[Orange pi zero, wifi: ap+managed]

On 1/31/2017 at 1:14 AM, asp said:

 

What steps you did to switch kernel on debian?

 

2. Do you know how not to lose second virtual interface (wifi) after restart? I tried to create rules in udev, but it didn't help me (may be i wrote wrong rule)

I downloaded a new image from here: https://www.armbian.com/orange-pi-zero/#nightly

 

If you want to delete a virtual network interface you can write a script that will be executed on boot. Since I used nmcli to create the interfaces I would use that to delete them as well.

[OPI zero and hostapd]

On 2/2/2017 at 2:17 AM, SomeArmbianForumUser said:

That link says "an encrypted wireless network requires entropy". That's understood. No questions about that.

 

You have suggested that also my unencrypted example network from post 13 requires entropy. Could you please explain why?

 

Actually I see a rise in available entropy from the start of hostapd. That alone does not contradict your suggestion, as there might be an entropy valley during the start that I do not detect with my before and after measurements.

 

As I understand it, hostapd uses entropy for cryptographic functions, so even though you have an open network (i.e, no password required to connect to it), you would still need entropy to establish a secured, encrypted connection between server and client (kind of like https on a website that does not require authentication). Of course, I could be mistaken about the cause of the issues discussed here and about how hostapd actually works, so it is just an educated guess on my part. At any rate, the source code is available here for inspection: https://w1.fi/cgit/hostap/tree/

[Orange pi zero, wifi: ap+managed]

I already done it using nmtui utility, but it works only on Mainline 4.9.3 Ubuntu Xenial (nightly releases). Hostapd didn't tried.

 

So I conclude that something wrong with drivers in legacy 3.4.113

 

I was able to run AP and Client modes simultaneously by switching to the 4.9.4 kernel! Thanks!

[Orange pi zero, wifi: ap+managed]

I already done it using nmtui utility, but it works only on Mainline 4.9.3 Ubuntu Xenial (nightly releases). Hostapd didn't tried.

 

So I conclude that something wrong with drivers in legacy 3.4.113

 

Do you mean that you have both AP and Station mode running simultaneously on two different network virtual interfaces by using 4.9.3?

[Orange pi zero, wifi: ap+managed]

I'm also trying to setup ap+managed. Individually, I can have a station or ap and it works fine. When I have both interfaces, only one of them is functional. One thing to keep in mind is that both station and ap need to use the same channel, as I understand it.

[OPI zero and hostapd]

If you just want to setup an access point, you can use nmcli, like this:

sudo nmcli connection add type wifi ifname * con-name my-connection-name autoconnect yes ssid MySSID mode ap

sudo nmcli connection modify my-connection-name 802-11-wireless.mode ap 802-11-wireless-security.key-mgmt wpa-psk ipv4.method shared 802-11-wireless-security.psk 'MyPassword123456'

sudo nmcli connection up my-connection-name

[OPI zero and hostapd]

I am surprised that an unencrypted, open wireless network (cf post #13) needs entropy. Why is that?

Perhaps this reddit post will help you: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/comments/32cx8b/linux_entropy_hostapd/

[OPI zero and hostapd]

Interesting. Anyhow I have hostapd (wpa_supplicant in ap mode) working with WPA etc in dual role (station and ap) now in my version of the mainline driver so once the mainline version of the armbian image integrates it you shouldn't need to do tricks to get it working.

I'm trying to set my OPI Zero in dual mode. Could you please share your steps?

[OPI zero and hostapd]

No. See my post https://forum.armbian.com/index.php/topic/3046-opi-zero-and-hostapd/#entry21921. No WPA in there.

 

 

Exactly. Hostapd accepts the client device, but then does not receive the client's acknowledgement. But with my workaround client connection on every bootup in place (again, see my post https://forum.armbian.com/index.php/topic/3046-opi-zero-and-hostapd/#entry21921), this handshake will succeed and hostapd will function with or without encryption. Therefore I do not think that hostapd is the culprit here, but the wlan kernel driver is.

 

(Btw. I know next to nothing about the inner workings of wireless networks. Forgive me if my above terms "accept" and "acknowledgement", and previously, "associate" and "authenticate" are incorrect. This is just what I understood from the hostapd debug messages.)

 

The reason for the association failures in "cold" state (i.e. without initiating a connection where opi0 is the client) after bootup may be that either the "acceptance" message is not transmitted by the wlan0 driver to the client, or that the wlan0 driver does not forward a received "acknowledgement" event to hostapd.

 

It appears to me that your system does not have enough entropy generated to establish a secure connection for the access point. The reason your "workaround" seems to work is because it helps create entropy.