Error while receiving via netlink: Operation not supported

[caveguy]

hi, I run owl on ubuntu with cisco wusb600n,and then got an err, What is the problem? thanks.

sudo owl -i wlx00259ce04ceb
.oOXWMMMMWXOx:
.oOOOx:'''''''''''':OOOx:
oXOo' ........ ':OXx.
.oOOO''''''''''OOOo.
oXOo' 'oOO:
:oOOOOXXXXOOOOo:.
oXO:' ':OXo
.:xOXXXXXXOx:.
.xXMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMXx.
'XWWWWWWMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMWWWWWWX'
oWMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMWo
OMMMMMMWWMMMMMMMMMMMMMMWWWMMMMMO
OMMWx' 'xWMMMMWx' 'oXMMO
:MW: oMMx 'WM:
XM' .xOOo. :o .xOOo. WX
WX :MMMMMX :MMMMMX xW
XW 'WMMMMX .xx. 'WMMMWX XX
'Wx 'xWMx' OMMO 'xWMx' xM'
'XX: 'XX' :XX'
'xXOx:..................:xXWx'
'xXMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMWO'

        Open Wireless Link

        https://owlink.org

17:35:25 ERROR: Error while receiving via netlink: Operation not supported
17:35:25 ERROR: Could not put device in monitor mode: wlx00259ce04ceb
17:35:25 ERROR: could not initialize core

[caveguy]

$ sudo ifconfig wlx00259ce04ceb down
$ sudo iwconfig wlx00259ce04ceb mode monitor
$ sudo owl -i wlx00259ce04ceb -N

[schmittner]

Your adapter does not support active monitor mode. This setup is likely not going to work well for you.

[pseigo]

I get the same issue on openSUSE 15.2.

11:05:46 ERROR: Error while receiving via netlink: Operation not supported
11:05:46 ERROR: Could not put device in monitor mode: wlan0
11:05:46 ERROR: could not initialize core

I am able to set to monitor mode using iwconfig:

wlan0     IEEE 802.11  Mode:Monitor  Tx-Power=0 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:on

And start owl with -N:

11:09:46 INFO : WLAN device: wlan0 (addr 32:d0:c2:4e:1b:92)
11:09:46 INFO : Host device: awdl0

But I am not able to find my iPhone on iOS 13.4 nor is it able to find me. I am using an
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260.

@schmittner I wasn't able to find any information about "active" monitor mode online. How would one determine if their card supports the mode you have in mind?

[schmittner]

Checking support for active monitor mode: If you receive owl's error message, your card does not support active monitor mode. You can also check via iw. If your card supports it, you should see a flag called "active" under the card's capabilities.

owl/daemon/netutils.c

Lines 224 to 225 in 011f418

	NLA_PUT_FLAG(flags, NL80211_MNTR_FLAG_ACTIVE);
	nla_put_nested(m, NL80211_ATTR_MNTR_FLAGS, flags);

Technical explanation what active monitor mode is and why it is necessary: In regular monitor mode (the one that you set with iwconfig or with iw without specifying any flags), the Wi-Fi card is completely passive. Active monitor mode means that the card will send Wi-Fi acknowledgments (on the link layer) for frames addressed to its MAC address. Without this acknowledgment, the sending station will assume that the transmission was not successful and retransmit up to 7 times before eventually giving up. Therefore, no meaningful communication will be possible between the two stations.

Regarding the darn -N flag: This is only to be used if you are using a chip supported by Nexmon (Nexmon's monitor mode is active) or otherwise know what you are doing. This is also the reason why the flag is not mentioned in the README. -N will also disable setting the proper Wi-Fi channel which is probably the reason why your devices are unable to see each other.

[eggbean]

I have the same problem, with a ThinkPad T480s with an Intel wireless card (nothing unusual).

$ iw wlp61s0 info
Interface wlp61s0
        ifindex 3
        wdev 0x1
        addr a4:c3:f0:cb:bd:17
        ssid XXXXX
        type managed
        wiphy 0
        channel 44 (5220 MHz), width: 40 MHz, center1: 5230 MHz
        txpower 22.00 dBm
        multicast TXQ:
                qsz-byt qsz-pkt flows   drops   marks   overlmt hashcol tx-bytestx-packets
                0       0       0       0       0       0       0       0      0

So this Intel wireless card is not supported?

[kaihendry]

Damn! netlink: Operation not supported on a 03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (rev 1a)

[Tecon]

Damn! netlink: Operation not supported on a 03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (rev 1a)

Neither do Intel AC9560

software interface modes (can always be added):
	 * AP/VLAN
	 * monitor
valid interface combinations:
	 * #{ managed } <= 1, #{ AP, P2P-client, P2P-GO } <= 1, #{ P2P-device } <= 1,
	   total <= 3, #channels <= 2
HT Capability overrides:
	 * MCS: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
	 * maximum A-MSDU length
	 * supported channel width
	 * short GI for 40 MHz
	 * max A-MPDU length exponent
	 * min MPDU start spacing
Device supports TX status socket option.
Device supports HT-IBSS.
Device supports SAE with AUTHENTICATE command
Device supports low priority scan.
Device supports scan flush.
Device supports per-vif TX power setting
P2P GO supports CT window setting
P2P GO supports opportunistic powersave setting
Driver supports full state transitions for AP/GO clients
Driver supports a userspace MPM
Driver/device bandwidth changes during BSS lifetime (AP/GO mode)
Device adds DS IE to probe requests
Device can update TPC Report IE
Device supports static SMPS
Device supports dynamic SMPS
Device supports WMM-AC admission (TSPECs)
Device supports configuring vdev MAC-addr on create.
Device supports randomizing MAC-addr in scans.
Device supports randomizing MAC-addr in sched scans.
Device supports randomizing MAC-addr in net-detect scans.
Supported extended features:
	* [ VHT_IBSS ]: VHT-IBSS
	* [ RRM ]: RRM
	* [ MU_MIMO_AIR_SNIFFER ]: MU-MIMO sniffer
	* [ SCAN_START_TIME ]: scan start timestamp
	* [ BSS_PARENT_TSF ]: BSS last beacon/probe TSF
	* [ SET_SCAN_DWELL ]: scan dwell setting
	* [ FILS_STA ]: STA FILS (Fast Initial Link Setup)
	* [ CONTROL_PORT_OVER_NL80211 ]: control port over nl80211
	* [ TXQS ]: FQ-CoDel-enabled intermediate TXQs