changing manually wireless connection to be controlled by knetworkmanager

knetworkmanager is a Network Manager for KDE4. It is hated or liked by users and usually not in between. I personally like it although it has its fair share of bugs. But I like Mandriva's net_applet more. It is stable and more reliable. It is prefered by many Mandriva users. However, if you are stuck with recent problems (bug?) of perl in Mandriva Cooker like me, you are forced to use command line of wpa_supplicant or iwconfig or using gui application like knetworkmanager. 

In Mandriva, you can change which network manager control the wireless connection by changing the option in net_applet or you can manually change in file /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-wlan0. If you want knetworkmanager in control of it, you just have to change this line to yes:

NM_CONTROLLED=yes

Connecting to wireless AP with WPA/2 security using wpa_supplicant

Recently, my cooker updated perl packages and it broke all of drak* family especially drakconf and net_applet. net_applet is the network manager for Mandriva in applet form. I can also use draknetcenter. Now the problem is I cant open net_applet and knetcenter due to this error:

/usr/bin/perl: symbol lookup error: /usr/lib/libDrakX/auto/c/stuff/stuff.so: undefined symbol: Perl_Gthr_key_ptr

So how do I connect to wireless AP? I dont know how to use iwconfig to connect to such AP or can I? After googling, I found a solution: wpa_supplicant. In Mandriva, I just have to run this command (as root):

wpa_supplicant -Dwext -iwlan0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf &

If you have setup the connection before with draknetcenter, you dont have to edit the file wpa_supplicant.conf. If not, you have to manually edit the file to suit your environment. it is heavily documented. 

Then you have to run dhclient to get IP address from the AP or other dhcp server:

 dhclient wlan0

wlan0 is my wireless interface. Please change it according to your environment. I bet the broken packages will be updated sooner so that I can use net_applet again.

Have fun!

No network huh?

Since 2 weeks ago, the new building was waiting for me to put all my stuff there but I just couldn't. Why? because the internet is not there yet. How can I work without it? My work needs an internet connection. So what should I do? Not moving!. and it is worth cause the UITM registration tomorrow needs internet connection to register the new students online. If I did move, I have to carry all the servers and routers and swtches to the old building. Actually I was waiting for TMNet personal to call me about the line at the new building yesterday but no one call.

Now I'm at office chatting and sms'ing my friend. One is my ex-student and the other one is my chatting friend. Network at the new building is still not complete yet. Lab 1 and 2 will be completed in a day or 2. I can't wait to keep my hands dirty configuring and troubleshhoting the new network. I noticed yesterday that the new switches were all 3com.