Pineapple MK7 (2.1.3) + kismet (2022-08-R1) + gpsd (3.23) (Kismet GPS position not updating)

[veganpops]

I am trying to wardrive using kismet with a u-blox USB gps dongle on the pineapple. Kismet runs fine. I get a GPS position, but then the position does not update. I can run gpsmon and see that the gps is working fine and updating. For some reason, kismet just loses the connection after obtaining the initial position fix. The GPS position just does not change. Any ideas?

 

[WPA3]

Could be a power issue, how are you powering this?

 

[veganpops]

That was actually my first thought. I powered the GPS and dongle with a powered hub to be sure I was okay. I also monitored gpsd output in real-time just to be certain that it was active and updating. It was. I really think this must be a kismet bug or some configuration issue.  

[dark_pyrro]

In what way have you configured Kismet to use the GPS?

[veganpops]

I uncommented the gpsd line in the kismet.conf file. Kismet does see the GPS. It gets the position and displays it on the web GUI. It gives no indication of having lost the connection. The GPS position just does not update, although gpsd is active and updating (gpsmon shows the position actively updating). Kismet is active and recording devices. The GPS position in Kismet does not change after an initial value was successfully obtained from gpsd. 

[dark_pyrro]

OK, so Kismet is configured something like this then

gps=gpsd:host=localhost,port=2947

[veganpops]

Yes. I uncomment that line and ensured that the alternate lines were commented out. I tried it with and without the reconnect option. It does connect, initially. It obtains the position from gpsd, but then does not continue to update the position. 

[dark_pyrro]

It might be the case that the Pineapple doesn't have the CPU power enough to do all the tasks needed. dragorn, the main dev of the WiFi Pineapple firmware and also the man behind Kismet, has mentioned a couple of times on Discord that the Pineapple might struggle running "full" Kismet on the device. The recommendation that I've noticed is to use the Pineapple only as a capture device and offload the heavy work to a computer that the Pineapple is connected to, but that will require tweaks to the Pineapple (kill pineapd, change UCI configs for APs, etc). Not sure how that applies to wardriving mode, but it might be the reason things doesn't work as desired.

[veganpops]

I was afraid you might say something like that. Ughhhhh. I was hoping for a simple quick fix. I need to do a big wardrive campaign to try to identify potential sources of interference with a large physics research array. Gotta git er done. 

[veganpops]

CPU usage is maxed out. I think you have a good hypothesis. I could definitely use help with concrete steps to reduce CPU usage while still being able to have a functioning wardrive system. Currently, I am using a Windows laptop (sorry) to access the pineapple. To add to the fun, I am in the middle of a house move and all of my Linux based devices are packed up and inaccessible. I could possibly use the dongle with a Pi3b or Pi4 or laptop running Linux. Ughhh 

[veganpops]

I seem to be living on the hairy edge. Perhaps there are a few configuration steps I could use to reduce CPU usage. I seems to be working here at home, of course. 

[veganpops]

[SOLVED]  dark_pyrro nailed it above. The problem is that the CPU was maxed out. The pineapple can't quite handle the load. Lowering the CPU usage fixed the problem. I will need to play with ways to do that and still get everything I want, but I think I have a workable solution. Thanks.