.\" $OpenBSD: ath.4,v 1.45 2008/11/17 15:17:58 jmc Exp $ .\" $NetBSD: ath.4,v 1.5 2004/07/03 16:58:18 mycroft Exp $ .\" .\" Copyright (c) 2002, 2003 Sam Leffler, Errno Consulting .\" All rights reserved. .\"" .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions .\" are met: .\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer, .\" without modification. .\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce at minimum a disclaimer .\" similar to the "NO WARRANTY" disclaimer below ("Disclaimer") and any .\" redistribution must be conditioned upon including a substantially .\" similar Disclaimer requirement for further binary redistribution. .\" 3. Neither the names of the above-listed copyright holders nor the names .\" of any contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived .\" from this software without specific prior written permission. .\" .\" NO WARRANTY .\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS .\" ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT .\" LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NONINFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTIBILITY .\" AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL .\" THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, .\" OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF .\" SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS .\" INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER .\" IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) .\" ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF .\" THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. .\" .\" .\" Note: This man page was taken by Perry Metzger almost entirely .\" from the "ath" and "ath_hal" man pages in FreeBSD. I claim no .\" copyright because there was nearly no original work performed in .\" doing so. Maintainers should check the FreeBSD originals for .\" updates against the following two revisions and incorporate them .\" if needed: .\" .\" $FreeBSD: /repoman/r/ncvs/src/share/man/man4/ath.4,v 1.16 2004/02/18 08:30:08 maxim Exp $ .\" parts from $FreeBSD: /repoman/r/ncvs/src/share/man/man4/ath_hal.4,v 1.7 2004/01/07 20:49:51 blackend Exp $ .\" .Dd $Mdocdate: November 17 2008 $ .Dt ATH 4 .Os .Sh NAME .Nm ath .Nd Atheros IEEE 802.11a/b/g wireless network device with GPIO .Sh SYNOPSIS .Cd "ath* at pci? dev ? function ?" .Cd "ath* at cardbus? dev ? function ?" .Cd "gpio* at ath?" .Sh DESCRIPTION The .Nm driver provides support for wireless network devices based on the Atheros AR5210, AR5211, and AR5212 chips. .Pp All host/device interaction is via DMA. The .Nm driver encapsulates all IP and ARP traffic as 802.11 frames, though it can receive either 802.11 or 802.3 frames. Transmit speed and operating mode is selectable and depends on the specific chipset. .Pp Support for the various devices is as follows: .Bl -tag -width "ARxxxx" .It AR5210 These devices support 802.11a operation with transmit speeds of 6 Mbps, 9 Mbps, 12 Mbps, 18 Mbps, 24 Mbps, 36 Mbps, 48 Mbps, and 54 Mbps. .Pp .It AR5211 These devices support 802.11a and 802.11b operation with transmit speeds as above for 802.11a and 1Mbps, 2Mbps, 5.5 Mbps, and 11Mbps for 802.11b operation. .Pp .It AR5212 These devices support 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g operation with transmit speeds as above for 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g operation (802.11g speeds are the same as for 802.11a speeds). .El .Pp All chips also support an Atheros Turbo Mode (TM) that operates in the 802.11a frequency range with 2x the transmit speeds. (This mode is, however, only interoperable with other Atheros-based devices.) .Pp The actual transmit speed used is dependent on signal quality and the .Dq rate control algorithm employed by the driver. .Pp These are the modes the .Nm driver can operate in: .Bl -tag -width "IBSS-masterXX" .It BSS mode Also known as .Em infrastructure mode, this is used when associating with an access point, through which all traffic passes. This mode is the default. .It IBSS mode Also known as .Em IEEE ad-hoc mode or .Em peer-to-peer mode. This is the standardized method of operating without an access point. Stations associate with a service set. However, actual connections between stations are peer-to-peer. .It Host AP In this mode the adapter acts as an access point (base station) for other cards. .It monitor mode In this mode the driver is able to receive packets without associating with an access point. This disables the internal receive filter and enables the card to capture packets from networks which it wouldn't normally have access to, or to scan for access points. .El .Pp The .Nm driver can be configured to use Wireless Equivalent Privacy (WEP) or Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK). WPA is the de facto encryption standard for wireless networks. It is strongly recommended that WEP not be used as the sole mechanism to secure wireless communication, due to serious weaknesses in it. .Pp AR5211 and AR5212 support the AES, TKIP, and Michael cryptographic operations required for WPA in hardware but at this time the driver does not support them. .Pp The .Nm driver can be configured at runtime with .Xr ifconfig 8 or on boot with .Xr hostname.if 5 . .Sh HARDWARE Devices supported by the .Nm driver come in either CardBus or Mini PCI packages. Wireless cards in CardBus slots may be inserted and ejected on the fly. .Pp The following cards are among those supported by the .Nm driver: .Pp .Bl -column -compact "Samsung SWL-5200N" "AR5212" "CardBus" "a/b/g" -offset 6n .Em "Card Chip Bus Standard" 3Com 3CRPAG175 AR5212 CardBus a/b/g .\"Aztech WL830PC AR5212 CardBus b/g Cisco AIR-CB21AG AR5212 CardBus a/b/g D-Link DWL-A650 AR5210 CardBus a D-Link DWL-AB650 AR5211 CardBus a/b D-Link DWL-A520 AR5210 PCI a .\"D-Link DWL-AG520 AR5212 PCI a/b/g .\"D-Link DWL-AG650 AR5212 CardBus a/b/g .\"D-Link DWL-G520 AR5212 PCI b/g .\"D-Link DWL-G650B AR5212 CardBus b/g .\"Elecom LD-WL54AG AR5212 CardBus a/b/g Elecom LD-WL54 AR5211 CardBus a .\"Fujitsu E5454 AR5212 CardBus a/b/g .\"Fujitsu FMV-JW481 AR5212 CardBus a/b/g .\"Fujitsu E5454 AR5212 CardBus a/b/g .\"HP NC4000 AR5212 PCI a/b/g IBM 11ABG WL LAN AR5212 Mini PCI a/b/g .\"I/O Data WN-AB AR5212 CardBus a/b .\"I/O Data WN-AG AR5212 CardBus a/b/g .\"I/O Data WN-A54 AR5212 CardBus a .\"Linksys WMP55AG AR5212 PCI a/b/g Linksys WPC51AB AR5211 CardBus a/b .\"Linksys WPC55AG AR5212 CardBus a/b/g .\"NEC PA-WL/54AG AR5212 CardBus a/b/g .\"Netgear WAG311 AR5212 PCI a/b/g Netgear WAB501 AR5211 CardBus a/b .\"Netgear WAG511 AR5212 CardBus a/b/g .\"Netgear WG311 rev1 AR5212 PCI b/g .\"Netgear WG511T AR5212 CardBus b/g .\"Orinoco 8480 AR5212 CardBus a/b/g .\"Orinoco 8470WD AR5212 CardBus a/b/g Planet WL-3560 AR5211 CardBus a/b/g Proxim Skyline 4030 AR5210 CardBus a Proxim Skyline 4032 AR5210 PCI a .\"Samsung SWL-5200N AR5212 CardBus a/b/g Senao NL-5354MP AR5212 Mini PCI a/b/g SMC SMC2735W AR5210 CardBus a .\"Sony PCWA-C700 AR5212 CardBus a/b .\"Sony PCWA-C300S AR5212 CardBus b/g Sony PCWA-C500 AR5210 CardBus a Wistron CM9 AR5212 Mini PCI a/b/g .El .Pp An up to date list can be found at .Pa http://customerproducts.atheros.com/customerproducts/default.asp . .Sh EXAMPLES The following .Xr hostname.if 5 example configures ath0 to join whatever network is available on boot, using WEP key .Dq 0x1deadbeef1 , channel 11, obtaining an IP address using DHCP: .Bd -literal -offset indent dhcp NONE NONE NONE nwkey 0x1deadbeef1 chan 11 .Ed .Pp The following .Xr hostname.if 5 example creates a host-based access point on boot: .Bd -literal -offset indent inet 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0 NONE media autoselect \e mediaopt hostap nwid my_net chan 11 .Ed .Pp Configure ath0 to join network .Dq my_net using WPA-PSK with passphrase .Dq my_passphrase : .Bd -literal -offset indent # ifconfig ath0 nwid my_net wpa wpapsk \e $(wpa-psk my_net my_passphrase) .Ed .Pp Return ath0 to its default settings: .Bd -literal -offset indent # ifconfig ath0 -bssid -chan media autoselect \e nwid "" -nwkey -wpa -wpapsk .Ed .Pp Join an existing BSS network, .Dq my_net : .Bd -literal -offset indent # ifconfig ath0 192.168.1.1 netmask 0xffffff00 nwid my_net .Ed .Sh DIAGNOSTICS .Bl -diag .It "ath%d: unable to attach hardware; HAL status %u" The Hardware Access Layer was unable to configure the hardware as requested. The status code is explained in the HAL include file .Pa sys/dev/ic/ar5xxx.h . .It "ath%d: failed to allocate descriptors: %d" The driver was unable to allocate contiguous memory for the transmit and receive descriptors. This usually indicates system memory is scarce and/or fragmented. .It "ath%d: unable to setup a data xmit queue!" The request to the HAL to set up the transmit queue for normal data frames failed. This should not happen. .It "ath%d: unable to setup a beacon xmit queue!" The request to the HAL to set up the transmit queue for 802.11 beacon frames failed. This should not happen. .It "ath%d: hardware error; resetting" An unrecoverable error in the hardware occurred. Errors of this sort include unrecoverable DMA errors. The driver will reset the hardware and continue. .It "ath%d: rx FIFO overrun; resetting" The receive FIFO in the hardware overflowed before the data could be transferred to the host. This typically occurs because the hardware ran short of receive descriptors and had no place to transfer received data. The driver will reset the hardware and continue. .It "ath%d: unable to reset hardware; hal status %u" The Hardware Access Layer was unable to reset the hardware as requested. The status code is explained in the HAL include file .Pa /sys/dev/ic/ar5xxx.h . This should not happen. .It "ath%d: unable to initialize the key cache" The driver was unable to initialize the hardware key cache. This should not happen. .It "ath%d: unable to start recv logic" The driver was unable to restart frame reception. This should not happen. .It "ath%d: device timeout" A frame dispatched to the hardware for transmission did not complete in time. The driver will reset the hardware and continue. This should not happen. .It "ath%d: bogus xmit rate 0x%x" An invalid transmit rate was specified for an outgoing frame. The frame is discarded. This should not happen. .It "ath%d: ath_chan_set: unable to reset channel %u (%u Mhz)" The Hardware Access Layer was unable to reset the hardware when switching channels during scanning. This should not happen. .It "ath%d: unable to allocate channel table" The driver was unable to allocate memory for the table used to hold the set of available channels. .It "ath%d: unable to collect channel list from hal" A problem occurred while querying the HAL to find the set of available channels for the device. This should not happen. .It "ath%d: failed to enable memory mapping" The driver was unable to enable memory-mapped I/O to the PCI device registers. This should not happen. .It "ath%d: failed to enable bus mastering" The driver was unable to enable the device as a PCI bus master for doing DMA. This should not happen. .It "ath%d: cannot map register space" The driver was unable to map the device registers into the host address space. This should not happen. .It "ath%d: could not map interrupt" The driver was unable to allocate an IRQ for the device interrupt. This should not happen. .It "ath%d: could not establish interrupt" The driver was unable to install the device interrupt handler. This should not happen. .El .Sh SEE ALSO .Xr arp 4 , .Xr cardbus 4 , .Xr gpio 4 , .Xr ifmedia 4 , .Xt intro 4 , .Xr netintro 4 , .Xr pci 4 , .Xr hostname.if 5 , .Xr gpioctl 8 , .Xr hostapd 8 , .Xr ifconfig 8 , .Xr wpa-psk 8 .Sh HISTORY The .Nm device driver first appeared in .Fx 5.2 using a binary-only HAL module which was ported to .Nx 2.0 . The driver using a free HAL-replacement first appeared in .Ox 3.7 . .Sh AUTHORS .An -nosplit The .Nm driver was written by .An Sam Leffler , and was ported to .Ox by .An Reyk Floeter Aq reyk@openbsd.org who also wrote a free replacement of the binary-only HAL. .Sh CAVEATS Different regulatory domains may not be able to communicate with each other with 802.11a as different regulatory domains do not necessarily have overlapping channels. .Pp Host AP mode doesn't support power saving. Clients attempting to use power saving mode may experience significant packet loss (disabling power saving on the client will fix this). .Sh BUGS Performance in lossy environments is suboptimal. The algorithm used to select the rate for transmitted packets is very simplistic. There is no software retransmit; only hardware retransmit is used. Contributors are encouraged to replace the existing rate control algorithm with a better one. .Pp The driver does not fully enable power-save operation of the chip; consequently power use is suboptimal.