Hexadecimal Wifi Passwords for Linux vs. ASCII Passwords for Macs?

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Level 1

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Hexadecimal Wifi Passwords for Linux vs. ASCII Passwords for Macs?

I recently installed Ubuntu Linux on the HP Pavillion laptop I use, and I found that the wireless card I have isn't supported by Ubuntu and that an additional driver is needed to enable wireless with Ubuntu. After a while, I got it all sorted out, but to my dismay I found out that the wireless password that was set up on a Mac for an Airport Express wouldn't work on Linux. When prompted to enter the password, it will not let you press the "Connect" button unless the password is five or ten letters/ digits. I know that Apple has a patent on how they use the ASCII (I barely understand this) and on Windows or Linux, when you try to connect to an AirPort Express that was set up on a Mac, instead of the actual word password, you have to use a hexadecimal code. The problem is that I don't know what the hexadecimal code is. I tried converting the password to hex code by using a text to hex converter, but that didn't work. If anyone knows how to convert the password to the password that works on the Linux, your help would be greatly appreciated.

Posted on Jan 19, 2012 7:27 PM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

158,166 points

Jan 19, 2012 9:43 PM in response to Apple1339

Please check out the following Apple Support article for additional details on how to connect to wireless protected networks.

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Answer 2

Mahtta

Level 1

20 points

Jan 20, 2012 6:38 AM in response to Apple1339

If the password you setup on the Airport Express is 8 characters then it is a WPA/WPA2 or WPA2 secured network.

If Ubuntu will not allow you to click connect unless you enter a 5 or 10 character password then Ubuntu is attempting to join the network with 40/64 bit WEP security credentials.

Change the settings when joining the network to select the relevent security type. With Ubuntu you will probably use the NetworkManager package. Visit Ubuntus help wiki for more information.

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Answer 3

Apple1339 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 20, 2012 7:07 AM in response to Mahtta

The wireless password that was set up with the airport express is actually only four characters that aren't random or hexadecimal characters. When I switch the wireless security option to WPA/WPA2 Personal, it will only let me enter an eight digit password (like you said). The problem is that the password I set up is only four characters.

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Answer 4

Mahtta

Level 1

20 points

Jan 20, 2012 7:15 AM in response to Apple1339

4 Character - what security method is being used? That should not be possible with the security methods offerred on the Express.

From Manual setup in the menubar click on Base Station > Equivalent Network Password to see password and security type, might be entering the base station password?

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