Fedora Core 5 not starting wpa_supplicant service on time

[Menzonius]

Hi all,

I recently installed Fedora Core 5 on my desktop machine, a rather minimal installation using the first two CDs. After that, I updated the system over the wired network (using pup). Then I configured my Netgear WG311T wifi card, using wpa_supplicant, madwifi and DHCP.

Activating the wireless interface manually works fine. However, activating the ath0 interface on boot fails. I noticed that the wpa_supplicant service, which is a dependency for the ath0 interface to be properly initialised, is started after the network.

I found it quite hard to find a perfect solution by searching the web and several linux forums, including this one. So now I am currently using what perhaps may be considered a "quick-and-dirty" workaround, by disabling the ath0 interface from starting on boot and instead adding the line "ifup ath0" to /etc/rc.d/rc.local
But this works.

My question: is there some way I can make the wpa_supplicant service start in time for the network to succefully initialise the ath0 card on boot? Or is there a better way altogether?

Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions,

Menzonius

P.S.
FWIW: I'm not running the firewall, but I am using SELinux (enforcing policy).

[mike_1]

I had exactly the same problem. I'm running a LEAF router with hostap authenticator using WPA and DHCP. You can try my (also quick and dirty =)) WPA DHCP 'service' (see attachment). It works fine on my laptop with FC5 and ipw2200. It will bring the interface up and wait until wpa_supplicant has got a key. You shouldn't configure the interface in the current profile. Of course, wpa_supplicant should start before the network and DHCP client.

[Menzonius]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply, and the script! I'm afraid I currently do not have Fedora Core 5 installed on my desktop computer, but I may shortly install it again on a different computer running the same make and model wireless card. If I do, I will certainly try your script.
Thanks again!

[justin.venus]

I just discovered this thread, and this was an issue that annoyed me at one point. This is the way I fixed the wpa_supplicant loading after the dhcp lease had already been attempted. I hope this helps someone.

// I think this is the most graceful way to start wpa_supplicant
// before our network asks for a dhcp lease
// the benifit to this procedure is now you know how to reorder any
// service to your liking on you redhat-based distro

// let's discover our default run-level
garage ~ # grep id:.:initdefault: /etc/inittab
id:5:initdefault:

// let's go to our default directory
garage ~ # cd /etc/rc.d/rc5.d/

// lets' see the order of wpa_supplicant vs. our network
garage rc5.d # ls | egrep "wpa_supplicant|network"
S10network
S12wpa_supplicant

// let's swap the order
garage rc5.d # mv S10network S12network
garage rc5.d # mv S12wpa_supplicant S10wpa_supplicant

// use mv, because it will preserve the symlink

// lets' see the new order of wpa_supplicant vs. our network
garage rc5.d # ls | egrep "wpa_supplicant|network"
S10wpa_supplicant
S12network

// reboot, telinit 1 then telinit5, or however you get the point restart the init system