Problems with wireless...unknown source (long)

[Launi]

Hi, I'm going to jump in with a few systemic suggestions.  First set
your HostAP to managed mode. Second install NoCat Auth to manage your
routing on your AP.  Third get DHCP server running on your server.  Put
Pump on your client.



______________________________________________
Lonnie Wormley



> -----Original Message-----
> From: hostap-admin at shmoo.com [mailto:hostap-admin at shmoo.com] 
> On Behalf Of Praedor Atrebates
> Sent: Sunday, November 24, 2002 11:00 AM
> To: Mandrake-expert
> Cc: Atmel-driver-usb; hostap at shmoo.com
> Subject: Problems with wireless...unknown source (long)
> 
> 
> I am having problems with wireless connectivity between an 
> IBM Thinkpad with 
> prism2-based wireless card using hostap_cs and my desktop 
> with a wusb11 v2.6 
> wireless device using the atmel driver.  Both systems are 
> running Mandrake 
> 8.2, kernel 2.4.18-6mdk.  
> 
> I am posting this to three lists because I cannot identify 
> the source of my 
> problems.  It could be a systemic problem with 
> Mandrake/kernel-2.4.18 or a 
> problem with the atmel or hostap drivers.  I am hoping 
> someone else may be 
> running into/has run into the same problem I am.
> 
> I am running my wireless connection as ad-hoc and connection 
> sharing a dialup 
> connection on my desktop.  My wlan0 card (on the laptop) has 
> IP 192.168.0.2 
> and my usb device on the desktop is eth0 and has IP 
> 192.168.0.1.  On two 
> occassions now I have been able to obtain a working wireless 
> connection 
> between them and been able to share my modem connection via 
> iptables/NAT - 
> but only for segments of hours.  After a few hours (first 
> time around 3, 
> second time ~8 hours - overnight), with no change obvious in 
> the state of 
> either system, the wireless connection just stops working.  
> The syslogs of 
> each system still indicates they are "connected" but any 
> attempt to ping 
> either direction produces destination unreachable messages.  
> The pings are 
> sent to the correct IPs, however.
> 
> This has happened to me twice now, over 2 days.  I am 
> wirelessly connected to 
> my desktop from my laptop.  The desktop is connected to the 
> net via modem and 
> I am browsing/emailing without problems on the laptop.  
> Suddenly, after 
> several hours, the ability to use the web just stops and I 
> also lose the 
> ability to communicate between either system.  I look at the 
> logs and there 
> are no error messages anywhere to be found.  When this has 
> happened, I have 
> tried to restart pcmcia on my laptop and setting up the card 
> again for adhoc 
> as before but there is no communication (though my 
> /var/log/syslog contains 
> corresponding:
> 
> wlan0: Linkstatus=1 (Connected)
> wlan0: Linkstatus: BSSID=02:23:cb:28:93:37
> 
> over and over (with the BSSID changing periodically at the 
> 3rd octet).  There 
> are NO other wireless networks anywhere near where I live 
> (rural) plus my 
> house is aluminum-sided.  It is unlikely, given the distance 
> between homes 
> here (~.5 mile) that even if a neighbor had a wireless setup 
> (they don't) 
> that it could interfer.  No microwave or other possible 
> interferring device 
> has been operated/operating when this happens either.
> 
> My /etc/hosts on my deskop:
> 
> 127.0.0.1	localhost.localdomain	locahost
> 192.168.0.2	lapdog.ravenhome.net	lapdog
> 
> My /etc/hosts on my laptop:
> 
> 127.0.0.1	localhost.localdomain	localhost
> 192.168.0.1	Stonekeep.ravenhome.net	Stonekeep
> 
> My routing tables do not change from the time that the 
> connection is fully 
> functional and when it goes down.  On my desktop with the 
> wusb11 I do have to 
> manually add a route to my laptop (so far) each time I've 
> started up the 
> wireless connection anew in order to get it working inspite 
> of the syslogs 
> having Connected messages in them:
> 
> route add -net 192.168.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 dev eth0
> 
> Nothing changes in my iptables either between the time the 
> shared connection 
> is working and when it craps out.  I have found that when the 
> adhoc wireless 
> connection dies, I cannot do anything to bring it back.  I 
> have had to reboot 
> to get it up again (this is likely an atmel problem).  I 
> restart pcmcia 
> services on my laptop and do:
> 
> iwconfig wlan0 mode ad-hoc essid keep channel 1
> 
> and on the desktop I have tried using both iwconfig and/or 
> xvnet to reset the 
> adhoc connection, and though the changes seem to take, no successful 
> connection ensues (but I do get those wlan0: Linkstatus 
> (connected) messages 
> or on the desktop:
> 
> vnetusba.c/usb_vnet_ioctl: cmd x8b01 StationState 5, etc, etc.
> 
> I have tried changing over to infrastructure mode on both 
> occassions when the 
> adhoc connection died. I had begun to wonder if my usb device 
> was bad and not 
> transmitting  (I know the prism2 is OK because the usb device 
> is detecting 
> its management signals).  The first time I tried this the 
> desktop connected 
> to the laptop AP without problems indicating that the usb 
> device was fully 
> functional.  The second time this failed (perhaps it is 
> intermittent).  I 
> ultimately rebooted both systems, resetup the adhoc and it worked.  I 
> anticipate it will fail again after some unknown number of hours.
> 
> Upon trying to setup the connection anew (prior to rebooting) 
> the atmel driver 
> gives me problems.  Nothing I do will bring back the usb 
> device.  Restarting 
> usb, unloading and reloading the modules, unplugging and 
> plugging in the 
> device.  If I try to run ifup eth0 it tells me there is no 
> such device but if 
> I do ifconfig it shows up.  If I do iwconfig, it usually 
> shows it up as well 
> (though sometimes it doesn't show up, only "lo" shows) and 
> setup properly.  
> If I then try to run xvnet or lvnet, it tells me that no 
> atmel device was 
> found.  I do a depmod -a and I get a bunch of unresolved 
> symbols in most/all 
> of the atmel driver modules (I built them specifically 
> with/for the running 
> kernel!).  Thus, when this happens I reboot the system to get it back.
> 
> Someone has been posting to the Mandrake list about network 
> connections dying 
> after some hours with regards to Mandrake 9.0.  So I wonder 
> if I am running 
> into something similar here with my wireless setup...or are 
> there driver 
> issues?  Which device?  How do I tell?
> 
> praedor
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