Using a Debian box as an AP with wireless testing and hostapd

Using a Debian box as an AP with wireless testing and hostapd

[Javier Gálvez Guerrero]

 Hi all,

I'm trying to use my Debian box as an AP using the latest wireless
testing kernel (2.6.30-wl) and a WiFi card Asus WL-138G v2 PCI but I'm
experiencing a weird problem, hope you can guide me through it.

First, I'll tell what and how I setup it. I downloaded the wireless
testing kernel and installed it (make && make modules && make
modules_install && make install), prepared the boot images and updated
the grub; fine. Next I installed compat-wireless, wireless regdb,
crda, libnl, hostapd and iw following this tutorial
(http://acx100.erley.org/git.html), with slight modifications: install
some missing packages (m2crypto, libgcrypt-dev and libssl-dev) and,
after installing compat-wireless, 'make unload' as suggested by the
'make install' output.

The problem is that, after rebooting, I miss the wlan0 interface
forever (I checked with the b43 driver prior to installing the
wireless testing kernel that I could get the wlan0 attached and
properly working). I always get these messages during boot time and
when trying to modprobe the corresponding modules:

...
[   14.024804] cfg80211: exports duplicate symbol __dev_addr_unsync
(owned by kernel)
[   14.073839] parport_pc 00:09: reported by Plug and Play ACPI
[   14.073940] parport0: PC-style at 0x378, irq 7 [PCSPP,TRISTATE,EPP]
[   14.203976] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_ibss_wext_giwessid
[   14.204327] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_send_assoc_timeout
[   14.204805] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_ibss_wext_siwessid
[   14.205483] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_scan_done
[   14.206193] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_wext_siwfrag
[   14.206498] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_send_auth_timeout
[   14.206945] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_wext_giwrts
[   14.207193] mac80211: Unknown symbol regulatory_hint_11d
[   14.207436] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_send_deauth
[   14.207679] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_wext_giwscan
[   14.208182] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_wext_giwname
[   14.208688] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_wext_siwmlme
[   14.209039] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_wext_siwencodeext
[   14.209385] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_wext_giwmode
[   14.209869] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_wext_giwrange
[   14.210531] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_classify8021d
[   14.210777] mac80211: Unknown symbol wiphy_register
[   14.211020] mac80211: Unknown symbol wiphy_new
[   14.211266] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_put_bss
[   14.211545] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_wext_siwrts
[   14.212538] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_ibss_joined
[   14.212998] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_wext_giwfrag
[   14.213381] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_hold_bss
[   14.213697] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_ibss_wext_siwfreq
[   14.214056] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_michael_mic_failure
[   14.214310] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_send_rx_auth
[   14.214820] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_ibss_wext_giwap
[   14.215325] mac80211: Unknown symbol wiphy_unregister
[   14.215775] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_send_disassoc
[   14.216194] mac80211: Unknown symbol ieee80211_radiotap_iterator_init
[   14.216545] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_get_bss
[   14.216886] mac80211: Unknown symbol __ieee80211_get_channel
[   14.217235] mac80211: Unknown symbol rfc1042_header
[   14.217835] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_wext_siwmode
[   14.218275] mac80211: Unknown symbol ieee80211_data_to_8023
[   14.218524] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_send_rx_assoc
[   14.218776] mac80211: Unknown symbol ieee80211_radiotap_iterator_next
[   14.219072] mac80211: Unknown symbol ieee80211_channel_to_frequency
[   14.219322] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_wext_siwretry
[   14.219571] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_wext_giwtxpower
[   14.220085] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_wext_giwretry
[   14.220721] mac80211: Unknown symbol ieee80211_hdrlen
[   14.221059] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_wext_siwscan
[   14.221409] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_ibss_wext_siwap
[   14.221747] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_inform_bss_frame
[   14.222243] mac80211: Unknown symbol ieee80211_frequency_to_channel
[   14.222703] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_unhold_bss
[   14.222952] mac80211: Unknown symbol bridge_tunnel_header
[   14.223318] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_ibss_wext_giwfreq
[   14.223767] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_wext_siwencode
[   14.224039] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_unlink_bss
[   14.224288] mac80211: Unknown symbol wiphy_free
[   14.224606] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_wext_giwencode
[   14.224890] mac80211: Unknown symbol cfg80211_wext_siwtxpower
[   14.488924] b43: Unknown symbol ieee80211_get_response_rate
[   14.490682] b43: Unknown symbol ieee80211_free_hw
[   14.491589] b43: Unknown symbol ieee80211_alloc_hw
[   14.492239] b43: Unknown symbol ieee80211_register_hw
[   14.492930] b43: Unknown symbol __ieee80211_get_radio_led_name
[   14.493187] b43: Unknown symbol ieee80211_generic_frame_duration
[   14.493441] b43: Unknown symbol ieee80211_wake_queue
[   14.494261] b43: Unknown symbol __ieee80211_get_tx_led_name
[   14.494514] b43: Unknown symbol ieee80211_tx_status_irqsafe
[   14.494760] b43: Unknown symbol wiphy_rfkill_set_hw_state
[   14.495293] b43: Unknown symbol __ieee80211_get_rx_led_name
[   14.496713] b43: Unknown symbol ieee80211_ctstoself_get
[   14.498008] b43: Unknown symbol ieee80211_stop_queue
[   14.498758] b43: Unknown symbol __ieee80211_get_assoc_led_name
[   14.499044] b43: Unknown symbol wiphy_rfkill_start_polling
[   14.500087] b43: Unknown symbol ieee80211_unregister_hw
[   14.500855] b43: Unknown symbol ieee80211_hdrlen
[   14.501125] b43: Unknown symbol ieee80211_rts_get
[   14.501445] b43: Unknown symbol ieee80211_beacon_get
[   14.502682] b43: Unknown symbol ieee80211_rx_irqsafe
...

And if I try to launch the hostapd process (hostapd -dd
/etc/hostapd.conf) I get this error according to the previous issue:

# hostapd -dd /etc/hostapd.conf
Configuration file: /etc/hostapd.conf
ctrl_interface_group=0
nl80211: 'nl80211' generic netlink not found
nl80211 driver initialization failed.
wlan0: Unable to setup interface.
Flushing old station entries
Deauthenticate all stations
rmdir[ctrl_interface]: No such file or directory


I would like to know what should I've done or where is my mistake.
Some missing headers? Any missing kernel option in .config? I'm quite
interested in getting this environment ready to perform some
networking trials, so I hope you can help me in solving this.


Thans for your time,
Javi

Re: Using a Debian box as an AP with wireless testing and hostapd

[Pavel Roskin]

On Mon, 2009-06-29 at 11:00 +0200, Javier Gálvez Guerrero wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I'm trying to use my Debian box as an AP using the latest wireless
> testing kernel (2.6.30-wl) and a WiFi card Asus WL-138G v2 PCI but I'm
> experiencing a weird problem, hope you can guide me through it.
> 
> First, I'll tell what and how I setup it. I downloaded the wireless
> testing kernel and installed it (make && make modules && make
> modules_install && make install), prepared the boot images and updated
> the grub; fine. Next I installed compat-wireless, wireless regdb,
> crda, libnl, hostapd and iw following this tutorial
> (http://acx100.erley.org/git.html), with slight modifications: install
> some missing packages (m2crypto, libgcrypt-dev and libssl-dev) and,
> after installing compat-wireless, 'make unload' as suggested by the
> 'make install' output.

You don't need compat-wireless with 2.6.30-wl.  The whole point of
compat-wireless is to backport the latest drivers from the "-wl" kernel
to older kernels.

Please remove /lib/modules/2.6.30-wl and reinstall the kernel by running
"make modules_install install".

-- 
Regards,
Pavel Roskin

Re: Using a Debian box as an AP with wireless testing and hostapd

[Javier Gálvez Guerrero]

Hi Pavel,

Thanks a lot for your answer. I successfully uninstalled the
compat-wireless package and no it is running properly. Anyway, I'm
experiencing a problem while configuring the box as a DHCP server. I
will tell you my problem, but if you consider this is not the place to
discuss such issue I will understand.

I configured dhcpd like this:

--> /etc/dhcp3/dhcpd.conf:Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd: Wrote 0 leases
to leases file.
Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:
Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd: No subnet declaration for wlan0 (0.0.0.0).
Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd: ** Ignoring requests on wlan0.  If this is not what
Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:    you want, please write a subnet declaration
Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:    in your dhcpd.conf file for the network segment
Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:    to which interface wlan0 is attached. **
Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:
Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:
Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd: Not configured to listen on any interfaces!

ddns-update-style none;

option domain-name-servers 147.83.2.3, 147.83.2.10;

default-lease-time 86400;
max-lease-time 604800;

authoritative;

subnet 192.168.3.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
  range 192.168.3.2 192.168.3.254;
  option domain-name-servers 147.83.2.3,147.83.2.10;
  option routers 192.168.3.1;
  option broadcast-address 192.168.3.255;
  default-lease-time 100000;
  max-lease-time 100000;
}


--> /etc/default/dhcp3-server:

# Defaults for dhcp initscript
# sourced by /etc/init.d/dhcp
# installed at /etc/default/dhcp3-server by the maintainer scripts

#
# This is a POSIX shell fragment
#

# On what interfaces should the DHCP server (dhcpd) serve DHCP requests?
#       Separate multiple interfaces with spaces, e.g. "eth0 eth1".
INTERFACES="wlan0"


AFAIK, I just need this to configure the DHCP server in my box. Next,
I should configure some NATting with iptables. However, when issuing
/etc/init.d/dhcp3-server start I get this message:

faye:/home/dulceangustia# /etc/init.d/dhcp3-server start
Starting DHCP server: dhcpd3check syslog for diagnostics. failed!
 failed!

And in /var/log/syslog I see:

Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd: Wrote 0 leases to leases file.
Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:
Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd: No subnet declaration for wlan0 (0.0.0.0).
Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd: ** Ignoring requests on wlan0.  If this is not what
Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:    you want, please write a subnet declaration
Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:    in your dhcpd.conf file for the network segment
Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:    to which interface wlan0 is attached. **
Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:
Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:
Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd: Not configured to listen on any interfaces!

BTW, the leases file do exist as I 'touch'ed it.

I can't understand why it says that the dhcp server is not configured
to listen on any interfaces. Seems I'm missing some easy configuration
but after some time googling it seems that I should already have it
running.

Any idea on how to carry on configuring my AP?


Thanks for your time and sorry for the inconvenience,
Javi

2009/6/29 Pavel Roskin <proski@gnu.org>:
> On Mon, 2009-06-29 at 11:00 +0200, Javier Gálvez Guerrero wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I'm trying to use my Debian box as an AP using the latest wireless
>> testing kernel (2.6.30-wl) and a WiFi card Asus WL-138G v2 PCI but I'm
>> experiencing a weird problem, hope you can guide me through it.
>>
>> First, I'll tell what and how I setup it. I downloaded the wireless
>> testing kernel and installed it (make && make modules && make
>> modules_install && make install), prepared the boot images and updated
>> the grub; fine. Next I installed compat-wireless, wireless regdb,
>> crda, libnl, hostapd and iw following this tutorial
>> (http://acx100.erley.org/git.html), with slight modifications: install
>> some missing packages (m2crypto, libgcrypt-dev and libssl-dev) and,
>> after installing compat-wireless, 'make unload' as suggested by the
>> 'make install' output.
>
> You don't need compat-wireless with 2.6.30-wl.  The whole point of
> compat-wireless is to backport the latest drivers from the "-wl" kernel
> to older kernels.
>
> Please remove /lib/modules/2.6.30-wl and reinstall the kernel by running
> "make modules_install install".
>
> --
> Regards,
> Pavel Roskin
>

Re: Using a Debian box as an AP with wireless testing and hostapd

[Javier Gálvez Guerrero]

First, sorry for messing up my previous mail with copy-pasting dejavus.

I solved the commented issue after configuring the AP wireless
interface's IP address:

# ifconfig wlan0 192.168.3.1

Then all worked fine.


Thanks for your help and patience,
Javi

El 29 de junio de 2009 16:05, Javier Gálvez
Guerrero<javier.galvez@entel.upc.edu> escribió:
> Hi Pavel,
>
> Thanks a lot for your answer. I successfully uninstalled the
> compat-wireless package and no it is running properly. Anyway, I'm
> experiencing a problem while configuring the box as a DHCP server. I
> will tell you my problem, but if you consider this is not the place to
> discuss such issue I will understand.
>
> I configured dhcpd like this:
>
> --> /etc/dhcp3/dhcpd.conf:Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd: Wrote 0 leases
> to leases file.
> Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:
> Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd: No subnet declaration for wlan0 (0.0.0.0).
> Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd: ** Ignoring requests on wlan0.  If this is not what
> Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:    you want, please write a subnet declaration
> Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:    in your dhcpd.conf file for the network segment
> Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:    to which interface wlan0 is attached. **
> Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:
> Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:
> Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd: Not configured to listen on any interfaces!
>
> ddns-update-style none;
>
> option domain-name-servers 147.83.2.3, 147.83.2.10;
>
> default-lease-time 86400;
> max-lease-time 604800;
>
> authoritative;
>
> subnet 192.168.3.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
>  range 192.168.3.2 192.168.3.254;
>  option domain-name-servers 147.83.2.3,147.83.2.10;
>  option routers 192.168.3.1;
>  option broadcast-address 192.168.3.255;
>  default-lease-time 100000;
>  max-lease-time 100000;
> }
>
>
> --> /etc/default/dhcp3-server:
>
> # Defaults for dhcp initscript
> # sourced by /etc/init.d/dhcp
> # installed at /etc/default/dhcp3-server by the maintainer scripts
>
> #
> # This is a POSIX shell fragment
> #
>
> # On what interfaces should the DHCP server (dhcpd) serve DHCP requests?
> #       Separate multiple interfaces with spaces, e.g. "eth0 eth1".
> INTERFACES="wlan0"
>
>
> AFAIK, I just need this to configure the DHCP server in my box. Next,
> I should configure some NATting with iptables. However, when issuing
> /etc/init.d/dhcp3-server start I get this message:
>
> faye:/home/dulceangustia# /etc/init.d/dhcp3-server start
> Starting DHCP server: dhcpd3check syslog for diagnostics. failed!
>  failed!
>
> And in /var/log/syslog I see:
>
> Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd: Wrote 0 leases to leases file.
> Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:
> Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd: No subnet declaration for wlan0 (0.0.0.0).
> Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd: ** Ignoring requests on wlan0.  If this is not what
> Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:    you want, please write a subnet declaration
> Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:    in your dhcpd.conf file for the network segment
> Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:    to which interface wlan0 is attached. **
> Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:
> Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd:
> Jun 29 16:01:12 faye dhcpd: Not configured to listen on any interfaces!
>
> BTW, the leases file do exist as I 'touch'ed it.
>
> I can't understand why it says that the dhcp server is not configured
> to listen on any interfaces. Seems I'm missing some easy configuration
> but after some time googling it seems that I should already have it
> running.
>
> Any idea on how to carry on configuring my AP?
>
>
> Thanks for your time and sorry for the inconvenience,
> Javi
>
> 2009/6/29 Pavel Roskin <proski@gnu.org>:
>> On Mon, 2009-06-29 at 11:00 +0200, Javier Gálvez Guerrero wrote:
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> I'm trying to use my Debian box as an AP using the latest wireless
>>> testing kernel (2.6.30-wl) and a WiFi card Asus WL-138G v2 PCI but I'm
>>> experiencing a weird problem, hope you can guide me through it.
>>>
>>> First, I'll tell what and how I setup it. I downloaded the wireless
>>> testing kernel and installed it (make && make modules && make
>>> modules_install && make install), prepared the boot images and updated
>>> the grub; fine. Next I installed compat-wireless, wireless regdb,
>>> crda, libnl, hostapd and iw following this tutorial
>>> (http://acx100.erley.org/git.html), with slight modifications: install
>>> some missing packages (m2crypto, libgcrypt-dev and libssl-dev) and,
>>> after installing compat-wireless, 'make unload' as suggested by the
>>> 'make install' output.
>>
>> You don't need compat-wireless with 2.6.30-wl.  The whole point of
>> compat-wireless is to backport the latest drivers from the "-wl" kernel
>> to older kernels.
>>
>> Please remove /lib/modules/2.6.30-wl and reinstall the kernel by running
>> "make modules_install install".
>>
>> --
>> Regards,
>> Pavel Roskin
>>
>