Re: [gentoo-user] WPA Supplicant

----- Original Message -----
From: Mick 
Date: Sunday, April 24, 2011 9:14 am
Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] WPA Supplicant
To: gentoo-user@l.g.o

> On Sunday 24 April 2011 13:37:03 dhkuhl@×××××××××.net wrote:
> > I'm trying to get wireless working reliably on my laptop. I
> have followed
> > the documentation, but still have a lot of questions . . .
> especially> since it only seems to work sometimes.
> >
> > First, I'm using WPA Supplicant without the gui tools.
>
> run wpa_gui from a terminal and a lot of what you're asking
> below will become
> self-explanatory.
>
>
> > Second, I'm in NYC and there are a lot of networks I can use
> around town.
> >
> > Third, Is there a way I can control the services I use from
> the Grub menu?
> > Since the laptop has a wireless card and an RJ45 jack, I'd
> like to be able
> > boot and not use one or the other. Since I know if I'm not
> physically> connected to a network, there's really no reason to
> even try eth0.
>
> Check /etc/conf.d/rc and in particular:
>
> # RC_NET_STRICT_CHECKING allows some flexibility with the 'net'
> service.# The following values are allowed:
> # none - The 'net' service is always considered up.
> # no - This basically means that at least one net.* service
> besides net.lo
> # must be up. This can be used by notebook users that
> have a wifi
> and
> # a static nic, and only wants one up at any given time
> to have the
> # 'net' service seen as up.
> # lo - This is the same as the 'no' option, but net.lo is
> also counted.
> # This should be useful to people that do not care
> about any specific
> # interface being up at boot.
> # yes - For this ALL network interfaces MUST be up for the
> 'net' service to
> # be considered up.
>
> RC_NET_STRICT_CHECKING="no"
>
> (or you can use "lo")
>
>
> > Forth, The problem. I'm not sure how wpa_supplicant works or
> how it should
> > work. The wpa_supplicant man page gives a few examples on how
> to run it,
> > but when I look at the process list it seems to be run by
> another program
> > called wpa_cli. There's also a shell script in
> /etc/wpa/supplicant that
> > looks like it can start or stop it with CONNECT or DISCONNECT.
> 1) Do I
> > need to enter networks in wpa_supplicant.conf or does
> wpa_supplicant scan
> > for networks and connect to whatever's available?
>
> The latter.
>
> You can however enter manually in
> /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
> particular parameters (keys and what not) of known networks to
> which you
> connect as a matter of preference.
>
>
> > 2) If I have multiple
> > networks available how does wpa_supplicant choose which to
> connect to and
> > can I specify which one I want?
>
> It'll connect to:
>
> a) Any network you have specified in your
> /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf according to the
> preference you have
> set up therein.
>
> b) Any network it finds.
>
> c) Any network you select with wpa_cli, or select/enable/disable
> in wpa_gui.
>
>
> > 3) How should wpa_supplicant be started,
> > stopped and restarted? What should be used for this:
> wpa_supplicant,> wpa_cli, or wpa_cli.sh? I don't see anything
> in /etc/init.d for that, but
> > it looks like netmount may be doing it.
>
> You need to define it in /etc/conf.d/net:
>
> modules=( "wpa_supplicant" )
> wpa_supplicant_wlan0="-Dwext"
>
> (adjust this according to the name of your wireless iface and driver).
>
>
> > 4) The documentation doesn't say
> > to, but the way I got wireless working is by creating a link
> net.wlan0 ->
> > net.lo in the /etc/init.d directory. Is this correct?
>
> It depends which documentation you are looking at. I am sure
> that this is
> explained in the gentoo Handbook and associated documentation.
>
> This is the link you need:
>
> lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 6 Dec 16 14:26 net.wlan0 -> net.lo
>
> but you should have also configured /etc/conf.d/net with your
> desired settings
> or just defaults will run.
>
>
> > I think that's why
> > it's starting automatically when I boot too, because I never
> added it with
> > rc-update so netmount must be picking it up.
>
>
> > 5) This is the most puzzling
> > thing. When wpa_supplicant starts even though I get a inet
> address I
> > can't always get to the internet. Why does the panel applet
> says I'm
> > connected and ifconfig shows an inet address but firefox and
> ping can't
> > reach a site like yahoo or google?
>
> This could well be a dns server/repeater issue.
>
> If you can ping the IP address of google, but not the domain
> name of it, then
> the problem is that you do not have access to a DNS repeater.
> Look in your
> /etc/resolve.conf to see if there is a line saying:
>
> nameserver XXX.XXX.XX.XX
>
> if it is absent then you have not connected to a namesever.
> This is a router
> issue and it could be controlled by some authentication scheme.
> A lot of
> wireless services offered by coffee shops, libraries, etc. may
> give you an IP
> address automatically, but then require you use your browser to
> register with
> their authentication server (using a passwd that they provide
> after you pay
> them for the privilege).
>
> Open access points with no encryption and no DNS authentication
> requirements
> should allow you to connect seamlessly to the Internet.
>
>
> > 6) For networks where I have a
> > password, should that go in wpa_supplicant.conf as plain text
> or should it
> > be encrypted?
>
> This can be a confusing endeavour because some routers will only
> accept
> certain characters in a passphrase, so you could be failing to
> connect due to
> the peculiarities of the router. The passphrase should be
> entered as provided
> by the router owner, then a hex key generated with
> wpa_passphrase (look at man
> wpa_passphrase). Then enter the hex key in your
> wpa_supplicant.conf, or your
> wpa_gui.
>
> HTH for now, ask more as you need it.
> --
> Regards,
> Mick
>
 
I'll give this stuff a try.  I'm sure I'll be back.  Thanks.