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I have a problem with the wpa_supplicant program.

My problem is about the use of wpa_cli which needs wpa_supplicant. Error when I'm executing sudo wpa_cli: 

Could not connect to wpa_supplicant

The manual start of wpa_supplicant gives me some errors:

sudo wpa_supplicant -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

rfkill: Cannot open RFKILL control device
ioctl[SIOCSIWAP]: Operation not permitted
ioctl[SIOCSIWENCODEEXT]: Invalid argument
ioctl[SIOCSIWENCODEEXT]: Invalid argument
wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED bssid=00:00:00:00:00:00 reason=0   ### NEW!!!

Config dhcp

## /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf
subnet 192.168.2.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
   range 192.168.2.2 192.168.2.9;
   option domain-name-servers 192.168.1.1;
   option domain-name "home";
   option routers 192.168.2.1;
}

Config wpa_supplicant

## /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
update_config=1
# network={
#   ssid="__SSID__"
#   key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
#   psk="__PASS__"
#   id_str="home"
# }

Config hostapd

## /etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf
interface=wlan0
driver=rtl871xdrv
ieee80211n=1
ssid=__SSID__
hw_mode=g
channel=1
macaddr_acl=0
auth_algs=1
ignore_broadcast_ssid=0
wpa=2
wpa_passphrase=__PASS__
wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
wpa_pairwise=TKIP
rsn_pairwise=CCMP

# EDIT
ctrl_interface=/var/run/hostapd
ctrl_interface_group=0

Results of ifconfig / iwconfig

wlan0   Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr c0:4a:00:17:40:fd
          inet adr:192.168.2.1  Bcast:192.168.2.255  Masque:255.255.255.0
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:14 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 lg file transmission:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:"__SSID__"  Nickname:"<WIFI@REALTEK>"
          Mode:Master  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: C0:4A:00:17:40:FD
          Sensitivity:0/0
          Retry:off   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=100/100  Signal level=0 dBm  Noise level=0 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

How can I start wpa_supplicant without errors and have wpa_cli connect?

Val
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2 Answers2

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The errors wpa_supplicant produces are not necessarily related to your wpa_cli connection problem. The trouble here is that wpa_cli is unable to establish connection with wpa_supplicant - unable to open the control socket. This can have several causes:

  1. user running wpa_cli is unable to access the socket given e.g. in wpa_supplicant.conf:

    ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant

    You need to check that files in that directory are accessible to the user under which wpa_cli runs. That means not just the sockets being rw - all above directories have to be at least x, the last one probably also r so that wpa_clie can list all available sockets.

  2. Unlike wpa_supplicant, wpa_cli is not DBus capable. Make sure wpa_supplicant is not listening via DBus only. Judging by your configuration files this is probably not your case.

  3. wpa_supplicant not running (as per comments below). This would indicate, that there indeed might be a connection between the error messages emitted by wpa_supplicant and not being able to connect to it. To make sure run it in verbose mode (-d or even -dd) and not daemonizing (which is the default - just make sure you are not using the -B option). You can also watch out for the control socket, e.g.:

    watch -n 0.1 "ls -al /var/run/wpa_supplicant"

    Remember that most of these commands need to be run with root privileges, so for debugging it might be easier to just su - root permanently rather than prefixing each command with sudo.

peterph
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  • Thanks for your answer. About your first point, I have to tell you that the file `/var/run/wpa_supplicant` does not exist.. Do you think this is the problem ? – Val Feb 07 '14 at 20:50
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    It is created by `wpa_supplicant` when needed. If it doesn't exist **while** it is running, then option 2 suddenly becomes more likely. :) – peterph Feb 07 '14 at 20:57
  • Okay, but I don't really know how to apply your option 2.. You're sepaking about a "main application", but I'm just using the commands I spoke about `wpa_cli` and `wpa_supplicant`, and I don't know how to avoid dbus only.. I had to tell you that `rfkill list` is giving me errors too (if it's related) "Can't open RFKILL device: No such file or directory".. I'm really lost – Val Feb 07 '14 at 21:01
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    main applicatin = `wpa_supplicant` - I've fixed it, it was a bit misleading indeed. Socket: check `lsof | grep wpa_supplicant` (when you have it running) - it should show you the open socket. As for `rfkill` - is `/dev/rfkill` accessible for the user running `rfkill`? – peterph Feb 07 '14 at 21:16
  • I tried the `lsof | grep wpa_supplicant` command, but it doesn't return a result. Btw, I think my problem is that `wpa_supplicant` is not starting.. I tried a `ps -e | grep wpa` and it's empty too. About `rfkill`, `/dev/rfkill` doesn't exist for me.. – Val Feb 07 '14 at 21:23
  • missing `/dev/rfkill` could explain *"Cannot open RFKILL control device"*, let me update my answer... – peterph Feb 07 '14 at 23:24
  • I tried with the -d option and I can see some errors. Full log [here](http://pastebin.com/qCwraw5r). I have to tell you again, what I want with my WiFi install is just the hotspot mode (if it can helps ; I don't care about internet access over WiFi).. I also edited my post to add a new info in the result of `wpa_supplicant` : `wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED bssid=00:00:00:00:00:00 reason=0`. That can maybe help to locate the problem.. – Val Feb 08 '14 at 11:58
  • "sudo wpa_cli" solved the "problem" in m case. – Stefan Jun 30 '15 at 22:11
  • To make the rfkill work, the kernel should have been compiled with CONFIG_RFKILL=y (If you use buildroot, set this in the config file in the boards directory) and you should have compiled the userspace package called rfkill. (If you use buildroot, set this in your defconfig: BR2_PACKAGE_RFKILL=y). If your have purchased the platform with preloaded kernel/rootfs, then you might not have access to the toolchain, but if you do, please recompile the kernel image and the rootfs – lithiumhead Jun 19 '17 at 09:43
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Finally, the written errors didn't affect the system.

My /etc/network/interfaces file looks like (only wlan part) :

iface wlan0 inet static
    address 192.168.2.1
    netmask 255.255.255.0
    pre-up wpa_supplicant -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf -B

With this config, I can use the sudo wpa_cli command without error !
Thanks to peterph anyway :) !

Val
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