[Freedombox-discuss] Freedombox firstboot fails to configure AP mode on otherwise-working WiFi dongles

[Daniel Gnoutcheff]

Hey,

I've been finding that when I boot a fresh freedombox with 0.7 images
and with a WiFi dongle installed, no WiFi AP is created.  If I somehow
manage to get into the freedombox anyway, I find that there exist a few
NetworkManager connection profiles for the dongle, but neither specify
AP mode.  If I delete these profiles and create a new one that specifies
AP mode, that seems to work just fine.

I've seen this happen multiple times on a Cubietruck and at least once
on a Pi2.


Here's some example logs and generated config files I gathered from a
freedombox instance on a CubieTruck with a USB WiFi dongle supported by
ath9k_htc (MAC addresses scrubbed):

/etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/FreedomBox LAN wlxffffffffffff:
> [connection]
> id=FreedomBox LAN wlxffffffffffff
> uuid=05cdb011-a84f-4aae-a8ea-764f913e572e
> type=ethernet
> interface-name=wlxffffffffffff
> permissions=
> secondaries=
> zone=internal
> 
> [ethernet]
> mac-address-blacklist=
> 
> [ipv4]
> dns-search=
> method=shared
> 
> [ipv6]
> dns-search=
> method=auto

/etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/FreedomBox LAN
wlxffffffffffff-4940f8d1-ded2-41c9-8499-539cbcc1c4f0:
> [connection]
> id=FreedomBox LAN wlxf4f26d19f9a6
> uuid=4940f8d1-ded2-41c9-8499-539cbcc1c4f0
> type=wifi
> interface-name=wlxffffffffffff
> permissions=
> secondaries=
> 
> [wifi]
> mac-address-blacklist=
> seen-bssids=
> ssid=FreedomBoxwlxffffffffffff
> 
> [ipv4]
> dns-search=
> method=auto
> 
> [ipv6]
> dns-search=
> method=auto


Note that neither of these have 'mode=ap'.  I also find this in
/var/log/freedombox-first-run.log:

> Setting up network configuration...
> Connection 'FreedomBox WAN' (2394d0d8-6a90-4a90-a73e-0ac837640dfb) successfully 
> added.
> Configured interface 'eth0' for 'external' use as 'FreedomBox WAN'.
> Connection 'FreedomBox LAN wlxf4f26d19f9a6' (05cdb011-a84f-4aae-a8ea-764f913e572e) successfully added.
> Configured interface 'wlxf4f26d19f9a6' for shared use as 'FreedomBox LAN wlxf4f26d19f9a6'.
> Connection 'FreedomBox LAN wlxf4f26d19f9a6' (4940f8d1-ded2-41c9-8499-539cbcc1c4f0) successfully added.
> Error: invalid or not allowed setting 'wifi': 'wifi' not among [connection, 802-3-ethernet (ethernet), 802-1x, ipv4, ipv6, dcb].
> Error: invalid or not allowed setting 'wifi-sec': 'wifi-sec' not among [connection, 802-3-ethernet (ethernet), 802-1x, ipv4, ipv6, dcb].
> Error: invalid or not allowed setting 'wifi-sec': 'wifi-sec' not among [connection, 802-3-ethernet (ethernet), 802-1x, ipv4, ipv6, dcb].
> Configured interface 'wlxf4f26d19f9a6' for shared use as 'FreedomBox LAN wlxf4f26d19f9a6'.
> Done setting up network configuration.

Curiously, if I manually run 05_network after boot, one of the resulting
connection *do* specify AP mode, and the 'invalid or not allowed
setting' errors don't appear.

syslog seems to suggest that /etc/init.d/freedombox-first-run gets
started before NetworkManager is:

> Jan  1 00:00:29 localhost systemd[1]: Starting LSB: Finish Freedombox install after first boot...
> Jan  1 00:00:29 localhost systemd[1]: Starting Network Manager...

Maybe a race condition of some kind?  I hear that NeworkManager split
off WiFI support into a plugin or something.

Later,
Daniel

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