[opensuse] New Dell...Inspiron 1525!
I installed 10.3 64-bit on the new Dell a few days ago after first looking at Vista as it was already installed on it. Yes, I complained about having to pay for it but that didn't do any good. openSUSE 64-bit does run much faster than Vista....there's NO doubt about that!! I ordered it with an HD glossy monitor....very nice, sharp, and 3D is supported on the Intel chipset. I have wifi working with the Intel 3945 card that I ordered with it......sees hidden access points! However, it's evident that there are some things that MUST be improved in the Linux software for those of us who have to access hidden access points. First, KNetworkmanager is useless if the access point is hidden, so you have to use Yast to setup each time you switch to a different access point. Kwifimanager might work, except it doesn't support WAP and without WAP there's no AES. This is ignorant, at best. wifi isn't all that secure anyway, but at least support the best tools available! The only pieces of hardware that aren't seen by the system is the 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller from the Marvell Technology Group Ltd., and the built-in webcam. I don't know if there's any support for the Marvell chipset or not, but if there isn't, there had better be soon, as it's a gig. type NIC that's in very wide use! The webcam isn't that important right now, but I'd still like to be able to set it up for use. Fred -- A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Sat, Feb 02, 2008 at 05:20:15PM -0500, Fred A. Miller wrote:
However, it's evident that there are some things that MUST be improved in the Linux software for those of us who have to access hidden access points. First, KNetworkmanager is useless if the access point is hidden, so you have to use Yast to setup each time you switch to a different access point. Kwifimanager might work, except it doesn't support WAP and without WAP there's no AES. This is ignorant, at best. wifi isn't all that secure anyway, but at least support the best tools available!
I think NetworkManager running on GNOME works just fine with hidden access points already.
The only pieces of hardware that aren't seen by the system is the 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller from the Marvell Technology Group Ltd.
The sky2 driver should support this device already. If not, can you send me the output of 'lspci'?
, and the built-in webcam.
Is this a USB based webcam? If it conforms to the USB webcam spec, it should be supported in FACTORY, and possibly 10.3 already, you just have to add the proper kmp to your system. thanks, greg k-h -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
<dragging this conversation back to the list> On Sat, Feb 02, 2008 at 02:28:10PM -0800, Greg KH wrote:
On Sat, Feb 02, 2008 at 05:20:15PM -0500, Fred A. Miller wrote:
However, it's evident that there are some things that MUST be improved in the Linux software for those of us who have to access hidden access points. First, KNetworkmanager is useless if the access point is hidden, so you have to use Yast to setup each time you switch to a different access point. Kwifimanager might work, except it doesn't support WAP and without WAP there's no AES. This is ignorant, at best. wifi isn't all that secure anyway, but at least support the best tools available!
I think NetworkManager running on GNOME works just fine with hidden access points already.
The only pieces of hardware that aren't seen by the system is the 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller from the Marvell Technology Group Ltd.
The sky2 driver should support this device already.
If not, can you send me the output of 'lspci'?
Ok, lspci confirmed that this device should be supported by the sky2 driver, but that the kernel shipped in 10.3 is old and the 2.6.24 kernel is the one that is needed (actually, it was added in 2.6.23...) So, if you want to update your kernel package to the one in the 11.0 alphas, it should "just work". :)
, and the built-in webcam.
Is this a USB based webcam? If it conforms to the USB webcam spec, it should be supported in FACTORY, and possibly 10.3 already, you just have to add the proper kmp to your system.
Turned out to already have the driver loaded for it. I'm sure there are lots of programs out there that can use this, but I have no idea other than 'xawtv' of one to use. I'm sure that others on this list can help out here... thanks, greg k-h -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Saturday 02 February 2008 02:28:10 pm Greg KH wrote:
On Sat, Feb 02, 2008 at 05:20:15PM -0500, Fred A. Miller wrote:
However, it's evident that there are some things that MUST be improved in the Linux software for those of us who have to access hidden access points. First, KNetworkmanager is useless if the access point is hidden, so you have to use Yast to setup each time you switch to a different access point. Kwifimanager might work, except it doesn't support WAP and without WAP there's no AES. This is ignorant, at best. wifi isn't all that secure anyway, but at least support the best tools available!
I think NetworkManager running on GNOME works just fine with hidden access points already.
How does any network manager "see" a hidden access point? My SSID is hidden and neither KDE or Vista can see it. I log in manually. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Sunday 03 February 2008 04:51:50 pm Kai Ponte wrote:
How does any network manager "see" a hidden access point?
My SSID is hidden and neither KDE or Vista can see it. I log in manually.
The problem is that the systems connect "automatically" to hidden APs by randomly cycling through the list of known networks and broadcasting them in an attempt to connect to them. Anyone scanning in the vicinity can pick up this connection attempt, and spoof the AP. If the system isn't configured to use WEP or WPA with that access point, then a remote user can effectively hijack a network session. It's bad from a security posture because you're soliciting connection requests to the named AP even in the absence of the AP you're trying to "hide". Windows used this behavior by default in XP, but disabled it as default it Vista because of the security considerations, which is why you must manually connect when you know you're in vicinity of a hidden AP. There was an exploit floating around due that took advantage of this and the fact that MS uses the peer-connect fallback (169.x.x.x) IP address, which would allow an external user to connect to a Windows machine by simply sniffing the "hidden" AP association request and utilize a similar 169.x.x.x addy. Hidden APs are pointless, it's like disabling ping responding on internal devices on a network. It makes it difficult to diagnose connectivity problems, but does nothing as a security layer because the black hats have tools for sniffing their presence anyways, they're freely available on the net. Even iwlist will identify the presence of hidden networks. WPA is effective enough, anybody with the tech to crack a WPA connection isn't going to have a problem finding a hidden network. It would make things a lot easier for the devs if people stopped hiding APs, because it really accomplishes little anyways. Just my 2c... Cheers, KV -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
participants (4)
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Fred A. Miller -
Greg KH -
Kai Ponte -
Kevin Valko