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Help JB phone refuses to make WEP connection

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RBEmerson

Android Enthusiast
Jun 12, 2011
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SE PA
For better or worse, I'm visiting someone who has a router protected only by WEP. I have the password needed but it won't take, even though two laptops successfully use the same password.

The first question is: under JB, is there some problem with accessing a WiFi access point with WEP protection?

Second: I want to find a cracking tool to recover the password from one of the two laptops. FWIW, I have the key used, but can't figure out how to recover the password using the key. I thought about using a net sniffer like WireShark but by the time the packets hit the interface they encrypted. So much for watching a sign-on exchange to see the password go by.
 
For better or worse, I'm visiting someone who has a router protected only by WEP. I have the password needed but it won't take, even though two laptops successfully use the same password.

The first question is: under JB, is there some problem with accessing a WiFi access point with WEP protection?

Second: I want to find a cracking tool to recover the password from one of the two laptops. FWIW, I have the key used, but can't figure out how to recover the password using the key. I thought about using a net sniffer like WireShark but by the time the packets hit the interface they encrypted. So much for watching a sign-on exchange to see the password go by.

I can only help with the first question, I know once you go to JB, WiFi has to be either open (no password) or WPA2. I found it by googling and I don't remember the exact reason now, just that some phones enforce the policy and some don't. Hope that helps a little. I also hope the information is accurate! I do know it worked at the bar where I hang out, using the same router, changed from WEP (no joy) to WPA2 (joy) and worked like a charm.
 
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Things have gotten worse. Not only does the phone refuse to connect with the WEP AP, it now refuses to even try to connect with WPS sites.

On the WEP AP, I get as far as "saved, secured with WEP", and no amount of selecting connect to network will get me to "Connecting" or "waiting for IP". Just for laughs, I tried to connect to one of the many WPA sites I can see. I tried using "foobarbletch" as a password, just fill up the space, and... the password isn't saved, let alone seeing a message saying the phone was at least trying to connect with Fritz!12345.

It seems as if the entire TCP/IP stack is toast. I can see AP's come and go, depending on their signal strength, and the app WiFi Analyzer shows the same basic results, so it's safe to assume the radio side of things is OK. Past that... [/shrug] beats me.

BTW, I was able to connect to the desired site last April, but I'm not sure if that was under Jelly Bean or Ice Cream Sandwich. Guess knowing that would help, huh.
 
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FDR was done ages ago. I did a cache wipe a few hours ago but I'm about to do another.

The initial concern, about the password, has been resolved - it's the one I expected it to be but...

If I go through the usual startup process after doing "Forget network", that is entering the password and hitting Connect, I get caught in the "Connecting..." "Obtaining IP Address..." loop.

Out of desperation, I decided to stop using DHCP (the default on the RAZR) and use a static address: 192.168.2.151 instead. With the gateway and DNS server2 set to 192.168.2.1 (DNS server1 insists on being 8.8.8.8 for some reason), I get an almost immediate "Connected". But... there's no real connection. That is, I get the white WiFi icon instead of the blue ("it's working") icon. Attempting to reach the interwebs gives a "not found" gripe message (the wording varies with the app but they all mean "I can't see the Internet") - no real surprise here.

The problem seems to be down to why do two machines (WinXP and Win7) use DHCP well but the RAZR can't? Obviously, being Winxx machines helps(!). Keep in mind that I was able to connect to the same AP/router 8 months back.

The router DHCP server starts assigning IP's at 192.168.2.100 - is there a way to bias the phone to want to use 192.168.2.nnn? Or, is there a way to refresh the DHCP client? I've done a reset (volume up & enter) as well as cycling into and out of airplane mode, and cycling WiFi off and on. Nothing improves things.
 
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OK, I'm learning more about what's going on.

Long story short, there's a problem with Android and DHCP. Specifically, the problem of the "Obtaining IP address loop" comes down to a botched record of IP lease times. That is, an IP associated with a router doesn't die when it should and attempting another connection goes back to this IP instead of using the correct (new) IP.

The good news is to head into /data/misc/dhcp/ and remove the remaining files. That flushes the DHCP lease information and life should be good - at least for a while (repeat as needed). However in my case, and other folks', too, /data is empty. At least I can't find any sub-dirs. So where is the lease info? Beats me! I did a search for dhcp_lease (lives under /data/misc/dhcp/ - if /data is populated) and couldn't find it, period.

I'm going to start a new topic rather than maintain this rather badly drifted topic.
 
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Was the Factory Data Reset AFTER you upgraded to Jelly Bean? If the answer is yes then try Safe Mode to see if an app you added is causing it.

... Thom
It's clear I've run into a known Android problem. It's not version specific or, to be more accurate, it covers a wide range of versions.

Follow the rest of this topic and the start of a new one which, I hope, addresses what's going on. And, more importantly, produces the needed fix[es].

Even an FDR won't fix the problem; it's a known Android bug (for the really desperate, there are two related documents from Princeton Univ. reciting, in excruciatingly pedantic detail, their reporting the bug to Google and Google's response).
 
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The suggestion was not that it was version specific. The suggestion was guaranteeing that some contamination had not been introduced by the upgrade process that was precipitating the problem

If you have not done a Factory Data Reset after the update to Jelly Bean there is a very high probability that you will do one in the future. The solution is to do it when it is most convenient to establish a guaranteed starting point.

If that is done and the cache is cleared you can EASILY try Safe Mode to rule out any apps that you added.

If it still fails while in Safe Mode then you know something external is not causing the problem to start and you can proceed with help from ... oh ... Verizon ... if needed.

... Thom
 
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Please lock this thread. It's a useful discussion of the start of a problem, but ultimately it pursues a blind alley and then drifts off into another topic. I've started a thread for that topic, and included a link to the thread. With little more to be said here, time to put on a padlock, I think.

Done, thank you! :)

You can also hit the report button for stuff like this.
 
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