12.04 server wireless won't work

[futz2]

I have a reason for doing wireless on a file server box - really! It's an older box. I bought a D-Link DWA-552 for it. I'm attempting to connect with WPA2-PSK [AES].

It works just fine from a live disk Ubuntu, but in server it knows the card is there but won't connect. I've Googled hard for help and tried a bunch of stuff. Nothing works.

Here's my /etc/network/interfaces file:

# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# The primary network interface
#auto eth0
#iface eth0 inet dhcp

# Wireless
auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet static
address 192.168.1.101
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.1.1
wpa-driver wext
wpa-ssid numberone
wpa-ap-scan 1
wpa-proto RSN
wpa-pairwise CCMP
wpa-group CCMP
wpa-key-mgmt WPA-PSK
wpa-psk c7d301308817...more hex numbers

Also tried this:

# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# The primary network interface
#auto eth0
#iface eth0 inet dhcp

# Wireless
auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
wpa-driver wext
wpa-ssid numberone
wpa-ap-scan 1
wpa-proto RSN
wpa-pairwise CCMP
wpa-group CCMP
wpa-key-mgmt WPA-PSK
wpa-psk c7d301308817...more hex numbers

Anyway, I can see the box in the router's attached devices list, but it has no IP, and isn't connected properly. I'm so close...

[chili555]

I suggest you try this:

# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# The primary network interface
#auto eth0
#iface eth0 inet dhcp

# Wireless
auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet static
address 192.168.1.101
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.1.1
wpa-ssid numberone
wpa-psk c7d301308817...more hex numbers
dns-nameservers 8.8.8.8 192.168.1.1

I assume that this is your actual key in plain text and not some translated super encrypted wacky key:

c7d301308817...more hex numbers

Restart the interface:

sudo ifdown wlan0 && sudo ifup -v wlan0

Check:

ping -c3 192.168.1.1
ping -c3 www.google.com

[futz2]

I suggest you try this:

Thank you Chili555!!! Using my passphrase in plain text cured it.

I kept seeing people saying to use wpa-passphrase to convert it to numbers. Obviously that's just plain wrong.

Here's my working interfaces file:

# Wireless
auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
wpa-ssid numberone
wpa-ap-scan 1
wpa-proto RSN
wpa-pairwise CCMP
wpa-group CCMP
wpa-key-mgmt WPA-PSK
wpa-psk "my_passphrase_in_plain_text"

Probably I can thin that down some more, looking at your suggested input. I'll test that next. But for now it's working! Yee haw!

[futz2]

Yup, it can be thinned down. Still works just fine like this:

# Wireless
auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
wpa-ssid numberone
wpa-psk "my_passphrase_in_plain_text"

[chili555]

Yup, it can be thinned down. Still works just fine like this:

# Wireless
auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
wpa-ssid numberone
wpa-psk "my_passphrase_in_plain_text"

It certainly can, however, I think you want a static IP for a server so you can find it for ssh and ftp. As well, unless you disable DNS caching and populate /etc/resolv.conf, you need dns-nameservers for a static setup. You do not need:

wpa-ap-scan 1
wpa-proto RSN
wpa-pairwise CCMP
wpa-group CCMP

Less is more.

Glad it's working. Please use thread tools at the top to mark Solved. The searchers will appreciate it.

[futz2]

It certainly can, however, I think you want a static IP for a server so you can find it for ssh and ftp.

For now I'm just telling the router DHCP to always give that MAC address the same IP. When I install the box at the "customer's" house (friend of mine) I'll decide what works best for his router.

I'll also do some testing with static IPs on my router as well. Haven't set up many static IPs on it before. I usually just do the above-mentioned thing. It's got a zillion settings though, so I should have no problem getting that working.

Glad it's working. Please use thread tools at the top to mark Solved. The searchers will appreciate it.

Will do. Thanks so much for your help.