Need help with D-Link DWL-122 wireless lan adapter

[Mark Walter]

I'm having difficulty (as others are) setting up a wireless network adapter under KNOPPIX. I am getting close: I can get Airsnort to recognize the adapter but only if I log in as root.

I'm using a D-Link DWL-122 wireless adapter. I've not tried rebuilding the kernel nor downloading new drivers: KNOPPIX V3.4 apparently has the Prism2 driver already available

My sequence of events is as follows:

First I boot up w/o the adapter in place. I log in as root by using su
Next based upon some postings from others I remove the Prism2 module

root@ttyp0[knoppix]# modprobe prism2_usb -r

I install the DWL-122 Wireless Network adapter into the usb port and still as root I re-install the Prism2 module and run the following commands:

root@ttyp0[knoppix]# modprobe prism2_usb prism2_doreset=1
root@ttyp0[knoppix]# wlanctl-ng wlan0 lnxreq_ifstate ifstate=enable
message=lnxreq_ifstate
ifstate=enable
resultcode=success
root@ttyp0[knoppix]# wlanctl-ng wlan0 lnxreq_autojoin ssid=MySSID authtype=opensystem
message=lnxreq_autojoin
ssid='MySSID'
authtype=opensystem
resultcode=success

(where MySSID) is the identification I've given my home network)

root@ttyp0[knoppix]# ifconfig wlan0
wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:0D:88:54:8A:F1
BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
root@ttyp0[knoppix]# ifconfig
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:10 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:10 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:500 (500.0 b) TX bytes:500 (500.0 b)
root@ttyp0[knoppix]# ifconfig wlan0 up
root@ttyp0[knoppix]# ifconfig
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:10 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:10 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:500 (500.0 b) TX bytes:500 (500.0 b)

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:0D:88:54:8A:F1
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

The system thinks I'm all set, at least as the root operator. I go into AirSnort from the console as root operator and it comes up, finds the card, and starts logging packets.

If I log out of root and am running as knoppix and enter AirSnort the the system will not go into the monitor mode: apparently it does not recognize Wlan0 anymore.

Anyone have any hints/ideas where I go from here?
thanks

[tearinghairout]

I don't know much about airsnort, having never used it myself, but reading the man page it seems to me that maybe you can only run it as root anyway.

One thing I noticed from all the ifconfig dumps you included is that you haven't assigned an IP address to your card.

You need to do either

pump -i wlan0

to get an IP address from a DHCP server, or

ifconfig wlan0 xx.xx.xx.xx

to manually assign the IP address (where xx.xx.xx.xx is usally something like 192.168.1.something).

I think that there are gui programs that let you assign these, but I always just use the command line.

[Mark Walter]

Thanks, I'll try both methods

I had tried "pumping" previously and did not have any luck, but I'll try again. (Amazing how quickly you lose track of what you tried unless you write it down.) It seems like going into iconfig and setting the address manually will be my best chance.

Also, I am pretty sure you're correct re a GUI to set these. I tried going into the KNOPPIX wlan setup menu, and when I run this it asks if I want to obtain a DHCP address. Last time I tried it responded that it failed, but this may be because of the root issue.

I'll let you know how I make out.

Mark

[Mark Walter]

I know this is not the tech correct place for it, but I just tried the July 2004 release of Kanotix Bughunter Live CD. (The distribution description said it included ndswrapper)

Anyway I booted the system up with the wireless lan usb adapter installed. I ran the same script I used with Knoppix thru the console w root privliges:

wlanctl-ng wlan0 lnxreq_ifstate ifstate=enable
wlanctl-ng wlan0 lnxreq_autojoin ssid=SpeedStream authtype=opensystem
ifup wlan0
pump -i wlan0

then I went and ran Wlanconfig from the menu, entered the SSID name etc
finally I ran Network Card Configuration from the menu and told it to use DHCP

Success!!

Now I can hook up to the net, so things are much better now
The only problem is that I have to leave the router set up un-encrypted. Ive tried entering key numbers, turning keys on, entering encryption etc via iwconfig: I keep getting back a message that seems to indicate that the routine failed (mode not supported)

So I have two questions:
1) Why does this work w Kanotix and not Knoppix? It is my understanding the Kanotix is a modified/remastered Knoppix. Is it the inclusion of ndswrapper?
2)What an I doing wrong re encryption?

Mark