How to connect to my WPA2 network?

[AgentBlair]

I've successfully fully installed Puppy on a CF card inserted in an IDE adapter but ran into trouble with the my wireless card to connect to the internet. Now the CF card is wiped out and I've tried multiple versions of puppy with live CD. I am trying to connect to my WPA2 wireless network but it keeps successfully connecting to my neighbor's open network which I do not want it to do. No matter what I try it refuses to connect to my home network. A year ago I was able to connect to my WEP network. With pup-431.iso, here is what I run into:



Then when I click "Use this Profile" I get this:



then:

Details:

I know the wireless card works. It's a Linksys PCMCIA card (WPC11, version 1, 2.5, and 3!) I've tried 3 versions of the WPC11 and none of them could connect. So it's not broken hardware. It may be the driver that came with puppy that isn't so great with WPA2. Would using a windows driver be of any help? I'm stuck. Help would be appreciated thanks.

[AgentBlair]

Was trying the Ndiswrapper and 2 .INF files in the drivers provided by Linksys: http://homesupport.cisco.com/en-us/wireless/lbc/WPC11
None of which worked using None interface.

[rjbrewer]

I believe those are 802.11b cards.
Have you actually been able to use them with wpa encryption
before?

What modules are being loaded when you run the connection
wizard?

[AgentBlair]

I believe those are 802.11b cards.
Have you actually been able to use them with wpa encryption
before?

What modules are being loaded when you run the connection
wizard?

Yes I have accessed the exact same WPA2 network using Windows XP.

It had Wlan0, now it's eth0. I'm not sure how to get it back now.

[rjbrewer]

I believe those are 802.11b cards.
Have you actually been able to use them with wpa encryption
before?

What modules are being loaded when you run the connection
wizard?

Yes I have accessed the exact same WPA2 network using Windows XP.

It had Wlan0, now it's eth0. I'm not sure how to get it back now.

WlanO and eth0 are the interfaces, which can change with different
versions.
The wizard also shows module and device description.
I can't find much about wpa with those cards.
A little more Puppy info;

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 336#159336

[AgentBlair]

I believe those are 802.11b cards.
Have you actually been able to use them with wpa encryption
before?

What modules are being loaded when you run the connection
wizard?

Yes I have accessed the exact same WPA2 network using Windows XP.

It had Wlan0, now it's eth0. I'm not sure how to get it back now.

WlanO and eth0 are the interfaces, which can change with different
versions.
The wizard also shows module and device description.
I can't find much about wpa with those cards.
A little more Puppy info;

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 336#159336

I had a hard time understanding that. I did follow the directions and typed in the commands in the console but it wasn't any help.

[tempestuous]

AgentBlair,
as rjbrewer has said, it's important that you tell us which kernel module Puppy has loaded, and so far you haven't.
The Network Wizard will clearly list which module is loaded for each network interface.

All 3 of your wifi devices contain the Intersil Prism chipset, which historically has been supported by several different Linux drivers (modules). In modern Puppies there are likely to be 2 different modules competing for your wifi device: orinoco_cs and hostap_cs.
Puppy should load the more modern hostap_cs, which is WPA-compatible, but maybe Puppy is loading orinoco_cs?
You need to find out.

[AgentBlair]

AgentBlair,
as rjbrewer has said, it's important that you tell us which kernel module Puppy has loaded, and so far you haven't.
The Network Wizard will clearly list which module is loaded for each network interface.

All 3 of your wifi devices contain the Intersil Prism chipset, which historically has been supported by several different Linux drivers (modules). In modern Puppies there are likely to be 2 different modules competing for your wifi device: orinoco_cs and hostap_cs.
Puppy should load the more modern hostap_cs, which is WPA-compatible, but maybe Puppy is loading orinoco_cs?
You need to find out.

It loads orinoco_cs module. I've tried hostap_cs but I get the no new interfaces were detected message and asks to unload. Is there a way to force this to hostap_cs?

[AgentBlair]

Code: Select all

modprobe hostap 

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ifconfig eth0 up 

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rm /var/run/wpa_supplicant/* 

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wpa_supplicant -i eth0 -D hostap -c /etc/network-wizard/wireless/wpa_profiles/wpa_supplicant2.conf -dd 

Entered those in the console and it scans the nearby networks and lists them but it goes in a loop and then stops after 5 minutes.

[tempestuous]

I've tried hostap_cs but I get the no new interfaces were detected message and asks to unload.

You cannot successfully load the hostap_cs module until the orinoco_cs module is unloaded (or disabled).
There are several possible ways to achieve this:
i) open /etc/rc.d/MODULESCONFIG in Geany. Near the bottom you will see a long line which starts with

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PREFLIST= 

Modify that line so it ends like this -

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 orinoco_cs:hostap_cs '

It's very important to include a space before the final single quotation mark.
Save. Reboot.
Once rebooted, run the Network Wizard and hopefully Puppy will have automatically loaded the hostap_cs module instead of the orinoco_cs module.

ii) If not, you will need to take more drastic measures -
Use ROX to browse into /lib/modules/2.6.30.5/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/orinoco/
and delete "orinoco_cs.ko"
Now run this command -

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depmod-FULL

Then reboot, and hostap_cs should certainly load.

[AgentBlair]

I did that but I may have typed it in incorrectly because after I rebooted puppy was running funny.
So I reinstalled puppy linux and it went back to the hostap_cs module:




However it still gives me the "Unable to establish WPA connection" message and refuses to connect to my network.

[tempestuous]

A few things to try

i) in your wifi router's configuration, check that "SSID Broadcast" is enabled.
Puppy often doesn't play well with hidden SSID's.

ii) check to accurately determine whether your router is set for WPA, or WPA2. If one is failing, try the other.

iii) if your SSID or password has a space or special character in it, when configuring the Network Wizard make sure you enclose the SSID/password with quotation marks.

[AgentBlair]

It's WPA2-Personal, it's not a hidden network.

I've tried wrapping the password in quotation marks. When I click save, the dialog window closes and never reappears. Every time I open it up and try this again the window disappears after hitting "Save".

[tempestuous]

OK, go back to manual commands.

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wpa_supplicant -i eth0 -D hostap -c /etc/network-wizard/wireless/wpa_profiles/wpa_supplicant2.conf -dd 

"eth0" ? Your most recent screenshot indicates that the correct interface (created by the hostap_cs driver) is "wlan0".
So the correct command should be -

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wpa_supplicant -i wlan0 -D hostap -c /etc/network-wizard/wireless/wpa_profiles/wpa_supplicant2.conf -dd

and obviously your SSID and PSK need to be saved in the wpa_supplicant2.conf file.

[AgentBlair]

OK, go back to manual commands.

Code: Select all

wpa_supplicant -i eth0 -D hostap -c /etc/network-wizard/wireless/wpa_profiles/wpa_supplicant2.conf -dd 

"eth0" ? Your most recent screenshot indicates that the correct interface (created by the hostap_cs driver) is "wlan0".
So the correct command should be -

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wpa_supplicant -i wlan0 -D hostap -c /etc/network-wizard/wireless/wpa_profiles/wpa_supplicant2.conf -dd

and obviously your SSID and PSK need to be saved in the wpa_supplicant2.conf file.

I entered this but it runs in a loop:

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modprobe hostap 

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ifconfig wlan0 up 

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rm /var/run/wpa_supplicant/* 

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wpa_supplicant -i wlan0 -D hostap -c /etc/network-wizard/wireless/wpa_profiles/wpa_supplicant2.conf -dd 

I edited the wpa_supplicant2.conf file, where the SSID="mynetworkname" and PSK="password" both wrapped in quotes. Still get a loop.

[Béèm]

Your story is really confusing.
You said you had a FULL on a CF card.
Then the CF card is wiped.
Then you speak of multiple puppy's on CD.
Then you speak of 4.3.1.ISO
Then you speak of eth0
Then you speak of wlan0.
I think you haven't mentioned other things either.

Please start to specify what your installation/way of operating is now and maybe people understand and can give advice.

[AgentBlair]

Your story is really confusing.
You said you had a FULL on a CF card.
Then the CF card is wiped.
Then you speak of multiple puppy's on CD.
Then you speak of 4.3.1.ISO
Then you speak of eth0
Then you speak of wlan0.
I think you haven't mentioned other things either.

Please start to specify what your installation/way of operating is now and maybe people understand and can give advice.

All is true, in order. I had a full install on CF of 431, then wiped it out after it acted all funny on me. Then I tried multiple versions of puppy to see if they work with my wireless card. None did. I reinstalled 4.3.1, somehow reverted to eth0, and older driver and that never worked, I then reinstalled puppy again which defaulted back to wlan0.

At the moment I am running on a live CD, with the original hard disk drive with the Windows XP contents on it so I can find the .INF and possibly use that with the Ndiswrapper. So far I cannot find the .INF file.

[tempestuous]

Now you need to do some troubleshooting.
First, I recommend against this -

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modprobe hostap

Puppy should have automatically loaded the hostap_cs (plus hostap) module at boot up, and any attempt to load it again may corrupt the network interface.

1. Run the "dmesg" command, and see if there are any errors relating to how the hostap_cs driver loaded, particularly relating to firmware.
If so, please report.

2. If there are no errors from dmesg, disable all encryption at your wifi router, and see if you can connect under Puppy in this unencrypted state, using the Network Wizard. If this works, it proves the hostap_cs driver is working in a basic sense.

3. Run this command to query the version of onboard firmware contained in your WPC11 device -

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hostap_diag wlan0

Please report, especially the STAID (station firmware) version.

[AgentBlair]

Now you need to do some troubleshooting.
First, I recommend against this -

Code: Select all

modprobe hostap

Puppy should have automatically loaded the hostap_cs (plus hostap) module at boot up, and any attempt to load it again may corrupt the network interface.

1. Run the "dmesg" command, and see if there are any errors relating to how the hostap_cs driver loaded, particularly relating to firmware.
If so, please report.

2. If there are no errors from dmesg, disable all encryption at your wifi router, and see if you can connect under Puppy in this unencrypted state, using the Network Wizard. If this works, it proves the hostap_cs driver is working in a basic sense.

3. Run this command to query the version of onboard firmware contained in your WPC11 device -

Code: Select all

hostap_diag wlan0

Please report, especially the STAID (station firmware) version.

There were errors running puppy via live CD with a blank hard drive after I typed "dmesg". I'll post the whole log tomorrow.

[AgentBlair]

Okay here it is including the hostap_diag wlan0 command.

I was also able to connect to an unencrypted network.