ERROR: Packet source 'wlan0' failed to set channel 2: mac80211_setchannel() in Kismet and Ubuntu 12.10

Question

I have installed Ubuntu 12.10 in my computer with an Atheros AR5007 wireless card.

I want to use Kismet but when I run it it starts displaying the message:

ERROR: Packet source 'wlan0' failed to set channel X: mac80211_setchannel()

It keeps displaying the same for every channel except channel 1. I have installed the compat-wireless-3.6.6-1 drivers and patched them with the following patch in order to use them with aircrack-ng.

I have installed the latest version of Kismet in the git repository and I even tried with the svn but it keeps displaying the same error. I also have set the kismet.conf file with the nsource=wlan0 as it is the name of my wireless interface according to iwconfig :

lo        no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bg  ESSID:"XXXX"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX   
          Bit Rate=18 Mb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm   
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=28/70  Signal level=-82 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:282   Missed beacon:0

I haven't found any answer since similar errors are supposed to be fixed with the latest Kismet release but this isn't my case. Any help will be appreciated.

Thank you!

Solution 1

I believe ncsource=wlan0 is correct.

Some cards have trouble switching to monitor mode seamlessly at the command of Kismet.

I have to do:

sudo ifconfig wlan0 down
sudo iwconfig wlan0 mode monitor
sudo kismet

I also notice the channel lists include 802.11a channels; if you know your card doesn't do 802.11a, you might comment out those lines in kismet.conf.

Solution 2

This worked for me:

sudo apt-get install iw

(if you don't have it)

iw dev wlan0 interface add wlan0mon type monitor
iw dev wlan0 del

then adding this to the conf file

ncsource=wlan0mon

Comments

[chili555]

Is that your entire "source=" line? I'd suggest source=ath5k,wlan0,Atheros. I'm not actually sure the name part makes any difference.

[M. Cunille]

@chili555 Thank you, but after changing the kismet.conf file to 'ncsource=ath5k,wlan0,Atheros' and running kismet it displays the following error: Al packet sources are in error state...

[chili555]

It says source=ath5k,wlan0,Atheros and not nsource= , Right?

[M. Cunille]

@chili555 I first tried with ncsource=ath5k,wlan0,Atheros and kismet displayed the error: Al packet sources are in error state. Now I tried with source=ath5k,wlan0,Atheros and kismet displayed the error: Kismet started with no packet sources defined.

[chili555]

I believe ncsource=wlan0 is correct. Some cards have trouble switching to monitor mode seamlessly at the command of Kismet. I have to do: sudo ifconfig wlan0 down; sudo iwconfig wlan0 mode monitor; sudo kismet. I also notice the channel lists include 802.11a channels; if you know your card doesn't do 802.11a, you might comment out those lines in kismet.conf.

[M. Cunille]

@chili555 Great! It worked! I used ncsource=wlan0 in my kismet.conf file, then I used sudo ifconfig wlan0 down and sudo iwconfig wlan0 mode monitor followed by sudo kismet and it worked perfectly! Thank you! One last question, how do I restore my wireless card after putting it in monitor mode?

[chili555]

You need to do the reverse: sudo iwconfig wlan0 mode managed; sudo ifconfig wlan0 up.Then you should be able to click the Network Manager icon and connect.

[Wingman4l7]

If using something other than kismet, don't forget to add a corresponding ifconfig [device] up command.