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wireless-tools and WEP passphrases



Dear all,

multiple times I have already run into a problem with WEP keys when
trying to connect a Linux machine to a WEP-enabled network. The
problem only occurs if I enter the passphrase in ASCII mode; if
I enter the hexadecimal digits straight from the AP's configuration
point, it'll work just fine.

Let's assume the WEP passphrase is 'debian-laptop'. If I execute

  iwconfig eth2 key s:debian-laptop

iwconfig will subsequently show the key as

  6465-6269-616E-2D6C-6170-746F-70
  d e  b i  a n  - l  a p  t o  p

However, if I enter the same key into the AP's configuration
interfave (I've tried it with many many APs), it gets converted to
the following hex string:

  292C-B0E7-EC10-92BB-C518-4487-96
  (some binary string, I cannot map it off hand)

If I pass this key to wireless-tools:

  iwconfig eth0 key 292C-B0E7-EC10-92BB-C518-4487-96

I then can associate with the AP.

You can use [0] to generate this key.

0. http://www.powerdog.com/wepkey.cgi?phrase=debian-laptop

It seems that OS X is also suffering from this problem. Could
someone explain to me what's going on?

Cheers,

-- 
Please do not send copies of list mail to me; I read the list!
 
 .''`.     martin f. krafft <madduck@debian.org>
: :'  :    proud Debian developer and author: http://debiansystem.info
`. `'`
  `-  Debian - when you have better things to do than fixing a system
 
"i hate vulgar realism in literature. the man who could call a spade
 a spade should be compelled to use one. it is the only thing he is
 fit for."
                                                        -- oscar wilde

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