Re: hostap managed mode, blank ESSID

[Dan Williams <dcbw@redhat.com>]

On Thu, 2008-11-13 at 13:02 -0700, iskimj@gmail.com wrote:
> I'm running Ubuntu with kernel 2.6.27-7. I am trying to set up a
> Prism/Intersil PCMCIA card (Microsoft MN-520) with firmware version 1.4.9.
> 
> I am able to the orinoco module but I get many errors. I asked in that
> mailing list and one suggestion was to try the hostap module. I am trying to
> set up hostap but need a bit of help.
> 
> It is my understanding that I need to operate it in "managed" mode to
> connect as a client to a wireless AP. I can set the managed mode but I can't
> seem to set the ESSID, iwconfig will report EASED: " ". If I then change to
> "master" mode it reports the correct ESSID. Are there some additional steps
> that I need to do? Is there a bug in the driver?

Master mode means the card will act like an AP, so it isn't what you
want.

When the card reports a blank SSID, that means it simply hasn't
associated to the AP.  Are you sure your WEP or WPA keys are correct?
You might also try a higher firmware version; 1.7.x are known to work
quite a bit better than 1.4.9; I haven't had luck with 1.4.9.  Firmware
flashing is somewhat arcane, but here's the link:

http://linux.junsun.net/intersil-prism/

Dan