Re: Problem setup atheros wifi card using WPA TKIP

On Wed, 2010-02-24 at 15:09 +0100, Sam Lefebvre wrote:

> Do you mean residues of wpa_supplicant? Because I need it for my connection.
> After updating the packages with thu gui and restart, I can't load wpa_supplicant anymore:
> 
> sam@Alix3d3:~$ sudo wpa_supplicant -Dwext -iath4 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
> ioctl[SIOCGIFFLAGS]: No such device
> Could not get interface 'ath4' flags
> ioctl[SIOCSIWPMKSA]: No such device

Please don't post useless messages.  If ath4 is missing for whatever
reason, of course wpa_supplicant won't work with it.  Maybe you updated
the kernel, so that there are no madwifi modules for that kernel?  Then
ath5k is probably loaded and the wireless interface is wlan0.

> linux-generic is already the newest version.

Good.

> >>   The most radical way would be to kill wpa_supplicant with SIGKILL:
> > 
> > sudo killall -KILL wpa_supplicant
> 
> I can kill it, however it is no longer in the lsmod:

wpa_supplicant is a program, not a module, so it won't be in the lsmod
output.  You can see if it's in the process list:

ps aux |grep wpa_supplicant

> Ok, but when it is nessecary i can acces my system directly (keyboard and screen) when i'm at home.

Then you can add "1" to the kernel command line in the bootloader or
select the recovery mode or you can use "sudo init 1" to go to the
runlevel 1.  That would almost certainly remover any interference from
NetworkManager.

> > There is nothing MadWifi specific in that problem, as you can see by
> > trying ath5k.  You may want to discuss this problem in a more suitable
> > place, e.g. in a mailing list about NetworkManager.  Ideally,
> > NetworkManager should not try to manage interfaces already managed by
> > a non-resident wpa_supplicant.  And of course the network should work
> > for you without any need to resort to running wpa_supplicant manually.
> 
> 
> Ok, i didn't knew before the switch from windows that Linux is so weak ...  

I think you are unfair here.  I'm sure running wpa_supplicant in Windows
is not exactly trivial.  I've seen conflicting wireless configuration
tools in Windows.

In case I was unclear, NetworkManager should let you connect to any AP,
including those with WPA.  It should not be necessary to run
wpa_supplicant manually.  It that doesn't work, you should use support
resources of your distro rather than try to run wpa_supplicant manually
and ask help from developers of one particular wireless driver.

It is possible to disable NetworkManager and configure everything
manually.  But it should be your choice and you should be prepared to
deal with the consequences.

> I still have to be convinced about the benefits. Maybe you can suggest
> me a specific mailing list for discussing this problem, because
> neither the manufacturer of the chipset (atheros), nor the
> manufacturer of the card (Compex), nor the manufacturer of the Alix3d3
> embedded PC (pcengines) answers on this issue. 

I suggest that you first decide what it exactly the problem.  If you
simply want to have a working wireless connection, look for support
resources of your distro.

If you want NetworkManager to coexist with wpa_supplicant, talk to
NetworkManager developers.

I don't see anything hardware specific in anything you have posted so
far.

I'm not interested in continuing this discussion in madwifi mailing
lists, as it's completely offtopic by now.

-- 
Regards,
Pavel Roskin

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