WPA_supplicant trouble connecting client to AP

Wed May 15 07:17:00 PDT 2013

2013/5/15 Dan Williams <dcbw at redhat.com>:
> On Wed, 2013-05-15 at 14:01 +0200, Francisco Cuesta wrote:
>> Hi Jouni,
>>
>> >Which wpa_supplicant are you using?
>>
>> I'm currently using wpa_supplicant v2.0-devel
>>
>> >What is this fixed_freq parameter? It sounds like this wpa_supplicant
>> >version has some changes that do not exist in hostap.git and as such, it
>> >is unclear how it behaves.
>>
>> This parameters I think represent that the frequency of the AP is
>> already fixed. This wpa_supplicant configuration file is parsed from a
>> generic wpa_supplicant configuration, this is done in this way in
>> OpenWRT; they launches hostapd which parses  this generic file and
>> calls wpa_supplicant with it.
>
> His point is that fixed_freq is *not* an option in the official
> hostap/wpa_supplicant sources, so whatever you're running, it's been
> modified by whoever you got it from.
>

>> >How do you know what it does after this? The -B option on the command
>> >line requests wpa_supplicant to move into the background and that stops
>> >the debug log to stdout. If you want to see after this, you would need
>> >to either direct the log to a file or syslog or remove the -B option.
>>
>> I've followed your advice, and I have disabled the -B option and now I
>> get more output once I launch wpa_supplicant, which is this one
>>
>> wlan1: State: DISCONNECTED -> SCANNING
>> Scan SSID - hexdump_ascii(len=18):
>>      69 72 74 2d 61 68 2d 69 6e 72 69 61 2d 73 69 65   X-X-X-X
>>      62 65                                             -X
>> wlan1: Starting AP scan for wildcard SSID
>> nl80211: Scan SSID - hexdump_ascii(len=18):
>>      69 72 74 2d 61 68 2d 69 6e 72 69 61 2d 73 69 65   X-X-X-X
>>      62 65                                             -X
>> nl80211: Scan SSID - hexdump_ascii(len=0): [NULL]
>> Scan requested (ret=0) - scan timeout 30 seconds
>> nl80211: Event message available
>> nl80211: Scan trigger
>> RTM_NEWLINK: operstate=0 ifi_flags=0x1003 ([UP])
>> netlink: Operstate: linkmode=-1, operstate=6
>> The num-Xr of sent bytes  in netlink_send_oper_ifla are 37
>> RTM_NEWLINK, IFLA_IFNAME: Interface 'wlan1' added
>> nl80211: if_removed already cleared - ignore event
>> nl80211: Event message available
>> nl80211: New scan results available
>> wlan1: Event SCAN_RESULTS (3) received
>> nl80211: Received scan results (1 BSSes)
>> wlan1: BSS: Start scan result update 6
>> BSS: last_scan_res_used=1/32 last_scan_full=0
>> wlan1: New scan results available
>> wlan1: Selecting BSS from priority group 0
>> wlan1: 0: 64:70:02:3e:a7:82 ssid='X-X-X-X-X' wpa_ie_len=0 rsn_ie_len=0
>> caps=0x1 level=-70
>> A BSSID in blacklist is this: 4896660
>> The BSSID of blacklist selected is this: 4896660
>
> These messages are also not part of official hostap/wpa_supplicant, so
> your version has been patched by somebody, and that may be introducing
> new bugs.
>

What messages do you refer to? The X-X-X... which appears there, I
have set it by myself, as well I have put some extra printf in the
code to see the running sequence

>> wlan1:    skip - blacklisted (count=1 limit=0)
>> wlan1: No APs found - clear blacklist and try again
>> Removed BSSID 64:70:02:3e:a7:82 from blacklist (clear)
>> wlan1: Selecting BSS from priority group 0
>> wlan1: 0: 64:70:02:3e:a7:82 ssid='X-X-X-X-X' wpa_ie_len=0 rsn_ie_len=0
>> caps=0x1 level=-70
>> wlan1:    allow in non-WPA/WPA2
>> The channel that wpa_s struct has got is 36
>> The frequency that wpa_s struct has got is 5180 MHz
>> The set channel on rate_match function is 2364476
>> The set frequency on rate_match function is 5180 MHz
>> The set frequency on rate_match function is 5180 MHz
>> The comparison freq == bss->freq is true
>> wlan1:    selected BSS 64:70:02:3e:a7:82 ssid='X-X-X-X-X'
>> wlan1: Request association: reassociate: 0  selected:
>> 64:70:02:3e:a7:82  bssid: 00:00:00:00:00:00  pending:
>> 00:00:00:00:00:00  wpa_state: SCANNING
>> wlan1: Automatic auth_alg selection: 0x1
>> wlan1: WPA: clearing AP WPA IE
>> wlan1: WPA: clearing AP RSN IE
>> wlan1: WPA: clearing own WPA/RSN IE
>> wlan1: Cancelling scan request
>> wlan1: SME: Trying to authenticate with 64:70:02:3e:a7:82
>> (SSID='X-X-X-X-X' freq=5180 MHz)
>> wlan1: No keys have -Xen configured - skip key clearing
>> wlan1: State: SCANNING -> AUTHENTICATING
>> nl80211: Authenticate (ifindex=33)
>>   * bssid=64:70:02:3e:a7:82
>>   * freq=5180
>>   * SSID - hexdump_ascii(len=18):
>>      69 72 74 2d 61 68 2d 69 6e 72 69 61 2d 73 69 65   X-X-X-X
>>      62 65                                             -X
>>   * IEs - hexdump(len=0): [NULL]
>>   * Auth Type 0
>> nl80211: Authentication request send successfully
>> wlan1: Checking for other virtual interfaces sharing same radio (phy1)
>> in event_scan_results
>> nl80211: Event message available
>> nl80211: New station 64:70:02:3e:a7:82
>> nl80211: Event message available
>> nl80211: Delete station 64:70:02:3e:a7:82
>> nl80211: Event message available
>> nl80211: MLME event 37; timeout with 64:70:02:3e:a7:82
>> wlan1: Event AUTH_TIMED_OUT (14) received
>> wlan1: SME: Authentication timed out
>
> This indicates that the kernel driver has not been able to authenticate
> with the AP, so the problem may be due to kernel driver issues.  Which
> kernel are you using and which wifi driver?
>

I'm using a linux kernel which is 3.3.8. The wifi devices are an
atheros AR9341 (integrated
2.4ghz) + AR9580 (5ghz) (onboard), both devices are managed with ath9k
driver plus compat wireless drivers called compat-wireless-2012-09-07.
Could you tell me where in the kernel driver are defined the channels
that might be authenticated with the AP?

Ps: sorry for the triple post, but I didn't reply well to all the
members of the mail.

> Dan
>
>> Added BSSID 64:70:02:3e:a7:82 into blacklist
>> wlan1: Setting scan request: 0 sec 100000 usec
>> wlan1: State: AUTHENTICATING -> DISCONNECTED
>> wpa_driver_nl80211_set_operstate: operstate 0->0 (DORMANT)
>> The linkmode=-1 is set on wpa_driver_nl80211_set_operstate
>> netlink: Operstate: linkmode=-1, operstate=5
>> The num-Xr of sent bytes  in netlink_send_oper_ifla are 37
>> wlan1: State: DISCONNECTED -> SCANNING
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>
>