Networking issues

[Rossay]

I know, I know...not another noob networking thread. I feel like I have looked through hundreds at this point, spending countless hours ifconfigging and such.

I have made a little progress which I will go over shortly but first let me state my problem and give some information about the output from some bash commands.

I can't seem to get my wireless working or get any sort of connection to the internet.

I am on a HP-pavilion laptop and I previously had ubuntu installed and networking worked perfectly fine.

My wireless card:

Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x /AR542x

Wireless Network adapter (PCI-Express) [168c:001c] (rev 01)
________________________________________________
rfkill list displays:

0: hp-wifi: Wireless LAN

Soft blocked: no

Hard blocked: no

1: phy0: Wireless LAN

Soft blocked: no

Hard blocked: no

________________________________________________
lshw -C network displays:

*-network               
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: MCP65 Ethernet
       vendor: nVidia Corporation
       physical id: 6
       bus info: pci@0000:00:06.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: a3
       serial: 00:1b:24:f9:3c:5d
       capacity: 1GB/s
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 66MHz
       capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=forcedeth driverversion=0.64 latency=0 link=no maxlatency=20 mingnt=1 multicast=yes port=MII
       resources: irq:20 memory:f2487000-f2487fff ioport:30e0(size=8)
  *-network
       description: Wireless interface
       product: AR242x / AR542x Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express)
       vendor: Atheros Communications Inc.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
       logical name: wlan0
       version: 01
       serial: 00:1e:4c:45:b2:42
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ath5k driverversion=3.2.6 firmware=N/A latency=0 link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bg
       resources: irq:16 memory:f2000000-f200ffff

_________________________________________________
My ifconfig displays:

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:1b:24:f9:3c:5d  
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
          Interrupt:20 Base address:0xe000 

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:319 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:319 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:95797 (95.7 KB)  TX bytes:95797 (95.7 KB)

wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:1e:4c:45:b2:42  
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

__________________________________________________
My dhclient, when run, displays:

All rights reserved.
For info, please visit https://www.isc.org/software/dhcp/

Listening on LPF/eth0/00:1b:24:f9:3c:5d
Sending on   LPF/eth0/00:1b:24:f9:3c:5d
Listening on LPF/wlan0/00:1e:4c:45:b2:42
Sending on   LPF/wlan0/00:1e:4c:45:b2:42
Sending on   Socket/fallback
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 6
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 7
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 20
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 8
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 10
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 19
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 11
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 9
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 12
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 15
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 4
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 1
No DHCPOFFERS received.
No working leases in persistent database - sleeping.

__________________________________________________ __

Any help would be much appreciated and I can provide any other information necessary. I am new to backtrack and relatively new to bash, although I am proficient
at maneuvering around the file tree via the command line and doing basic file manipulation. I have learned a lot of different things from reading through the forum posts of people who have similar problems to mine.
Unfortunately none of their problems were exact and therefore I have not been able to come to a conclusion. When i first started i was getting a DISABLED next to the second *-network in the output of lshw -C networking command
but i found a post with a command that edited the athk5 and somehow that fixed it. Still no network connections...

Any ideas?


Cheers,

Rossay

[maverik35]

How do you authenticate to the AP or router?..WEP? WPA-WPA2?..Wre you able to succseed when authenticating?..You cannot ask for an IP to the router without being authenticated.

I see the ifconfig interfaces without any valid IP..

Did you started networking services?...Did you use the GUI to connect or CLI to authenticate and connect?..

DHCPDISCOVER is a DHCP discovery app (Looks for DHCP server). When it founds one (One you have authenticated/associated to) ..Client (dhclient) ask for info with a DHCPREQUEST. (requesting info in dhclient.conf) and then DHCP server responds with a DHCPPACK with all info (IP, router mac, lease, etc), then OFFERS a valid IP...

I see only looking for a AP nevers find one on both eth0 and wlan0..You can just issue the command dhclient wlan0..Have you authenticated?...

Need more info. Post what exactly you are doinf as far as commands you are using.

I have both wired and wireless interfaces and the wired one comes up auto..No need to start networking services...But with wireless, you have to.

Luck.

[Rossay]

http://www.backtrack-linux.org/forum...read.php?t=209

I have followed all of the steps in that post that describes all of the steps to setting up networking. I have tried everything from making it start on boot
and changing it to a static IP. Nothing has worked in that department...lol

As far as authentication, I am not sure what you mean by that. I am pretty sure its WPA-WPA2 because that's how it comes up on my other computer running windows 7/

I did start the networking service and I have started wicd. (When I open the wicd GUI interface no networks are available). I also changed my /etc/resolv.conf from 8.8.8.8 to 192.168.0.1, but i read that once DHCP is working
it should just overwrite that if needed. However, that could be wrong because I have no gotten dhclient to work yet so I cannot be sure.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...81&postcount=1

The link above shows a list of commands that display all sorts of information that I have been trying to use to troubleshoot by problem and most of them I have already relayed to you. If you can be more specific about the information you
need from me I can do that.

I will show you a few more things that happen below:

When I start the network:

/etc/init.d/networking start
Rather than invoking init scripts through /etc/init.d, use the service(8)
utility, e.g. service networking start

Since the script you are attempting to invoke has been converted to an
Upstart job, you may also use the start(8) utility, e.g. start networking
networking stop/waiting

__________________________________________________ ________
When I restart the network:

root@bt:~# /etc/init.d/networking restart
 * Reconfiguring network interfaces...                                          Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client V3.1.3
Copyright 2004-2009 Internet Systems Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit https://www.isc.org/software/dhcp/

wlan0: unknown hardware address type 803
wlan0: unknown hardware address type 803
Listening on LPF/wlan0/
Sending on   LPF/wlan0/
Sending on   Socket/fallback
Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client V3.1.3
Copyright 2004-2009 Internet Systems Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit https://www.isc.org/software/dhcp/

wlan0: unknown hardware address type 803
SIOCSIFFLAGS: Unknown error 132
SIOCSIFFLAGS: Unknown error 132
wlan0: unknown hardware address type 803
Listening on LPF/wlan0/
Sending on   LPF/wlan0/
Sending on   Socket/fallback
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 6
send_packet: Network is down
receive_packet failed on wlan0: Network is down
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 13
send_packet: Network is down
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 8
send_packet: Network is down
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 13
send_packet: Network is down
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 8
send_packet: Network is down
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 10
send_packet: Network is down
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3
send_packet: Network is down
No DHCPOFFERS received.
No working leases in persistent database - sleeping.

__________________________________________________ _
When I run dhclient Wlan0:

root@bt:~# dhclient wlan0
Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client V3.1.3
Copyright 2004-2009 Internet Systems Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit https://www.isc.org/software/dhcp/

wlan0: unknown hardware address type 803
SIOCSIFFLAGS: Unknown error 132
SIOCSIFFLAGS: Unknown error 132
wlan0: unknown hardware address type 803
Listening on LPF/wlan0/
Sending on   LPF/wlan0/
Sending on   Socket/fallback
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 5
send_packet: Network is down
receive_packet failed on wlan0: Network is down
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 9
send_packet: Network is down
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 21
send_packet: Network is down
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 17
send_packet: Network is down
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 9
send_packet: Network is down
No DHCPOFFERS received.
No working leases in persistent database - sleeping.

__________________________________________________ __

Does that help?

Cheers,

Rossay

[maverik35]

Why are you starting /etc/init.d/networking start if you are using wicd?..It should be /etc/init.d/wicd start..Unless you have removed wicd and installed Network-Manager..Did you?...

Authenticate means to be able to connect to the router (off course need the encryption wep, wpa-wpa2, ssid, channel, etc.. to connect to AP or router). Once you are connected then ask for an IP with dhclient (well it ask for more info than just IP).

You need to seat down, and see all you have, analyze it..You have all interfaces with proper modules loaded (I hope)..

I can see you are a with a lot of confusion at this point..Let's try this, and please, do as I say, forget the links you are posting or trying to solve the issue mixing up all info causing you only more confusion.

1. when reboot,, startx and when finally shows desktop, open a terminal and start networking services:
1.1 If you have wicd (default for BT5): /etc/init.d/star wicd
1.2 if you have Network-Manager : /etc/init.d/start networking
2. See if interfaces are up: ifconfig -a (for all interfaces, wired and wireless)
ifconfig (for wired interfaces and local lo)
iwconfig (for all wireless interfaces, here check the "mode" parameter, it has 2 modes: Managed and Monitor, it is shown with more info as to channel, frecuency, essid, etc.)
3. If everything is fine, in wireless, remember that to be able to connect to an AP, you need to be in Managed Mode, verify that with the iwconfig.
4. Issue the command: iwlist "your wifi iface" scan
See if APs or networks show up...
5. If they show up, just run GUI wicd and connect.
6. If no networks appears, then we have to see if module is loaded and is the right module:
6.1 in a terminal type: lspci | grep -i network (at the beginning of output you will see the pci id: xx:xx.x)
6.2 Then type: lspci -vvs xx:xx.x At the end of output, you will see the driver/module loaded by kernel.
6.3 let's see about the module loaded: lsmod | grep -i "driver/module" See the output and dependencies, here is my output (my wifi card)
lsmod | grep -i iwl3945
iwl3945 51641 0
iwl_legacy 48145 1 iwl3945
mac80211 192768 2 iwl_legacy,iwl3945
cfg80211 137140 3 mac80211,iwl_legacy,iwl3945
Here I can see iwl3945 is the module.....The iwl_legacy is being used by 1 process, and it depend on iwl3945....The mac80211 is being used by 2 processes, the iwl_legacy and iwl3945...And so on..
6.4 Check the module info: modinfo "your driver/module"...Check the "depends" and "intree" lines..Intree has to be "Y" and depends, well you know now the dependencies watching my output (iwl-legacy,cfg80211,mac80211)..See yours.
6.5 Try also dmesg and see the lines with the module or atheros in your case.

With all that info, you can try to see, what might be happening..Try this and then we go to the next phase..We are trying to debug the issue..But do not start jumping from here to there mixing things that will confuse you. I'm sure this will reinforce your knowledge..

[Rossay]

Good advice, I followed your steps directly and everything is working great. I have wicd Network Manager pulled up and it now has all the networks that I was expecting to see before loaded.

Thanks a lot, I appreciate the help.


found a really good site for writing a WPA/WPA2 connection script aswell:

http://caleudum.com/how-to-connect-w...untubacktrack/