I'd like to start off by highlighting that I am not a yokel.

I have a fresh install of the Kali Veyron image running on a chromebook flip.

I have 3 ALFA cards, AWUS036H, AWUS036NH, AWUS015NH.

I run:

service network-manager stop
ifconfig wlan1 down
(I then re-run ifconfig to ensure the interface is down, it is)
macchanger -r wlan1

and I get:

[ERROR] Could not change MAC: interface up or insufficient permissions: Invalid argument

I am running as root AND the interface and network-manager are down.

Interestingly, I had a previous veyron image that I recompiled the kernel for. I lost the driver for the internal broadcom wifi chipset, but when I used any of the ALFA cards, macchanger worked flawlessly. Therefore I can only assume that there is a setting or service in the kali veyron image that prevents this from working.

I am a bit lost how I can download the stock image of Kali for this device, connect the most popular wifi card and something as simple as macchanger not work out of the box.

Can anyone help me troubleshoot this?