Firstly I'm using an SL-C3100 with the standard Sharp rom and an Ambicom WL1100C-CF wireless CompactFlash card. This uses the prism_cs driver.
Whatever I tried I could not run kismet_qt from the desktop icon without getting the 'Could not contact server' message and this is the only method I found that would work for me. You use it at your own risk.
I first tried starting kismet_qt from a console and could see that it displayed messages about eth0. My device is wlan0 so that wasn't a good sign.
Just a short while before Raybert mentioned the Card Schemes in his post on a previous thread I had found and looked at them. They are, on my C3100 with the standard Sharp ROM, in /etc/kismet_qt/card_schemes. One problem, for me, became immediately obvious - all the schemes bar one used eth0 as the network interface.
Step 1.
I changed all occurences of eth0 to wlan0 in the card scheme scripts.
Step 2.
In /etc/kismet_qt/kismet_qt.conf I changed the top line which starts 'scheme=' so that it read 'scheme=Sharp-prism2'.
I then started kismet_server from a console, as root, and, when the server messages stopped scrolling, I went to the desktop, leaving the console open, and clicked the kismet_qt icon. It actually worked and displayed my home network.
Clicking on the kismet_qt icon as the first step, however, still wouldn't work.
Step 3.
I renamed the /home/root/usr/bin/kismet_qt binary to /home/root/usr/bin/kismet_qt.bin
Step 4.
I added a line to my /etc/sudoers file (if you don't have sudo installed you will need to install it) under the 'User alias specification':
User_alias KISMETQT = zaurus (Change 'zaurus' to the user you want to run it as)
then I added a line under the 'User privilege specification':
KISMETQT ALL=(root) NOPASSWD: /home/root/usr/bin/kismet_qt.bin
Then I saved the file and exited the editor.
Step 5.
I then created a script called kismet_qt in the same /home/root/usr/bin directory and added the following:
_______________________________________________________________________
#!/bin/sh
sudo kismet_qt.bin
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Save the file and set it to be executable for owner, group and world.
That's it. Clicking on the kismet_qt icon on the desktop should now set the whole kaboodle running.
DISCLAIMER: My memory has never been very good and now that I'm 69 it hasn't improved any so I may have left something out that I should have put in. I don't think that is the case but if it doesn't work for you that could be the reason.