[ale] wpa_supplicant on hidden SSIDs

[James Sumners]

According to [1], the card should be supported _without_ having to use
the ndiswrapper. You should be able to use the kernel provided b43
driver. Then you would need a /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf file similar to
the following:

~~~~
ap_scan=1

network={
    scan_ssid=1
    ssid="HiddenSSID"
    bssid=68:7f:74:d3:a9:47
    proto=WPA
    group=CCMP
    pairwise=CCMP
    key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
    #psk="A secret key generated with wpa_passphrase"
    psk=c86cdc6991f8db814d426c404a5222ff2a957bb795bad2785e1ccd299a2278cb
}
~~~~

However, it still might not work. I have a Netgear WNDA3100v2 that I
tried to get working in the same situation a couple months ago. No
dice. It's the first time I've messed with wireless in Linux in
several years. I figured support would be better by now, but it's
still abysmal.

[1] -- http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43/devices?highlight=%28wpc54g%29

On Wed, Sep 25, 2013 at 12:08 PM, Alex Carver <agcarver+ale at acarver.net> wrote:
> On 9/25/2013 06:05, James Sumners wrote:
>> It really depends on the card. Some lspci/lsusb details would help.
>
> It's a Linksys WPC54G version 2 (using the Texas Inst. ACX 111 chipset)
> PCMCIA card.  It worked in XP using the normal Linksys drivers (as long
> as I checked the option in the config that says connect even though the
> SSID isn't broadcast).  I picked up the ndis drivers from the install
> disk to use with ndiswrapper.
>
> If the AP is not broadcasting the SSID, debugging info on wpa_supplicant
> shows that it scans over and over again but, because it can't see the
> SSID, it skips the AP (the AP's MAC does show up in the scan list).
> Once I turn on SSID broadcast, wpa_supplicant connects.
>
>
> Here's lspci -v for the specific card:
> 02:00.0 Network controller: Texas Instruments ACX 111 54Mbps Wireless
> Interface
>         Subsystem: Linksys WPC54G v2 802.11g Wireless-G Notebook Adapter
>         Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 11
>         Memory at 30020000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8K]
>         Memory at 30000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=128K]
>         Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2
>         Kernel driver in use: ndiswrapper
>
>
>>
>> On Wed, Sep 25, 2013 at 3:59 AM, Alex Carver <agcarver+ale at acarver.net> wrote:
>>> Has anyone ever gotten wpa_supplicant to connect to hidden ssids?  I
>>> just got the wireless card on the laptop installed (ndiswrapper) and was
>>> trying to connect to my AP which has broadcast disabled.  I couldn't
>>> connect no matter what I tried (ssid_scan=1, ap_scan=1 and 2).  It
>>> connects fine with broadcast enabled so the card is working.
>
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-- 
James Sumners
http://james.roomfullofmirrors.com/

"All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts
pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it
is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become
drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."

Missionaria Protectiva, Text QIV (decto)
CH:D 59