handyfloss

I finally made my new laptop connect with WPA encryption to my WiFi router!!

I could already connect it to WiFi networks with WEP encryption (or no encription at all), but WPA proved harder.

Mini HowTo

1) My setup is the following:

WiFi router: SMC Barricade WBR14-G2
WiFi card in laptop: Intel PRO/Wireles 3945
OS: Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (Dapper Drake)

2) The router settings:

Wireless encryption: WPA/WPA2 Only
Cipher suit: TKIP+AES (WPA/WPA2)
Authentication: Pre-shared Key (yes, I know 802.1X would be more secure… sue me)
Pre-shared key type: Passphrase (8~63 characters)

3) The package one needs to install:

# aptitude install wpasupplicant

4) Making WPA supplicant run:

First, create a config file, by the name /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf, and inside it, write:

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ap_scan=1

network={
  ssid="your_ssid_name"
  scan_ssid=0
  proto=WPA RSN
  key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
  pairwise=TKIP CCMP
  group=TKIP CCMP
  psk="your_preshared_key"
  priority=5
}

At that point, you should make sure that the WiFi is turned on, and that the correct driver is loaded. In my case:

# modprobe ipw3945

Then, to test the WPA supplicant, run:

# wpa_supplicant -Dwext -ieth1 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf

Recall I have used the wext device, instead of the ipw one, that would seem the appropriate one. Well, I read somewhere, that with 2.6.16 kernels and newer, this should be the case. Now I recall that my kernel is 2.6.15… nevermind, it works that way, and not the other (with -Dipw).

Recall also that my wireless device is eth1. Your mileage may vary (but each wireless card model gives rise to a precise device name, don’t worry).

If everything went fine, the output for the above command should be something like:

# wpa_supplicant -Dwext -ieth1 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
Trying to associate with xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx (SSID='xxxxxxxx' freq=0 MHz)
CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED - Disconnect event - remove keys
Authentication with 00:00:00:00:00:00 timed out.
Associated with xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
WPA: Key negotiation completed with xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx [PTK=CCMP GTK=TKIP]
CTRL-EVENT-CONNECTED - Connection to xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx completed (auth)

If you see that “negotiation completed”, it worked (Ctr-C to exit the above).

5) Automating the WPA connection when bringing wireless interface up

Next, I’ll explain the small changes one has to make to /etc/network/interfaces to correctly bring up the interface. As I said, my wireless interface is eth1, so, I added the lines below to the aforementioned config file:

iface eth1 inet dhcp
wireless-essid my_wireless_essid
pre-up wpa_supplicant -Bw -Dwext -ieth1 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
post-down killall -q wpa_supplicant

And that’s all! Whenever you ifup eth1, you’ll bring up the wireless interface, with WPA encryption working.

OK, this entry is just a reminder for myself.

Install ATI drivers

I followed the instructions at this wiki. For the record, I used method 1, and it worked.

Update: The link above seems dead. Read a a more recent post about Compiz Fusion under Debian Lenny for info on ATI drivers instalation.

Install a SMP kernel

My CPU is an Intel Core 2 Duo T7200… I want a SMP kernel, otherwise I am wasting one of the two cores!

Problem is, the friggin Ubuntu has no 2.6 kernels labeled “SMP”. Why, oh why!? OK, I found out: all 2.6.*-686 kernels are actually SMP, even if they don’t say anything. If you have 1 CPU, fine. If you have more, they’ll be detected at boot time. No more “-smp” in the kernel names.

Wireless with 686 kernel

The default 2.6.15-686 supports the wireless just fine, but installing a 686 kernel (required for SMP, see above) seems to break the wireless. However, the solution is easy. As stated in this Ubuntu forum thread, one just needs to install the “restricted” kernel modules corresponding to her kernel (in my case 2.6.15-27-686):

% aptitude install linux-restricted-modules-2.6.15-27-686

After that, reboot. I guess that the new module is loadable (try modprobe ipw3945), without having to reboot… dunno. Also, if you want to have the restricted modules package upgrade automatically, install linux-restricted-modules-686.

WPA encription for WiFi

Update: Read a more recent article: WPA under Ubuntu/Debian.

Install a 64-bit kernel

OK, installing the mainstream 32-bit Ubuntu was a success. Now I have given Ubuntu amd64 a try (amd64 is for both EM64T (Intel) and AMD64 (AMD)).

Everything went smooth, except installing the ATI drivers (as explained above): the screen froze black when loading GDM. To solve this, I read the troubleshooting section in the link above, and found out that I could either add:

Load "extmod"

or:

SubSection "extmod"
  Option "omit XVideo"
  Option "omit XVideo-MotionCompensation"
  Option "omit XFree86-VidModeExtension"
EndSubSection

to the Section "Modules" of /etc/X11/xorg.conf (beware, it’s one OR the other, not both). For me the Load "extmod" did not work, but the SubSection "extmod" did.

Now, for the Xgl thing in 64-bits…

Xgl for 64-bits

I followed the instructions in a previous post, but I found out that some packages were missing, so I manually downloaded them from the Xgl.compiz site. Namely, I downloaded them from the “Edgy” section. However, it didn’t work for me :^(

Update: Compiz Fusion under Debian Lenny in a more recent post.