WLAN: link must be UP before ESSID is set

[Pekka Savola]

Filed as:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=228253

On Wed, 7 Feb 2007, Baris Cicek wrote:
> I'm using zd1211rw device and bringing interface up before setting ESSID
> and KEY for wireless device did not cause any problem for me using
> different hardware as well.
>
> That was not an issue with vendor driver, but it's necessary to bring
> interface up for rewrite of the driver. Thus, I was not sure if this
> related with driver or the network-scripts.
>
> But considering zd1211rw is included with kernel, it's evident that
> without necessary changes on ifup-wireless it's not possible to
> automatically bring interface into running state.
>
> If someone states a bug id, i can submit my change(s).
>
> On Tue, 2007-02-06 at 22:04 +0200, Pekka Savola wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> On new USB stick WLAN interface (driver zd1211rw) it seems that the
>> 'ip link set $DEVICE up' needs to be done before ESSID is set for the
>> card to come up at all. (On the other hand, for example, the old
>> orinoco_cs doesn't require this.)
>>
>> Even though DHCP client (run after ESSID is set) brings up the link,
>> the WLAN card is not associated to the AP (the state as shown below),
>> and IP doesn't work yet.
>>
>> zd1211rw people had the opinion that this is a problem with ifup:
>>
>> "This is a distro bug - it should bring the interface up before using
>> it. Many drivers require the interface to be up before scanning is
>> possible, since for a lot of hardware, scanning is just transmission
>> and reception of frames so requires the entire MAC layer to be
>> activated just the same as if you were transmitting/receiving data."
>>
>> Should this be fixed by setting the link up before setting ESSID in
>> ifup-wireless (or even before setting some other iwconfig options)?
>>
>> Is there any drawback in doing so? (At least it seems to me that you
>> may not be able to specify a new MACADDR if this was done.)
>>
>> Is there already a bug report on this (based on very quick search I
>> couldn't find one)?
>>
>> eth1      IEEE 802.11b/g  ESSID:"S"  Nickname:"zd1211"
>>            Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: Invalid
>>            Bit Rate=1 Mb/s
>>            Encryption key:off
>>            Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
>>            Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
>>            Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0
>>
>>
>> --
>> Pekka Savola                 "You each name yourselves king, yet the
>> Netcore Oy                    kingdom bleeds."
>> Systems. Networks. Security. -- George R.R. Martin: A Clash of Kings
>>
>
>

-- 
Pekka Savola                 "You each name yourselves king, yet the
Netcore Oy                    kingdom bleeds."
Systems. Networks. Security. -- George R.R. Martin: A Clash of Kings