Re: WPA_SUPPLICANT (Fedora 13) - NetworkManager can not connect WPA-PSK -TKIP on IBM T30

[Dan Williams <dcbw redhat com>]

On Fri, 2010-07-30 at 10:00 -0400, RumseyCW wrote:
> Mr. Williams et al,
>  
> NetworkManager on Fedora 13 (IBM T30) installation can not connect to
> a 3CRWE554G72TU wireless router using  WPA-PSK -TKIP. The laptop has
> the latest updates and all the NetworkManager packages installed
> including GNOME GUI.
> 
> When I use NetworkManager it will accept the WPA & WPA2 proto and the
> Key,  applies and closes however when the network is selected a dialog
> requesting a WEP 40/128 Bit key pops up every time.  A Connection can
> not be made. 
> 
> The messages I see are the WAP_SUPPLICANT can not initialize the AP.
> Also I see hostap driver is not supported although it is reported by
> man page as a supported driver. I believe that this driver is needed
> for T30 wireless and WPA-PSK.
> 
> Can you or someone assist  me in installing or making appropriate
> changes to my T30 installation?  I have tried the IRC #fedora route
> and no one knows much about this problem. Is the T30 too ancient?  It
> has been a faithful consulting tool. It needs to move to a working
> mobile LINUX platform for both wireless 802.11x  and a 3G Modem.
> (PANTECH UM175 1xEVDO REV A)

Do you mean that the wifi card in your machine is an Orinoco or PRISM
2/3 card?  If so, then yes, there are problems with wpa_supplicant's
interaction with the orinoco driver that's probably driving your card,
but that's a problem with the orinoco driver and wpa_supplicant, not
NetworkManager itself.

Also if you are using the orinoco driver, make sure you have the
TKIP-capable firmware.  The fact that you're getting a dialog about WEP
may mean the card isn't seeing the AP as WPA-capable.

If on the other hand you're using the hostap driver (since orinoco and
hostap can both drive some of the same hardware) there's likely a
different set of driver issues.  I'd suggest taking this up on the
wpa_supplicant mailing list which you can find at www.w1.fi.

Dan