Why? The "filter" configuration item is the *only* place where the LDAP "uid" search string is set. Editing anything else won't help. the uid vs dn may not be the issue (or at least not the only issue).
Read the documentation and configure it as required. i did and its vague. also its contradicted by what is on the freeradius site, which googling around turns up.
This isn't hard. Configure the "filter" item with the LDAP search string you need. If it doesn't work, read the debug output. It will show either an error, or that the user information wasn't found. It's just an LDAP search string... so if the user wasn't found, fix the string. where do i find the different variables that are referenced (Stripped-User-Name, User-Name, control:Ldap-UserDn, etc)? where is the documentation around what %{%{Stripped-User-Name}:-%{User-Name}} does vs %{%{control:Ldap-UserDn}:-%{control:Ldap-UserDn}} (which does not seem to work anyway)
The FreeRADIUS debug mode prints out the LDAP searches it's doing, so you can re-run the searches manually. Use them in "ldapsearch". need the pointer to the above info
The problem as I see it is you're saying "I did a bunch of stuff". But you're not saying *exactly* what you did, or what happened. These are computers... they are blatantly literal. Vague statements like "I tried things" aren't good enough. yes, and a bunch of stuff is all that can be tried/done when no real, comprehensive howtos exist on how to do this. http://www.clearfoundation.com/docs/howtos/setting_up_radius_to_use_ldap is the best i have found, and it does not work, is outdated or does not do everything i am looking for.