[Bug 477833] New: Feature Proposal/Request: Add Ability to explicitly choose driver-extension for wpa_supplicant
https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=477833 Summary: Feature Proposal/Request: Add Ability to explicitly choose driver-extension for wpa_supplicant Classification: openSUSE Product: openSUSE 11.2 Version: Factory Platform: All OS/Version: SuSE Other Status: NEW Severity: Enhancement Priority: P5 - None Component: Network AssignedTo: bnc-team-screening@forge.provo.novell.com ReportedBy: AxelKoellhofer@web.de QAContact: qa@suse.de Found By: --- User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Konqueror/3.5; Linux) KHTML/3.5.10 (like Gecko) SUSE Background: Since Version 0.6.7, wpa_supplicant offers the new (generic) extension "nl80211" for "new" wireless drivers based on mac80211. The ifup-wireless script chooses the appropriate driver-extension for wpa_supplicant by looking at the kernel module used for the device. case $ACTION in up) case "${DRIVER}" in ath_pci) WPA_DRIVER=wext ;; at76c5*) WPA_DRIVER=atmel PREFER_WPA_SUPPLICANT=no ;; prism54) WPA_DRIVER=prism54 PREFER_WPA_SUPPLICANT=no ;; ipw2200|ipw3945|hostap_*) WPA_DRIVER=wext ;; ipw2100) WPA_DRIVER=wext ;; ndiswrapper|*.sys) WPA_DRIVER=wext ;; rt2500*) WPA_DRIVER=wext ;; *) WPA_DRIVER=unsupported PREFER_WPA_SUPPLICANT=no ;; esac However, this would not work here, as there are now two different extensions available for the same kernel module, so the basic idea is to give the user the possibility to explicitly choose the driver used by wpa_supplicant. I am not a "scripting guru", but this little hack in /etc/sysconfig/network/scripts/wireless makes this at least possible. mkdir -p /var/run/wpa_supplicant message "`printf " %-9s starting wpa_supplicant" $INTERFACE`" ########### lines added start ########### if [ -n "$WIRELESS_WPA_DRIVER" ]; then WPA_DRIVER="$WIRELESS_WPA_DRIVER" else WPA_DRIVER=$WPA_DRIVER fi ########### lines added end ############## eval wpa_supplicant -i$INTERFACE -c$WPA_SUPP_CONF -D$WPA_DRIVER $SUPPARGS Now, by setting the variable "WIRELESS_WPA_DRIVER='name_of_wpa_driver' in the respective /etc/sysconfig/network/ifcfg-*wireless-devie'-file, one can define which extension wpa_supplicant will use when connecting via ifup. I think this is quite useful and hopefully also easy to implement (at least into ifup) without breaking already existing functionality, as ifup will use the existing method for determination of the wpa-extension, when this variable is not set. In addition, users who have to use "exotic" drivers for their wireless hardware (old "otus"-driver for Atheros draft-n USB-dongles or "legacy" drivers for Ralink-devices rt61/rt73, which both need their own wpa-extensions "otus" or "ralink") would have an easy method of accomplishing this task (of course, they will still need to build a wpa_supplicant capable of using those "non-standard" wpa-extensions, but thats a different story). Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. 2. 3. -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.novell.com/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are on the CC list for the bug.
https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=477833 User AxelKoellhofer@web.de added comment https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=477833#c1 --- Comment #1 from Axel Köllhofer <AxelKoellhofer@web.de> 2009-02-19 13:16:16 MST --- ....but this little hack in /etc/sysconfig/network/scripts/wireless .... Sorry for the typo, of course this should be /etc/sysconfig/network/scripts/ifup-wireless -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.novell.com/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are on the CC list for the bug.
https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=477833 Marcus Meissner <meissner@novell.com> changed: What |Removed |Added ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- AssignedTo|bnc-team-screening@forge.pr |hschaa@novell.com |ovo.novell.com | -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.novell.com/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are on the CC list for the bug.
https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=477833 Helmut Schaa <hschaa@novell.com> changed: What |Removed |Added ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CC| |hschaa@novell.com AssignedTo|hschaa@novell.com |mt@novell.com -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.novell.com/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are on the CC list for the bug.
https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=477833 User hschaa@novell.com added comment https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=477833#c2 --- Comment #2 from Helmut Schaa <hschaa@novell.com> 2009-02-27 05:39:03 MST --- Fine with me. However, we do not have wpa_supplicant 0.6.7 in factory yet ;) -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.novell.com/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are on the CC list for the bug.
https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=477833 User mt@novell.com added comment https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=477833#c3 Marius Tomaschewski <mt@novell.com> changed: What |Removed |Added ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Status|NEW |ASSIGNED --- Comment #3 from Marius Tomaschewski <mt@novell.com> 2009-02-27 05:54:58 MST --- Yes, this makes sense to allow the user to provide/override our choice. -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.novell.com/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are on the CC list for the bug.
https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=477833 User AxelKoellhofer@web.de added comment https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=477833#c4 --- Comment #4 from Axel Köllhofer <AxelKoellhofer@web.de> 2009-02-28 14:44:06 MST --- (In reply to comment #2)
Fine with me. However, we do not have wpa_supplicant 0.6.7 in factory yet ;)
I know, I am running my "own" customized rebuild of 0.6.8 (latest stable release) based on your SPEC for 0.6.4 here. I had to adapt some of your patches to apply cleanly, some of them I was not able to "rewrite" (I' m not a programmer) and I also enabled the extension "ralink", which is included since 0.6.0 (for use with ralink "legacy drivers" rt61 and rt73, some colleague of mine had problems with rt61pci under 2.6.25/openSUSE 11.0, as some of the rt2x00-drivers were not to stable in that version). Perhaps you can consider also to enable the "ralink"-extension in your build, in most cases the new rt2x00-drivers are fine, but sometimes rt61-devices are a little problematic, so users will at least have the possibility to use legacy-drivers with ifup without having to rebuild wpa_supplicant. At least this would fit nicely with this enhancement, if somebody needs the feature, he' s got it at his hands, if not, no harm has been done and he will use "wext" and the new drivers automatically. -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.novell.com/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are on the CC list for the bug.
https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=477833 User mt@novell.com added comment https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=477833#c5 --- Comment #5 from Marius Tomaschewski <mt@novell.com> 2009-03-02 06:19:16 MST --- Axel, it currently needs a little bit time to "sync" (rebuild, ...), but I'll add a patch allowing to set the driver for ifup-wireless to this factory devel project package here: http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home://mtomaschewski://Factory/ope... -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.novell.com/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are on the CC list for the bug.
https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=477833 User AxelKoellhofer@web.de added comment https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=477833#c6 --- Comment #6 from Axel Köllhofer <AxelKoellhofer@web.de> 2009-03-02 14:32:07 MST --- Excellent, of course I will test the modified sysconfig-package as soon as it is available. BTW: I also made a few other (cosmetic?) changes to ifup-wirless, considering the warnings "WPA is configured but my be unsupported by this device" when using wext with some of the new drivers, which are known to work rather flawlessly now (mostly the mac80211-based ones). I several fora, users were confused by this message and sometimes the respective thread went into the wrong direction, because they took this warning too seriously, although the real problem was located somewhere else. If you are interested, the changes I made are very simple: --- ifup-wireless.orig 2009-03-02 22:06:14.000000000 +0100 +++ ifup-wireless 2009-03-02 22:07:59.000000000 +0100 @@ -700,6 +700,30 @@ rt2500*) WPA_DRIVER=wext ;; +############################################################################################################ +########### Add a few new drivers which are known to work reliably with "wext" ############################# +############################################################################################################ + rt61pci|rt73usb|rt2400pci) + WPA_DRIVER=wext + ;; + iwlagn|iwl3945|iwl4965) + WPA_DRIVER=wext + ;; + zd1211rw) + WPA_DRIVER=wext + ;; + ath5k|ath9k) + WPA_DRIVER=wext + ;; + b43|b43legacy|ssb) + WPA_DRIVER=wext + ;; + p54pci|p54usb) + WPA_DRIVER=wext + ;; +############################################################################################################ +########### End section of new "wext"-compatible drivers ################################################### +############################################################################################################ *) WPA_DRIVER=unsupported PREFER_WPA_SUPPLICANT=no The only section where I am not really sure is the part for the b43-drivers, as I don't know, if ifup-wireless detects the b43(legacy) or ssb as the actual "driver in use". If you consider activating the "ralink"-extension in wpa_supplicant, the following section would also make sense: rt61|rt73) WPA_DRIVER=ralink ;; This will run wpa_supplicant with "-Dralink" only if one of the legacy-drivers rt73 or rt61 is used (the only legacy-drivers supported by wpa_supplicant with "-Dralink"), and it is known to work with ifup (AFAIK Networkmanager does only play well with "wext", but these changes would only affect ifup anyway and if one has to use legacy-drivers, there is no other choice than switching to "good old ifup"), especially in cases, where the new drivers rt61pci or rt73usb (the latter is a lot less problematic) give problems. Another question arose when having a closer look at the "staging"-drivers now being included in the openSUSE-Kernel: The "old" driver for Atmel USB-adaptors seems to have changed his name: /lib/modules/2.6.27.19-3.2-pae/kernel/drivers/staging/at76_usb/at76_usb.ko so this rule here at76c5*) WPA_DRIVER=atmel PREFER_WPA_SUPPLICANT=no ;; will not work any more or even worse, it might give problems, as there is now also the "new" driver "at76c50x-usb.ko" based on mac80211 (and already included in compat-wireless) which normally should use "wext" instead of "atmel" for wpa_supplicant. I am not 100% sure about this, but at least it might be a potential problem. -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.novell.com/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are on the CC list for the bug.
https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=477833 User hschaa@novell.com added comment https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=477833#c7 --- Comment #7 from Helmut Schaa <hschaa@novell.com> 2009-03-03 01:02:34 MST --- (In reply to comment #6)
+ rt61pci|rt73usb|rt2400pci) + iwlagn|iwl3945|iwl4965) + zd1211rw) + ath5k|ath9k) + b43|b43legacy|ssb) + p54pci|p54usb)
Fine with me. rt2500usb should be added as well.
I don't know, if ifup-wireless detects the b43(legacy) or ssb as the actual "driver in use".
It should be b43 (or b43legacy). So we can just leave ssb out here.
If you consider activating the "ralink"-extension in wpa_supplicant, the following section would also make sense:
Could you please open a new report for that one and directly assign it to me? Let's keep this bug for sysconfig related stuff.
The "old" driver for Atmel USB-adaptors seems to have changed his name:
/lib/modules/2.6.27.19-3.2-pae/kernel/drivers/staging/at76_usb/at76_usb.ko
To be honest. I'd like to ignore that driver as it will soon be superseded by at76c50x-usb. Furthermore, from a quick look at the code it seems like at76_usb also implements wext (at least partially). But I have no card here to verify that.
so this rule here
at76c5*) WPA_DRIVER=atmel PREFER_WPA_SUPPLICANT=no ;;
will not work any more or even worse, it might give problems, as there is now also the "new" driver "at76c50x-usb.ko" based on mac80211 (and already included in compat-wireless) which normally should use "wext" instead of "atmel" for wpa_supplicant.
Yep. Let's just use wext for "at76*". -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.novell.com/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are on the CC list for the bug.
https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=477833 User AxelKoellhofer@web.de added comment https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=477833#c8 --- Comment #8 from Axel Köllhofer <AxelKoellhofer@web.de> 2009-03-03 02:38:48 MST --- (In reply to comment #7)
(In reply to comment #6)
+ rt61pci|rt73usb|rt2400pci) + iwlagn|iwl3945|iwl4965) + zd1211rw) + ath5k|ath9k) + b43|b43legacy|ssb) + p54pci|p54usb)
Fine with me. rt2500usb should be added as well.
I think that one is already covered here rt2500*) WPA_DRIVER=wext ;; but perhaps it might be better to use the full driver names (like in the other examples): rt2500usb|rt2500pci) WPA_DRIVER=wext ;;
Could you please open a new report for that one and directly assign it to me? Let's keep this bug for sysconfig related stuff.
OK, I'll try that (if I find out how to directly assign a Bug to somebody, shouldn't be too difficult.)
To be honest. I'd like to ignore that driver as it will soon be superseded by at76c50x-usb. Furthermore, from a quick look at the code it seems like at76_usb
Let's just use wext for "at76*".
Ok, you're the boss. :-) -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.novell.com/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are on the CC list for the bug.
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