# wicd [solved]

## NathanZachary

I have just finished a fresh installation on my netbook, and am having a bit of trouble getting wicd to start appropriately.  After emerging wicd-1.7.1_beta2-r2, I get the following:

```

# /etc/init.d/wicd start

 * Starting wicd daemon ...

sed: can't read /etc/wicd/wired-settings.conf: No such file or directory [ !! ]

 * ERROR: wicd failed to start

```

So, I touched the files that I know should be in /etc/wicd:

```

wicd # ls -l          

total 12

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  927 Oct 29 10:36 dhclient.conf.template.default

drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Mar 10 08:26 encryption

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    0 Mar 10 08:29 manager-settings.conf

drwxr-xr-x 7 root root 4096 Mar 10 08:26 scripts

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    0 Mar 10 08:29 wired-settings.conf

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    0 Mar 10 08:29 wireless-settings.conf

```

and now all I get is a completely useless error message:

```

wicd # /etc/init.d/wicd start

 * Starting wicd daemon ...                                              [ !! ]

 * ERROR: wicd failed to start

```

Any suggestions?

Thank you preemptively,

Nathan Zachary

----------

## audiodef

What DE/WM are you using?

----------

## NathanZachary

I'm using Openbox.  Had wicd working in this environment before the re-installation.  The trouble is that I can't find any other location of logs to check.

----------

## NathanZachary

Thought my emerge --info might be helpful as well:

```

Portage 2.1.9.42 (default/linux/x86/10.0/desktop, gcc-4.5.2, glibc-2.13-r1, 2.6.37-gentoo-r1 i686)

=================================================================

System uname: Linux-2.6.37-gentoo-r1-i686-Intel-R-_Atom-TM-_CPU_N270_@_1.60GHz-with-gentoo-2.0.1

Timestamp of tree: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 17:45:01 +0000

app-shells/bash:     4.2_p7

dev-lang/python:     2.6.6-r2, 2.7.1-r1, 3.1.3-r1

dev-util/cmake:      2.8.4

sys-apps/baselayout: 2.0.1-r1

sys-apps/openrc:     0.7.0

sys-apps/sandbox:    2.5

sys-devel/autoconf:  2.13, 2.68

sys-devel/automake:  1.10.3, 1.11.1

sys-devel/binutils:  2.21

sys-devel/gcc:       4.4.5, 4.5.2

sys-devel/gcc-config: 1.4.1

sys-devel/libtool:   2.4-r1

sys-devel/make:      3.82

virtual/os-headers:  2.6.36.1 (sys-kernel/linux-headers)

ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="x86 ~x86"

ACCEPT_LICENSE="* -@EULA"

CBUILD="i686-pc-linux-gnu"

CFLAGS="-O2 -march=atom -mtune=atom -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer"

CHOST="i686-pc-linux-gnu"

CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /usr/share/gnupg/qualified.txt"

CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/ca-certificates.conf /etc/env.d /etc/fonts/fonts.conf /etc/gconf /etc/gentoo-release /etc/revdep-rebuild /etc/sandbox.d /etc/terminfo"

CXXFLAGS="-O2 -march=atom -mtune=atom -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer"

DISTDIR="/usr/portage/distfiles"

FEATURES="assume-digests binpkg-logs distlocks fixlafiles fixpackages news parallel-fetch protect-owned sandbox sfperms strict unknown-features-warn unmerge-logs unmerge-orphans userfetch"

FFLAGS=""

LDFLAGS="-Wl,--as-needed"

LINGUAS="en_GB"

MAKEOPTS="-j3"

PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages"

PORTAGE_CONFIGROOT="/"

PORTAGE_RSYNC_OPTS="--recursive --links --safe-links --perms --times --compress --force --whole-file --delete --stats --timeout=180 --exclude=/distfiles --exclude=/local --exclude=/packages"

PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp"

PORTDIR="/usr/portage"

USE="X a52 aac acl acpi alsa berkdb branding bzip2 cairo cli cracklib crypt cxx dbus dri dts encode exif fam firefox flac fortran gdbm gdu gif gpm gtk iconv jpeg lcms libnotify mad mng modules mp3 mp4 mpeg mudflap ncurses nls nptl nptlonly ogg opengl openmp pam pango pcre pdf perl png policykit ppds pppd python readline sdl session spell ssl startup-notification svg sysfs tcpd tiff truetype udev unicode usb vorbis x264 x86 xcb xml xorg xulrunner xv xvid zlib" ALSA_CARDS="ali5451 als4000 atiixp atiixp-modem bt87x ca0106 cmipci emu10k1 emu10k1x ens1370 ens1371 es1938 es1968 fm801 hda-intel intel8x0 intel8x0m maestro3 trident usb-audio via82xx via82xx-modem ymfpci" ALSA_PCM_PLUGINS="adpcm alaw asym copy dmix dshare dsnoop empty extplug file hooks iec958 ioplug ladspa lfloat linear meter mmap_emul mulaw multi null plug rate route share shm softvol" APACHE2_MODULES="actions alias auth_basic authn_alias authn_anon authn_dbm authn_default authn_file authz_dbm authz_default authz_groupfile authz_host authz_owner authz_user autoindex cache cgi cgid dav dav_fs dav_lock deflate dir disk_cache env expires ext_filter file_cache filter headers include info log_config logio mem_cache mime mime_magic negotiation rewrite setenvif speling status unique_id userdir usertrack vhost_alias" CAMERAS="ptp2" COLLECTD_PLUGINS="df interface irq load memory rrdtool swap syslog" ELIBC="glibc" GPSD_PROTOCOLS="ashtech aivdm earthmate evermore fv18 garmin garmintxt gpsclock itrax mtk3301 nmea ntrip navcom oceanserver oldstyle oncore rtcm104v2 rtcm104v3 sirf superstar2 timing tsip tripmate tnt ubx" INPUT_DEVICES="evdev synaptics" KERNEL="linux" LCD_DEVICES="bayrad cfontz cfontz633 glk hd44780 lb216 lcdm001 mtxorb ncurses text" LINGUAS="en_GB" PHP_TARGETS="php5-3" RUBY_TARGETS="ruby18" USERLAND="GNU" VIDEO_CARDS="intel" XTABLES_ADDONS="quota2 psd pknock lscan length2 ipv4options ipset ipp2p iface geoip fuzzy condition tee tarpit sysrq steal rawnat logmark ipmark dhcpmac delude chaos account" 

Unset:  CPPFLAGS, CTARGET, EMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS, INSTALL_MASK, LANG, LC_ALL, PORTAGE_BUNZIP2_COMMAND, PORTAGE_COMPRESS, PORTAGE_COMPRESS_FLAGS, PORTAGE_RSYNC_EXTRA_OPTS, PORTDIR_OVERLAY

```

----------

## cach0rr0

you should actually have:

```

# ls -alh /var/log/wicd/

total 2.7M

drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Mar 10 16:00 .

drwxr-xr-x 9 root root 4.0K Mar 10 04:48 ..

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  454 Jan 14  2010 .empty_on_purpose

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    0 Oct  3 13:32 .keep_net-misc_wicd-0

-rw-rw-rw- 1 root root 183K Mar 10 18:17 wicd.log

-rw-rw-rw- 1 root root 899K Mar 10 16:00 wicd.log.1

-rw------- 1 root root 696K Mar 10 04:48 wicd.log.2

-rw-rw-rw- 1 root root 903K Mar  9 20:02 wicd.log.3

```

if you feel like hand-editing and giving it a try, this is my wired-settings.conf

```

[wired-default]

afterscript = None

use_static_dns = False

dhcphostname = hplaptop

dns3 = None

postdisconnectscript = None

search_domain = None

dns1 = None

dns_domain = None

lastused = True

broadcast = None

default = 0

netmask = None

dns2 = None

beforescript = None

profilename = wired-default

predisconnectscript = None

ip = None

gateway = None

use_global_dns = False

```

(obv change dhcp hostname)

The wireless-settings.conf (since yours appears to be empty) looks like:

```

[92:21:55:6F:A7:16]

afterscript = None

dhcphostname = hplaptop

bssid = 92:21:55:6F:A7:16

postdisconnectscript = None

use_dhcphostname = 0

dns_domain = None

quality = 100

gateway = None

use_global_dns = 0

strength = -38

encryption = True

bitrates = 6 Mb/s

ip = None

beforescript = None

hidden = False

channel = 6

mode = Master

has_profile = True

netmask = None

key = myawesomelongpassphrase

predisconnectscript = None

enctype = wpa

dns3 = None

dns2 = None

search_domain = None

use_settings_globally = 0

use_static_dns = 0

encryption_method = WPA2

essid = whhmobile

automatic = False

dns1 = None

```

again, adjusting things like bssid, essid, key, channel, and so forth, as necessary (however, this file *should* be getting created on the fly, soon as wicd starts up and youre able to configure things from the UI)

----------

## NathanZachary

Thanks for the recommendations.  The strange thing is that the daemon itself isn't starting.  I don't actually see any logs in /var/log/wicd/.  I believe that those logs are created when the client (CLI or GUI) starts, but not beforehand.

----------

## cach0rr0

 *NathanZachary wrote:*   

> Thanks for the recommendations.  The strange thing is that the daemon itself isn't starting.  I don't actually see any logs in /var/log/wicd/.  I believe that those logs are created when the client (CLI or GUI) starts, but not beforehand.

 

right, my thoughts were that it would at least create the log upon startup, showing some sign it was *trying* to start.

but alas we've come up empty-handed

only thing i can gather is maybe it's missing some of the backend tools needed to bring the interface up? 

(that is, im assuming it already shows in /proc/net/wireless, and you can ifconfig wlan0 up without issues or gripes about firmware, can connect wpa_supplicant by hand, etc)

only other thing I can gather - is dbus running, or at least installed? Tried it under strace? All else fails, strace is my go-to when things don't start up.

----------

## NathanZachary

Yes, dbus is running:

```

zach # /etc/init.d/dbus status

 * status: started

```

All that shows up under strace is that it is trying to start wicd, but fails.  I see it loading all the respective libraries, but nothing else of value.

Anyone else have any ideas to diagnose the problem:

```

zach # /etc/init.d/wicd start

 * Starting wicd daemon ...                                              [ !! ]

 * ERROR: wicd failed to start

```

I would appreciate it.

----------

## cach0rr0

hrmm

how about removing the 

```

>/dev/null 2>&1

```

from the init script? 

the other thought, how are you running strace? Directly through the init script, or are you doing e.g.

```

strace /usr/sbin/wicd 

```

----------

## NathanZachary

Come to think of it, I was running strace on /etc/init.d/wicd start instead of /usr/sbin/wicd.  Doing the latter yields a little more useful information:

```

stat64("/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/gtk-2.0/gobject/propertyhelper", 0xbfdb4240) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/gtk-2.0/gobject/propertyhelper.so", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/gtk-2.0/gobject/propertyhelpermodule.so", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/gtk-2.0/gobject/propertyhelper.py", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = 4

fstat64(4, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=9807, ...}) = 0

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/gtk-2.0/gobject/propertyhelper.pyo", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = 5

fstat64(5, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=9593, ...}) = 0

mmap2(NULL, 4096, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0xb73aa000

read(5, "\321\362\r\n\3147pMc\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\7\0\0\0@\0\0\0s9\1\0\0d\0"..., 4096) = 4096

fstat64(5, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=9593, ...}) = 0

read(5, "0/gobject/propertyhelper.pyt\10\0\0\0"..., 4096) = 4096

read(5, "5\0\0\0R=\0\0\0R/\0\0\0R#\0\0\0R?\0\0\0(\2\0\0\0R!\0"..., 4096) = 1401

read(5, "", 4096)                       = 0

close(5)                                = 0

munmap(0xb73aa000, 4096)                = 0

close(4)                                = 0

close(3)                                = 0

stat64("/usr/share/wicd/daemon/dbus", 0xbfdb8770) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/share/wicd/daemon/dbus.so", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/share/wicd/daemon/dbusmodule.so", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/share/wicd/daemon/dbus.py", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/share/wicd/daemon/dbus.pyo", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

stat64("/usr/lib/python2.6/dbus", 0xbfdb8770) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/dbus.so", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/dbusmodule.so", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/dbus.py", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/dbus.pyo", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

stat64("/usr/lib/python2.6/plat-linux2/dbus", 0xbfdb8770) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/plat-linux2/dbus.so", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/plat-linux2/dbusmodule.so", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/plat-linux2/dbus.py", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/plat-linux2/dbus.pyo", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

stat64("/usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/dbus", 0xbfdb8770) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/dbus.so", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/dbusmodule.so", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/dbus.py", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/lib-dynload/dbus.pyo", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

stat64("/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/dbus", 0xbfdb8770) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/dbus.so", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/dbusmodule.so", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/dbus.py", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/dbus.pyo", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

stat64("/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/gtk-2.0/dbus", 0xbfdb8770) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/gtk-2.0/dbus.so", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/gtk-2.0/dbusmodule.so", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/gtk-2.0/dbus.py", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/gtk-2.0/dbus.pyo", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

stat64("/usr/lib/portage/pym/dbus", 0xbfdb8770) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/portage/pym/dbus.so", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/portage/pym/dbusmodule.so", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/portage/pym/dbus.py", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

open("/usr/lib/portage/pym/dbus.pyo", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

write(2, "Traceback (most recent call last"..., 35Traceback (most recent call last):

) = 35

write(2, "  File \"/usr/share/wicd/daemon/w"..., 69  File "/usr/share/wicd/daemon/wicd-daemon.py", line 47, in <module>

) = 69

open("/usr/share/wicd/daemon/wicd-daemon.py", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE) = 3

fstat64(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=71261, ...}) = 0

mmap2(NULL, 4096, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0xb73aa000

read(3, "#!/usr/bin/env python\n# -*- codi"..., 4096) = 4096

write(2, "    ", 4    )                     = 4

write(2, "import dbus\n", 12import dbus

)           = 12

close(3)                                = 0

munmap(0xb73aa000, 4096)                = 0

write(2, "ImportError", 11ImportError)             = 11

write(2, ": ", 2: )                       = 2

write(2, "No module named dbus", 20No module named dbus)    = 20

write(2, "\n", 1

)                       = 1

rt_sigaction(SIGINT, {SIG_DFL, [], 0}, {0xb76c64f0, [], 0}, 8) = 0

exit_group(1)   

```

So, it seems like there are some problems with python-2.6 and the dbus module.  Any ideas on a workaround or fix?

Thanks again for all of your help thus far.

Cheers,

Nathan Zachary

----------

## NathanZachary

Figured it out.  At some point I had switched from python-2.6 to python-2.7, and some of the needed modules were missing (gobject, et cetera).  After re-emerging, everything seems to start correctly.  Thank you for your help!

Cheers,

Nathan Zachary

----------

## nichocouk

I'm having similar problems with wicd not working since update to python 2.7.

When starting wicd here is what I get in the log: 

```
2011/03/29 10:27:40 :: ---------------------------

2011/03/29 10:27:40 :: wicd initializing...

2011/03/29 10:27:40 :: ---------------------------

2011/03/29 10:27:40 :: wicd is version 1.7.0 552

2011/03/29 10:27:40 :: setting backend to external

2011/03/29 10:27:40 :: Traceback (most recent call last):

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::   File "/usr/share/wicd/daemon/wicd-daemon.py", line 1839, in <module>

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::     main(sys.argv)

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::   File "/usr/share/wicd/daemon/wicd-daemon.py", line 1803, in main

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::     daemon = WicdDaemon(wicd_bus, auto_connect=auto_connect)

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::   File "/usr/share/wicd/daemon/wicd-daemon.py", line 115, in __init__

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::     self.ReadConfig()

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::   File "/usr/share/wicd/daemon/wicd-daemon.py", line 885, in ReadConfig

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::     self.SetBackend(app_conf.get("Settings", "backend", default=be_def))

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::   File "/usr/share/wicd/daemon/wicd-daemon.py", line 220, in SetBackend

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::     self.config.set("Settings", "backend", backend, write=True)

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::   File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/site-packages/wicd/configmanager.py", line 76, in set

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::     self.set_option(*args, **kargs)

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::   File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/site-packages/wicd/configmanager.py", line 72, in set_option

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::     self.write()

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::   File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/site-packages/wicd/configmanager.py", line 192, in write

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::     p = copy.deepcopy(self)

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::   File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/copy.py", line 163, in deepcopy

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::     y = copier(x, memo)

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::   File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/copy.py", line 298, in _deepcopy_inst

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::     state = deepcopy(state, memo)

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::   File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/copy.py", line 163, in deepcopy

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::     y = copier(x, memo)

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::   File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/copy.py", line 257, in _deepcopy_dict

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::     y[deepcopy(key, memo)] = deepcopy(value, memo)

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::   File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/copy.py", line 174, in deepcopy

2011/03/29 10:27:40 ::     y = copier(memo)

2011/03/29 10:27:40 :: TypeError: cannot deepcopy this pattern object
```

I've tried re-emerging wicd after having set python to 2.7 with eselect python, I've run python-updater etc. What more should I do?   :Confused: 

----------

## xaviermiller

Unmask wicd to get the latest beta version 1.7.1

----------

## nichocouk

Fantastic! 

I wonder how I did not think of trying that... 

Merci Xavier!

----------

## cach0rr0

 *NathanZachary wrote:*   

> Figured it out.  At some point I had switched from python-2.6 to python-2.7, and some of the needed modules were missing (gobject, et cetera).  After re-emerging, everything seems to start correctly.  Thank you for your help!
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Nathan Zachary

 

funny enough, this *just* happened to me

did a world update that automagically switched me to 2.7 (thanks for that! heh), ran python-updater, built everything, had to strace -f wicd process manually, noticed the 'unknown module gobject', merged pygobject, everything was fine.

----------

## norg

i would use wicd, cause of the nice wicd-curses, but i can't get any connection with encrypted networks.

Also many unencrypted networks won't work, most of the time obtaining ip adress just ends.

With networkmanager all those networks are working fine, but cnetworkmanager is not as nice as wicd-curses :/

I also tried stable and unstable wicd.

----------

## cach0rr0

 *norg wrote:*   

> i would use wicd, cause of the nice wicd-curses, but i can't get any connection with encrypted networks.
> 
> Also many unencrypted networks won't work, most of the time obtaining ip adress just ends.
> 
> With networkmanager all those networks are working fine, but cnetworkmanager is not as nice as wicd-curses :/
> ...

 

I would imagine networkmanager has its own "magic" it uses behind the scenes whereas wicd relies on external tools (e.g. it calls wpa_supplicant directly, uses either wext or nl80211 depending on what *the user* sets, uses whatever dhcp client you set)

if wicd cannot connect, it is because the tools on the backend are not connecting. Functionally, what it does with a UI is just an automated way of:

-setting up a wpa_supplicant.conf

-calling wpa_supplicant, which handles AP association, and AP authentication

-firing off either dhcpcd or dhclient and snagging an IP address

You could realistically write a shell script that does the same thing. Basically, if you can get wireless working manually, wicd should be able to do the same. Networkmanager may do a lot of that sort of stuff directly, e.g. bypassing net-wireless/iw (needed for nl80211) or bypassing whatever wireless_ext uses (I forget offhand), whereas wicd might require those tools to be operational. I don't know for certain, as I have not looked much at networkmanager, I got rid of it because I didn't like the way it seemed to completely take over and ignore me when i told it to do something slightly atypical. It's like a damn virus,  you just can't get rid of it, can't shut it down, and it completely screws with any other wireless tools you have installed *even if you shut it down*. Hate hate hate.

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## norg

When do i have to switch to nl80211?

I use dhcpd as dhcp client and got no special wpa_supplicant.conf nor did i set anything in net.wlan0.

I would like to switch  :Smile:  nm-applet is annoying with the gnome keyring stuff and i prefer applications with good cli.

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## cach0rr0

 *norg wrote:*   

> When do i have to switch to nl80211?
> 
> I use dhcpd as dhcp client and got no special wpa_supplicant.conf nor did i set anything in net.wlan0.
> 
> I would like to switch  nm-applet is annoying with the gnome keyring stuff and i prefer applications with good cli.

 

should have been an "automatic" switch supposedly. WIRELESS_EXT (wext) is old hat, nl80211 is the new hotness (if i understand it correctly - also, it requires net-wireless/iwl)

we should probably take this into a new thread though - rather, do you feel like troubleshooting it? If so, let's make a new thread and see if we can't sort it out. 

if you shut off networkmanager, completely, set up a wpa_supplicant.conf, and do:

```

wpa_supplicant -Dnl80211 -i wlan0 -c /path/to/wpa_supplicant.conf

```

It should associate with the AP, then connect. After this, you would need to

```

dhcpcd wlan0

```

to get an IP address and all that. If you can get the above two working, wicd should be able to work (though, I haven't tried the CLI interface they have, only wicd-gtk)

anyway yeah, if you fancy making a new thread, we'll see if we can do the requisite troubleshooting to get it working/functional.

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## norg

i will work on this and if i need more help i start a new thread  :Smile: 

thx so far

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