wicd - stuck "Obtaining IP Address..." - my fix

[sun]

Am I trying the correct version?

download it once more and try again. I put up two files yesterday. You may have the first file I uploaded. If you are still having a problem, can you give me some info as to what is happening?

[ppietro]

download it once more and try again. I put up two files yesterday. You may have the first file I uploaded. If you are still having a problem, can you give me some info as to what is happening?

I'll try it tonight when I get home.

As to what is happening - I can't start the wicd service. If you try to start it manually via a "service wicd start", the daemon doesn't load, and it fails.

Wicd appears to have two parts - a daemon and a front end. If the daemon isn't running, the front end won't load. Only the old script allows wicd's daemon to start.

Cheers,
Paul

P.S. For those Windows folks reading this thread - a daemon is the Unix equivalent of a Windows Service. A service is basically a program that loads under OS control, and stays loaded. See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_service

[sun]

I have verified, and corrected the wicd daemon crash cause by the earlier v1.5.3 update patch. I've uploaded an new update for the v1.5.3 patch to resolve this issue and marked it in the discription. The updated v1.5.3 files can be found in the top post and in a post on page 2 of this thread.

I'm suspecting file corruption on my system. So I've trashed my current YDL6.1 install, swapped HDDs back to the original Seagate 60GB, formatted, and reinstalled. The file has been tested and uploaded using a YDL6.1 vanilla install and wicd with the same patch applied. I'm also writing this post from the same system with wicd connected using WPA2 and reporting 95-100% signal strength.

Please try this new file and let me know if it works or bombs again. I will then look into the issue further if need be. I apologize for any trouble this is causing people.

[confused_ydl]

I have verified, and corrected the wicd daemon crash cause by the earlier v1.5.3 update patch. I've uploaded an new update for the v1.5.3 patch to resolve this issue and marked it in the discription. The updated v1.5.3 files can be found in the top post and in a post on page 2 of this thread.

I'm suspecting file corruption on my system. So I've trashed my current YDL6.1 install, swapped HDDs back to the original Seagate 60GB, formatted, and reinstalled. The file has been tested and uploaded using a YDL6.1 vanilla install and wicd with the same patch applied. I'm also writing this post from the same system with wicd connected using WPA2 and reporting 95-100% signal strength.

Please try this new file and let me know if it works or bombs again. I will then look into the issue further if need be. I apologize for any trouble this is causing people.

i'm kinda new at this. do i have to reinstall linux again to install the patch? or can i just overwrite it?

[confused_ydl]

I have verified, and corrected the wicd daemon crash cause by the earlier v1.5.3 update patch. I've uploaded an new update for the v1.5.3 patch to resolve this issue and marked it in the discription. The updated v1.5.3 files can be found in the top post and in a post on page 2 of this thread.

I'm suspecting file corruption on my system. So I've trashed my current YDL6.1 install, swapped HDDs back to the original Seagate 60GB, formatted, and reinstalled. The file has been tested and uploaded using a YDL6.1 vanilla install and wicd with the same patch applied. I'm also writing this post from the same system with wicd connected using WPA2 and reporting 95-100% signal strength.

Please try this new file and let me know if it works or bombs again. I will then look into the issue further if need be. I apologize for any trouble this is causing people.

i'm kinda new at this. do i have to reinstall linux again to install the patch? or can i just overwrite it?

NEVERMIND! i have it working now! thnx a million to SUN and PAUL and everyone else! your new patch works and i didn't even run into any errors at all. just install and reboot! THNX A MILLION! now on to emulators and bluetooth..... lol

[Smoke me a Kipper]

i tried the new patch but im timing out on "generating PSK" i guess this is the personal key for WPA? i cant get any further with this and WICD wont let me uninstall it either?

should i completely reinstall?

i had WICD working ok before, then, after getting the bluetooth working WICD stopped, coincidence? or just bad luck?

[drjarmin]

Ok, can someone help me through this all as it seems a lot of progress has been made.

Firstly, it looks like on a fresh install on a PS3, it isn't possible to connect using wireless with WPA2 encryption.

Is this the case?

If so, is there a straight forward approach to fix this?

I am tempted to give this another go....

Thanks!

[sun]

Ok, can someone help me through this all as it seems a lot of progress has been made.

Firstly, it looks like on a fresh install on a PS3, it isn't possible to connect using wireless with WPA2 encryption.

Is this the case?

You are partially correct. On a fresh install of YDL6.1 (and Fedora 10 as well) it is not possible to use wicd to get a WPA2 connection, or any wireless connection in my experience. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

You can get a wireless connection running if you manually do so through the terminal with the commands ifconfig, wpa_supplicant, and dhclient. wpa_supplicant needs a configuration file, that wicd can nicely generate for you and it puts it in /var/lib/wicd/configurations/. You could even attempt to work these commands into the init scripts, like Terrasoft/Fixstars has suggested in the past. I don't like either of these options. I figure if you want to go this route, you also should use a wired connection, because you now have su yourself and/or to edit what become system files each time you want to change access points. To me a wireless connection denotes mobility and the need to quickly change access points. Wicd makes this process easier, as it automates the same commands you would use in terminal. This way I can quickly switch between two APs at my location at the click of a mouse.

Note: Since the PS3 uses a hypervisor for the network connection and the Wireless and Wired ethernet are in essence the same device, it's best to choose your connection type at system install and stick with it.

I chose wireless at system install by unchecking my eth0 device, leaving my wlan0 checked. Once the YDL installation finished, I uninstalled the Network Manager, because I planned on using only wicd. In this setup wicd worked well enough to see all the access points in my neighborhood. I then configured it to connect to my access point by clicking on the Advanced Settings for my access point and selecting Use Encryption, selecting WPA 1/2 (Passphrase) in the dropdown, and of course entering my WPA passphrase in the Key box, then clicking OK. I also set wicd to Automatically connect to this network. Then when attempting to connect, wicd would associate with my access point and get past the encryption/authentication, but would hang when obtaining an IP address.

If you've made it this far, this is where my patch comes in. It resolves the issue that hangs wicd when obtaining an IP address, as well as some others issues relating to signal strength, and subsequently wireless disconnects on Fedora 10. YDL users with a fresh install would simply have download the wicd v1.5.3 patch from my first post and follow the instructions there. I have also tested this patch with a WPA2 only access point and was able to connect fine and browse the internet.

Note: I have seen a few times when wicd would fail to connect with my patch applied, but a second attempt always yeilded a good connection. Almost always, the patched wicd is already connected by the time my desktop is usable after booting. My wireless connections also have been very stable once activated.

If you are having issues getting wicd to load or associate with an access point (ie. it doesn't ever get to "Obtaining IP address" when connecting) or have other questions about wireless, then you should look at pietro's post here:
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=4534

[ppietro]

Ok, can someone help me through this all as it seems a lot of progress has been made.

Firstly, it looks like on a fresh install on a PS3, it isn't possible to connect using wireless with WPA2 encryption.

Is this the case?

If so, is there a straight forward approach to fix this?

I am tempted to give this another go....

Thanks!

That's been my experience - you can't connect to WPA - at least with the graphical tools.

The standard Network Configuration control panel won't support WPA. Wicd will - but it doesn't seem to work out of the box. Sun has a patch at the start of this thread that seems to fix wicd.

If you are willing to spend a little time, you can get this to work pretty well with the patch. Otherwise - it's best to wait until YDL fixes this.

Is it worth giving it another go? I'd say yes - when I install wicd, it works pretty consistently with the patch. However - if you have a low tolerance for this kind of stuff - maybe not.

Cheers,
Paul

[drjarmin]

Thanks for all the advice. Perhaps I will try again this weekend.

Isn't a low tolerance. Spent most of a day, from downloading YDL to trying to get the WPA2 encryption working. She Who Must Be Obeyed was less than impressed!

Thanks again. If I get a chance this Sunday will give it all another go. Fingers crossed.

[Scudreloaded]

hey ive tried multiple times and it still dosent seem to work

[sun]

hey ive tried multiple times and it still dosent seem to work

Can you post a little more information about your issue? ie. When you try to connect do you get any error messages? Does wicd disappear? If so, Dd you get any error messages running wicd from terminal? -OR- Does wicd still hang when obtaining an IP address?

We'll need information to be able to help you with your problem.

[ppietro]

hey ive tried multiple times and it still dosent seem to work

You never did answer the questions the last time I tried to help you with this:

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=4867&p=26322#p26357

Cheers,
Paul

[yrless11]

Just wanted to say thanks to all....I have spent several hours (seems like days) trying to get ydl 6.1 to connect to my wireless router. I ran through everything I could find for troubleshooting to no avail...tried scenario 1, 2, & 3....I tried all patches for scenario 3. Nothing seemed to work. I had to run through the set display = 0 routine at fixstars too. I even tried WEP with HEX key and passphrase, then went back to WPA with passphrase. THe one factor that I had was my SSID was not broadcasting. As soon as I turned that to broadcast, I connected right up. Thanks everyone for the tutorials, etc.

[Scudreloaded]

I guess i'll try this
if a couple other things iv read dont work
currently my wicd is at 1.53, im a little nervus about upping it to 1.5.8
but i guess if worse comes to worse i can just start all over still have the discs.