplicant, then WRT54G gives me this error:
CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED - Disconnect event - remove keys

any thoughts?

**mnisecky** · December 16th, 2006

Originally Posted by matthewboh

D'oh! It's TKIP instead of TKPI - fixed that, but still having a bit of a problem. Here's the new debug file

Code:

Initializing interface 'eth0' conf '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf' driver 'wext' ctrl_interface 'N/A'
Configuration file '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf' -> '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf'
Reading configuration file '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf'
ctrl_interface='/var/run/wpa_supplicant'
ctrl_interface_group=0
eapol_version=1
ap_scan=2
fast_reauth=1
Line: 22 - start of a new network block
ssid - hexdump_ascii(len=10):
     6d 61 74 74 68 65 77 62 6f 68                     matthewboh      
proto: 0x3
key_mgmt: 0x2
pairwise: 0x18
group: 0x18
PSK - hexdump(len=32): [REMOVED]
Priority group 0
   id=0 ssid='matthewboh'
Initializing interface (2) 'eth0'
EAPOL: SUPP_PAE entering state DISCONNECTED
EAPOL: KEY_RX entering state NO_KEY_RECEIVE
EAPOL: SUPP_BE entering state INITIALIZE
EAP: EAP entering state DISABLED
EAPOL: External notification - portEnabled=0
EAPOL: External notification - portValid=0
Could not set interface 'eth0' UP
SIOCGIWRANGE: WE(compiled)=19 WE(source)=18 enc_capa=0xf
  capabilities: key_mgmt 0xf enc 0xf
Own MAC address: 00:18:39:15:1c:11
wpa_driver_wext_set_wpa
wpa_driver_wext_set_key: alg=0 key_idx=0 set_tx=0 seq_len=0 key_len=0
wpa_driver_wext_set_key: alg=0 key_idx=1 set_tx=0 seq_len=0 key_len=0
wpa_driver_wext_set_key: alg=0 key_idx=2 set_tx=0 seq_len=0 key_len=0
wpa_driver_wext_set_key: alg=0 key_idx=3 set_tx=0 seq_len=0 key_len=0
wpa_driver_wext_set_countermeasures
wpa_driver_wext_set_drop_unencrypted
Setting scan request: 0 sec 100000 usec
Added interface eth0
Wireless event: cmd=0x8b06 len=8
State: DISCONNECTED -> SCANNING
Trying to associate with SSID 'matthewboh'
Cancelling scan request
WPA: clearing own WPA/RSN IE
Automatic auth_alg selection: 0x1
WPA: No WPA/RSN IE available from association info
WPA: Set cipher suites based on configuration
WPA: Selected cipher suites: group 24 pairwise 24 key_mgmt 2
WPA: clearing AP WPA IE
WPA: clearing AP RSN IE
WPA: using GTK CCMP
WPA: using PTK CCMP
WPA: using KEY_MGMT WPA-PSK
WPA: Set own WPA IE default - hexdump(len=22): 30 14 01 00 00 0f ac 04 01 00 00 0f ac 04 01 00 00 0f ac 02 00 00
No keys have been configured - skip key clearing
wpa_driver_wext_set_drop_unencrypted
State: SCANNING -> ASSOCIATING
wpa_driver_wext_associate
Setting authentication timeout: 60 sec 0 usec
EAPOL: External notification - EAP success=0
EAPOL: External notification - EAP fail=0
EAPOL: External notification - portControl=Auto
Wireless event: cmd=0x8b06 len=8
Wireless event: cmd=0x8b1a len=19
CTRL-EVENT-TERMINATING - signal 2 received
Removing interface eth0
State: ASSOCIATING -> DISCONNECTED
No keys have been configured - skip key clearing
EAPOL: External notification - portEnabled=0
EAPOL: External notification - portValid=0
wpa_driver_wext_set_wpa
wpa_driver_wext_set_drop_unencrypted
wpa_driver_wext_set_countermeasures
No keys have been configured - skip key clearing
Cancelling scan request

Can you tell me where is this debug or how command you use ? I need this information - I have a problem concerning WPA-TKIP.
Many thanks !

**An_ant** · December 17th, 2006

L.S.,

After trying a number of different options I managed to get connection working. I will detail the options on a website in Dutch so other people who want to use wpa on a Dutch network can find help. Thanks for all the advise here on these pages.

**RootsLINUX** · December 19th, 2006

I had wireless working with Ubuntu until I upgraded to Edgy (I did a clean wipe and install), but I am totally stumped at why I can't get it to work anymore. I've followed every post in this thread and tried playing around with many different configuration settings, but I've had absolutely no luck.

My main problem is that my wireless card can't find (scan?) my network (I have an Intel ipw2200 wireless card, and the device is eth1), nor any networks for that matter. My network's name is "dude wireless" and uses WEP encryption. My Debian desktop is connected to it just fine. I've tried both the wext and ipw drivers for wpa_supplicant, but neither of them worked.

Here is the output of a ton of commands/files, so if anyone can help me figure out what's wrong, I would appreciate it.

$ /etc/network/interfaces

Code:

# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).

# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth1
iface eth1 inet dhcp
wireless-essid dude wireless
wireless-mode managed
wireless-key MYSECRET
pre-up wpa_supplicant -Bw -Dipw -ieth1 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
post-down killall -q wpa_supplicant

#iface eth0 inet dhcp

$ cat wpa_supplicant.conf

Code:

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ap_scan=0

network={
        ssid="dude wireless"
        scan_ssid=1
        proto=WPA RSN
        key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
        pairwise=CCMP TKIP
        group=CCMP TKIP
        psk=SECRET :D
}

$ iwconfig

Code:

lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

eth1      radio off  ESSID:"dude wireless"  
          Mode:Managed  Channel:0  Access Point: Not-Associated   
          Bit Rate:0 kb/s   Tx-Power=off   Sensitivity=8/0  
          Retry limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

sit0      no wireless extensions.

$ ifconfig

Code:

eth1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:12:F0:55:A8:4C  
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
          Interrupt:201 Memory:dcffd000-dcffdfff

$ dmesg | grep ipw

Code:

[17179590.608000] ipw2200: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200/2915 Network Driver, 1.1.2kmprq
[17179590.608000] ipw2200: Copyright(c) 2003-2006 Intel Corporation
[17179590.608000] Driver 'ipw2200' needs updating - please use bus_type methods
[17179590.608000] ipw2200: Detected Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
[17179591.332000] ipw2200: Radio Frequency Kill Switch is On:
[17179591.332000] ipw2200: Detected geography ZZM (11 802.11bg channels, 0 802.11a channels)

$ sudo wpa_supplicant -dd -Dipw -ieth1 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf

Code:

Initializing interface 'eth1' conf '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf' driver 'ipw' ctrl_interface 'N/A' bridge 'N/A'
Configuration file '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf' -> '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf'
Reading configuration file '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf'
ctrl_interface='/var/run/wpa_supplicant'
Line: 4 - start of a new network block
ssid - hexdump_ascii(len=13):
     64 75 64 65 20 77 69 72 65 6c 65 73 73            dude wireless   
scan_ssid=1 (0x1)
proto: 0x3
key_mgmt: 0x2
pairwise: 0x18
group: 0x18
PSK - hexdump(len=32): [REMOVED]
Priority group 0
   id=0 ssid='dude wireless'
Initializing interface (2) 'eth1'
EAPOL: SUPP_PAE entering state DISCONNECTED
EAPOL: KEY_RX entering state NO_KEY_RECEIVE
EAPOL: SUPP_BE entering state INITIALIZE
EAP: EAP entering state DISABLED
EAPOL: External notification - portEnabled=0
EAPOL: External notification - portValid=0
wpa_driver_ipw_init is called
SIOCGIWRANGE: WE(compiled)=20 WE(source)=18 enc_capa=0xf
  capabilities: key_mgmt 0xf enc 0xf
WEXT: Operstate: linkmode=1, operstate=5
Own MAC address: 00:12:f0:55:a8:4c
wpa_driver_ipw_set_wpa: enabled=1
ioctl[IPW_IOCTL_WPA_SUPPLICANT]: Operation not supported
wpa_driver_ipw_set_key: alg=none key_idx=0 set_tx=0 seq_len=0 key_len=0
ioctl[IPW_IOCTL_WPA_SUPPLICANT]: Operation not supported
Failed to set encryption.
wpa_driver_ipw_set_key: alg=none key_idx=1 set_tx=0 seq_len=0 key_len=0
ioctl[IPW_IOCTL_WPA_SUPPLICANT]: Operation not supported
Failed to set encryption.
wpa_driver_ipw_set_key: alg=none key_idx=2 set_tx=0 seq_len=0 key_len=0
ioctl[IPW_IOCTL_WPA_SUPPLICANT]: Operation not supported
Failed to set encryption.
wpa_driver_ipw_set_key: alg=none key_idx=3 set_tx=0 seq_len=0 key_len=0
ioctl[IPW_IOCTL_WPA_SUPPLICANT]: Operation not supported
Failed to set encryption.
wpa_driver_ipw_set_countermeasures: enabled=0
ioctl[IPW_IOCTL_WPA_SUPPLICANT]: Operation not supported
wpa_driver_ipw_set_drop_unencrypted: enabled=1
ioctl[IPW_IOCTL_WPA_SUPPLICANT]: Operation not supported
Setting scan request: 0 sec 100000 usec
Added interface eth1
Wireless event: cmd=0x8b06 len=8
RTM_NEWLINK, IFLA_IFNAME: Interface 'eth1' added
RTM_NEWLINK, IFLA_IFNAME: Interface 'eth1' added
State: DISCONNECTED -> SCANNING
Starting AP scan (specific SSID)
Scan SSID - hexdump_ascii(len=13):
     64 75 64 65 20 77 69 72 65 6c 65 73 73            dude wireless   
Trying to get current scan results first without requesting a new scan to speed up initial association
Received 0 bytes of scan results (0 BSSes)
Scan results: 0
Selecting BSS from priority group 0
No suitable AP found.
Setting scan request: 0 sec 0 usec
Starting AP scan (broadcast SSID)
Scan timeout - try to get results
Received 0 bytes of scan results (0 BSSes)
Scan results: 0
Selecting BSS from priority group 0
No suitable AP found.
Setting scan request: 5 sec 0 usec
Starting AP scan (specific SSID)
Scan SSID - hexdump_ascii(len=13):
     64 75 64 65 20 77 69 72 65 6c 65 73 73            dude wireless   
Scan timeout - try to get results
Received 0 bytes of scan results (0 BSSes)
Scan results: 0
Selecting BSS from priority group 0
No suitable AP found.
Setting scan request: 5 sec 0 usec
Starting AP scan (broadcast SSID)
Scan timeout - try to get results
Received 0 bytes of scan results (0 BSSes)
Scan results: 0
Selecting BSS from priority group 0
No suitable AP found.
Setting scan request: 5 sec 0 usec
CTRL-EVENT-TERMINATING - signal 2 received
Removing interface eth1
State: SCANNING -> DISCONNECTED
WEXT: Operstate: linkmode=-1, operstate=5
No keys have been configured - skip key clearing
EAPOL: External notification - portEnabled=0
EAPOL: External notification - portValid=0
wpa_driver_ipw_set_wpa: enabled=0
ioctl[IPW_IOCTL_WPA_SUPPLICANT]: Operation not supported
ioctl[IPW_IOCTL_WPA_SUPPLICANT]: Operation not supported
wpa_driver_ipw_set_drop_unencrypted: enabled=0
ioctl[IPW_IOCTL_WPA_SUPPLICANT]: Operation not supported
wpa_driver_ipw_set_countermeasures: enabled=0
ioctl[IPW_IOCTL_WPA_SUPPLICANT]: Operation not supported
No keys have been configured - skip key clearing
WEXT: Operstate: linkmode=0, operstate=6
Cancelling scan request

**RootsLINUX** · December 19th, 2006

I don't have a clue why, but now suddenly it works.

Its so weird, I didn't change anything from my post above! Oh well, I'm just happy to have it working finally.

**PenguinEndre** · December 23rd, 2006

First of all, I'm new to this so go easy on me. I have come to the part where I'm to paste that thread in to interfaces. But I'm not sure where, under the eth0 or wlan0?

this is what interfaces says:

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

auto eth2
iface eth2 inet dhcp

auto ath0
iface ath0 inet dhcp

auto wlan0 inet dhcp
iface wlan0 inet dhcp

auto eth1
iface eth1 inet dhcp

And should I get any reply when I try to run Wpa_supplicant? I don't get any =S

Thanks in advance

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ipw2200, unable to find/scan network

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