Permanently change MAC address on Libra 2

[ajkessel]

I've never been able to access WiFi in Marriott hotels from my Libra 2. There is something broken with the portal -- I believe either broken SSL or something with DNS -- that makes it impossible to get through the authentication process. But I've found a workaround -- authenticate with another device, then change the Libra's MAC address to match the other device. I have the following script runnable from Nicklemenu:

#!/bin/sh
ip link set dev wlan0 down
ip link set dev wlan0 address (MAC here)
ip link set dev wlan0 up

which works fine, but the MAC address seems to reset whenever the WiFi goes to sleep and comes back.

I tried adding a similar line to /etc/udhcpc.d/default.script but it's still not "sticking".

Does anyone know how to make this change permanent, or at least have it take effect whenever WiFi comes up?

[Aleron Ives]

Maybe you could add a Wi-Fi toggle to NickelMenu that also runs your script?

[Quoth]

Yes, the local library WiFi doesn't work with any ereader (Kindle and Kobo tried). Probably every library in Ireland is using the same stupid web page where you login in with your browser using your library user ID. It ought to be an anonymous local password for the WiFi point. The browser based Wifi authentications are horrible.

[ajkessel]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

Maybe you could add a Wi-Fi toggle to NickelMenu that also runs your script?

That's what I've done, but over time the MAC address reverts and I need to keep re-running the script.

On a standard Linux box, you could permanently set the interface MAC address, for example, in /etc/network/interfaces, but I don't see how to do that on Kobo. I was hoping there was some hook that was run automatically by the device whenever the network interface is brought online or a configuration file like interfaces where the MAC address could be hard-coded.

[PeterT]

Is it possible to change the device that you've used to do the validation to have the Kobo's MAC address; do the validation with that device and just leave the Kobo's MAC address as is?

Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk

[ajkessel]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Is it possible to change the device that you've used to do the validation to have the Kobo's MAC address; do the validation with that device and just leave the Kobo's MAC address as is?

That was my first thought, but Apple devices (iPhone/iPad) don't allow you to manually set a MAC address without jailbreaking. You can use "private MAC address" which will generate a unique MAC address for each access point, but the device choses the MAC address randomly--you can't specify.

My other device is a Lenovo Carbon X1. You can manually set the MAC address on that, but the NIC forces the first two characters to a certain setting (I think it's 00), I assume to deter improper spoofing, so I can't set it to match the Kobo's default which starts with 58 for me.

[DNSB]

For what it may be worth, a compliant randomized MAC address will have the first bit set to 0 (group/local) and the second bit set to 1 (locally administered) in the first octet. Looking at this in hex, the permitted values for the 2nd character in first octet of the MAC address will be 2 (0010), 6 (0110), A (1010) and E (1110) using most significant to least significant for the bits.

So a randomized MAC address will start with x2:, x6:, xA: or xE;.

Microsoft for some reason insists the first character can't be a 0 but iOS and Android both allow that.