Re: A couple of minor issues with NM

["Darren Albers" <dalbers gmail com>]

On 12/22/06, Timothy Murphy <tim birdsnest maths tcd ie> wrote:
> No.
> It always tries to connect to a network I very seldom use.

Are both open network or is one WEP and the other open?  I /think/
that Network Manager will not automatically connect to an unencrypted
network but I am not certain since I rarely use an unencrypted
networks since I got my Aircard.

> Incidentally, where does it store "profiles" or indeed any information?
> Is it available to the user?

It is under gconf:
http://live.gnome.org/DarrenAlbers/NetworkManagerFAQ#head-bef25c7fff6853c702b745626a9b6fb40058f0e4

A full profile manager is planned for 0.7

> I'm using an Orinoco PCMCIA Gold Card on my laptop,
> and Linksys WRT54GL as an Access Point on my desktop.
> I might say that this works perfectly under Windows.
> Sadly, I find Linux WiFi rather a mess, to put it mildly.

Don't blame Linux for that, blame the hardware vendors who don't
support it... Though the Orinoco card should work fine, I used one for
awhile and never experienced the problems you describe.   Do you have
the same issues when using the normal Network-Admin tool?

Have you checked your systems logs to see if it reports why the
association is being stopped?

> There seem to be files and programs all over the place
> which might or might not have some relevance.

That is a distro issue (Though I run Ubuntu have absolutely no idea
what you are talking about especially since your driver is in the
kernel...) and probably has no relevance

> > > 5) Not really an NM question,
> > > but I have a Linksys WRT54GL running dd-wrt .
> > > Does anyone know how to install a WEP key on it?
> > > [I know WEP is not very secure;
> > > but it is the only encryption my PCMCIA card understands.]
> >
> > Yes, go to Wireless, then wireless security and select WEP
>
> Thanks, I tried that but unfortunately it seemed to have
> a disastrous effect on NM.
> Basically, my WEP key was never accepted.
> (It does not accept the WEP key on my old network either,
> which works perfectly with Windows.)
>
> What is more, after failing to accept my key
> NM said it could not find any wireless networks,
> where previously it saw two of them.
>
> Has anyone else had problems getting NM to accept a WEP key?

No, but is it a hex or ascii key?   I just tried it on my system and I
was able to enter the passphrase and connect right away.

> I'm pretty critical of NetworkManager at the moment.
> It seems to me it tries to be too clever
> (a common fault with Linux applications)
> instead of being satisfied to do one thing, and do that properly,
> as Ken Thompson recommended.

Then use Network-Admin or wifi-radar....  Network-Manager is not the
only tool available to manage wireless networks.

Network Manager is doing ONE thing and that is manage your networks.