Re: Setup help request

[James Prestwood <prestwoj@gmail.com>]

Hi Mauro,

On 1/2/24 6:07 AM, Mauro Condarelli wrote:
> Thanks James,
> comments inline below.
>
> On 1/2/24 14:01, James Prestwood wrote:
>> Hi Mauro,
>>
>> On 1/1/24 4:34 PM, Mauro Condarelli wrote:
>>> Hi James,
>>> Thanks for the fast reply.
>>>
>>> Comments inline below.
>>>
>>> On 1/2/24 00:03, James Prestwood wrote:
>>>> Hi Mauro,
>>>>
>>>> On 1/1/24 11:26 AM, Mauro Condarelli wrote:
>>>>> Hi,
>>>>> I just installed `IWD version 2.3` on a small MiniPC (Beelink, if 
>>>>> it matters) sporting a
>>>>> `Intel Corporation Wireless 3165 (rev 81)` PCI Wireless adapter.
>>>>> O.S. is a fairly up-to-date "Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)"
>>>>> Installation was done via standard Debian package (`apt install iwd`)
>>>>> ======8<----------- SNIP
>>> I used the following script to reproducibly start IWD and friends:
>>> ---------------------------------
>>> root@lxd:~# cat ./start_iwd.sh
>>> #!/bin/bash
>>>
>>> /usr/libexec/iwd -d >/tmp/iwd.log 2>&1 &
>>> IWD_PID=$!
>>>
>>> sleep 5
>>> iwctl device list
>>> iwctl device wlan0 set-property Mode ap
>>> iwctl ap wlan0 start-profile beelink
>>> iwctl ap wlan0 show
>>>
>>> iwmon --write /tmp/iwmon.pcap >/tmp/iwmon.log 2>&1 &
>>> IWMON_PID=$!
>>>
>>> mc
>>>
>>> kill $IWMON_PID
>>> kill $IWD_PID
>>> ---------------------------------
>>>
>>> While shell was active I:
>>> - opened Fritz! `WLAN` app
>>>   - it took ~30s to see a `beelink` network apparently spanning 
>>> several channels
>>> - tried to connect from my desktop
>>>   - it did see a `beelink` AP a long time (>2m) after `WLAN` app saw 
>>> it.
>>>   - it tried several times to connect.
>>>   - it never succeeded.
>>>   - it didn't even ask for a passphrase.
>>> - tried to connect using my Android Phone (the ssame running `WLAN`.
>>>   - it never saw a `beelink` AP to attempt connection.
>>>
>>> I attach all logs I took.
>>> I changed password to "temp-password" so it can be shared as needed.
>>
>> I think there is more going on but for starters it appears whatever 
>> app your using to scan is sending an invalid probe request frame. 
>> This causes IWD to ignore it which seems like the reason you cant 
>> even see the AP in the scans. I've attached a patch you can test, but 
>> I'm not sure this is something we can really upstream since its out 
>> of spec. The concerning IE is Extended capabilities, this is 
>> something IWD actually uses and parses, so the fact there is a 
>> duplicate and each one is different makes it impossible to know which 
>> one we should use. The probe request is including multiple entries 
>> for "Extended Capabilities" and "FILS Request Parameters (tag 258)". 
>> With the patch applied, and some other modifications to iwmon you can 
>> see two entries for these IEs:
>>
>>                     Extended Capabilities: len 10
>>                         Capability: bit  2: Extended channel switching
>>                         Capability: bit 17: WNM-Sleep mode
>>                         Capability: bit 19: BSS transition
>>                         Capability: bit 25: SSID list
>>                         Capability: bit 46: WNM- Notification
>>                         Capability: bit 62: Opmode Notification
>>                         04 00 0a 02 00 40 00 40 80 
>> 01                    .....@.@..
>>                     Tag 258: len 2
>>                         00 
>> 12                                            ..
>>                     Extended Capabilities: len 10
>>                         Capability: bit 17: WNM-Sleep mode
>>                         Capability: bit 19: BSS transition
>>                         Capability: bit 25: SSID list
>>                         Capability: bit 46: WNM- Notification
>>                         00 00 0a 02 00 40 00 00 00 
>> 01                    .....@....
>>                     Tag 258: len 2
>>                         00 ff
>>
>> If this patch doesn't resolve the issue could you re-run the test and 
>> start iwmon at the very beginning, prior to starting IWD?
> I'll do it ASAP, but it will take a bit of time since I'll have to 
> compile from sources (I installed from standard Debian package).
>
> Notice I'm not using anything "strange" for scans:
> - normal Debian Sid Network Manager applet from desktop (which sees 
> "beelink")
> - normal Android phone `WiFi` Settings from phone (MIUI 12.0.3 on 
> POCOPHONE F1, if relevant) (does *not* see "beelink")
> Both are working as expected with several other Access Points.
> It seems (to my limited insight) unlikely they're sending invalid 
> probe requests.

I'll need to look more at the spec to determine if this is "illegal" 
(for lack of a better term) to duplicate these IEs. There are some IEs 
that we allow duplicates of (which you can see in that patch). With a 
simple search I cant find anything in the spec that disallows duplicates 
specifically, but we have this comment in IWD:

"Tag found, make sure no duplicates present unless allowed"

Denis, any idea where that comes from off the top of your head?

Thanks,

James