[gentoo-user] Lenovo T400 wifi scan and connect questions

[gentoo-user] Lenovo T400 wifi scan and connect questions

[Walter Dnes]

1) the output of "dmesg | grep iwlwifi" is...

[    0.640780] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: can't disable ASPM; OS doesn't have ASPM control
[    0.641112] Loading firmware: iwlwifi-5000-5.ucode
[    0.641332] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: loaded firmware version 8.83.5.1 build 33692 5000-5.ucode op_mode iwldvm
[    0.641360] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: CONFIG_IWLWIFI_DEBUG disabled
[    0.641364] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: CONFIG_IWLWIFI_DEBUGFS disabled
[    0.641367] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: CONFIG_IWLWIFI_DEVICE_TRACING disabled
[    0.641370] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: Detected Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN, REV=0x54
[   17.311014] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: Radio type=0x1-0x2-0x0
[   17.424989] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: Radio type=0x1-0x2-0x0

  Nice to see that it detects the 5100 AGN just like lspci.  As the old
saying goes, "use it or lose it";  I used to be able to run wifi on this
machine manually (command line) in the past, but now I've completely
forgotten how.  I've emerged "iw" and "wpa_supplicant".  "iw dev" shows

phy#0
        Interface wlan0
                ifindex 3
                wdev 0x1
                addr 00:26:c6:4a:b4:92
                type managed
                txpower 15.00 dBm

  Questions...
  1) what do I do to scan and get a list of available networks?
  2) how do I connect to one of the listed networks (assuming either
it's public, or I have the password) ?
  3) minor detail... The Google hits I've found all show both DVM and
MVM support enabled.  Given that dmesg output shows "op_mode iwldvm",
can I safely get rid of MVM support ?

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications

Re: [gentoo-user] Lenovo T400 wifi scan and connect questions

[Michael]

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On Monday, 29 August 2022 22:23:00 BST Walter Dnes wrote:
> 1) the output of "dmesg | grep iwlwifi" is...
> 
> [    0.640780] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: can't disable ASPM; OS doesn't have
> ASPM control [    0.641112] Loading firmware: iwlwifi-5000-5.ucode
> [    0.641332] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: loaded firmware version 8.83.5.1 build
> 33692 5000-5.ucode op_mode iwldvm [    0.641360] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0:
> CONFIG_IWLWIFI_DEBUG disabled [    0.641364] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0:
> CONFIG_IWLWIFI_DEBUGFS disabled [    0.641367] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0:
> CONFIG_IWLWIFI_DEVICE_TRACING disabled [    0.641370] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0:
> Detected Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN, REV=0x54 [   17.311014] iwlwifi
> 0000:03:00.0: Radio type=0x1-0x2-0x0
> [   17.424989] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: Radio type=0x1-0x2-0x0
> 
>   Nice to see that it detects the 5100 AGN just like lspci.  As the old
> saying goes, "use it or lose it";  I used to be able to run wifi on this
> machine manually (command line) in the past, but now I've completely
> forgotten how.  I've emerged "iw" and "wpa_supplicant".  "iw dev" shows
> 
> phy#0
>         Interface wlan0
>                 ifindex 3
>                 wdev 0x1
>                 addr 00:26:c6:4a:b4:92
>                 type managed
>                 txpower 15.00 dBm
> 
>   Questions...
>   1) what do I do to scan and get a list of available networks?

If you have emerged wpa_supplicant with USE="qt5" you will have a GUI to 
launch its client and click on Scan to find and select a desired AP.

If not, you can run wpa_cli in a terminal.  Something like 'wpa_cli scan' and 
'wpa_cli scan_results' should show you what's available.   If you run just 
'wpa_cli' it will launch an interactive shell from which you can run:

> scan
> scan_results

'wpa_cli --help' for more subcommands and options.


>   2) how do I connect to one of the listed networks (assuming either
> it's public, or I have the password) ?

With wpa_supplicant's GUI, or with wpa_cli, but the latter is more tedious.

Run wpa_cli to get an interactive shell.  Then,

> scan
> scan_results

> add_network
0   (if there is no other network yet configured)
> set_network 0 ssid "My_blah_AP"  <== From the results
> set_network 0 psk "My_secret_passphrase"
> enable_network 0
0K

If you managed to authenticate and get an IP address you may want to save your 
settings - assuming you have enabled 'update_config=1' in your 
wpa_supplicant.conf:

> save config
OK

For permanent associations you can add BSSID and authentication credentials 
into /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf.  Have a look at '/usr/share/doc/
wpa_supplicant-*/wpa_supplicant.conf.bz2' for examples.


>   3) minor detail... The Google hits I've found all show both DVM and
> MVM support enabled.  Given that dmesg output shows "op_mode iwldvm",
> can I safely get rid of MVM support ?

I don't know what works with your wireless adaptor, but I tend to experiment 
initially by building such options as modules and see what is loaded or not 
and any warnings in dmesg.

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Re: [gentoo-user] Lenovo T400 wifi scan and connect questions

[Walter Dnes]

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  I'm having problems, even running as root.  As per the previous
message, the system is detecting the hardware, but wpa_aupplicant cannot
get going.  I have a minimal /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
update_config=1

  From https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Wpa_supplicant#Using_wpa_cli the
command for debugging is...

wpa_supplicant -Dnl80211 -iwlan0 -C/var/run/wpa_supplicant/ -c/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf -dd

...to which I appended ">>logfile.txt 2>&1" to grab all output.  I
waited for a minute or so, and got the logfile which I've attached.  Any
ideas?

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications

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Re: [gentoo-user] Lenovo T400 wifi scan and connect questions

[Michael]

On Tuesday, 30 August 2022 23:26:00 BST Walter Dnes wrote:
>   I'm having problems, even running as root.  As per the previous
> message, the system is detecting the hardware, but wpa_aupplicant cannot
> get going.  I have a minimal /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
> 
> ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
> update_config=1

If you have enabled the wheel group and your user is a member of this group, 
then you won't need to run things as root:

DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=wheel
DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=0
# (group can be either group name or gid)

Alternatively, you can add your users gid instead.


>   From https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Wpa_supplicant#Using_wpa_cli the
> command for debugging is...
> 
> wpa_supplicant -Dnl80211 -iwlan0 -C/var/run/wpa_supplicant/
> -c/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf -dd
> 
> ...to which I appended ">>logfile.txt 2>&1" to grab all output.  I
> waited for a minute or so, and got the logfile which I've attached.  Any
> ideas?

To state the obvious, this shows your key is not accepted:

nl80211: set_key failed; err=-22 Invalid argument

Also I can see:

key_len=0

Does this message mean you are using no passwd authentication?  If so you have 
to state explicitly:

set_network 0 key_mgmt NONE

in wpa_cli when you try to authenticate with your AP, or in /etc/
wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf add a fall back configuration at the end of 
the file for all open APs:

network={
        key_mgmt=NONE
}

You can add BSSID, SSID to the above if you only want to use no authentication 
with a specific AP rather than anything which might be within range.

BTW, key and passphrase are not the same thing.  A passphrase must be entered 
in quotations, or use wpa_passphrase to generate the preshared key from it:

~ $ wpa_passphrase MY_SSID "My secret passphrase"
network={
          ssid="MY_SSID"
          #psk="My secret passphrase"
          psk=f90ff73cefa452385366f5278f64914fa832b61a5225d3c78dcd4291061b56a1
}

Re: [gentoo-user] Lenovo T400 wifi scan and connect questions

[Walter Dnes]

  During launch, wpa_supplicant blows up on...

DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=wheel
DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=0

https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Wpa_supplicant#Configuration recommends...

ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=wheel

  The 3 lines in my wpa_supplicant.conf that are not commented out are...

ctrl_interface_group=0
ap_scan=1
ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=wheel

  Thank you for your help.  It works.  I live in a condo building.  As
a regular user "wpa_cli scan" followed by "wpa_cli scan_result" shows
approximately a couple of dozen machines.  BTW I've disabled MVM and
wifi still works.

  One last question; I occasionally see signs in various places saying

Our network name is "foo" and password is "bar".

  My reading of the wpa_cli man page indicates I should use...

wpa_cli password foo bar

...to log on.  Is that correct?

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications

Re: [gentoo-user] Lenovo T400 wifi scan and connect questions

[Michael]

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On Wednesday, 31 August 2022 20:15:41 BST Walter Dnes wrote:
>   During launch, wpa_supplicant blows up on...
> 
> DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=wheel
> DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=0

Hmm ... so the example page syntax is wrong.  I wonder if I came across this 
too in the distant past.  :-/

I have this in my config and it works:

ctrl_interface_group=wheel
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant


> https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Wpa_supplicant#Configuration recommends...
> 
> ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=wheel
> 
>   The 3 lines in my wpa_supplicant.conf that are not commented out are...
> 
> ctrl_interface_group=0
> ap_scan=1
> ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=wheel
> 
>   Thank you for your help.  It works.  

Cool.  :-)


>   I live in a condo building.  As
> a regular user "wpa_cli scan" followed by "wpa_cli scan_result" shows
> approximately a couple of dozen machines.  BTW I've disabled MVM and
> wifi still works.
> 
>   One last question; I occasionally see signs in various places saying
> 
> Our network name is "foo" and password is "bar".
> 
>   My reading of the wpa_cli man page indicates I should use...
> 
> wpa_cli password foo bar
> 
> ...to log on.  Is that correct?

The wpa_cli command syntax is:

password <network id> <password>
       configure password for an SSID

However, I'm not sure <network id> == SSID.  When you add a network in 
interactive mode with:

add_network

the shell outputs a network id number; e.g. 3, which you are meant to use 
thereafter to set up variables for the AP; e.g.:

set_network 3 ssid "starvebux"
set_network 3 psk "Not Free"
enable_network 3

In addition, I understand the wpa_cli command 'password', as opposed to 
variable 'psk' which is used in the interactive shell, to be for a EAP-PEAP 
authentication scheme.  For a pre-shared key you'll use interactively:

set_network 3 psk 0f0fbfdadff6271a5107a49cfb5db9e921138ee74a66b0.....

or if it is a passphrase you'll enclose it in double quotes "Not Free" as 
above.

This is the reason I use the wpa_supplicant GUI when not restricted to working 
in a console, because the qt5 wpa_supplicant GUI makes it easier to click and 
fill in a PSK, compared to the multiple commands required in a terminal.

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