Network manager not accepting WEP in Fedora 8

asaraf · #1 27th December 2008, 06:48 AM

Hello all,

I got my Broadcomm BCM 94311 wireless work on F8 using b43 fwcutter and now its detecting the networks and also its controlled by Network manager....

but as i select a network and enter its WEP, its unable to connect and also its WEP gets changed...

it seems to me that its retrieving WEP from any file and i need to change there but couldn't fig out....

Please help me somebody... Thanks.

stoat · #2 28th December 2008, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asaraf

...but as i select a network and enter its WEP, its unable to connect...

Hello asaraf,

By that, do you mean that NetworkManager asks for the password again and again instead of connecting? If so, then here are some things to try...

One is to left-click on the NM tray icon and choose "Connect to other wireless network". Enter the usual (but correct) information and see if it connects and stops asking for secrets. That has sometimes worked for this issue.

Another thing is to right-click on the NM tray icon and choose "Edit connections". Click on the "Wireless" tab. See if there are duplicate connections in there. If so delete them. If that didn't help, then try deleting all of the established connections there and do "Connect to other network" again.

If you currently have a wireless connection established in the Network Configuration utility (system-config-network), then go in there and delete it. You don't need that with NetworkManager. I have no wireless connections in the Network Configuration utility and yet I am connected with NM right now. After deleting that, then do any or all of the above again.

It may sound silly, but make sure you are entering the correct information. Get in your router's configuration utility and double-check the encryption method and the password. Don't roll your eyes. I once sat there pecking in the wrong password over and over. Actually, I have done that twice. Other people have done that exact thing, too. It can happen.

Quote:

Originally Posted by asaraf

..and also its WEP gets changed

I use WPA encryption, so I could be wrong about this regarding WEP encryption. But maybe you're entering a passphrase (which should be okay to do), and it's being converted to a key (which is normal, too). That certainly happens with WPA. I enter a sixteen-digit ASCII alphanumeric passphrase in the NetworkManager dialog box requesting it. But it gets converted to a very long hexadecimal pre-shared key. So that issue may not be the problem. But you could try entering the key instead of the passphrase. You can get the key (usually several of them) generated from the passphrase from the router's configuration utility.

asaraf · #3 4th January 2009, 04:49 AM

Hi stoat,

Thanks for your help.

I have tried all of your methods as prescribed above. But couldn't succeed.

I windows when it asks for WEP or WPA all i have to enter is 'rsbr'. I am not sure whether it’s a WEP or WPA.

In fedora 8 the NM asks me for 128-bit WEP passphrase, hexadecimal & ASCII. I used to enter 'rscbr' in
WEP-128 bit passphrase. But it’s unable to connect. Also tried with ASCII and its not applicable with hex.
I made manual connections, deleted wireless connection from NM utility etc. as you suggested but no use.

So can you guide me further?

Also do i need to do some change in wpa_supplicant.conf?

Thanks.

normyzo · #4 4th January 2009, 11:15 PM

Is 'rscbr' your WEP passphrase or a 40-bit ASCII key?

NM has the same minimum length validation for WEP passphrases (different than ASCII keys!!) as is mandated in the standards for WPA (8 characters minimum), maybe that's not actually the case with WEP though it's the first I've heard of it.

Windows 2000 and XP don't actually handle WEP Passphrases (which most of the consumer routers actually support), and thus it seems more likely you've got a 40-bit ASCII key instead. Try selecting "WEP Key" in the NM dialog.

If that still doesn't work correctly, then can you post the output from the following?

sudo cat /var/log/messages | grep Network

That'll show what NetworkManager is trying to do.

ediamond · #5 5th January 2009, 05:06 AM

OK, WEP and WPA are two drastically different things. You need to figure out which you are using because their encryption algorithms and key handling processes are completely incompatible.

WEP is older and actually inherently insecure. It uses static encryption keys, binary strings that are either 40 or 128 bits in length. They are expressed in hexadecimal and are deliberately obtuse. While some vendors allow you to create those keys from pass phrases, the algorithms are propriatory. A pass phrase entered into one vendors product will produce completely different key sets from the same pass phrase being entered into another vendors product. To confuse matters even more, most routers will create a set of four keys from the pass phrase, only one of which is used. If you are using WEP, Network Manager will require you to enter the hex string, not the pass phrase. You will need to use your routers admin interface to determine what the active key is and then copy that to Network Manager.

NOTE: WEP IS INSECURE. The keys are static and there are known trap doors in the encryption algorithm. WEP keys can be cracked very quickly from just a few thousand sniffed packets. DO NOT USE WEP IF YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO USE WPA!!!

WPA is a newer specification that includes the algorithm to create the initial key from a pass phrase. That means that every implementation will come up with the same initial key from a given pass phrase. Notice that I have used the terminology 'initial key'. Routers that support WPA generate their own operational keys and change them at specific intervals. A machine connects using the initial key and is then passed the current operational key over the encrypted link. It then starts using the operational key. When the routers time interval is up, it sends a new key out to all connected stations and coordinates the switch to the new key. This makes it harder to crack the key.

NOTE: While WPA is more secure than WEP, it can also be cracked although it takes a much bigger sampling of network traffic and quite a bit of computational time. Setting a short key rotation interval can go a long way toward countering this.

WPA2 is functionally equivalent to WPA except that it uses the AES encryption algorithm. AES is highly secure and AFAIK has not been cracked. Use WPA2 if at all possible.

asaraf · #6 6th January 2009, 03:07 AM

Hello all,

Thanks for your views on my problem.

I think my key 'rscbr' is essentially a WEP 40 bit ASCII code. But still it is not working in F8. Also I couldn't fig. out correctly whether its a WEP or WPA. I have tried to attach screenshots of my connections in F8 and Windows. Hope this could make my problem more clear.

The part of output of sudo cat /var/log/messages | grep is as follows:

Jan 5 19:36:20 localhost NetworkManager: <info> starting...
Jan 5 19:36:20 localhost NetworkManager: <info> eth0: Device is fully-supported using driver 'e100'.
Jan 5 19:36:20 localhost NetworkManager: <info> Found new Ethernet device 'eth0'.
Jan 5 19:36:20 localhost NetworkManager: <info> (eth0): exported as /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/net_00_1b_24_2f_24_0d
Jan 5 19:36:20 localhost NetworkManager: <info> wlan0: Device is fully-supported using driver 'b43-pci-bridge'.
Jan 5 19:36:20 localhost NetworkManager: <info> wlan0: driver does not support SSID scans (scan_capa 0x00).
Jan 5 19:36:20 localhost NetworkManager: <info> Found new wireless (802.11) device 'wlan0'.
Jan 5 19:36:20 localhost NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): exported as /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/net_00_1a_73_4c_b5_6f
Jan 5 19:36:20 localhost NetworkManager: <info> Trying to start the system settings daemon...
Jan 5 19:36:20 localhost smartd[2584]: smartd version 5.38 [i386-redhat-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-8 Bruce Allen
Jan 5 19:36:20 localhost smartd[2584]: Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/#012
Jan 5 19:36:20 localhost smartd[2584]: Opened configuration file /etc/smartd.conf
Jan 5 19:36:20 localhost smartd[2584]: Configuration file /etc/smartd.conf parsed.
Jan 5 19:36:20 localhost smartd[2584]: Device: /dev/sda, opened
Jan 5 19:36:20 localhost smartd[2584]: Device: /dev/sda, not found in smartd database.
Jan 5 19:36:21 localhost smartd[2584]: Device: /dev/sda, is SMART capable. Adding to "monitor" list.
Jan 5 19:36:21 localhost smartd[2584]: Monitoring 1 ATA and 0 SCSI devices
Jan 5 19:36:21 localhost smartd[2586]: smartd has fork()ed into background mode. New PID=2586.
Jan 5 19:36:21 localhost nm-system-settings: Loaded plugin ifcfg-fedora: (c) 2007 - 2008 Red Hat, Inc. To report bugs please use the NetworkManager mailing list.
Jan 5 19:36:21 localhost nm-system-settings: ifcfg-fedora: parsing /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 ...
Jan 5 19:36:21 localhost nm-system-settings: ifcfg-fedora: read connection 'System eth0'
Jan 5 19:36:21 localhost nm-system-settings: ifcfg-fedora: Ignoring connection 'System eth0' and its device because NM_CONTROLLED was false.
Jan 5 19:36:21 localhost NetworkManager: <info> (eth0): now unmanaged
Jan 5 19:36:21 localhost nm-system-settings: ifcfg-fedora: parsing /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-lo ...
Jan 5 19:36:21 localhost nm-system-settings: ifcfg-fedora: error: Ignoring loopback device config.
Jan 5 19:36:22 localhost pcscd: winscard.c:219:SCardConnect() Reader E-Gate 0 0 Not Found
Jan 5 19:36:23 localhost pcscd:last message repeated 3 times
Jan 5 19:36:23 localhost kernel: ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:02.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
Jan 5 19:36:24 localhost NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): device state change: 1 -> 2
Jan 5 19:36:24 localhost NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): bringing up device.
Jan 5 19:36:24 localhost kernel: [drm] Initialized drm 1.1.0 20060810
Jan 5 19:36:24 localhost kernel: [drm] Initialized i915 1.6.0 20060119 on minor 0
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): preparing device.
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): deactivating device.
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): device state change: 2 -> 3
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state change: 1 -> 2.
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: b43-phy0 ERROR: PHY transmission error
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: b43-phy0 ERROR: PHY transmission error
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: WARNING: at drivers/net/wireless/b43/dma.c:1095 parse_cookie() (Not tainted)
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<e023b84b>] b43_dma_handle_txstatus+0xaf/0x393 [b43]
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<e022bc78>] b43_interrupt_tasklet+0x696/0x736 [b43]
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c0431eda>] tasklet_action+0x58/0xb8
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c0431df2>] __do_softirq+0x66/0xd3
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c04073d5>] do_softirq+0x6c/0xce
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c0444659>] tick_do_update_jiffies64+0x15/0xa8
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c0440171>] ktime_get+0xf/0x2b
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c045b9e1>] handle_fasteoi_irq+0x0/0xa6
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c0431cb5>] irq_exit+0x38/0x6b
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c04074d6>] do_IRQ+0x9f/0xb9
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c0525eaa>] acpi_hw_register_read+0xf1/0x156
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c0405b6f>] common_interrupt+0x23/0x28
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c05380ce>] acpi_idle_enter_bm+0x29e/0x31c
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c05a20ed>] cpuidle_idle_call+0x5c/0x7f
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c05a2091>] cpuidle_idle_call+0x0/0x7f
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c040340b>] cpu_idle+0xab/0xcc
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: =======================
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: WARNING: at drivers/net/wireless/b43/dma.c:1098 parse_cookie() (Not tainted)
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<e023b88e>] b43_dma_handle_txstatus+0xf2/0x393 [b43]
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<e022bc78>] b43_interrupt_tasklet+0x696/0x736 [b43]
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c0431eda>] tasklet_action+0x58/0xb8
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c0431df2>] __do_softirq+0x66/0xd3
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c04073d5>] do_softirq+0x6c/0xce
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c0444659>] tick_do_update_jiffies64+0x15/0xa8
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c0440171>] ktime_get+0xf/0x2b
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c045b9e1>] handle_fasteoi_irq+0x0/0xa6
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c0431cb5>] irq_exit+0x38/0x6b
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c04074d6>] do_IRQ+0x9f/0xb9
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c0525eaa>] acpi_hw_register_read+0xf1/0x156
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c0405b6f>] common_interrupt+0x23/0x28
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c05380ce>] acpi_idle_enter_bm+0x29e/0x31c
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c05a20ed>] cpuidle_idle_call+0x5c/0x7f
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c05a2091>] cpuidle_idle_call+0x0/0x7f
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: [<c040340b>] cpu_idle+0xab/0xcc
Jan 5 19:36:26 localhost kernel: =======================

and this same line continues...

So please if any body could guide me further.

Thanks.