OpenWrt Forum Archive

Topic: Is monitor mode not working in 8.09.1?

The content of this topic has been archived on 28 Mar 2018. There are no obvious gaps in this topic, but there may still be some posts missing at the end.

Just upgraded from 8.09 to 8.09.1, installed kismet, aircrack-ng,etc like I always do. I edited the /etc/kismet/kismet.conf file to use the wl0 interface, instead of the eth1 as it has has by default since who-knows-when. I then simlinked /etc/kismet/kismet.conf to /etc/kismet.conf.

Nothing new here...

I ran kismet_server, with the -n option for no logging, like I often do, but today, BLAM!! Unable to switch to monitor mode!

console output snippet below:

root@OpenWrt:~# kismet_server -n
Not logging any data
Suid priv-dropping disabled.  This may not be secure.
No specific sources given to be enabled, all will be enabled.
Enabling channel hopping.
Enabling channel splitting.
NOTICE: Disabling channel hopping, no enabled sources are able to change channel.
Source 0 (wrt): Enabling monitor mode for wrt54g source interface wl0 channel 6...
FATAL: Could not find 'monitor' private ioctl or use the newer style 'mode monitor' command.  Different firmwares have used different methods of entering monitor mode on the wrt54, make sure you are running the latest open-source firmware for your device.

Any thoughts/comments??

Using 2.4 or 2.6 kernel for 8.09.1?

I'm using the 2.4. I I was using 2.6, I don't think I'd have wireless at all. As I mentioned to a individual shortly before my last post, I don't think WiFi works on 2.6 on Broadcomm machines.

Sorry, it was late last night when I posted, and I forgot my manners.

Hardware: WRT54GS V3, Openwrt 8.09.1 for that model. No hardware mods (yet...), unless you count the broken antenna (don't ask).

--Aaron

garlicsalt2,

Did it work for you in 8.09? (See my previous post on this issue.)

Yes, it worked fine in the original 8.09.

Oddly enough, I can set WiFi mode to monitor using the Web interface. If I then login via terminal, any command that I issue that accesses the WiFi interface causes the Router to immediately reboot.

For example, just typing 'iwconfig' or 'iwpriv' by itself, and pressing enter, causes an immediate restart. Wireless works ok again if I go back into the Web interface and set back to Master.

--Aaron

garlicsalt2 wrote:

Yes, it worked fine in the original 8.09.

Not on my wrt54gl (which I thought was equivalent to the wrt54gs v3, except for less memory.)

In playing around with both versions, I noticed wl monitor doesn't bring up prism0 on 8.09.1 like it does on 8.09.  Try getting Kismet to work after running "ifconfig prism0 up."  This doesn't work on the wrt54gl but maybe on your gs?

(Last edited by Belfry on 30 Jun 2009, 22:58)

Odd, I don't see a prism0 iface, except after executing

wlc monitor 1

If I set Kismet to use the prism0 interface, it still reboots.

I NEVER saw a prism0 interface under 8.09. I DID see a wmonitor0 when NOT in monitor mode. iwconfig showed that wmaster0 was in monitor mode, but it never worked directly with Kismet. wmonitor0 interface disappeared when when wlan0 was switched into monitor mode.

Regarding the WRT54GL vs WRT54GS, yes you are correct, they are very similar on the HARDWARE level. The openwrt firmware is compiled separately for wrt54g/gl than for wrt54gs. Also, h/w versions 1-3 use one firmware release each, whereas version 4 hardware uses its own firmware on each. Check the download area for confirmation of this.

The firmware differences are, I presume, designed to use the available RAM and Flash on each model. My GS, I believe, has both 2x the RAM and 2x the Flash. It would appear that there are more differences in the software/firmware of which the Developers may not be aware.

I have a v4 WRT54G mainboard, but I seem to have wiped-out the entire flash area. I believe a jtag kit needs to be used to recover it. That, however, is a story for another time and/or thread.

--Aaron.

Ok, I take it back. prism0 DOES exist before and after setting monitor mode.

I did have partial success, while trying the following:

wlc down; wlc up; wlc monitor 0;

kismet_server -n

This no longer reboots my router, but kismet still complains that it can't enable monitor mode. Odd, because the card is already in Monitor mode, right??!?

Hmm.

I have been struggling with the same condition myself - monitor mode causes reboot.

I have three identical WRT54GS v2

- Broadcom BCM4712 chip rev 2 system type
- BCM3302 v0.7 CPU
- 32MB memory
- wl0: Broadcom BCM4320 802.11 Wireless Controller 4.150.10.5

so I'm using the brcm-2.4 image from:  [link]http://downloads.openwrt.org/kamikaze/8 … uashfs.bin[/link]

I'm testing with the 8.09.1 but I've also tried 8.09 - same behavior.


My kismet installation is from the standard packages repository

opkg update
opkg install kismet-client kismet-server kismet-drone

When I put the radio into monitor mode - however you like - and then do *anything* that talks to the device (iwconfig, run kismet or airdump - anything) the system reboots.

I do get a prism0 interface, only after going into monitor mode.

Is there a known working version with my kit?

(Last edited by geekazoid on 8 Jul 2009, 16:44)

I am listing other posts from people having the same problem, not so much for purposes of discerning a solution, but for reasons of collaboration (In layman's terms, "working together"). Maybe some individual can make sense of this all. If not, I'll try PM'ing user/moderator MBM.

http://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=15859
http://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=17367
http://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=18616
http://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=11096  <--- someone got it working here, but I cannot reproduce this.

Also, everyone who isn't already aware, running ifconfig by itself does NOT list interfaces that are not UP. To list ALL interfaces, use -a, as in

 ifconfig -a

This will list ALL interfaces that exist at the moment the command was run.

Anyone figure this out?

garlicsalt2 wrote:

Yes, it worked fine in the original 8.09.

Oddly enough, I can set WiFi mode to monitor using the Web interface. If I then login via terminal, any command that I issue that accesses the WiFi interface causes the Router to immediately reboot.

For example, just typing 'iwconfig' or 'iwpriv' by itself, and pressing enter, causes an immediate restart. Wireless works ok again if I go back into the Web interface and set back to Master.

--Aaron

Hmmm, I get the same behavior in 8.09, 8.09.1, and 8.09.2 (2.4 kernel). Anyone get this working?

The discussion might have continued from here.