[gentoo-user] NetworkManager and/or WICD

[gentoo-user] NetworkManager and/or WICD

[Mike Edenfield]

Does anyone have any experience getting either NetworkManager or WICD to
work properly under Gentoo?  When I attempt to use either of those
utilities to get onto my wireless network, the NIC refuses to stay
connected to the base station for more than a few seconds at a time.
Instead, it continually disassociates and deauthenticates, only for
nm/wicd to hop right back on.  However, if I manually configure
wpa_supplicant for a given SSID and start it via the init script
directly, I don't have any such problems.

Additionally, I can't get either applet to actually save settings (like
known networks, passwords, etc.) which means that I'm continually
interrupted by a prompt for the wireless password.

What I'm really looking for is a graphical utility that will let me
connect to specific newly-detected wireless networks without having to
edit the WPA configuration and restart it; NetworkManager and WICD seem
to be the most popular.  Any other suggestions would also be welcome.

--Mike

Re: [gentoo-user] NetworkManager and/or WICD

[Albert Hopkins]

On Tue, 2009-11-03 at 21:52 -0500, Mike Edenfield wrote:
> Does anyone have any experience getting either NetworkManager or WICD to
> work properly under Gentoo?  When I attempt to use either of those
> utilities to get onto my wireless network, the NIC refuses to stay
> connected to the base station for more than a few seconds at a time.
> Instead, it continually disassociates and deauthenticates, only for
> nm/wicd to hop right back on.  However, if I manually configure
> wpa_supplicant for a given SSID and start it via the init script
> directly, I don't have any such problems.
> 
> Additionally, I can't get either applet to actually save settings (like
> known networks, passwords, etc.) which means that I'm continually
> interrupted by a prompt for the wireless password.
> 
> What I'm really looking for is a graphical utility that will let me
> connect to specific newly-detected wireless networks without having to
> edit the WPA configuration and restart it; NetworkManager and WICD seem
> to be the most popular.  Any other suggestions would also be welcome.

Have you checked your logs?  I know NM spews copious amounts of logging
data.  

I use NM with wireless, WPA/2 and also the openvpn and vpnc plugins.  I
don't have the problem you're experiencing, but whenever there is a
problems I can usually deduce it from syslog.

-a

Re: [gentoo-user] NetworkManager and/or WICD

[Iain Buchanan]

On Tue, 2009-11-03 at 21:52 -0500, Mike Edenfield wrote:
> Does anyone have any experience getting either NetworkManager or WICD to
> work properly under Gentoo?

NetworkManager, yes.  I just started using it recently.

>   When I attempt to use either of those
> utilities to get onto my wireless network, the NIC refuses to stay
> connected to the base station for more than a few seconds at a time.
> Instead, it continually disassociates and deauthenticates, only for
> nm/wicd to hop right back on.  However, if I manually configure
> wpa_supplicant for a given SSID and start it via the init script
> directly, I don't have any such problems.

Have you stopped your net.wlan0 script?  Also remove it from the default
runlevel, and set "rc_hotplug="!net.wlan0 !net.eth0" in /etc/rc.conf (if
you're using openrc).

> Additionally, I can't get either applet to actually save settings (like
> known networks, passwords, etc.) which means that I'm continually
> interrupted by a prompt for the wireless password.

Do you have seahorse (gnome)?  Depending on how it's setup, you should
only have to provide the master password once for nm to access all your
keys.

> What I'm really looking for is a graphical utility that will let me
> connect to specific newly-detected wireless networks without having to
> edit the WPA configuration and restart it; NetworkManager and WICD seem
> to be the most popular.  Any other suggestions would also be welcome.

never tried WICD.  nm (and nm-applet) ftw!


-- 
Iain Buchanan <iaindb at netspace dot net dot au>

Mad, adj.:
	Affected with a high degree of intellectual independence ...
		-- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"

Re: [gentoo-user] NetworkManager and/or WICD

[Mike Edenfield]

On 11/3/2009 11:16 PM, Iain Buchanan wrote:
> On Tue, 2009-11-03 at 21:52 -0500, Mike Edenfield wrote:

>>    When I attempt to use either of those
>> utilities to get onto my wireless network, the NIC refuses to stay
>> connected to the base station for more than a few seconds at a time.
>> Instead, it continually disassociates and deauthenticates, only for
>> nm/wicd to hop right back on.  However, if I manually configure
>> wpa_supplicant for a given SSID and start it via the init script
>> directly, I don't have any such problems.
>
> Have you stopped your net.wlan0 script?  Also remove it from the default
> runlevel, and set "rc_hotplug="!net.wlan0 !net.eth0" in /etc/rc.conf (if
> you're using openrc).

I hadn't done that initially, but I did this time, and still get the 
same issue.  I'm having trouble determining if the problem is 
NetworkManager telling the NIC to disassociate, or the NIC telling 
NetworkManager to disassociate.

As long as NetworkManager is running, my dmesg output shows this 
happening about once every 15 seconds or so (I don't know what any of 
those status codes mean, or they may help troubleshoot the problem :) )

wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec
wlan0: authenticated
wlan0: associate with AP 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec
wlan0: RX AssocResp from 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec (capab=0x411 status=12 aid=1)
wlan0: AP denied association (code=12)
wlan0: associate with AP 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec
wlan0: RX AssocResp from 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec (capab=0x411 status=12 aid=1)
wlan0: AP denied association (code=12)
wlan0: associate with AP 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec
wlan0: RX AssocResp from 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec (capab=0x411 status=12 aid=1)
wlan0: AP denied association (code=12)
wlan0: association with AP 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec timed out
wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec
wlan0: authenticated
wlan0: associate with AP 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec
wlan0: RX AssocResp from 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec (capab=0x411 status=0 aid=1)
wlan0: associated
wlan0: disassociated (Reason: 14)
wlan0: deauthenticated (Reason: 6)

The syslog output from NetworkManager shows basically the same cycle:

Nov 04 14:12:11 [NetworkManager] <info>  Activation (wlan0) successful, 
device activated._
Nov 04 14:12:11 [NetworkManager] <info>  Activation (wlan0) Stage 5 of 5 
(IP Configure Commit) complete._
Nov 04 14:12:38 [NetworkManager] <info>  (wlan0): supplicant connection 
state:  completed -> disconnected_
Nov 04 14:12:38 [NetworkManager] <info>  (wlan0): supplicant connection 
state:  disconnected -> scanning_
Nov 04 14:12:38 [NetworkManager] <info>  (wlan0): supplicant connection 
state:  scanning -> disconnected_
Nov 04 14:12:40 [NetworkManager] <info>  (wlan0): supplicant connection 
state:  disconnected -> associating_
Nov 04 14:12:41 [NetworkManager] <info>  (wlan0): supplicant connection 
state:  associating -> disconnected_
Nov 04 14:12:50 [NetworkManager] <info>  (wlan0): supplicant connection 
state:  disconnected -> scanning_
Nov 04 14:12:52 [NetworkManager] <info>  (wlan0): supplicant connection 
state:  scanning -> associating_
Nov 04 14:12:52 [NetworkManager] <info>  (wlan0): supplicant connection 
state:  associating -> disconnected_
Nov 04 14:12:53 [NetworkManager] <info>  (wlan0): device state change: 8 
-> 3 (reason 11)_
Nov 04 14:12:53 [NetworkManager] <info>  (wlan0): deactivating device 
(reason: 11)._

As soon as I stop NetworkManager and start net.wlan0, it jumps onto the 
AP and stays there for good:

wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec
wlan0: authenticated
wlan0: associate with AP 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec
wlan0: RX AssocResp from 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec (capab=0x411 status=0 aid=2)
wlan0: associated

>> Additionally, I can't get either applet to actually save settings (like
>> known networks, passwords, etc.) which means that I'm continually
>> interrupted by a prompt for the wireless password.
>
> Do you have seahorse (gnome)?  Depending on how it's setup, you should
> only have to provide the master password once for nm to access all your
> keys.

I do have seahorse, and when I first boot up it asks me for the default 
keyring password and connects to the AP automatically.  Every time after 
that, when the connection bounces, syslog shows:

Nov 04 14:13:21 [NetworkManager] <info>  Activation (wlan0/wireless): 
connection 'Auto Informagration' has security, and secrets exist.  No 
new secrets needed._

but NetworkManager presents the WPA pass phrase dialog anyway.

--Mike

Re: [gentoo-user] NetworkManager and/or WICD

[Albert Hopkins]

On Wed, 2009-11-04 at 15:08 -0500, Mike Edenfield wrote:
> On 11/3/2009 11:16 PM, Iain Buchanan wrote:
> > On Tue, 2009-11-03 at 21:52 -0500, Mike Edenfield wrote:
> 
> >>    When I attempt to use either of those
> >> utilities to get onto my wireless network, the NIC refuses to stay
> >> connected to the base station for more than a few seconds at a time.
> >> Instead, it continually disassociates and deauthenticates, only for
> >> nm/wicd to hop right back on.  However, if I manually configure
> >> wpa_supplicant for a given SSID and start it via the init script
> >> directly, I don't have any such problems.
> >
> > Have you stopped your net.wlan0 script?  Also remove it from the default
> > runlevel, and set "rc_hotplug="!net.wlan0 !net.eth0" in /etc/rc.conf (if
> > you're using openrc).
> 
> I hadn't done that initially, but I did this time, and still get the 
> same issue.  I'm having trouble determining if the problem is 
> NetworkManager telling the NIC to disassociate, or the NIC telling 
> NetworkManager to disassociate.
> 
> As long as NetworkManager is running, my dmesg output shows this 
> happening about once every 15 seconds or so (I don't know what any of 
> those status codes mean, or they may help troubleshoot the problem :) )
> 
> wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec
> wlan0: authenticated
> wlan0: associate with AP 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec
> wlan0: RX AssocResp from 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec (capab=0x411 status=12 aid=1)
> wlan0: AP denied association (code=12)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Ok, this sounds like the access point (AP) rejected you (for whatever
reason)

> wlan0: associate with AP 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec
> wlan0: RX AssocResp from 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec (capab=0x411 status=12 aid=1)
> wlan0: AP denied association (code=12)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
same

> wlan0: associate with AP 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec
> wlan0: RX AssocResp from 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec (capab=0x411 status=12 aid=1)
> wlan0: AP denied association (code=12)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> wlan0: association with AP 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec timed out
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This looks like it tried to associate with the AP, maybe even
successfully, but there was a time-out.

I'm guessing that the key/password/whatever that you are sending through
NM isn't correct or the correct type anyway.

> wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec
> wlan0: authenticated
> wlan0: associate with AP 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec
> wlan0: RX AssocResp from 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec (capab=0x411 status=0 aid=1)
> wlan0: associated
> wlan0: disassociated (Reason: 14)
> wlan0: deauthenticated (Reason: 6)



> 
> The syslog output from NetworkManager shows basically the same cycle:
> 
> Nov 04 14:12:11 [NetworkManager] <info>  Activation (wlan0) successful, 
> device activated._
> Nov 04 14:12:11 [NetworkManager] <info>  Activation (wlan0) Stage 5 of 5 
> (IP Configure Commit) complete._
> Nov 04 14:12:38 [NetworkManager] <info>  (wlan0): supplicant connection 
> state:  completed -> disconnected_
> Nov 04 14:12:38 [NetworkManager] <info>  (wlan0): supplicant connection 
> state:  disconnected -> scanning_
> Nov 04 14:12:38 [NetworkManager] <info>  (wlan0): supplicant connection 
> state:  scanning -> disconnected_
> Nov 04 14:12:40 [NetworkManager] <info>  (wlan0): supplicant connection 
> state:  disconnected -> associating_
> Nov 04 14:12:41 [NetworkManager] <info>  (wlan0): supplicant connection 
> state:  associating -> disconnected_
> Nov 04 14:12:50 [NetworkManager] <info>  (wlan0): supplicant connection 
> state:  disconnected -> scanning_
> Nov 04 14:12:52 [NetworkManager] <info>  (wlan0): supplicant connection 
> state:  scanning -> associating_
> Nov 04 14:12:52 [NetworkManager] <info>  (wlan0): supplicant connection 
> state:  associating -> disconnected_
> Nov 04 14:12:53 [NetworkManager] <info>  (wlan0): device state change: 8 
> -> 3 (reason 11)_
> Nov 04 14:12:53 [NetworkManager] <info>  (wlan0): deactivating device 
> (reason: 11)._
> 
This doesn't really say anything other than it's trying to associate but
got disconnected.  Actually the dmesg is being more descriptive.


> As soon as I stop NetworkManager and start net.wlan0, it jumps onto the 
> AP and stays there for good:
> 
> wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec
> wlan0: authenticated
> wlan0: associate with AP 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec
> wlan0: RX AssocResp from 00:1e:58:04:1e:ec (capab=0x411 status=0 aid=2)
> wlan0: associated
> 
> >> Additionally, I can't get either applet to actually save settings (like
> >> known networks, passwords, etc.) which means that I'm continually
> >> interrupted by a prompt for the wireless password.
> >
> > Do you have seahorse (gnome)?  Depending on how it's setup, you should
> > only have to provide the master password once for nm to access all your
> > keys.
> 
> I do have seahorse, and when I first boot up it asks me for the default 
> keyring password and connects to the AP automatically.  Every time after 
> that, when the connection bounces, syslog shows:
> 
> Nov 04 14:13:21 [NetworkManager] <info>  Activation (wlan0/wireless): 
> connection 'Auto Informagration' has security, and secrets exist.  No 
> new secrets needed._
> 
> but NetworkManager presents the WPA pass phrase dialog anyway.

Ok, now I understand what's going on.  NM is re-asks for the passphrase
when the one it is using isn't working.  

It's sounding to me *not* like you are connecting and getting
disconnected, but that you are not connecting at all, and, likely do to
some kind of passphrase/key negotiation.