Kernel26-beyond + ndiswrapper + wpa_supplicant [solved]

Question

Hello!
A few problems with kernel-2.6.16-beyond and my network profile (ndiswrapper plus wpa2-psk).
Here we go:
- Running Arch 0.7.2, uptodate with current and extra repos.
- Installed kernel26beyond package and ndiswrapper-beyond.
   kernel26beyond version: 2.6.16.beyond4.1-1
   Ndiswrapper-beyond version: 1.16-1
- Edited the grub configuration, adding the new kernel:
title Arch Linux Beyond
root (hd0,1)
kernel /vmlinuz26beyond root=/dev/hda5 ro video=vesafb:ywrap,1280x800-16@60
initrd /initramfs-beyond.img
- Reboot to test the new kernel.
It seems the wifi profile doesn't start. Ok, let's see...
My wifi profile works OK with stock Arch kernel, but after the installation of kernel26 beyond the wpa socket directory (/var/run/wpa_supplicant) has dissapeared.
No problem, created it again and restart the network. Still no luck.
ndiswrapper-beyond seems to work fine:
$ ndiswrapper -l
bcmwl5 driver installed, hardware present
dmesg output:
ndiswrapper version 1.16 loaded (preempt=yes,smp=yes)
ndiswrapper: driver bcmwl5 (Broadcom,05/26/2005, 3.120.27.0) loaded
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:06:02.0[A] -> GSI 21 (level, low) -> IRQ 22
ndiswrapper: using irq 22
wlan0: vendor: ''
wlan0: ndiswrapper ethernet device 00:14:a5:4e:11:27 using driver bcmwl5, 14E4:4319.5.conf
wlan0: encryption modes supported: WEP; TKIP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK; AES/CCMP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK
The wpa_supplicant configuration works fine with stock kernel:
$ cat /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ap_scan=1
network={
ssid="myssid"
proto=RSN
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
pairwise=TKIP
group=TKIP
#psk="blah"
psk=encrypted blah
I have tried adding ndiswrapper to the modules array in /etc/rc.conf, the network doesn't start.
Later I have changed the file /etc/mkinitramfs.conf and generated a new initramfs-beyond.img, trying to enable ndiswrapper here and/or USB subsystem support, but the result was the same.
The *ONLY* solution I have found is booting the system with the beyond kernel, wait to the network init script to fail (it seems a dhcp timeout), log into the system and execute the following:
# killall wpa_supplicant
# /etc/rc.d/network restart
Any idea about why I have to kill wpa_supplicant to get the wifi working with it? As I said, this problem does't exist with the stock kernel, and I don't see any errors reported by wpa_supplicant.
Thanks in advance!
Regards,
miausX

Answer 1

Thanks for your reply, Phrodo_00.
I think it is using the correct ndiswrapper module (beyond).
Looking at the modinfo output:
$ modinfo ndiswrapper
filename: /lib/modules/2.6.16-beyond/misc/ndiswrapper.ko
license: GPL
version: 1.16
description: NDIS wrapper driver
Maybe this problem is related to the execution order of the commands (modprobe ndiswrapper, wpa_supplicant, dhcpcd) during boot.
Everything works fine after killing wpa_supplicant and restarting the network, the ndiswrapper module is loaded, wpa_suplicant is running as a daemon, etc.
$ ps -ef | grep wpa
root 4262 1 0 10:12 ? 00:00:00 wpa_supplicant -wB -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -D wext
$ ps -ef | grep dhcp
root 4274 1 0 10:12 ? 00:00:00 dhcpcd -t 30 -h portatil wlan0
$ lsmod | grep ndis
ndiswrapper 145004 0
usbcore 97696 6 ndiswrapper,hci_usb,usbhid,ohci_hcd,ehci_hcd
Regards,
  miausX.