fails to autostart using the if-preup.d script

[Mozg]

I've just updated the wpasupplicant package to version 0.4.8-0ubuntu1 on Dapper Drake. I am aware that startup method has changed. The wpasupplicant script located in /etc/network/if-preup.d fails to autostart when the interface is brought up. I have the atheros madwifi wireless card and I use madwifi drivers that came with distribution.

This happens everytime when i boot my laptop. When the networking script brings up the ath0 interface, the wpasupplicant script doesn't not start. After my computer is booted, I used ifdown ath0 and ifup ath0, as well as /etc/init.d/networking stop/start/restart, however this still fails to start the wpasupplicant.

However, if I manually start the wpa_supplicant, and stop it after a successfull start, the ifup ath0 and /etc/init.d/networking start/restart successfully starts the wpasupplicant script. This is very odd, and i haven't seen a behaviour like this before, taking into account that when I manually start the wpa_supplicant, I use exactly the same command line as the /etc/ini.d/networking/if-preup.d/wpasupplicant uses during a successfull start.

This problem prevents a successfull start up of the wireless networking during the laptop boot.

[Reinhard Tartler (siretart)]

please upgrade to 0.4.8-0ubuntu2, and read /usr/share/doc/wpasupplicant/README.{Debian,modes}.
Does this explain the new situation in wpasupplicant? Please set this bug to 'rejected' if things are clear to you now.

[Damien Raude-Morvan (drazzib)]

I can confirm a similar behavior :

- wpa_supplicant is not started at bootup
- work fine with /etc/init.d/networking restart
- work fine with ifup eth0

----- /etc/network/interfaces -----
auto eth0

# The wireless network interface
iface eth0 inet dhcp
      wpa-conf /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

[Mozg (andrei-arhont)]

Hi

I've just upgraded to the latest package and I am still experiencing the issue with autostart. Perhaps I should mention that I provide a static address for the wireless interface. My /etc/network/interfaces looks like this:
----
auto ath0

# The primary network interface
iface ath0 inet static
        wpa-conf /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
        wpa-driver madwifi
        address 192.168.xxx.xxx
        netmask 255.255.255.0
        network 192.168.xxx.0
        broadcast 192.168.xxx.255
        gateway 192.168.xxx.xxx
----

If I change the interfaces file to use dhcp instead of the static, the wpasupplicant scripts starts without any problems when i either do /etc/init.d/networking restart or ifup ath0. However, if I use static, the wpasupplicant doesn't start unless i manually start it first. Once the wpa_supplicant has been manually started and stopped, the ifup ath0 successfully starts the wpasupplicant.
As far as i can see, there seems to be some issues with the use of static in the /etc/network/interfaces.

[Reinhard Tartler (siretart)]

thank you for your report, but issues with static configuration is another bug. please file a separate bug for this.

the current package does not ship any init file anymore at all, so wpa_supplicant should not run as system service. It is started by ifupdown, if you have suitable configuration in your /etc/network/interfaces. This is intendet this way, we will include more docs in future uploads about this.

As far as I follow this bugtrail, I think this bug can be closed.

[Fred (sedak)]

well, i needed to make two things before the autostart dor my wireless card work
- first, remove the --allow=auto from /etc/init.d/loopback because my root partition is not writable at that time and wpa_supplicant can't start because it can't create its socket file
-second, add af_packet to /etc/modules : otherwise, when ifup wlan0 is first call, /proc/net/packet does not exist so it fails

[Damien Raude-Morvan (drazzib)]

In my case, new configuration options don't work at PC bootup :)

I have to manualy "ifdown eth0; ifup eth0" or "/etc/init.d/networking restart" to bring the interface up.

[Fred (sedak)]

actually, removing allow=auto doesn't do a thing
the main problem is the test with /proc/net/packet. somehow, we need to load af_packet before doing this test
otherwise, that new script is cool, thanks a lot ! i hope the gui to configure the wpa will be here soon :-)

[Elias Oltmanns (oltmanns)]

The check for /proc/net/packet really should be handled differently
-- or even dropped, for that matter, and replaced by a comment in the
docs. Using madwifi, for instance, the ath_pci module is autoloaded
during bootup which is required for wpasupplicant to even try start up
the interface. However, af_packet is autoloaded on demand when
bringing up the interface and thus /proc/net/packet needn't be there
before wpa_supplicant is started for the first time. I reckon there
are rather few situations in which af_packet actually isn't available
for autoloading; on the other hand, there really is no reason for
loading this module in /etc/modules or somewhere else just because it
might be used every once in a while.

[Reinhard Tartler (siretart)]

I'm quite confident that this issue should be fixed with version 0.4.8-1build1. If you still experience problems, please reopen this bug, and attach your /etc/network/interfaces and the output of the following command to this bug:

ifup --verbose eth1

(or however your interface is named)

[Damien Raude-Morvan (drazzib)]

I can confirm that this issue is fixed in version 0.4.8-1build1.

Thanks.