For me, NOT password-protecting my wi-fi keys is a security feature. This could help me track my laptop in the event it’s stolen, using Prey:
http://preyproject.com/

By the way, the technique works with no modifications on Xubuntu 10.04 (Ubuntu 10.04 with an XFCE desktop instead of Gnome).

Tony

Go to:
Accessories/Password and encryption

2 folders in there
1 login
1 default.

You need to change the default folder following dave’s instructions.

1 – Go to Applications > Passwords and encryption keys
2 – You should see a list of keyrings. If you already have a default keyring set up then your wireless password will be stored in it. Delete the wireless password by expanding the keyring so it shows all your stored passwords and right clicking on the wireless password and selecting delete. You might have to unlock the keyring first if it is already locked by right clicking on it and selecting unlock.
3 – Create new keyring by going to file > new… > password keyring. Give it a name (I named mine wireless). When prompted for a password don’t enter one and select ok to enter a blank password. You will see a warning against using a blank password, just click on “use unsafe storage”
4 – Right click on your new keyring and select “set as default”
5 – Now attempt to connect to your wireless. You will be asked for your password since you deleted it from your default keyring. The password should now be saved under your new unprotected keyring (the one I named wireless) instead of the original password protected “default” keyring.
6 – Go back to your keyrings and set your original password protected “default” keyring back to default by right clicking on it and selecting “set as default”. Now passwords will again be saved under your default keyring, but your wireless password will remain in your new unprotected keyring meaning you will automatically connect to your wireless network on login without having to enter a password.

Hopefully this was clear enough.

Thank you again for pointing out this simple–yet evading–solution.

If you have SSH access, then you can get a terminal interface up immediately from another Ubuntu machine by opening a terminal and simply typing this command:

ssh username@hostname

Replace “username” with the user name on the other machine, and the “hostname” with either a dynamic hostname address or the actual IP address.

I don’t use putty often; in fact I think I’ve only used to to just do SFTP file transfers on rare occasion… and I have used it to act as a proxy server, but all the settings were in the GUI; I didn’t need to type in a special command to do anything. Just sort of setup a profile and saved it for re-use later. Perhaps there is an “SSH” executable that you can use in the DOS/Windows terminal that will work the same way it does in Linux.

What are the applications that ask to setup default key ring password

Thanks,
Satyadeep

1) Go to Applications -> Passwords and Encryption keys
2) The should be entries there listing an array of keyring password.
3) Right click on them and select change password
4) Enter the old password if you have one then leave the new passwords as blank. (A warning message should appear)

That’s it! The dialog that keeps on stalking my login is good as dead.

To all of my fellow Netbook Remix installers who had the same issue as I, where it didn’t remember the WiFi password when you start up your computer, the solution (for me) is as following:

Right click the WiFi icon in the menu bar
Click “Edit connections”
Go to wireless tab
Edit your network
Go to wireless safety tab
Write in your password and save

When I did this, I had to type in the super admin password, created when installing Ubuntu, but after that, it works every time!

Thanks!

Your solution worked for me anyway!

Thanks!

Thank you!!!

Thats it, after all the bollocks on all the forums and this is all I wanted as did so many others.
You Sir are a genius

many thanks for the post.

+1 for john’s post:
“In 9.1 you can merely edit the connection setting to allow everyone access to the network. Then when Ubuntu starts you are not asked for your password”

i could see wanting to not use the password manager, but if the only problem is the network connection, then the connection setting would seem to be easier/safer solution. works great for acer aspire netbook with ubuntu 9.1.

Thanks,
–V

I have tried your cure but it does not seem to work. Are things different with Ubuntu 9.10 netbook remix?

What is happening is that after automatic logon I am asked for the Password or Encryption Keys’ for my wireless network. This is despite the fact that under ‘Keyrings’ I have the two folders ‘Default’ – containing the one word ‘Default’ – and ‘Default.keyring’ containing my network password/encryption key. I often have to renter this before my network is connected, making me suspect that the folder ‘default.keyring’ is not being read. Perhaps the ‘default’ folder should be blank?

This is driving me mad and I hope you can help!

[Portion removed by by David Steinlage]

so is it still encrypted?

David Steinlage: NO, as stated in the post, the keys will not be encrypted. They might LOOK encrpyted, but that’s actually the “real” key your computer transmits to your wireless router when it authenticates itself. For example, when you create a WEP key, you usually start off with a passphrase but it’s converted into a hexidecimal string, so it may not look like plain text in it’s raw format, but should still be treated as such. Good thing I edited your comment before posting it or I would have given your wireless rouuter’s password away on the Internet.

Anyone know of a possible work-around?

Recently, I installed Ubuntu 9.04 on a different computer and tried to use the same 7-character password. To my surprise, Ubuntu stopped me from using such a short password, and insisted I use a longer one!

I thought nothing of it, until I tried upgrading Ubuntu on this computer to version 9.04. After the upgrade (which proceeded without a hitch), I could no longer log into my account. I then realized that Ubuntu wasn’t accepting my previously generated 7-character password! I used some information found on-line to remove my old password, and replace it with a longer one. Now, I could log in to Ubuntu on this machine, but was prompted for the keyring password (which happened to match my “old”, shorter login password).

Using the information in this how-to, I was able to remove the login.keyring file. After rebooting, I was asked to supply the WPA pass phrase (just as your article stated), but after doing so, the keyring manager DID NOT APPEAR!!

I checked my hidden folder, and found that a new login.keyring file had been created. However, the next time I rebooted, my wireless network connected automatically, AND I WAS NOT PROMPTED FOR A KEYRING PASSWORD!!!

As far as I’m concerned, that’s the best of both worlds. My passwords are still encrypted, but (by default?) the keyring password seems to have been set to match my login password.

Again, many thanks for your help.

@Mark: You might search Ubuntu Brainstorm to see if anyone has suggested this yet, and if not, throw a well written idea in that you think would get a lot of votes. I wish it were easier than this, too… but it’s just the way things go when it comes to “wishlist” fixes.

This information should be shown at create keyring time. “Note: Creating a blank password keyring will blah blah”

Just to cross reference, this post explains the problem in great detail.

http://blogs.computerworld.com/ubunti_wi_fi_password_problems?page=1

The earliest versions of Ubuntu came with girlfriends included. Well, pictures of women some found to be too racy.

The developers quickly realized Ubuntu men and women had women and men in their lives who did NOT appreciate the photos, so Ubuntu chose to remove them. http://lwn.net/Articles/165751/

If you made that comment about Slackware, on the other hand…

Thank you for solution. It worked for me. Keep it up. Thanks once again. Ramachandran