From: "Mikkel L. Ellertson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, June 24, 2005 11:19 PM
Subject: Re: [newbie] mdkcustom missing
Teilhard Knight wrote:
From: "Ron Hunter-Duvar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2005 4:14 PM
Subject: Re: [newbie] mdkcustom missing
On June 22, 2005 13:24, Teilhard Knight wrote:
From: "Mikkel L. Ellertson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 10:05 AM
Subject: Re: [newbie] mdkcustom missing
> Teilhard Knight wrote:
...
> It sounds like we don't have everything configured to match your >
system.
> At this point, I suspect that it is ether the essid, or that you are
> using encription, and you don't have the correct key. (It could
also be
> a problem where firmware needs to be uploaded to the device, but that
> should have generated an error message in the logs.)
>
> If it works ok in Windows, then copy down the ESSID and KEY that
> works
> in Windows, so you can configure Linux the same way.
The adapter works all right in Windows. No problem at all.
As for the ESSID and key, I have multiple checked them and I am sure
they
are the correct ones. I used them to check the adapter itself is
problem
free in Windows. I am as surprised as you, specially because the
signal and
the network link were excellent in Windows. And in my laptop I have the
wireless integrated adapter working great in Mandrake. I'll wait for
your
feedback. In the meanwhile I'll also make a Google search just in case
I
find something.
Teilhard
Try it with encryption turned off.
I was trying a while back to get a wireless PC card working on a
laptop. I
could get it to work with encryption off, but I could never get it to
work
with encryption on. In fact, the program that handled the encryption key
didn't even have the right size key field (on my wireless router, with
128
bit encryption, the key length is 26 hex digits; yes, I know, that's
only 104
bits, not 128; something weird in the way WEP was designed). I forget
the
details now, though, as this was many moons ago.
Of course, you might not be comfortable working with encryption off,
either
for your own data sent over the air, or for some else being able to
war drive
onto your network. But realize that WEP encryption is broken anyway (I
think
it's something to do with the not totally random way that 104 bits are
mapped
into 128 bits), and will only stop the most casual of interlopers. A
determined cracker will be kept out for a maximum of several hours, and
a
minimum of a few minutes, depending on the amount of network traffic
(there's
an upper bound on the number of intercepted packets required to crack
the
key). WPA is better, if it's supported, but I believe even it is not
totally
secure.
If you want any assurance of security over a wireless connection, you
have to
set it up as a vpn connection.
I followed your advise and turned encryption off. I was able to connect
all right then. Problem is my laptop ceases receiving and the connection
is cut for it. Maybe it would not be difficult to configure the laptop
to work with encryption off, but as a first approach I turned encryption
on again. I agree with what you say about a hacker breaking in and the
rest, but I feel very unprotected without encryption. The default
configuration of my router is 64 bit encryption, which even makes easier
for someone to break in my computer than with 128 bit. But I have the
hope to find a cure for the impossibility to get an IP address with
encryption on. Maybe that we know now that I can connect with encryption
off Mikkel, you, or even me can come with something to make the bloody
adapter to work properly. If we do not succeed, I'll return the adapter
to my dealer and ask him to change it for something else.
Teilhard.
Well, it being able to connect with encription off is a good sign. With
you using 64 bit encription, there is less of a problem then there would
be with 128 bit encription. (I have had to upgrade firmware on a few
cards before they would connect uing 128 bit encription under Linux.)
You may want to try adding the line
WIRELESS_IWCONFIG="key restricted"
to the config file. If I understand it correctly, what it does is tell
the card that is has to use the encription key to connect.
I did as you say, and it made no difference. There is something really odd
in the report of iwconfig. See below.
The other posibility is that we are changing the wrong config file. But
I do not think this is the case. In any case, when you get a chance, run
iwconfig on the machine whith the NIC plugged in, and the interface
trying to connect, and let us know what is says. It should show the
wireless status, and if it is trying to use an encription key or not.
(iwconfig is the wireless compliment to ifconfig.)
I give you the output of iwconfig:
---------------------------
# iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.
wlan0 802.11b/g NIC ESSID:""
Mode:Managed Frequency=2.442GHz Access Point: 00:00:00:00:00:00
Bit Rate:11Mb/s
Retry:off RTS thr=2432 B Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality:8/92 Signal level:60/154 Noise level:161/154
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0
eth1 no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
sit0 no wireless extensions.
_____________________
If I run iwconfig while the interface is trying to connect, I get: "no
wireless extensions" for wlan0. What I find odd is the entry: "Encryption
key:off" in wlan0. It detects the key off, and I wonder how that might
happen. I hope you have an idea of what may be wrong.
Teilhard.
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