WLAN on OpenWRT router

Question

I've installed OpenWRT Snapshot R43972 on a router that is not officially supported (a Swisscom Centro Grande resp. Pirelli / ADB according to the descriptions here and here. However, the PCB layout is slightly different than in the photos there.

So far it seems to work, except for the wireless. I have tried most settings in luci, and severall manual changes to /etc/config/wireless, but I could neither set it up as an AP nor receive any signals. Hence, I suspect that the problem is somewhere deeper, and I don't see a way to localize the problem further.

It starts nicely with

$> dmesg | grep b43
Sun Jan 18 23:13:32 2015 kern.info kernel: [   16.196000] b43-phy0: Broadcom 4322 WLAN found (core revision 16)
Sun Jan 18 23:13:32 2015 kern.info kernel: [   16.236000] b43-phy0: Found PHY: Analog 8, Type 4 (N), Revision 4
Sun Jan 18 23:13:32 2015 kern.info kernel: [   16.240000] b43-phy0: Found Radio: Manuf 0x17F, ID 0x2056, Revision 3, Version 0

But then:

$> logread | grep radio
Sun Jan 18 23:13:48 2015 daemon.notice netifd: radio0 (692): Configuration file: /var/run/hostapd-phy0.conf
Sun Jan 18 23:13:48 2015 daemon.notice netifd: radio0 (692): nl80211 driver initialization failed.
Sun Jan 18 23:13:48 2015 daemon.notice netifd: radio0 (692): hostapd_free_hapd_data: Interface wlan0-1 wasn't started
Sun Jan 18 23:13:48 2015 daemon.notice netifd: radio0 (692): hostapd_free_hapd_data: Interface wlan0 wasn't started
Sun Jan 18 23:13:48 2015 daemon.notice netifd: radio0 (692): cat: can't open '/var/run/wifi-phy0.pid': No such file or directory
Sun Jan 18 23:13:49 2015 daemon.notice netifd: radio0 (692): Command failed: Invalid argument
Sun Jan 18 23:13:49 2015 daemon.notice netifd: radio0 (692): Device setup failed: HOSTAPD_START_FAILED

I would appreciate any hint on how to proceede!

Disclaimer: I haven't gotten a reply to this question on the OpenWRT forums after serveral days, so I'm crossposting here.

Answer 1

I was having the same problem on my device (Tenda W300D) with r44093. I found that the Mac Address had been pre-configured wrong so I changed:

/sys/class/ieee80211/phy0/macaddress

from

00:00:00:00:00:00

To the Mac on the bottom of my router:

c8:3a:52:75:51:08 

then

/var/run/hostapd-phy0.conf

to

bssid=c8:3a:52:75:51:08

Finaly

/etc/config/wireless

add

option macaddr C6:3A:35:27:51:08

Now the wifi should have the correct Mac set just reset your network:

/etc/init.d/network restart
wifi up