# Lucent Orinoco wireless not associating properly



## kb1ujs (Nov 10, 2010)

Hi there.  I'm another newbie to FreeBSD.  I've run Linux boxes for the last 12 years and I thought I'd try something different.

My test box is running FreeBSD 8.1 and has a Lucent Orinoco Silver card installed in a PCI to PCMCIA bridge card.  Both the card and the bridge seem to be recognized:

Output from dmesg:


```
cbb0: <TI1410 PCI-CardBus Bridge> mem 0xec000000-0xec000fff irq 16 at device 8.0 on pci1
cardbus0: <CardBus bus> on cbb0
pccard0: <16-bit PCCard bus> on cbb0
cbb0: [FILTER]

wi0: <Lucent Technologies WaveLAN/IEEE> at port 0xd000-0xd03f irq 16 function 0 config 1 on pccard0
wi0: [ITHREAD]
```

I have this configuration in my /etc/rc.conf:


```
wlans_wi0="wlan0"
ifconfig_wlan0="DHCP"
```

After the machine boots, this is the situation.

`$ ifconfig wi0`

```
wi0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 2290
	ether 00:02:2d:20:35:16
	media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect mode 11b
	status: associated
```

`$ ifconfig wlan0`

```
wlan0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
	ether 00:02:2d:20:35:16
	media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet DS/11Mbps mode 11b
	status: associated
	ssid "" channel 5 (2432 MHz 11b) bssid 00:02:2d:20:35:16
	country US authmode OPEN privacy OFF txpower 0 bmiss 7 scanvalid 60
	bintval 0
```

Every time I run the second command, the channel number is different, like the card is scanning.  I took the card out of this box and put it in a nearby linux box to make sure I could associate with my access point and had no issues.  I've tried manually setting the ssid:

`# ifconfig wlan0 ssid cisco11`
`$ ifconfig wlan0`

```
wlan0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
	ether 00:02:2d:20:35:16
	media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect (autoselect)
	status: no carrier
	ssid cisco11 channel 10 (2457 MHz 11b)
	country US authmode OPEN privacy OFF txpower 0 bmiss 7 scanvalid 60
	bintval 0
```

It locks on channel 10, which I believe is the channel my AP is using, and switches to "no carrier".  Running ifconfig wlan0 up at this point just gets me back to the right after boot state.  I can't get it to both display an ssid and associate at the same time.  Any suggestions as to where I should go from here would be greatly appreciated.

Ken


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## richardpl (Nov 10, 2010)

I do not have similar device, so I can not really help you, but you could ask on freebsd mailing list where one of developers could have similar/same card.


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## wblock@ (Nov 10, 2010)

I have one of those, but it's WEP-only, so have not used it in years.  AFAIK, you either have to use wpa_supplicant(8) to associate (yes, it can do WEP), or give the appropriate manual commands with ifconfig(8).


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## phoenix (Nov 10, 2010)

Configure /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf with all the information for your network (SSID, WEP key, etc).

Then modify your /etc/rc.conf to use *ifconfig_wlan0="WPA DHCP"*

That will automatically start the wpa_supplicant, handle all the wireless configuration and setup, and then run dhclient once the link is established.

For more information, check the man page for wpa_supplicant.conf(5) and the wireless chapter in the Handbook.


Brings back such fond memories of the early days of wireless, using Orinoco Silver and Gold cards (yeah, baby, 1 Mbps, whoo!) in a Pentium-MMX 166 MHz laptop running Windows 95 and FreeBSD 3.something.


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## kb1ujs (Nov 10, 2010)

phoenix said:
			
		

> Configure /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf with all the information for your network (SSID, WEP key, etc).
> 
> Then modify your /etc/rc.conf to use *ifconfig_wlan0="WPA DHCP"*
> 
> ...



Yeah, the card is an antique, but the price is right (paid for!) 

I have a completely open network at home - no encryption at all.  I tried using a /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf with just


```
network={
  ssid="cisco11"
  key_mgmt=NONE
}
```

in it, but 

`# wpa_supplicant -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf`

fails:


```
ioctl[SIOCS80211, op 26, arg 0x3]: Operation not supported
Failed to initialize driver interface
ELOOP: remaining socket: sock=4 eloop_data=0x28406140 user_data=0x2840d040 handler=0x8069f70
```

On a reboot, there's a warning that wpa_supplicant wasn't run.

I appreciate all the suggestions so far.  Any help you can offer would be great.

Ken


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## phoenix (Nov 11, 2010)

Hrm, this card might be too old to do things via wpa_supplicant, then.

Have you tried setting the ssid and what-not manually via ifconfig at the shell?  You don't mention that in the first post.


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## wblock@ (Nov 11, 2010)

kb1ujs said:
			
		

> ```
> ioctl[SIOCS80211, op 26, arg 0x3]: Operation not supported
> Failed to initialize driver interface
> ELOOP: remaining socket: sock=4 eloop_data=0x28406140 user_data=0x2840d040 handler=0x8069f70
> ```



From wi(4): "Very old versions of firmware are not supported at all."  No idea how to check the firmware version, and finding updates might be tricky.  If that's even the problem.


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## kb1ujs (Nov 11, 2010)

phoenix said:
			
		

> Hrm, this card might be too old to do things via wpa_supplicant, then.
> 
> Have you tried setting the ssid and what-not manually via ifconfig at the shell?  You don't mention that in the first post.



I tried the recipe in the FreeBSD Handbook first, with no luck.  I could create the wlan0 device easily enough, but any options passed to ifconfig in rc.conf didn't seen to make any difference.  Ifconfig at the shell does set things like the ssid, channel and such, but the end result is the same as the autoconfig.  Once it says "Associated" it has no SSID, and if it has an SSID it says no carrier.

I just grabbed the Belkin USB wireless adapter off my wife's PC to make sure I was configuring things in a sensible way.  The Belkin device is supported by the zyd driver and jumped right on the network.  I think I'm going to quit banging my head against this and find something to use long-term that's better supported.

Ken


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## kb1ujs (Nov 11, 2010)

I dug around and found an old Dlink DWL-650 PCMCIA card tonight.  It has a different chipset than the Orinoco but uses the wi driver.  It was recognized and connected to the network using the same rc.conf entries I was trying to use for the Orinoco.  I'm guessing that there's a firmware issue that I need to address in the Orinoco card.  I'll check it out at some point and report back if I figure anything out.

Ken


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## kb1ujs (Nov 11, 2010)

Well, I just found out the Orinoco had the latest firmware on it already.  I guess FreeBSD just doesn't like that card right now.  The DWL-650 is working fine, so we'll go with that.

Ken


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