Using wpa_gui (Could not get status from wpa_supplicant)

[Davespice]

Hi folks;
I'm trying to help a young friend of mine who is attempting to setup his Wifi on his Pi.
He is using one of the Maplin kits that comes with a Wifi adapter and USB hub etc.

The SD card comes with the wpa_gui wifi config utility.
As per this one, but obviously under LXDE;
http://manual.aptosid.com/en/inet-wpagui-en.htm

Here is the problem, if anyone can point me in the right direction;

He does a scan, double clicks the network he wants to join, types in the PSK field and clicks add;

Status: Could not get status from wpa_supplicant
Last message: -signal 15 received

Any ideas? Does he have to be root to use wpa_gui? Or is it something else?
Thanks in advance, any help appreciated.

Wpa_supplicant isn't running or has crashed.

Check logs for errors and if there are none its probably not starting. check the config files related to networkinfg /etc/network/interfaces and /etc/path.to.wpa.supplicant.conf

[Davespice]

Thanks for the reply, but this is not hugely helpful because the lad I'm trying to help won't know what to do with those log files.
The SD card image he's using is one supplied by Maplin, so I would imagine the setup is correct in terms of wpa.supplicant.conf.
The only thing I can think of is that you need to be root to modify the config files?

I suggest having your friend give you the config files and post them here.


I would imagine that wlan0 in interfaces / and a wpa_supplicant file did not come fully configured out of the box.

Maybe you should suggest WICD ?

Honestly, I am unsure if WPA_GUI should build out these configs or not. Cmd line junkie here.

I had the same message using the Maplin's kit - but on first connection I accidently got the WiFi key/password wrong (unknowingly). After a quick Google I examined the /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf file and discovered the incorrect password embedded within the file.
sudo cat /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
I editied the file (from CLI) and rebooted (sudo shutdown -r now).
The WiFi adapter connected without error from wpa_gui after restart. There are probably several ways of fixing this but this is what worked for me.
HTH,
GFitzG.

[Davespice]

Thanks gfitzg, I will also have a look at this.

I am very new to the Pi (opened the box this morning) so please bear with me.
On trying to connect to the internet via the Maplins dongle I get "could not get status from wpa supplicant".
I have read the above posts and looked at the wpa-supplicant .conf files . I assume what I have managed to input there (via the GUI interface) is wrong and needs editing, but I don't know how. I assume I get there via the command line but what do I need to input? When I get there do I just delete everything in the Network = {SSID etc....} entry and reboot?
Any help much appreciated.

I had the same problem and in my case the solution was to move the wireless dongle from the USB hub to a USB port directly on the Pi. This caused the Pi to reboot and then it connected without a hitch.

Thanks. My Pi had to go back but I will try on my next one if I have a problem.

Richard

For anyone else hunting a solution to this, a checklist of what was stopping me using a MicroNext MN-WD542T dongle based on the (old) popular ZD1211 chipset:

• No firmware loaded. This isn't in the SD card image, so you somehow need to load the 'zd1211-firmware' package. Note that without the firmware you can see a 'wlan0' network device, it just won't work!
• Make sure the following lines are in /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf for wpa_gui to work (the 'pi' user should already be a member of the netdev group)
  

  Code: Select all

  # needed for wpa_gui to work
ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
# needed to allow wpa_gui to alter the configuration
update_config=1


I've just found that I need the