howto - rtl8187 backtrack r1 monitor mode - Unknown error 132

[muts]

In our tests we have found the rtl8187 driver to behave strangely in VMware environments. Eight out of ten times, the card would not go into monitor mode, and spit out this error:

root@bt:~# airmon-ng


Interface Chipset Driver

wlan0 RTL8187 rtl8187 - [phy0]

root@bt:~# airmon-ng start wlan0


Interface Chipset Driver

wlan0 RTL8187 rtl8187 - [phy0]SIOCSIFFLAGS: Unknown error 132

(monitor mode enabled on mon0)


To solve this, you can switch to the ieee80211 r8187 drivers, which will work just fine:

rmmod rtl8187
rmmod mac80211
modprobe r8187

And to make these changes permanent, modify your /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist file to blacklist ONLY rtl8187. Entry should look like this:

blacklist snd_desktop
...
#blacklist r8187
blacklist rtl8187
...

[Rafter]

Hi muts
We tried this while I was talking to you on irc. It worked.
But now it just wont work anymore :/
My VMWare BT4-R1 seems very unstable..
The fact is:
airmon-ng
interface chipset driver
wlan0 RTL8187 rtl8187 - [phy0]
rmmod rtl8187
rmmod mac80211
modprobe (after very long time it finishes)
but..
airmon-ng
interface chipset driver


Now I have no interface anymore

[Snayler]

airmon-ng
interface chipset driver
wlan0 RTL8187 rtl8187 - [phy0]
rmmod rtl8187
rmmod mac80211
modprobe (after very long time it finishes)
but..
airmon-ng
interface chipset driver

Did you just wrote "modprobe" into command line? Aren't you forgetting about the r8187 part?

rmmod rtl8187
rmmod mac80211
modprobe r8187

[siliano]

Hi guys
I began to wonder if that came from me or not, i had the same problem with my AWUS036H and in parallel the green led on my card was switched on as if the highpower mode was on but it was not.
I solved the problem by typing the command line quoted higher except "rmmod mac80211" and now the card works well, injection too.

[Rafter]

Hi guys
I solved the problem by typing the command line quoted higher except "rmmod mac80211" and now the card works well, injection too.

I also tried NOT doing the 'rmmod mac80211' command, but still it freezes and nothing good happends except I have no interface afterwards..

Finally, made it work.. Although it seems sometimes it won't work.

Searched through forums and google, and stumbled over an advice that said: "Make sure Network is startet [ON], before doing modprobe r8187"
Had some problems when networking was not startet, and made it work when starting network prior to modprobe..

Could anyone of you experts confirm this being an issue?

Thanks to muts for the solution

[Rafter]

Did you just wrote "modprobe" into command line? Aren't you forgetting about the r8187 part?

rmmod rtl8187
rmmod mac80211
modprobe r8187

Hey Snayler..
Yes sorry, my forum post is messi Havent learned yet to place it in tables aso..
I did NOT forget to write r8187 in command line.. Just forgot to write it here in forum. Sry.

[txt3rob]

im having the same issue no interface after that fix :S

[idkska]

im having the same issue no interface after that fix :S

I was able to get it working well on r1 with networking started, rmmod rtl8187, and modprobe r8187. To clarify I am running it off of an SD on an eee with a AWUS036H. One curious thing was that it did rename my wlans which confused wicd lol. If anyone has issues try forcing managed mode when finished with monitor mode. (iwconfig wlan0 mode managed)

so what worked is...

/etc/init.d/networking start
rmmod rtl8187
modprobe r8187

My issue was that I couldn't get it to stay in monitor mode longer than a second. I realize it's not exactly 100% related to this issue as I am not using VM but this did come up in my google search and help me. btw the AWUS036H is fantastic... 100,000+ ivs with deauth & arpreplay in like 2 min lol On AN EEEPC!

I remember reading about the bt4 rtl8287 / r8187 drivers and that the bt4 version is the patched version. Here's the aircrack-ng link to the patched driver and its info/limitations. r8187 [Aircrack-ng]

[ragebflame]

im having the same issue no interface after that fix :S

I am also having this problem. Lots of issues running r1 in vmware.

I have tried all suggestions in this post and i always lose interface.

[flupo]

Same issue tried

rmmod rtl8187
modprobe r8187

Also

rmmod rtl8187
rmmod mac80211
modprobe r8187

Sadly not helped, interface was gone, just reboot helped. But then I had again - Unknown error 132

I dosn't matter if I just up the interface wirth "ifconfig wlan0 up" or use monitor mode!