Re: Problems installing madwifi_pci, ath0 missing

From: Joachim Mæland (jm-news_at_profine.net)
Date: 03/30/05 

Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 10:07:08 +0200

On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 23:44:59 +0200, Knut wrote:

> OK. I've disabled WEP.
> My ifcfg-ath0 file:
> DEVICE=ath0
> BOOTPROTO=dhcp
> ONBOOY=yes
> HWADDR=<macaddress of my network card>
# Does your card support this?
# What happens if not?

> METRIC=10 /* What's this? */
# Dunno...

> MII_NOT_SUPPORTED=yes /* What's this? */
# I think this forces ifplugd not to look for link (connected cable)

> WIRELESS_MODE=Managed
> WIRELESS_ESSID=<my essid>
> WIRELESS_FREQ=2.437 /* Channel 6 - right? */
# Drop this one. You're not an access point.

> WIRELESS_RATE=auto /* Case sensitive? */
# Drop this. This is for access points...(?)

[..]

> Result from ifup ath0:
> Error for wireless request "Set Frequency" (8B04) :
> Set failed on device ath0 ; Invalid argument.

Drop this line, and the error message goes away...: "WIRELESS_FREQ=2.437
/*Channel 6 - right? */"

When writing ifcfg-interface files: Less is better.

> Determining IP information for ath0... done.

The card is actually up and running. A new output from ifconfig will
reveal this... I've seen the same "misbehaviour" on a few systems running
mdk10.1; "ifup <interface>" is mandatory..

> And yes! I am now able to make contact in spite of the error message
> related to frequency.

Hmmm...

> So I try to reinstall my wep key. According to my AP I have a Shared key
> system with a 128 bits key. My ifcfg-ath0 file now has the new line
> WIRELESS_ENC_KEY=5a3c55<and so on...> Does this require a special
> format? Hyphens? Anything to designate it as a hexadecimal number?
[..]
> Set failed for ath0: invalid argument

Same frequency error, or a new one...? Maybe the "WIRELESS_FREQ" setting
and the "WIRELESS_ENC_KEY" forces your card into a AP only mode...?

Some example ifcfg-ath0 files:
http://madwifiwiki.thewebhost.de/wiki/Mandrake100AndMadwifiModules
http://madwifiwiki.thewebhost.de/wiki/Mandrake100AndDLinkDWLG520 

-- 
Regards/Med vennlig hilsen 
Joachim Mæland 
If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough. 
-Mario Andretti