NetBSD Problem Report #60132

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Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2026 01:19:45 +0000 (UTC)
From: opensauce04@gmail.com
Reply-To: opensauce04@gmail.com
To: gnats-bugs@NetBSD.org
Subject: Wii's onboard wifi adapter always fails to authenticate with access point via wpa_supplicant
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X-From4GNATS: "opensauce04@gmail.com via gnats" <gnats-admin@NetBSD.org>

>Number:         60132
>Category:       port-evbppc
>Synopsis:       Wii's onboard wifi adapter always fails to authenticate with access point via wpa_supplicant
>Confidential:   no
>Severity:       critical
>Priority:       high
>Responsible:    port-evbppc-maintainer
>State:          open
>Class:          sw-bug
>Submitter-Id:   net
>Arrival-Date:   Thu Mar 26 01:20:00 +0000 2026
>Originator:     Daniel
>Release:        11.0-RC2
>Organization:
>Environment:
NetBSD wii 11.0_RC2 NetBSD 11.0_RC2 (WII) #0: Wed Mar  4 21:02:00 UTC 2026  mkrepro@mkrepro.NetBSD.org:/usr/src/sys/arch/evbppc/compile/WII evbppc
>Description:
I tried installing the latest NetBSD 11.0 release candidate to try out the new on-board wifi support, flashing a fresh install to an SD card and copying the required driver as per 'https://man.netbsd.org/NetBSD-11.x-BRANCH/bwi.4'.

I then attempted to connect to my wifi using wpa_supplicant, being able to see it listed after running `scan`, but no matter what I tried, I would always get into a loop of error messages stating that my "Authentication with <address> timed out.". I kept attempting to re-enter my SSID and passkey from scratch in case I had mistyped something, but every time the result was the same.

I know that my Wii is capable of connecting to my router, as I have used it extensively to connect to the internet in the native Wii operating system to browse homebrew and such.

Here is a transcript of the messages I received from within wpa_ctl, timestamps excluded:

```
CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-RESULTS
Trying to associate with <address> (SSID="<SSID>" freq=2467 MHz)
CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-RESULTS
Authentication with <address> timed out
Added BSSID <address> into ignore list. Ignoring for 10 seconds
CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED bssid=<address> reason=3 locally_generated=1
BSSID <address> ignore list count incremented to 2, Ignoring for 10 seconds
CTRL-EVENT-DSCP-POLICY clear_all
wii wpa_supplicant[540]: ioctl[SIOCS00211, op=23, val=0, arg_len=0]: Invalid argument
CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-1 retry=1
CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-1 retry=1
Removed BSSID <address> from ignore list (clear)
<messages repeat
```

Additionally, I received these messages at boot. Unsure if they are of any importance or use:

bwi0: firmware rev 0x0127, patch level 0x00e
bwi0: base tssi measure failed

I am pretty inexperienced when it comes to configuring wifi using wpa_supplicant, and even less so at dealing with wifi driver issues, so I have no idea what I should do to investigate this further. I can provide any additional information if required on request.
>How-To-Repeat:
Attempt to connect to wifi on a Wii using NetBSD 11.0-RC2 and the Wii's built-in wifi adapter
>Fix:

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