Missing WLAN0 under /proc/net/hostap/, even thou pci card is working

[E. Segura]

Hi Folks,

I've been using hostap for quite some time now. I use it on my IpCop
box, configured as an access point. I'm trying to update the firmware
but I'm running into the 'PRISM2_DOWNLOAD_SUPPORT' problem, even
though I did recompile the driver with that line:
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root at ipcop-dev:~/newDriver/hostap/hostap-driver-0.4.9 # grep
PRISM2_DOWNLOAD driver/modules/hostap_config.h
#define PRISM2_DOWNLOAD_SUPPORT
#if !defined(PRISM2_DOWNLOAD_SUPPORT) && defined(CONFIG_HOSTAP_FIRMWARE)
#define PRISM2_DOWNLOAD_SUPPORT
#ifdef PRISM2_DOWNLOAD_SUPPORT
#endif /* PRISM2_DOWNLOAD_SUPPORT */
*******************************************************************************

You might wonder why do I want to flash my card in the first place. I
noticed some stability issues with all wireless stations.
(How do I know? Whenever I reinstall hostap the link comes right up)

I think this is caused by the firmware I'm using:
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root at firewall:~/newDriver/hostap-utils # ./hostap_diag wlan0
Host AP driver diagnostics information for 'wlan0'

NICID: id=0x8013 v1.0.0 (PRISM II (2.5) Mini-PCI (SST parallel flash))
PRIID: id=0x0015 v1.0.5
STAID: id=0x001f v1.1.1 (station firmware)
*******************************************************************************

I'm thus trying to update (using 'volatile' first) the firmware using:
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root at firewall:~/newDriver/hostap-utils # ./prism2_srec -r wlan0
../firmware1.8.2/PK010101.HEX ../firmware1.8.2/SF010802.HEX
srec summary for PK010101.HEX
Component: 0x0015 1.1.1 (primary firmware)

srec summary for SF010802.HEX
Component: 0x001f 1.8.2 (station firmware)

Could not read wlan PDA. This requires PRISM2_DOWNLOAD_SUPPORT definition in
driver/module/hostap_config.h.
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I think that this might be related to the fact that I don't get a
wlan0 item under /proc/net/hostap:
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root at firewall:~/newDriver/hostap-utils # ll /proc/net/hostap/
total 0
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even though, the driver has been uploaded:
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root at firewall:~/newDriver/hostap-utils # lsmod|grep hostap
hostap_crypt_wep ? ? ? ?3312 ? 1 ?(autoclean)
hostap_pci ? ? ? ? ? ? 37912 ? 2
hostap ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 86760 ? 0 ?[hostap_crypt_wep hostap_pci]
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and it seems to be running fine:
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root at firewall:~/newDriver/hostap-utils # ping darkstar
PING darkstar.morenosnet (192.168.2.101): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.2.101: icmp_seq=0 ttl=128 time=2.133 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.101: icmp_seq=1 ttl=128 time=1.955 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.2.101: icmp_seq=2 ttl=128 time=2.286 ms
--- darkstar.morenosnet ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 3 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 1.955/2.125/2.286/0.135 ms
*******************************************************************************

Any help I could get regarding this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Just in case:
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root at firewall:~/newDriver/hostap-utils # uname -a
Linux firewall.morenosnet 2.4.36 #1 Tue Jul 22 13:13:24 GMT 2008 i686
pentium3 i386 GNU/Linux
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root at firewall:~/newDriver/hostap-utils # iwconfig wlan0
wlan0 ? ? IEEE 802.11b ?ESSID:"something"
? ? ? ? ?Mode:Ad-Hoc ?Frequency:2.412 GHz ?Cell: 02:23:E0:21:39:7E
? ? ? ? ?Bit Rate:11 Mb/s ? Sensitivity=1/3
? ? ? ? ?Retry min limit:8 ? RTS thr:off ? Fragment thr:off
? ? ? ? ?Encryption key:something ? Security mode:restricted
? ? ? ? ?Power Management:off
? ? ? ? ?Link Quality=128/92 ?Signal level=-49 dBm ?Noise level=-99 dBm
? ? ? ? ?Rx invalid nwid:0 ?Rx invalid crypt:0 ?Rx invalid frag:0
? ? ? ? ?Tx excessive retries:2 ?Invalid misc:39 ? Missed beacon:0
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--
Eduardo



-- 
Eduardo