Netgear WG511T difficulties, wpa_supplicant hangs system

[PaulBx1]

Hello folks. I have been trying out the various recipes around here trying to get this card running using Knoppix 4.0.2 on a Thinkpad A21m. It's for my home network that I already have windoze machines using.

After I do a "ifconfig eth0 up" I can then see the access point with a "iwlist eth0 scan". It does show the mode of the access point to be "Master"; I'm wondering if I should set eth0 to "Master" mode too? I've been leaving it "Managed"...

My wpa_supplicant.conf file looks (sorta) like this:

ctrl_interface=/home/knoppix/wpa_supplicant
eapol_version=1
ap_scan=1
network={
ssid="MySSIDHere"
scan_ssid=1
#psk="MyPassphraseHere"
psk=hex representation of the passphrase
proto=WPA
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
pairwise=TKIP
group=TKIP
}

You might recognize the example on http://www.knoppix.net/wiki/Wireless_Networking which I am using as a model.

The reason I can't give the exact code is that when I invoke wpa_supplicant, the entire system hangs (and I mean, even the clock stops!). Hmmm, I thought linux was supposed to be robust. :wink:

Anyway I invoked it with something like what was on the same page, i.e.:

wpa_supplicant -ddKt -i eth0 -c /home/knoppix/wpa_supplicant.conf -D madwifi

The last line of debug output was:
"Initializing interface (2) 'eth0' "

Anyone got any guesses, why the hang?

Also, does this version of Knoppix have the latest madwifi (is it madwifi_ng?), and how does one tell?

BTW, I saw this comment on a thread:

I have the Netgear WG511T and it works very well with Linux (Knoppix, Suse 9.3, Ubuntu 5.04). These steps assume that there is no security or encryption. WEP or WPA must be turned off at the wireless router/access point.. Once you get it to grab an IP address successfully, THEN you can enable WEP or WPA.
http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19784&highlight=wg511t

I'm not sure I get the point. I'm using dhcp, so every time I boot up it would want to grab a different IP address. Am I somehow supposed to log into my access point, turn the encryption off and on everytime I need a new IP? Seems awfully clumsy. How could I do that (for example) in an "Internet cafe"? Or do they run without encryption?

Thanks for any suggestions...

[UnderScore]

That was my comment and it was to indictate that when using Knoppix with wireless devices for the first time, like with windows, it is easier to connect to an access point that has no protections (wep, wpa) turned on. When the user becomes experienced enough to understand how to connect and/or writes a script to automate the connection, then the user can turn wep/wpa on the access point and see if it is possible to get the wireless device to use wep or wpa supplicant. This "turn-off-the-security", then test, then "turn-security-back-on" assumes that you have another working wired/wireless enabled PC (windows or linux, it doesnt matter) that can login to the access point to change the settings OR 1 PC which a dual boot between a known working configuration and your test environment.

As for your wpa problem, my suggestion is to use a distro that has more developers wokring on the wlan portion of the distro. I love knoppix and I would not be here if I didn't enjoy tinkering around with tech, but sometimes I just want the wireless device to work and I do not want to fiddle with compiling ndiswrapper or writing my own wlan configuration scripts. My choices of a on-hard-disk distro is to Suse 10.0 and Ubuntu 5.10. Suse 10.1 will be out within a couple of weeks and Ubuntu 6.06 will be out around June 1. I still use Knoppix 4.02 and DVD 5.0 as a live cd/dvd.

[PaulBx1]

OK, I see your point. Of course I need to get the password from my network installer to be able to shut the AP encryption off, and he lost it, it seems. :roll:

I'm not about to mess with an on-disk regular distro. I am trying to move away from Windows and it would be hugely more difficult to do that sort of thing. I like the baby steps Knoppix allows me to take and I think I'm just a few commands away from getting this to work - unless this Thinkpad hardward just doen't have the ability, which is possible.

It seems on that last system hang, my wpa_supplicant.conf file evaporated. So I have to build another one.

One issue I can't understand, is that my installer gave me a 13-digit hex "key", but when I look on my windows box for the properties of the network it's clear the key only has 8 characters (unknown, because they are blanked out). But all the docs I've read on this stuff suggests it needs a 64 hex-digit key. I guess I need to get into that Access Point to resolve these questions.