Hostapd error on Orange Pi Zero

[darkgeekyang]

Hi, all:

Today I just upgraded my packages as normal, by using "apt update && apt upgrade",  on my RockPi 4B (legacy kernel), and I saw there was a hostapd package updated. However, after this upgrade, my hostapd won't start anymore now:

Configuration file: /etc/hostapd.conf
wlan0: interface state UNINITIALIZED->COUNTRY_UPDATE
Using interface wlan0 with hwaddr 6c:21:a2:37:ff:1a and ssid "RockPi-Armbian"
Failed to set beacon parameters
Interface initialization failed
wlan0: interface state COUNTRY_UPDATE->DISABLED
wlan0: AP-DISABLED 
wlan0: Unable to setup interface.
wlan0: interface state DISABLED->DISABLED
wlan0: AP-DISABLED 
wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-TERMINATING 
hostapd_free_hapd_data: Interface wlan0 wasn't started
nl80211: deinit ifname=wlan0 disabled_11b_rates=0

The culprit might be "Failed to set beacon parameters", but not for sure, even if I search on Google and still couldn't figure it out. The following is the output of "sudo armbianmonitor -U":

See here

 

Not sure if it's a RockPi specific or common issue. If you need more information, just tell me. Thanks.

Edited May 15, 2020 by darkgeekyang

[Igor]

2 hours ago, darkgeekyang said:

Today I just upgraded my packages as normal, by using "apt update && apt upgrade",  on my RockPi 4B (legacy kernel), and I saw there was a hostapd package updated. However, after this upgrade, my hostapd won't start anymore now:

We have no capacity to test this function on upgrade yet, but at least testing - that we will know it fails - will be probably established by the end of this year.

 

2 hours ago, darkgeekyang said:

If you need more information

 

Who needs more information?

 

Check support terms https://github.com/armbian/build#support

[Quang-vip]

So I was trying to set up a portable wifi hotspot on my Orange Pi Zero (running Armbian buster with Linux 5.4.34-sunxi).

 

But whenever I try to enable wifi hotspot on it through armbian-config, it refuses to create a hotspot.

When I looked closely, it tried to probe the nl80211 driver without any error but then it also tried to probe realtek's driver, which is rtl871xdrv according to hostapd.conf in /etc . During its probing, in the corner of the terminal, it said: ioctl[SIOCSIWMODE]: Invalid argument
And as a result, it returned the No compatible driver found error.

 

I even tried to make NetworkManager ignore it (wlan0) and stop NetworkManager before enabling the hotspot, and start hostapd manually but no positive results.

I'm using the pi's built-in wifi chip - XR819, I'm aware that this wifi chipset isn't greatly supported but before all of this mess, it ran without any hassle. I only encountered this problem after doing an apt upgrade.

 

And I also tried to downgrade hostapd to an earlier version - 2.7 - but still, nothing.

 

What can I do to make hostapd working again? Any help would be appreciated!

I also included a screenshot of hostapd when I manually start it.

[Igor]

33 minutes ago, Quang-vip said:

But whenever I try to enable wifi hotspot on it through armbian-config, it refuses to create a hotspot.

https://armbian.atlassian.net/browse/AR-245
Planned to look into this in the upcoming months.

 

33 minutes ago, Quang-vip said:

What can I do to make hostapd working again?

Manual way ... All those project are open source, there is a documentation for hostapd and network manager way. Both project are independent from Armbian.

 

Try using attached hostapd.

hostapd_2.9-99~armbian5.98+1_armhf.deb

[Igor]

In progress https://github.com/armbian/build/pull/1985

[Quang-vip]

Quote

Try using attached hostapd.

 

Surprisingly, it successfully ran with the config file in /etc, the network showed up in my phone

But what I see weird is that despite the correct password I put into my phone, it didn't want to authenticate.

I double checked the password in the config file and the one in my phone, they're the same but it kept telling me it wasn't correct

Maybe I missed something or I didn't set it up correctly.

 

But thanks for your temporary solution

[Igor]

1 hour ago, Quang-vip said:

it didn't want to authenticate

Try armbian-config now. It should work, but AC mode doesn't work. I already waste afternoon ...

[Quang-vip]

Well, suddenly NetworkManager keeps telling rfkill to block the wlan interface (happens on boot and everytime I restart NetworkManager).

 

But what's weirder is that even after I unblock the interface, it still can't scan for any wifi network. And as a result, the option to create a hotspot in armbian-config isn't available.

 

However, if I start hostapd manually (an updated version thru apt I just updated yesterday), it will open a hotspot with that config file. But sadly it still doesn't want to authenticate. Welp

 

I'll make more investigation on this.

[Quang-vip]

Good news
 

Several days ago, I tried armbian-config again to try to create a hotspot. And surprisingly, it worked :DD

The hotspot has been running for days now.

 

Thanks for your hard work @Igor, I really appreciate it