Improved Network Wizard (and rc.network)

[Dougal]

But now I cannot actually load the inf file. I highlight it and click OK but the wizard cycles back asking me to again locate the inf file.

Ok, I think I know what it is, I'll have a look at it and have an update later on today.

[Dougal]

Ok, it was just a case of changing "Ok" to "OK"...
I've updated the attachment to the parent post.

[MU]

deleted attachments, newer version available.
Was downloaded 82 and 24 times.
Mark

[davids45]

G'day,
ndiswrapper now working well to set up wlan0 in this 4.1 install

But no success in getting wpa_supplicant to connect to my network.

Loading the profile on the wizard and then using the Profile, I see "handshakes" reported but no connection inside the 30 seconds allowed. The dialog box reads:

Access point: (has my correct address - the ssid details are right too)
Output of 'wpa_cli -wlan0 status
bssid=00:1c:df:c4:92:a5
ssid=JANDD
id=0
pairwise_cipher=TKIP
group_cipher=TKIP
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
wpa_state=4WAY_HANDSHAKE

If I give up on this, and then try the "AutoDCHP" button on the wizard, the first message is about "broadcasting for a lease", a connection is found but not one that works, and I see no wlan0 in /var/run/wpa_supplicant.

Manually trying "wpa_supplicant -Dwext -iwlan0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -d" in rxvt, creates a wlan0 in /var/run/wpa_supplicant but I see "Invalid EAPOL Key" flashing by on the rxvt box. The connecting address is the right one as per the bssid above.

Should I try some rmmod-ing of something?

David S.

[davids45]

G'day some more,
I have had a go with some others Pups on my computer and the wpa_supplicant problem seems to have started about Puppy 4.04 or 4.05. I could not get a frugal 4.05 to use wpa_supplicant just as I cannot with 4.1. Installing the October 11 wizard update did not help in 4.05.
I'm using a frugal MacPupdingo 4.0 for this post and it had no problem getting set up for WPA.
Likewise the 3.01 wizard gave me no problems with wpa_supplicant. on a full install.
I saw that the problematic wpa_supplicant version was brought in from Ubuntu at some stage. Is this the cause?

I would also like to see in the wizard, when there is a wireless connection made, the AP ISSD is shown. Particularly as the wizard's prompt is to save this unidentified connection for future use.

Or bring back rutilt which is great for showing if and where I am connected - the wireless tools in 4.1 don't do this for WPA.

Or is all this a problem in my set-up (Belkin Wireless G Plus MIMO Router) and a Medion 8818 desktop with its Ralink rt2570 wireless device?

David S.

[enry183]

here all works ok, good job dougal thank y.

puppy rulez!

[valpy]

Similar position here to davids45 - the patched network wizard will now let me load the .inf file. However, wpa_supplicant doesn't make a successful connection after configuring the wlan0 interface.

[Dougal]

Manually trying "wpa_supplicant -Dwext -iwlan0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -d" in rxvt, creates a wlan0 in /var/run/wpa_supplicant but I see "Invalid EAPOL Key" flashing by on the rxvt box. The connecting address is the right one as per the bssid above.

We should check what that error means -- maybe the psk is wrong? Maybe some other problem? (and is /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf actually configured properly? The wizard uses a different one...)

The main question here is if this is a wizard problem or a wpa_supplicant problem.

[davids45]

G'day Dougal,
Thanks for your reply.

The version in /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf is the one that works in all my other Pups back to 2.14R.

I worry that there seem to be several wpa_supplicant.conf files in the system - pfind finds quite a few, some of which are incorrect when I check them.

These incorrect conf files have a 64 character key coming from I don't know where. I use an 8 letter word which is enough for me to remember. I have found that sometimes my passkey is overwritten by some process and I have to edit the conf file back to my key phrase to get connection re-established.

You say the wizard is not using the /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf. Any reason for this? Where is the wizard's master copy of the conf file so I can check it and edit if incorrect?

I wish I knew if this is a wpa_supplicant problem or the wizard in the way it is using wpa_supplicant. For me, things WPA have gone wrong since Puppy 4.05, before that, all was fine.

I believe you are doing all this from a non-wireless Pup 2.14?!
So what should I do for you, to see if it is a wpa_supplicant issue? Try an older wizard or a different version of wpa_supplicant?

David S.

[davids45]

G'day again,
Tonight, I installed rutilT so I could see what was happening on my 4.1 full install as I tried different wpa_supplicant.conf and wizard options.
First off, just using the wizard as it was, no WPA connection, even when the wizard reported it was connected to somewhere and did I want to save this for use next boot. RutilT did not even blink.
Then I tried the manual rxvt wpa_supplicant method. RutilT showed a connection to my router started up immediately but then this dropped out, then a few seconds later, started up again, then after a few more seconds, dropped out. rxvt was reporting an association each time after the drop-out. This cycling went on until I killed rxvt. But I had killed it when there was a connection and now the connection stayed up!
In checking as many wpa_supplicant.conf files as I could find, I re-set any 64 character pass-key phrases to my rememberable key-word.
But I also noticed that in the default conf, the ap-scan value=1 whereas in all earlier conf files I had seen (and used happily), ap-scan=2. So I changed this and re-booted.
Lo and behold, without doing anything, I now have a wireless connection from my rt2570 device via 4.1 to my WPA router which has stayed up for over a hour now (after an initial single drop-out and re-connect). Lovely green RutilT icon.

Oddly, iwconfig reports the encryption key as a 64 character string.

Tomorrow night, no doubt, as is the way with computers, all will change

David S.

[Dougal]

I worry that there seem to be several wpa_supplicant.conf files in the system - pfind finds quite a few, some of which are incorrect when I check them.

That is intentional.
The way the wizard used to work is that when you configure a WPA network, it would configure the default config file to that network, so you wouldn't be able to use it with other WPA networks (you'd have to configure them again).
wpa_supplicant actually gives a way to handle multiple networks, by having multiple "network" blocks in the config file, which it then tries one-at-a-time when scanning.
What I did, when I modified the wizard, is to create separate wpa_supplicant config file for the different networks, so that wpa_supplicant is just run with the config file appropriate to the network you want to connect to (it has your AP MAC in the name). (the files are located in /etc/network-wizard/wireless/wpa-profiles)

These incorrect conf files have a 64 character key coming from I don't know where. I use an 8 letter word which is enough for me to remember. I have found that sometimes my passkey is overwritten by some process and I have to edit the conf file back to my key phrase to get connection re-established.

That 64-char key is the psk. It is generated from the SSID and passphrase thus:

Code: Select all

wpa_passphrase "your ssid" "your passphrase"

The reason it would keep showing up in your config file is that whenever you used to connect with the wizard, it would run wpa_cli and tell it to set that as the psk and then save the config file... (I have now removed that code and just use sed)
The latest version should add to the config file both the psk and a commented-out line like this:

Code: Select all

#psk="your passphrase"

so you could theoretically uncomment that line and comment out the psk (it won't be modified unless you run the wizard again and choose to save the profile).
Note that if you can connect with the psk set to the passpharase, rather than the 64-char key, it might mean that something went wrong in the key generation, so let me know (has your phrase got any special characters?)

I wish I knew if this is a wpa_supplicant problem or the wizard in the way it is using wpa_supplicant. For me, things WPA have gone wrong since Puppy 4.05, before that, all was fine.

Well, the way to check is to see if the same config file works when you run wpa_supplicant "manually" but not from the wizard/boot script (you can right-click on the "Connect" desktop icon and select "Autoconnect to ethernet/wireless" and it will run the same code as when booting).
Also, see if the psk generation is wrong, as I mention above (compare the 64-char key in the config file to the one you get from running wpa_passphrase manually).

I believe you are doing all this from a non-wireless Pup 2.14?!
So what should I do for you, to see if it is a wpa_supplicant issue? Try an older wizard or a different version of wpa_supplicant?

Try the above, but also an older version of wpa_supplicant if you can -- it was upgraded sometime during the alpha/beta stages of 4.1.

[Dougal]

But I also noticed that in the default conf, the ap-scan value=1 whereas in all earlier conf files I had seen (and used happily), ap-scan=2. So I changed this and re-booted.
Lo and behold, without doing anything, I now have a wireless connection from my rt2570 device via 4.1 to my WPA router which has stayed up for over a hour now (after an initial single drop-out and re-connect). Lovely green RutilT icon.

Aha, so we're back to the ap_scan value... that's what gets changed when you tick the boxes (with the SSID: label) named "Driver", "Hidden" and the last I can't remember now...
We've had quite a bit of a discussion about it here before and JustGreg has been investigating it.
Note that the wpa_supplicant docs actually mention the 2 value as useful for WPA networks (with a hidden SSID, if I recall correctly) using ndiswrapper...

[hayagix]

With the Oct. 11 network manager I had to delete "ap_scan=1" and enter my password(psk="password") in wpa_supplicant profile.

I was, then, able to connect to the Wpa-psk connection with rt2500usb wireless using ndiswrapper/windows drivers.

I had to make sure any profiles I tried earlier were deleted.

This is in Puppy 4.1 final.

[dogone]

Wireless network setup succeeds without difficulty, but the network is not restarted upon [re]boot. Network Wizard does not appear to retain any settings.

[Dougal]

With the Oct. 11 network manager I had to delete "ap_scan=1" and enter my password(psk="password") in wpa_supplicant profile.

You don't need to delete it.
In the wizard window, you need to tick the "Hidden SSID" box, which will set it to 2.

[Dougal]

Wireless network setup succeeds without difficulty, but the network is not restarted upon [re]boot. Network Wizard does not appear to retain any settings.

Are you sure the settings were not retained? If you select "save" in the wizard it should save profiles in /etc/network-wizard.
To see why it doesn't connect when you boot, look in /tmp/bootsysinit.log.

[High Q]

Good evening,

First I must say: my English is bad

I have installed the new network wizard (11.oct.) too, but it doesn't work. I filled out the fields correctly. When I click the button "use this profile" I get a message "Unable to establish WPA-Connection". In the attachment I have made a screenshot of the "details-window". Unfortunately I dont know what I should do.
With an older version of the wizard I was able to connect my router, but I have to configure it after every boot of my machine. So I guess the new version fix this problem.

[davids45]

G'day Dougal,
Sorry to say, last night, with 4.1, the network wizard and wpa_supplicant, nothing seemed to work again.

RutilT could see a connection being made to my WPA wireless router, but RutilT was reporting the connection was with a weird address, something like 168.xxx.xx.xx, not the 192.168.2.2 that is usually what I see with the other Pups and XP.

I have seen other posters to the forum getting this type of address and no useful connectivity. Although connected fairly stably via this strange address, I could not access the Internet.

Nothing seemed to work when I tried editing various conf files in my 4.1 install. Switching to XP and then 4.04, both logged on OK.

I also get the error message that I see just posted by High Q.

I hope to have a bit more play-time tonight after I put the garbage out, to try your previous suggestions in attempting to sort out this wpa_supplicant/wizard problem.

David S.

[MU]

the screenshot indicates, that eth1 is used.
In an older version of Muppy (008.3, based on Puppy 3), someone solved to start with:
ifconfig ra0 up &

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 840#234840

Mark

[Dougal]

I have installed the new network wizard (11.oct.) too, but it doesn't work. I filled out the fields correctly. When I click the button "use this profile" I get a message "Unable to establish WPA-Connection". In the attachment I have made a screenshot of the "details-window".

Your screenshot misses the important part... you need to scroll to the right in the details window to see what the actual error is...