Improved Network Wizard (and rc.network)

[popee]

Dogone is correct that there is a problem autoconnecting to the internet upon [re]boot. The wizard does indeed save the profile, but an internet connection is not automagically made upon boot. From what I've seen, you have to manually go back into the wizard, load your profile, then grab an IP.

But what kind of messages do you get in /tmp/bootsysinit.log?
Is it another case of the wireless scan finding nothing?
In that case it would most likely be a driver problem, so it would be good to get a list of the drivers it occurs with (maybe it's only one?), the kernel version people use (i.e they use 4.1 or 4.1retro) and probably try and google and see if it's a known issue -- since if the wireless scan finds nothing, it isn't really a wizard bug... (I could add something to allow the user to select a profile to be "forcefully" used on boot, but that's kinda ugly...)

I confess that I have not loaded any special drivers for my wireless card, but did not think I needed to since it works perfectly. Like I said, after boot I can reopen the connection wizard, locate and load my saved profile, grab an IP via the Auto DHCP button, and it works perfectly. It just does not do this automatically upon reboot.

Here is my bootsysinit log:

Code: Select all

VERSION UPDATE
LOAD KERNEL MODULES
LOAD SWAP
MISC. SYSTEM SETUP
WAIT MODULES LOADED
ls: cannot access /sys/bus/pcmcia/devices/*/modalias: No such file or directory
USER SELECTED MODULES
SETUP SERVICES
FATAL: Error inserting battery (/lib/modules/2.6.25.16/kernel/drivers/acpi/battery.ko): No such device
RECOGNISE MEDIA DEVICES
Loading "us" keyboard map... Loading /usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/qwerty/us.map
MISC. DESKTOP STUFF
PERSONAL BOOT SCRIPT
cups: started scheduler.
Starting PCMCIA services:

If looks like it's not seeing my pcmcia card at this point in the boot process. It seems to see it fine after fully completing the entire bootup though, since it appears in the connection wizard and I can successfully set it up and establish a connection. Also, after boot I can find /sys/bus/pcmcia/devices/*/modalias down the folder path.

Could it be a matter of not enough time allotted in the boot process for the card to initialize?

In any case, I agree that this may not be a connection wizard issue, so perhaps I need to take this matter to another thread. Just posting here in case a connection to the wizard was seen by those far more knowledgeable than I. I don't want to muddy this thread w/ non-relevant issues.

[Dougal]

Tried the manual method, using the conf. file generated by the wizard in wpa_profiles. rxvt reported an Invalid passphrase length, 64 but was expecting 8...63.

Ok, that's a bug in the last version.
It seems like in the wpa_supplicant config the psk should be quoted only if it's the actual passphrase -- the 64 char key shouldn't (and it seems that's how wpa_supplicant actually differentiates them! that's why it complains about it being more than 63 chars long -- since it's looking at the 64-char key when it expected a 8-63 char phrase...).

[Dougal]

I confess that I have not loaded any special drivers for my wireless card, but did not think I needed to since it works perfectly. Like I said, after boot I can reopen the connection wizard, locate and load my saved profile, grab an IP via the Auto DHCP button, and it works perfectly. It just does not do this automatically upon reboot.

It doesn't have to do with any special modules: maybe there's one driver (or more than one) in one of the kernels that has problems with scanning.
That's why people should give info when they report these things, so I can try and see what's in common with all of them.

If looks like it's not seeing my pcmcia card at this point in the boot process. It seems to see it fine after fully completing the entire bootup though, since it appears in the connection wizard and I can successfully set it up and establish a connection. Also, after boot I can find /sys/bus/pcmcia/devices/*/modalias down the folder path.

Could it be a matter of not enough time allotted in the boot process for the card to initialize?

Well, from the looks of your bootsysinit.log, rc.network didn't run at all! There are just no messages from it whatsoever... so I don't know what's going on.

After boot, you can try and right-click on the "Connect" icon on the desktop and select "Autoconnect to ethernet/wireless" and see what happens -- it is supposed to run the same code as on startup, so we can see what happens (it will redirect all output to a file in /tmp, "network-connect.log" or something).

[Dougal]

I have posted another update on the parent post:
- fix the problem with quoting of psk
- make ip_scan default to 2 when using ndiswrapper

[MU]

updated pets attached.
Mark

[popee]

Well, from the looks of your bootsysinit.log, rc.network didn't run at all! There are just no messages from it whatsoever... so I don't know what's going on.

Oops, sorry. . . that was me. I had those messages piping into another log file for troubleshooting purposes.

You're right, the bootsysinit file is indeed complaining about failing during the network scan. After bootup, however, I can right-click on the Connect icon and zip right onto the net w/ no problem. I even have WEP turned on.

[davids45]

G'day Dougal,
Thanks for persisting with my WPA problem in 4.1.
Couldn't do too many tests last night, had to go to a film premiere.
But I did confirm the issue with the quotes around the long pass-phrase when "Saving" a new profile, so the patch should be a step closer to the fix.

When trying to find what's happening, as well as the wizard window, I have 2 rxvt windows open (one on iwconfig, one for a manual wpa_supplicant try), 1 ROX looking at the /var/run directory to see if wpa_supplicant runs, and 1 RutilT open to watch the connections and any IP addresses.

On booting late last night, wpa_supplicant did not run (nothing created in /var/run) but if I go through the wizard starting from "Scan", selecting my router from those on offer, loading the previously saved profile with the non-quotation-marked long phrase then using that profile, there is a wpa_supplicant start-up but it fails to connect in 30 seconds reporting various handshake or association end-points in the details box when failure of WPA occurs.

If I open the wizard then go straight to AutoDCHP, a file of some sort is created in /var/run/ (contents are a number) but no wpa_supplicant starts up nor any association with the router.

Will let you know how I go with the new pet patch.

David S.

[sullysat]

Hi Dougal,

I came across this thread while looking for solutions to the issue of my system not auto starting the internet connection. I read your response to popee and tried the "autoconnect" option from the Connect icon. My log file follows:

configuring network interface wlan0
Configuring interface wlan0 to network <ssid> with iwconfig...
cheching if interface wlan0 is alive.../etc/rc.d/rc.network: line 98: 2899 Terminated gtkdialog3 --program NETWIZ_Connecting_DIALOG
yes
/etc/rc.d/rc.network: line 81: gxmessage: command not found
ress = 00:0a:e9:00:31:72
Info, wlan0: broadcasting for a lease
Debug, wlan0: sending DHCP_DISCOVER with xid 0x4a29d720
Debug, wlan0: waiting on select for 20 seconds
Debug, wlan0: got a packet with xid 0x4a29d720
Info, wlan0: offered 192.168.1.105 from 192.168.1.1
Debug, wlan0: sending DHCP_REQUEST with xid 0x4a29d720
Debug, wlan0: waiting on select for 20 seconds
Debug, wlan0: got a packet with xid 0x4a29d720
Info, wlan0: checking 192.168.1.105 is available on attached networks
Debug, wlan0: sending ARP probe #1
Debug, wlan0: sending ARP probe #2
Debug, wlan0: sending ARP probe #3
Debug, wlan0: sending ARP claim #1
Debug, wlan0: sending ARP claim #2
Info, wlan0: leased 192.168.1.105 for 86400 seconds
Info, wlan0: no renewal time supplied, assuming 43200 seconds
Info, wlan0: no rebind time supplied, assuming 75600 seconds
Info, wlan0: adding IP address 192.168.1.105/24
Info, wlan0: adding default route via 192.168.1.1 metric 0
Info, wlan0: adding route to 169.254.0.0/16 metric 0
Debug, wlan0: writing /etc/resolv.conf
Debug, wlan0: writing /var/lib/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-wlan0.info
Debug, wlan0: exec "/etc/dhcpcd.sh" "/var/lib/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-wlan0.info" "new"
Debug, wlan0: forking to background

It ran right away and connected me without any issue at all.

I'm running 4.1 with the retro kernel on a Dell Cpx laptop, 500MHz, 128MB RAM, 6GB HDD, Full Install.

My pcmcia wireless card is seen as 'hostap_cs' in 4.1. It is recognized as 'orinoco_cs' on earlier versions of Puppy but has always been recognized without a problem.

Hope this helps you solve the problem. Thanks for all your effort.

Sully

[Dougal]

On booting late last night, wpa_supplicant did not run (nothing created in /var/run)

I think the directory is deleted when it quits, you should look in bootsysinit.log to know for sure (but also remove old config files and try afresh, to make sure they don't cause any problems).

there is a wpa_supplicant start-up but it fails to connect in 30 seconds reporting various handshake or association end-points in the details box when failure of WPA occurs.

D'oh! I meant to raise it to 60 to see if it will solve some problems... will let you know what needs to be done to increase it.

[Dougal]

My log file follows:
/etc/rc.d/rc.network: line 81: gxmessage: command not found

Well, that shows one (minor) problem: the new Puppy seems to be missing gxmessage!

It ran right away and connected me without any issue at all.

I am assuming the log file you posted is the one from the "Connect" icon attempt, right? (/tmp/network-connect.log)
What I need to know is what bootsysinit.log shows, since that's where the failure to connect on boot will show -- but as you can see, the code seems to be working, so it must be something related to the HW initializing.

[sullysat]

What I need to know is what bootsysinit.log shows, since that's where the failure to connect on boot will show --

Here's the bootsysinit.log:

VERSION UPDATE
LOAD KERNEL MODULES
LOAD SWAP
MISC. SYSTEM SETUP
WAIT MODULES LOADED
ls: cannot access /sys/bus/pcmcia/devices/*/modalias: No such file or directory
USER SELECTED MODULES
SETUP SERVICES
RECOGNISE MEDIA DEVICES
Loading "us" keyboard map... Loading /usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/qwerty/us.map
Waiting for interfaces to initialize...MISC. DESKTOP STUFF
PERSONAL BOOT SCRIPT
Error for wireless request "Set Mode" (8B06) :
SET failed on device wlan0 ; No such device.
Error for wireless request "Set Encode" (8B2A) :
SET failed on device wlan0 ; No such device.
Error for wireless request "Set ESSID" (8B1A) :
SET failed on device wlan0 ; No such device.
ifconfig: SIOCGIFFLAGS: No such device
Error, wlan0: ioctl SIOCGIFHWADDR: No such device
.....cups: started scheduler.
Starting PCMCIA services:
..
configuring network interface wlan0
wireless scan with iwlist failed (no networks found)... skipping interface
Error for wireless request "Set ESSID" (8B1A) :
SET failed on device wlan0 ; Invalid argument.
Error for wireless request "Set Frequency" (8B04) :
SET failed on device wlan0 ; Invalid argument.

but as you can see, the code seems to be working, so it must be something related to the HW initializing.

I agree completely. I just don't know enough about it (YET!) to figure it out. Please let me know what else I can do to help.

Thanks,
Sully

[dogone]

Dougal,
I'm among those poor souls for whom 4.1 (w/ Oct 16 release) does not retain wireless settings across a boot. So as usual, I re-entered my WPA connection settings this morning. Following your exchange with sullsat, I decided to look over my own bootsysinit.log. It's pretty scary reading. Perhaps it will help shed some light on yon problem.


VERSION UPDATE
LOAD KERNEL MODULES
LOAD SWAP
MISC. SYSTEM SETUP
WAIT MODULES LOADED
ls: cannot access /sys/bus/pcmcia/devices/*/modalias: No such file or directory
USER SELECTED MODULES
SETUP SERVICES
RECOGNISE MEDIA DEVICES
Loading "us" keyboard map... Loading /usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/qwerty/us.map
MISC. DESKTOP STUFF
PERSONAL BOOT SCRIPT

/dev/sda:
setting standby to 24 (2 minutes)
Waiting for interfaces to initialize...
configuring network interface wlan0
cups: started scheduler.
Starting PCMCIA services:
cat: /tmp/wpa_status.txt: No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove `/tmp/wpa_status.txt': No such file or directory
Failed to connect to wpa_supplicant - wpa_ctrl_open: No such file or directory
Failed...
failed to configure wireless interface wlan0... skipping
35eb1eeac6692d1e1ee6dee76dceb44d307f122f317a64c10aaf6100b5150eb"'.
Line 16: WPA-PSK accepted for key management, but no PSK configured.
Line 16: failed to parse network block.
Failed to read or parse configuration '/etc/network-wizard/wireless/wpa_profiles/00:15:05:22:D0:65.WPA.conf'.
Waiting for connection...
trying to connect
Failed to connect to wpa_supplicant - wpa_ctrl_open: No such file or directory
error while running:
wpa_cli -i wlan0 status | grep 'wpa_state='
end

[davids45]

G'day,
The last patch seems to have fixed my erratic problems.
I made a fresh frugal of 4.1 with the latest network wizard as well as this full version, and if I go through the wizard step-by-step, I get a log-in. I see the wpa directory and dhcpcd file in /var/run.
My only problem seems now to be the same one the other recent posters have that the re-boot does not necessarily give the automatic log-on that we'd all like.
Nothing in /var/run when this re-boot failure happens, but a step-by-step through the wizard has so far been good.

Must be getting close to the final fix though.

David S.

[Dougal]

You're right, the bootsysinit file is indeed complaining about failing during the network scan. After bootup, however, I can right-click on the Connect icon and zip right onto the net w/ no problem. I even have WEP turned on.

So it must be a problem of the HW not being initialized properly when rc.network is run.
This can be solved by increasing the sleep time waiting for it, but I can't just increase it for everybody, since people with HW that initializes fast will want to be connected already when X starts!

So I need info on the different setups that have this problem, so that I can detect them and know to wait a little longer:
- which kernel module is used
- which kernel version (i.e. the one from 4.1 or 4.1retro)
- maybe some info about the device: pci ids (from the output of "elspci -l", for example), any possible errors seen in dmesg output etc.

[Dougal]

Here's the bootsysinit.log:

Code: Select all

Error for wireless request "Set Mode" (8B06) :
    SET failed on device wlan0 ; No such device.
Error for wireless request "Set Encode" (8B2A) :
    SET failed on device wlan0 ; No such device.
Error for wireless request "Set ESSID" (8B1A) :
    SET failed on device wlan0 ; No such device.
ifconfig: SIOCGIFFLAGS: No such device
Error, wlan0: ioctl SIOCGIFHWADDR: No such device

This implies that the interface was not fully initialized yet... see my reply above.

[Dougal]

configuring network interface wlan0
cups: started scheduler.
Starting PCMCIA services:

These three lines seem to imply that configuring wlan0 started before CPMCIA was properly working... is it a PCMCIA NIC you're using?

35eb1eeac6692d1e1ee6dee76dceb44d307f122f317a64c10aaf6100b5150eb"'.
Line 16: WPA-PSK accepted for key management, but no PSK configured.
Line 16: failed to parse network block.
Failed to read or parse configuration '/etc/network-wizard/wireless/wpa_profiles/00:15:05:22:D0:65.WPA.conf'.

This means there might be a problem with that config file -- try looking at it and make sure it's ok. I don't know how that psk (the long hex number) got in the log, but it has a double-quote (") at the end, that might suggest the problem fixed in the 16th version of the wizard (was that configuration file created by an earlier version?).

[sullysat]

So it must be a problem of the HW not being initialized properly when rc.network is run.
This can be solved by increasing the sleep time waiting for it, but I can't just increase it for everybody, since people with HW that initializes fast will want to be connected already when X starts!

I'll be happy to increase the the sleep time and test it. What file is that in?

So I need info on the different setups that have this problem, so that I can detect them and know to wait a little longer:
- which kernel module is used
- which kernel version (i.e. the one from 4.1 or 4.1retro)
- maybe some info about the device: pci ids (from the output of "elspci -l", for example), any possible errors seen in dmesg output etc.

I don't know about the kernel module, but I'm running the retro kernel version of 4.1 with a generic wireless pcmcia card that THIS version of puppy sees as 'hostap_cs' (has always been 'orinoco_cs' in previous versions). The output of elspci -l is as follows:


Hope this helps.
Sully

[Dougal]

I'll be happy to increase the the sleep time and test it. What file is that in?

/etc/rc.d/rc.network
You'll have to add a sleep after the MAXWAIT loop, since that loop quits the moment the interface is found (which in your case is not enough).

I don't know about the kernel module, but I'm running the retro kernel version of 4.1 with a generic wireless pcmcia card that THIS version of puppy sees as 'hostap_cs' (has always been 'orinoco_cs' in previous versions).

The reason it changed is that I found out that hostap and orinoco overlap, but apparently hostap is preferable (it's newer), so Barry added an override.

I have a feeling this might actually be a problem with PCMCIA, where Barry actually needs to make sure it's initialized before starting rc.network...

What I can do, is add an extra sleep if a pcmcia networking module is loaded...

[prit1]

Dougal,

I am having problems with the Network Wizard in Puppy 4.1. I then tried downloading the latest from this thread. Still not working. Atleast now I can get to the Ndiswrapper page where it lets me select an .inf file. But bcmwl5.inf which is for Broadcom that works in Ubuntu and Puppy 4.00 is not working using this Network Wizard.

When I load the .inf file, it says, driver present. But then comes back with the message - no new interfaces found and asks me to unload.

Please help.

[Dougal]

When I load the .inf file, it says, driver present. But then comes back with the message - no new interfaces found and asks me to unload.

Did you remove first the native module that might have been loaded?
The "bcm" part makes me think of Broadcom... if the native driver is b43, you'll need to blacklist the "ssb" module (in the Boot Manager), since that's the one that actually takes hold of the device.
If that's not the case, you might want to have a look at the output of dmesg and see if loading that driver with ndiswrapper produced any error messages.