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airmon-ng "cannot access '/sys/class/ieee80211/'

Posted: 2018-01-21 22:19
by XtremeNik
Let me prelude this with the fact that I am pretty new to Debian/Linux I have used it in the past. I'm trying to use wireshark/airmon/nmap for a project and I have the tp link usb wireless adapter. Even though I'm fairly new to linux I am very computer savvy. Is there something that is very elementary that I am overlooking? I just don't understand why Linux cannot see my adapter. I've verified the chipset as a Atheros AR9271. NOWHERE do I find evidence that this damn thing is seeing the device.

Ok, at this point I think the purpose of this system was to drive me absolutely insane. As I have stayed up to 7 in the morning trying to figure out WTF is going on with this thing. And honestly a forum is the LASTTTTT place I wanted to ask a question at. Because I didn't want to have to register...then wait for responses...and so on. But here I am in all my desperation. I have tried everything from every forum I have been able to find. I've installed update after update firmware over and over. I just think it's broken

Problem:
I type "#airmon-ng check kill" I get, "ls: cannot access '/sys/class/ieee80211/' No such file or directory"
Then it says "killing these processes:"
PID NAME
581 wpa_supplicant

Pretty much I can't get rid of that ls: cannot access issue.

#uname -r gets me:
4.14.0-kali3-amd64

#lsusb doesn't show my usb tp link wireless device just shows bus 001, bus 001, bus 002 again

I have gone to the devices tab in the VM virtualBox and added several USB devices with nothing on them so that the machine can use one of them to connect if needed. I think I got like 13 on there. Still nothing. The tp link shows up on my windows machine but I cannot seem to find ANY evidence that Linux is seeing it anywhere. I've tried iwconfig that gives me:
-------------------------------------------------------
eth0 no wireless extensions.
lo no wireless extensions.

------------------------------------------------------

I have absolutely no clue of what to do now.
Any help AT ALL is appreciated.

Re: airmon-ng "cannot access '/sys/class/ieee80211/'

Posted: 2018-01-21 22:47
by VentGrey
Sadly this is no place for kali linux questions, you can ask here tho:

https://forums.kali.org/

:mrgreen:

Re: airmon-ng "cannot access '/sys/class/ieee80211/'

Posted: 2018-01-21 22:48
by XtremeNik
VentGrey wrote:Sadly this is no place for kali linux questions, you can ask here tho:

https://forums.kali.org/

:mrgreen:
But, I'm using Kali on Debian. :) :(

Re: airmon-ng "cannot access '/sys/class/ieee80211/'

Posted: 2018-01-21 23:21
by GarryRicketson
Pretty much I can't get rid of that ls: cannot access issue.

#uname -r gets me:
4.14.0-kali3-amd64
Looks like you are running "kali",... Debian is not Kali, they are 2 very different
distros.
But, I'm using Kali on Debian. :) :(
Can you elaborate, is this some "dual boot", or Debian is the host system, and Kali is on a VM ?
It may be that you should not be using Kali at all, :
https://docs.kali.org/introduction/shou ... kali-linux
But if you really have some legit reason to be using it, then you should read the
documentation:
Is there something that is very elementary that I am overlooking?
YES, see the above link for details.
Network services disabled by default: Kali Linux contains systemd hooks that disable network services by default. These hooks allow us to install various services on Kali Linux, while ensuring that our distribution remains secure by default, no matter what packages are installed. Additional services such as Bluetooth are also blacklisted by default.
The Kali site goes into details on what needs to be done to have network services, including internet connections. It is NOT the same process as it is with Debian,... I don't know anything much about Kali, so can not help beyond trying to point you toward the documentation that has the solutions.
=============== additional =============
I don't know why you would be needing to hack or monitor wifi activity, but it is pretty obvious you are not qualified, nor authorized to be doing these things,
so also before trying anything more :
In addition, misuse of security and penetration testing tools within a network, particularly without specific authorization, may cause irreparable damage and result in significant consequences, personal and/or legal. “Not understanding what you were doing” is not going to work as an excuse.

Re: airmon-ng "cannot access '/sys/class/ieee80211/'

Posted: 2018-01-22 07:09
by debiman
yes, kali != debian.
but now we're safely in offtopic.
XtremeNik wrote:Problem:
I type "#airmon-ng check kill" I get, "ls: cannot access '/sys/class/ieee80211/' No such file or directory"
https://duckduckgo.com/html?q=cannot%20 ... ee80211%2F
haven't looked at the results, but they are a-plenty.
hope it helps.

Re: airmon-ng "cannot access '/sys/class/ieee80211/'

Posted: 2018-01-22 09:20
by Thorny
XtremeNik wrote:...Even though I'm fairly new to linux I am very computer savvy.
Not sure what you mean by that. Often people who make that statement mean they are "Windows power users", which usually translates to, they know which keys to push in Windows. Windows and GNU/Linux are very different.
XtremeNik wrote: Is there something that is very elementary that I am overlooking?
Maybe you are, as Garry suggested.
You state that you are using Kali, if I remember correctly, Kali does not enable a wireless interface by default since a pen. tester wouldn't want one on until they were ready to use it. Kali users are expected to understand how to use Debian GNU/Linux.
XtremeNik wrote: As I have stayed up to 7 in the morning trying to figure out WTF is going on with this thing.
Always a bad idea to try to follow logical processes when burned out from lack of rest. Often answers to problems become apparent after getting some needed sleep.
XtremeNik wrote:Any help AT ALL is appreciated.
Debiman has been good enough to give you links that look promising and I don't understand why you didn't find them when you were searching.

You probably don't like a lot of what Garry wrote but you should try to consider it objectively.

You are actually pretty fortunate, there is no reason for anyone here to help you with Kali but people have tried. As others have stated, Kali forum is the place for questions about Kali but you might have to wait, I think they might Moderate before a question is posted.

Re: airmon-ng "cannot access '/sys/class/ieee80211/'

Posted: 2018-01-22 17:24
by GarryRicketson
I think they might Moderate before a question is posted.
No need to ask the question, it has been asked on the kali forums and answered, if the OP had just done a search they would have seen the topic/thread, and yes it is listed in the duck duck-go results that Debiman posted.