SSID of hostapd is not visible

Question

I'm working on Ubuntu 18.04.

ifconfig

enp3s0: flags=4099<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        ether 94:c6:91:1f:49:92  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0
        device interrupt 116  base 0xa000  

lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING>  mtu 65536
        inet 127.0.0.1  netmask 255.0.0.0
        inet6 ::1  prefixlen 128  scopeid 0x10<host>
        loop  txqueuelen 1000  (Local Loopback)
        RX packets 77913  bytes 21803244 (21.8 MB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 77913  bytes 21803244 (21.8 MB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

wlp2s0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 192.168.1.41  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 192.168.1.255
        ether 0c:54:15:a6:a3:5b  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 78879  bytes 61763037 (61.7 MB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 1  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 44573  bytes 6779824 (6.7 MB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

wlx00e02d01076f: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 10.0.0.1  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 10.0.0.255
        inet6 fe80::2e0:2dff:fe01:76f  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        ether 00:e0:2d:01:07:6f  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 6  bytes 485321 (485.3 KB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 145 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

iwconfig

lo        no wireless extensions.

wlp2s0    IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"CoreFragment_5G"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:5.18 GHz  Access Point: 34:0A:98:7A:6C:E0   
          Bit Rate=433.3 Mb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:on
          Link Quality=57/70  Signal level=-53 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:2026   Missed beacon:0

enp3s0    no wireless extensions.

wlx00e02d01076f  IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:"Aleph_inCar"  Nickname:"<WIFI@REALTEK>"
          Mode:Master  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: 00:E0:2D:01:07:6F   
          Bit Rate:72.2 Mb/s   Sensitivity:0/0  
          Retry:off   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

$ cat /etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf

interface=wlx00e02d01076f
#interface=wlxe84e062ffbc2
ssid=Aleph_inCar
channel=1
macaddr_acl=0
auth_algs=1
ignore_broadcast_ssid=0
wpa=2
wpa_passphrase=1234567890
wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
wpa_pairwise=TKIP
rsn_pairwise=CCMP
driver=nl80211
#driver=mt7601u
#driver=cfg802
ieee80211n=1
ieee80211ac=1
hw_mode=g
device_name=RTL8812AU
manufacturer=Realtek

There is nothing wrong,But SSID of hostapd is not visible to any device.

Answer 1

iwconfig shows no evidences it is handling that wifi chipset as an ac capable one (either it is not supported, wrong configurations or the driver/hardware does not support the ac protocol). It is only showing 802.11bgn.

As such hostapd is most likely getting confused when trying to configure 802.11ac.

I advise taking out that ieee80211ac=1 and restarting hostapd

PS The Invalid misc:2026 iwconfig output is also a solid clue about an invalid configuration/settings being the culprit.

See related question: Wi-Fi problems using ASUS USB-N13 adapter (realtek)