KisMAC Questions & Answers

KisMAC Q&A


Please, before asking, be sure to read the all stuff.  Answering 5 times the same questions is time consuming.
There is a "Search" for the blog on the top left corner. Thanks!

ALL QUESTIONS WITHOUT KisMAC Version and OS Full Version will be ignored or Flamed.  Include Model and FCC number of the Network Adapter (the USB thingy) if applicable. And YES the FCC number is on it! and NO, it's not the MAC address.

Image courtesy of Belkin

Example:
Kismac + OS X = Ignored

FCC ID : MAC 01:23:12:20:ff:88 = Ignored
KisMAC 0.3 + OS X 10.6.4 = Answered
Kysmaxx + win 95 = Flamed

Question:
"I got a pbm to get a wpa key.
I got the data packets ok, I get the green light with the deauthentification, but when I ask to find the wpa I get this:
"the wpa key could not be recovered because of the following reason: the key was none of the tested passwords.."

Answer:
The file used needs to have the exact password in it. The words are tested "as is" and not in combination.
Example: the password is "I love Kismac"
If your dictionary contains the words "I" + "love" + "Kismac" it will NOT work, your dictionary must contain the exact "I love Kismac" as a word to successfully attempt to crack.
Be also sure to use a proper formatted file: a simple .txt will work perfectly.

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

Question:
2 questions :
- to crak wpa key what kind of USB device i need ? (name please)
- what does mean dictionnary file !??!

Answer:
Dictionary file OR Wordlist are files containing simple words or sentences to be tried against the key. They often contain 100,000's of words related to a subject, i.e. last names, first names, Yiddish words, bacteria, etc .. You can also find the 500 most used passwords
Or take a list and expand it by modification or concatenation*

Excel wordlist expander
link posted : http://aloah.free.fr/Mactips/home_En.html

*Concatenate: to add strings together. "qwerty" +"1234"= "qwerty1234"

 -----------------

Question:
I can't collect IV's

Answer:
 Look at the troubleshooting article, multiple answers posted

 -----------------

Question:
what kind of USB device i need?

Answer:
Already posted multiple times

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

Question:
I can't seems to be able to collect IV's  /  IV's Collection is very slow

Answer:
You need to look first at the number of packets collected:
 Packets
 Data Packets
 Management Packets
 Control Packets
 Unique IV

We are looking at the ratio between Packets and Data Packets. Data Packets is the good stuff.
If you have a lot of packets with a lot of Management packets,  it means that you are listening to a non-active network. A bit like if you listen to static on radio: Nothing good to listen to. 

To give you an example, I have at home multiple WiFi Devices. Some are Wireless Backup HDD.
So, if you come near buy, you'll see multiple network. The Issue is that the Wireless Backup is NOT connected to the internet, and only "working" when I am doing a backup. So you could listen for a long time, getting management packets, but zero IV's, and very little good stuff. 

The Other issue could be that everything is ok, but the connection is not very active. Somebody left the computer on and went to work. Almost no traffic. Packets collection is going to be slow.




What injection device should I use?
-The list of “approved” hardware is here: http://trac.kismac-ng.org/wiki/HardwareList
I have tried the Edimax EW-7318 USg, Hawking HWUG1 & HWUG1A (about $40)
The KisMAC Team highly recommends the Alfa AWUS036H (about $50)
I am not really impressed by the sensitivity of the Hawking “as is”, you may want to consider a high gain antenna, or the Alfa AWUS036H for better results.
I’ll try the Hawking with a directional antenna and post results, if any.

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

 Question:
 Can I use KisMAC with XP?

Answer:
 Dear,
 I am surprised:  how can you write if you can't read?  Are you two? one can read, one can write?
 If so, ask your twin for an answer.

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

Question:

J said...

hi there, congrats for the nice job here.... i woud like to ask you if on a MBP I get a usb device rt73 Hawking HWUG1 for ex, do I need to install subversion, xcode and compile kismac explained on this link? http://screammy.name/projects/kismacmacbook/ I really hope not.... :) Will you advice me about the USB devise "rt73 Hawking HWUG1 "and "rt73 Hawking HWUG1A" , whats the diference between them and your opinion about this USB DEVICE "D-link DWL-G122? This blog will be from now on my favorites... Thanks in advance and keep the good work J.     Answer(s)..

Hey J, thanks for the cheer up.

Do I need to Compile KisMAC?  ABZOLUTELY NOT 

the post on screammy.name is from 2006 (updated in 2007)  ... KisMAC has evolved  ... 

"The current distribution of KisMAC does not allow you to use the AirPort Extreme card in passive mode"     Yes it does...

Assuming that your are on OS X 10.5 or 10.6,  Just download the version 0.2.99 available by link here:

http://aloah.free.fr/mactips/Menu.html  Via the Download Menu

Then Watch the video "how to"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBGN5OGCPgI

Watch Again. (specially the warning) If you don't,  you WILL be sorry. Breath, take a break, and watch again.

Hawking To the best of my knowledge, the difference between the two are: one is 11g and the 1A is 11n. 

As for Hardware, what you want to be sure about is the chipset.

The chipset is the "engine" Never mind the body, you care about the engine. 

hint: double check the FCC number (and you'll realize that different brands have the same engine)

If you buy a non compatible....Kiss good bye to your $ D-link DWL-G122  has different revisions number : http://trac.kismac-ng.org/wiki/DWL-G122 So, I would apply the following formula: (CFU x D) -MS ^SOL

CFU = Chances of F* up

D= Distance

MS= Money saved

SOL= Shit out of luck factor.

In Short: Save 10 bucks to be in trouble and re-ship the all stuff and wait 2 weeks. Do not get your money back for the shipping, and get upset because "I did not know"...

Hawking, Edimax, Alpha or anything known to work without issues .... ;-) 

I suppose you will read the troubleshooting and Q&A completely. You will save a great amount of time by doing so.  How much time?  Well, can you do it is less than 4 seconds?

Queries from Goog Analyticskismac ch/re >> Green, Orange or Red. All others colors are products of your imagination. - This is your way of asking a question - direct from the search bar in Google. If you have arrived here, it's probably because your question was formulated in a strange way, but you are very close to an answer, just use the search on the top left of the blog. I'll provide very short answers below Injection Airport Extreme    >>   Airport extreme can NOT inject or Re-Inject kismac could not attach to the apple airport driver  >> 99% chance it's your fault. look into "Preferences" Kismac injection does not work   >>    Test injection (Command + T) Kismac injection not working   >>       Test injection (Command + T)  kismac weak scheduling attack taking long time  >> Look at troubleshooting kismac ew-7318usg tutorial rt73.plist  >> App Cleaner ?? mac uninstall kismac >> App Cleaner + Plist Question: ..I have an issue with KisMAC "hanging" for some minutes in a specific channel... it's not always the same, but 'till this moment it has only happened with ch 11, 12, 13 and 14... the other channels pass fast, but on these channels it "hangs" for some minutes and then continues the scan... Answer: Uncheck the Channels 12, 13 and 14.  Those channels are not used in most countries and it can create interferences: You are probably trying to listen to a microwave oven or an old cordless phone.