Can’t Install First Package

Scribner

Scribner

I just finished installing FreeBSD 14.0-RELEASE for the second time, because I initially thought my problem was due to manually entering my Wi-Fi network when the installer wasn’t finding any networks. The second time I installed FreeBSD, the installer found the network. I believe I ran into the same problem both times.

Basically I’m stuck on instruction #2 of my instructions for installing KDE Plasma, which one can see here: <https://www.jeers.com/blog/instructions-installing-kde-plasma-freebsd/>.

Please look at the attached photo of my screen. I took photos every step of the way when installing FreeBSD as well, so please feel free to ask any questions about my configurations.
 

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On first boot after install, my "safety step" is to ensure I have network.
Sure, these details show up on boot during the stream of text flying up the screen but it can disappear quickly.

I issue command ifconfig to ensure I have a reasonable inet (IPv4) and/or inet6 (IPv6) address.

As richardtoohey2 points out, your system is not resolving an address to talk to FreeBSD servers. Handbook - Network may help.
 
The second time I installed FreeBSD, the installer found the network. I set up IPv4 with DHCP. I also set up IPv6 with SLAAC, and left the Search field empty in the Resolver Configuration. Does anyone know how to fix this issue? Again, I have photos for every step of the way during installation.
 
If you have a wireless interface, set this up after you installed FreeBSD. It'll be much easier. Unless you are using the netboot installer you don't need to configure the network during the installation. You can do all that once FreeBSD has been installed and booted.
 
Thank you, SirDice. I used -memstick.img to install. Do you think I can still get this installation to work? If so, would someone be able to provide basic instructions, as I’m a lowly noob?
 
docs.freebsd.org

Chapter 7. Network

This chapter delves into the topic of network configuration and performance, showcasing the robust networking capabilities of the FreeBSD operating system.
docs.freebsd.org docs.freebsd.org
 
SirDice, thanks. That’s a long article, though, and I was wondering if there were just a couple steps to follow to get Wi-Fi to work. I also don’t know information regarding the network, such as this:

- The netmask
- The IP address of the default gateway

If someone could please just provide the essential steps to set up Wi-Fi (with IPv6) and save the network, that would be so nice.
 
Scribner said:
SirDice, thanks. That’s a long article, though, and I was wondering if there were just a couple steps to follow to get Wi-Fi to work. I also don’t know information regarding the network, such as this:

- The netmask
- The IP address of the default gateway

If someone could please just provide the essential steps to set up Wi-Fi (with IPv6) and save the network, that would be so nice.
Click to expand...
Theres a dedicated chapter for wireless (7.4.):
docs.freebsd.org

Chapter 7. Network

This chapter delves into the topic of network configuration and performance, showcasing the robust networking capabilities of the FreeBSD operating system.
docs.freebsd.org docs.freebsd.org
It won't get easier as this.
 
Scribner said:
SirDice, thanks. That’s a long article, though, and I was wondering if there were just a couple steps to follow to get Wi-Fi to work. I also don’t know information regarding the network, such as this:

- The netmask
- The IP address of the default gateway

If someone could please just provide the essential steps to set up Wi-Fi (with IPv6) and save the network, that would be so nice.
Click to expand...

For your /ect/rc.conf

Code: 
hostname="<hostname of your box>"
defaultrouter="192.168.178.1"

ifconfig_em0="DHCP"

OR

ifconfig_em0="inet <fixed IP address of your box> netmask 255.255.255.0"

Netmask is always the same, IP address of your router might differ. Depending on your network card the 'em0' might differ.

Just look at the WiFi connection information on another box that has connection.
 
Would examining my /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf file help? Here is what this file currently looks like (the sid and psk are correct and redacted). If there is any way to just make an edit or two to this file to get the internet to work, that would be ideal (assuming it is an advisable way of running FreeBSD).

See attachment.

Edit: I believe the file begins with network={.
 

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In my experience most WiFi trouble is often on the router. Check if a new connection is allowed (mostly based on the MAC address), if there is no blocking after a certain hour (standard versus unlimited access), with a static IP if that IP isn't already taken.
 
I tried meine's version of /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf (though I did keep the top portion above network={, but it still doesn't work. Is there anyone who knows how to fix this?

See attachment for the complete version of the above file, which is how it looked after installation.
 

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what happens when you remove the other portions? AFAIK you shan't have two 'network' blocks.

reboot. too many changes might cause confusion.

Also check if your WiFi is started. As root:

service netif start

To be safe, check if there is a hardware button to (de)activate WiFi.
 
I got rid of the second network, meine, but it still didn't work. I was supposed to set up IPv4 and IPv6, right (I do have IPv6 set up with my network)? Does anyone have any other ideas?

I tried service netif start and service netif restart to no avail.

Do you think this issue is related to leaving the "Search" field blank when installing during the Configuration Resolver screen (see screenshot from the Handbook below)?
 

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meine said:
defaultrouter="192.168.178.1"
Click to expand...
If you use DHCP, your dhcp server should provide you with the default router as well as dns server.
Scribner said:
I tried meine's version of /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf (though I did keep the top portion above network={, but it still doesn't work. Is there anyone who knows how to fix this?
Click to expand...
I think you have to add WPA to your ifconfig_wlan0 in /etc/rc.conf as in ifconfig_wlan0="WPA DHCP. I also have this create_args_wlan0="country US regdomain FCC". Not sure if this (or equivalent in your country) is required.
 
Hi, bakul. WPA was already added to ifconfig_wlan0 in /etc/rc.conf. US/FCC was not in the file, though. I added it, rebooted, and the problem persists, so I deleted it.
 
"defaultrouter=" would only be used in wireless networking context IF you are running a FreeBSD Wireless Access Point/HostAPd mode.

Not wanted for Wireless Client use. Only used for a Wireless Server.
 
Between my previous post 34 minutes ago and now, I did a clean install of FreeBSD. Same issue resolving domain names. I take it I must be doing something wrong during installation. Does anyone have any more ideas? I have photos of my configurations during installation every step of the way. I should add that I've gotten FreeBSD to work on both 12.0-RELEASE and 13.0-RELEASE.
 
Rather than reinstalling, try to figure out the problem. The following assumes you have freebsd installed and it is working; only networking remains to be debugged!
1. Does wlan0 show up when you do "ifconfig -l"?
2. If it does show up, what does "ifconfig wlan0" show? Does it show a valid ssid? Is it UP?
3. Does it have an ip address?
4. If it shows a valid ssid, and is UP, as super user can you run "tcpdump -ni wlan0" and does it show some traffic?
5. If it show some traffic, what does "route get default" show? It should show your wlan0 as interface and some gateway.
6. If you see a gateway address, can you ping it as "ping -n <gateway ip addr>"? -n to avoid dns lookup.
7. If ping to gateway works, can you ping a non-local address such as "ping -n 8.8.8.8"?
8. If the last step works, but you can ping google.com (for example), you have dns problems. If previous steps fail, you have some other problems.

The point is to try to narrow where the root cause may be and in the process understand how networking works. Trying random things will only serve to confuse you!
 
bakul said:
Rather than reinstalling, try to figure out the problem. The following assumes you have freebsd installed and it is working; only networking remains to be debugged!
1. Does wlan0 show up when you do "ifconfig -l"?
2. If it does show up, what does "ifconfig wlan0" show? Does it show a valid ssid? Is it UP?
3. Does it have an ip address?
4. If it shows a valid ssid, and is UP, as super user can you run "tcpdump -ni wlan0" and does it show some traffic?
5. If it show some traffic, what does "route get default" show? It should show your wlan0 as interface and some gateway.
6. If you see a gateway address, can you ping it as "ping -n <gateway ip addr>"? -n to avoid dns lookup.
7. If ping to gateway works, can you ping a non-local address such as "ping -n 8.8.8.8"?
8. If the last step works, but you can ping google.com (for example), you have dns problems. If previous steps fail, you have some other problems.

The point is to try to narrow where the root cause may be and in the process understand how networking works. Trying random things will only serve to confuse you!
Click to expand...
1. When I ran % ifconfig -l as a regular user, it returned "em0 lo0 wlan0"
2. When I ran % ifconfig wlan0 as a regular user, it returned a bunch of text. The first line is "wlan0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500." Please let me know if you are looking for something else in specific.
3. The above command return a number of strings that look like IP addresses. Please let me know if you are looking for one in specific, or if I was supposed to issue a different command to find the IP address.
4. I ran tcpdump -ni wlan0 as superuser, and it kept returning lines of activity, though I'm not sure what any of it means.
5. As superuser, I ran route get default. It shows wlan0 as "interface" and an IP address for "gateway".
6. I ran % ping -n <gateway IP address> as a regular user, and it does ping with an average time 1.253 ms.
7. I ran % ping -n 8.8.8.8, and it does ping with an average time of 32.874 ms.
8. I ran % ping -n google.com and % ping google.com, and they both returned "ping: Unknown host".

I hope this helps.
 
Scribner said:
Do you think this issue is related to leaving the "Search" field blank when installing during the Configuration Resolver screen (see screenshot from the Handbook below)?
Click to expand...
Hi Scribner
I think the number of trips to this forum can be reduced by you sharing more details. What bakul asks is a good start. I'd go further and ask you to also share the output of dmesg and also your /etc/rc.conf file. At this point I have no idea if your wifi hardware is recognized so the output from dmesg will help. The /etc/rc.conf will tell us if it was enabled.

Edit: your reply while I was writing this helps. Don't be shy to share the output of 'ifconfig wlan0'. You can redact the MAC if you like. Example:

Code: 
wlan0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
        options=0
        ether <redacted>
        inet <redacted> netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast <redacted>
        groups: wlan
        ssid "<redacted>" channel 5 (2432 MHz 11g) bssid <redacted>
        regdomain FCC country US authmode WPA2/802.11i privacy ON
        deftxkey UNDEF AES-CCM 2:128-bit txpower 30 bmiss 10 scanvalid 60
        protmode CTS wme roaming MANUAL
        parent interface: iwm0
        media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet OFDM/24Mbps mode 11g
        status: associated
        nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>

Also, try this:

# ifconfig wlan0 scan

Does you AP appear in the output from scan?

Your goal is to get the interface to show "associated". DNS won't work until you do.
 
Scribner said:
8. I ran % ping -n google.com and % ping google.com, and they both returned "ping: Unknown host".
Click to expand...
So this confirms DNS is not working for you and ruled out a bunch of problems by successful 1..7. So next:
9. What does /etc/resolv.conf show? It should have one or more "nameserver <ip-addr>" lines. One suggestion is rename this file to something else and then do as superuser "service netif restart wlan0". Does this succeed?
10. If so, was /etc/resolv.conf recreated? It should be, provided you are using DHCP.
11. If so, did the problem disappear?
12. If not, capture the output of "tcpdump -ni wlan0 host <your machine ip addr>" and post the first few lines here (use xx yy etc to obfuscate ethernet and ip address if you wish).
 
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