RE: networkmanager-0.9.8.9 will not connect to wifi with non-broadcast ssid

[John Frankish <j-frankish slb com>]

> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: John Frankish
> > > > Sent: Friday, 25 April, 2014 17:41
> > > > To: networkmanager-list gnome org
> > > > Subject: networkmanager-0.9.8.9 will not connect to wifi with
> > > > non-broadcast ssid
> > > >
> > > > I've been trying to connect to a wap that does not broadcast the
> > > > ssid for a while without success.
> > > >
> > > > Using the same setup with wpa_supplicant manually works using the
> > > > wpa_supplicant.conf below.
> > >
> > > After some more checking I can confirm that networkmanager/network-
> > manager-applet will connect to a wap that does broadcast the ssid,
> > which seems to confirm that the issue is with wap that do not broadcast
> the ssid.
> > I've just verified that I can do both a new connection and a
> > reconnection to a hidden-SSID access point here with 0.9.8.10, though
> > with WEP not WPA (which shouldn't be an issue).  From your logs:
> >
> > NetworkManager[1139]: <info> Config: added 'ssid' value 'bobnet'
> > NetworkManager[1139]: <info> Config: added 'scan_ssid' value '1'
> >
> > NetworkManager doesn't store a supplicant config file, because the
> > network blocks are created on-the-fly based on the NM configuration
> > and what you type in, and a config file is pretty useless.  But the
> > logs show what NetworkManager is sending to the supplicant, which is
> > exactly what would be written to the supplicant config file.
> >
> > So you can see that NM is sending scan_ssid=1.  ap_scan=2 is *not*
> > required for working WiFi drivers.  It's only required for older
> > broken drivers, and for Ad-Hoc mode.
> >
> > NetworkManager[1139]: <info> (eth1): supplicant interface state:
> > inactive -> scanning
> > <30 seconds pass>
> > NetworkManager[1139]: <warn> Activation (eth1/wireless): association
> > took too long, failing activation.
> >
> > This is a problem much lower down, either with the AP, or with the
> > supplicant and kernel.  The scanning process for the AP should take
> > anywhere between 1 and 10 seconds, often less than 2 or 3.
> >
> > To debug that, can you grab some detailed wpa_supplicant logs?  Run
> > these two commands, and the supplicant should start dumping logs to
> > /var/log/wpa_supplicant.log:
> >
> > sudo dbus-send --system --print-reply
> > --dest=fi.w1.wpa_supplicant1 /fi/w1/wpa_supplicant1
> > org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Set string:fi.w1.wpa_supplicant1
> > string:DebugTimestamp variant:boolean:true
> >
> > sudo dbus-send --system --print-reply
> > --dest=fi.w1.wpa_supplicant1 /fi/w1/wpa_supplicant1
> > org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Set string:fi.w1.wpa_supplicant1
> > string:DebugLevel variant:string:"msgdump"
> >
> > You should see something like this when you ask NetworkManager to
> > connect, or when NM tries to connect automatically:
> >
> > wlp12s0: State: INACTIVE -> SCANNING
> > Scan SSID - hexdump_ascii(len=8)
> >     66 6f 6f 62 61 72 32 32    foobar22
> > ...
> > nl80211: Scan SSID - hexdump_ascii(len=8)
> >     66 6f 6f 62 61 72 32 32    foobar22
> > ...
> > wlp12s0: BSS: Add new id 15 BSSID <...> SSID 'foobar22'
> Thanks for the suggestion - using wpa_supplicant -dddtu -f
> /var/log/wpa_supplicant.log produced the attached output.
>
> It's odd that this times out - if I use wpa_supplicant manually it connects in a
> few seconds as do windows and iOS devices.
In case it's useful I've attached the log from using wpa_supplicant manually - in this case it connects in a 
few seconds, even via a wifi repeater, which does not broadcast the ssid.

Attachment: wpa_supplicant_no_ssid_repeater_manual.log.tar.gz
Description: wpa_supplicant_no_ssid_repeater_manual.log.tar.gz