Wireless Driver README
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This page is monitored by the OLPC team.
OVERVIEW
This page describes all the mechanisms available to configure the behaviour of the wireless subsystem. Through the times, some of these configuration features were removed from the driver, or implemented in another way. An old version of this page is kept here, as a reference (if you notice that a certain iwpriv command is not available any more, and it is listed in this old version, this means that the command was removed from the driver).
DRIVER LOADING
o. Copy the firmware image (e.g. usb8388.bin) to /lib/firmware/ o. Load driver by using the following command: insmod usb8388.ko [fw_name=usb8388.bin]
IWPRIV COMMAND
NAME This manual describes the usage of private commands used in Marvell WLAN Linux Driver. All the commands available in Wlanconfig will not be available in the iwpriv. SYNOPSIS iwpriv <ethX> <command> [sub-command] ... Region Commands: iwpriv ethX setregioncode <n> iwpriv ethX getregioncode LED Behaviour Commands: iwpriv ethX ledgpio <n> iwpriv ethX ledbhv <n> WOL (Wake-on-Lan) Filter Commands: [TODO: updating this information] iwpriv get_wol_rule, iwpriv set_wol_rule, iwpriv reset_wol_rule Management Frames Control Commands: iwpriv bcn_control <n> <m> iwpriv setprspretrylt <n> BT (Blinding Table) Commands: The blinding table (BT) contains a list of mac addresses that will be, by default, ignored by the firmware. It is also possible to invert this behavior so that we will ignore all traffic except for the portion coming from mac addresess in the list. It is primarily used for debugging and testing networks. It can be edited and inspected with the following commands: iwpriv ethX bt_reset iwpriv ethX bt_add <mac_address> iwpriv ethX bt_del <mac_address> iwpriv ethX bt_list <id> iwpriv ethX bt_get_invert <n> iwpriv ethX bt_set_invert <n> FWT (Forwarding Table) Commands: The forwarding table (FWT) is a feature used to manage mesh network routing in the firmware. The FWT is essentially a routing table that associates a destination mac address (da) with a next hop receiver address (ra). The FWT can be inspected and edited with the following iwpriv commands, which are described in greater detail below. Eventually, the table will be automatically maintained by a custom routing protocol. NOTE: FWT commands replace the previous DFT commands. What were the DFT commands?, you might ask. They were an earlier API to the firmware that implemented a simple MAC-layer forwarding mechanism. In the unlikely event that you were using these commands, you must migrate to the new FWT commands which can be used to achieve the same functionality. iwpriv ethX fwt_add [parameters] iwpriv ethX fwt_del [parameters] iwpriv ethX fwt_lookup [parameters] iwpriv ethX fwt_list [parameters] iwpriv ethX fwt_list_route [parameters] iwpriv ethX fwt_list_neigh [parameters] iwpriv ethX fwt_reset [parameters] iwpriv ethX fwt_cleanup iwpriv ethX fwt_time MESH Commands: The MESH commands are used to configure various features of the mesh routing protocol. The following commands are supported: iwpriv ethX mesh_get_ttl iwpriv ethX mesh_set_ttl ttl iwpriv ethX mesh_get_bcastr rate iwpriv ethX mesh_set_bcastr rate iwpriv ethX get_rreq_delay iwpriv ethX set_rreq_delay delay iwpriv ethX get_route_exp iwpriv ethX set_route_exp time iwpriv ethX get_link_costs iwpriv ethX set_link_costs "cost54 cost36 cost11 cost1" DESCRIPTION Those commands are used to send additional commands to the Marvell WLAN card via the Linux device driver. The ethX parameter specifies the network device that is to be used to perform this command on. it could be eth0, eth1 etc. setregioncode This command is used to set the region code in the station. where value is 'region code' for various regions like USA FCC, Canada IC, Spain, France, Europe ETSI, Japan ... Usage: iwpriv ethX setregioncode 0x10: set region code to USA (0x10). getregioncode This command is used to get the region code information set in the station. ledgpio This command is used to set/get LEDs. iwpriv ethX ledgpio <LEDs> will set the corresponding LED for the GPIO Line. iwpriv ethX ledgpio will give u which LEDs are Enabled. Usage: iwpriv eth1 ledgpio 1 0 2 1 3 4 will enable LED 1 -> GPIO 0 LED 2 -> GPIO 1 LED 3 -> GPIO 4 iwpriv eth1 ledgpio shows LED information in the format as mentioned above. Note: LED0 is invalid Note: Maximum Number of LEDs are 16. ledbhv This command can be used to change default LEDs behaviors. A given LED behavior can be on, off or blinking. The duty/cycle can be set when behavior is programmed as blinking. Usage: 1. To get default LED behavior iwpriv mshX ledbhv <firmware state> 2. To set or change default LED behavior iwpriv mshX ledbhv <firmware state> <lednum> <behavior> <arg> firmware state: The following are some of the relevant states. 00: disconnected 01: firmware is scanning 02: firmware is connected and awake 03: firmware is sleeping 04: connected deep sleep 06: firmware disconnected link lost 07: firmware disconnected disassociated 09: data transfer while firmware is associated and not scanning. (If firmware is already in this state, LED behavior does not change on this data transfer). 10: firmware idle, not scanning, not disconnected or disassociated. lednum: 1 or 2 for first and second LED. behavior: 0 for steady ON, 1 - steady off and 2- blinking. arg: It is used when behavior is 2 to set duty and cycle. It is defined as (duty << 4 | cycle). Here duty could be 0..4 and cycle 0..5 for 34, 74, 149, 298, 596, 1192 ms respectively. Examples: 1. To get default behavior for scan iwpriv mshX ledbhv 1 2. To get default behavior while data transfer iwpriv mshX ledbhv 9 3. To turn off LED 2 + iwpriv mshX ledbhv 2 2 1 0 iwpriv mshX ledbhv 10 2 1 0 4. To enable LED 2 and blink LED 1 while data transfer. iwpriv mshX ledbhv 9 2 0 0 iwpriv mshX ledbhv 9 1 2 4 5. To change duty cycle of LED 2 during data transfer iwpriv mshX ledbhv 9 2 2 36 6. To turn ON LED 2 when firmware is disassociated/disconnected. iwpriv mshX ledbhv 0 2 0 0 bcn_control Sets the beacon interval Usage: iwpriv ethX bcn_control 1|0 interval 1|0 = enable|disable beacons interval is the time between beacons in milliseconds setprspretrylt Sets the number of retries for probe responses Usage: iwpriv ethX setprspretrylt <n> n = number of retries (from 0 to 15) fwt_add This command is used to insert an entry into the FWT table. The list of parameters must follow the following structure: iwpriv ethX fwt_add da ra [metric dir rate ssn dsn hopcount ttl expiration sleepmode snr] The parameters between brackets are optional, but they must appear in the order specified. For example, if you want to specify the metric, you must also specify the dir, ssn, and dsn but you need not specify the hopcount, expiration, sleepmode, or snr. Any unspecified parameters will be assigned the defaults specified below. The different parameters are:- da -- DA MAC address in the form 00:11:22:33:44:55 ra -- RA MAC address in the form 00:11:22:33:44:55 metric -- route metric (cost: smaller-metric routes are preferred, default is 0) dir -- direction (1 for direct, 0 for reverse, default is 1) rate -- data rate used for transmission to the RA, as specified for the rateadapt command, ssn -- Source Sequence Number (time at the RA for reverse routes. Default is 0) dsn -- Destination Sequence Number (time at the DA for direct routes. Default is 0) hopcount -- hop count (currently unused, default is 0) ttl -- TTL (Only used in reverse entries) expiration -- entry expiration (in ticks, where a tick is 1024us, or ~ 1ms. Use 0 for an indefinite entry, default is 0) sleepmode -- RA's sleep mode (currently unused, default is 0) snr -- SNR in the link to RA (currently unused, default is 0) The command does not return anything. fwt_del This command is used to remove an entry to the FWT table. The list of parameters must follow the following structure: iwpriv ethX fwt_del da ra [dir] where the different parameters are:- da -- DA MAC address (in the form "00:11:22:33:44:55") ra -- RA MAC address (in the form "00:11:22:33:44:55") dir -- direction (1 for direct, 0 for reverse, default is 1) The command does not return anything. fwt_lookup This command is used to get the best route in the FWT table to a given host. The only parameter is the MAC address of the host that is being looked for. iwpriv ethX fwt_lookup da where:- da -- DA MAC address (in the form "00:11:22:33:44:55") The command returns an output string identical to the one returned by fwt_list described below. fwt_list This command is used to list a route from the FWT table. The only parameter is the index into the table. If you want to list all the routes in a table, start with index=0, and keep listing until you get a "(null)" string. Note that the indicies may change as the fwt is updated. It is expected that most users will not use fwt_list directly, but that a utility similar to the traditional route command will be used to invoke fwt_list over and over. iwpriv ethX fwt_list index The output is a string of the following form: da ra valid metric dir rate ssn dsn hopcount ttl expiration sleepmode snr precursor where the different fields are:- da -- DA MAC address (in the form "00:11:22:33:44:55") ra -- RA MAC address (in the form "00:11:22:33:44:55") valid -- whether the route is valid (0 if not valid) metric -- route metric (cost: smaller-metric routes are preferred) dir -- direction (1 for direct, 0 for reverse) rate -- data rate used for transmission to the RA, as specified for the rateadapt command ssn -- Source Sequence Number (time at the RA for reverse routes) dsn -- Destination Sequence Number (time at the DA for direct routes) hopcount -- hop count (currently unused) ttl -- TTL (only used in reverse entries) expiration -- entry expiration (in ticks, where a tick is 1024us, or ~ 1ms. Use 0 for an indefinite entry) sleepmode -- RA's sleep mode (currently unused) snr -- SNR in the link to RA (currently unused) precursor -- predecessor in direct routes fwt_list_route This command is equivalent to fwt_list. fwt_list_neigh This command is used to list a neighbor from the FWT table. The only parameter is the neighbor ID. If you want to list all the neighbors in a table, start with nid=0, and keep incrementing nid until you get a "(null)" string. Note that the nid from a fwt_list_route command can be used as an input to this command. Also note that this command is meant mostly for debugging. It is expected that users will use fwt_lookup. One important reason for this is that the neighbor id may change as the neighbor table is altered. iwpriv ethX fwt_list_neigh nid The output is a string of the following form: ra sleepmode snr references where the different fields are:- ra -- RA MAC address (in the form "00:11:22:33:44:55") sleepmode -- RA's sleep mode (currently unused) snr -- SNR in the link to RA (currently unused) references -- RA's reference counter fwt_reset This command is used to reset the FWT table, getting rid of all the entries. There are no input parameters. iwpriv ethX fwt_reset The command does not return anything. fwt_cleanup This command is used to perform user-based garbage recollection. The FWT table is checked, and all the entries that are expired or invalid are cleaned. Note that this is exported to the driver for debugging purposes, as garbage collection is also fired by the firmware when in space problems. There are no input parameters. iwpriv ethX fwt_cleanup The command does returns the number of invalid/expired routes deleted. fwt_time This command returns a card's internal time representation. It is this time that is used to represent the expiration times of FWT entries. The number is not consistent from card to card; it is simply a timer count. The fwt_time command is used to inspect the timer so that expiration times reported by fwt_list can be properly interpreted. iwpriv ethX fwt_time mesh_get_ttl The mesh ttl is the number of hops a mesh packet can traverse before it is dropped. This parameter is used to prevent infinite loops in the mesh network. The value returned by this function is the ttl assigned to all mesh packets. Currently there is no way to control the ttl on a per packet or per socket basis. iwpriv ethX mesh_get_ttl mesh_set_ttl ttl Set the ttl. The argument must be between 0 and 255. iwpriv ethX mesh_set_ttl <ttl> mesh_get_bcastr Shows the rate index used for mesh broadcast and multicast packets. The mapping to actual rates is the same as for rateadapt command. iwpriv ethX mesh_get_bcastr rate mesh_set_bcastr rate Sets the rate index for mesh broadcast and muticast packets. The mapping to actual rates is the same as for rateadapt command. iwpriv ethX mesh_set_bcastr rate get_rreq_delay Shows the delay to forward a RREQ frame. This delay allows the node to forward just the best route in case the same RREQ arrives to the node through different routes. The argument is shown in 1/100 seconds. iwpriv ethX get_rreq_delay set_rreq_delay delay Sets the RREQ forward delay. The delay is interpreted as 1/100 seconds. iwpriv ethX set_rreq_delay delay get_route_exp Shows the mesh route expiration time, in seconds. iwpriv ethX get_route_exp set_route_exp time Gets the mesh route, expiration time, in seconds. iwpriv ethX set_route_exp time get_link_costs Gets the mesh hop base cost for each used rate. The output gives us the base cost for hops at 54Mbps, 36Mbps, 11Mbps and 1Mbps, in that order. The base cost gets divided by a battery state factor to get the actual cost. A cost of 0 means that rate is deactivated. iwpriv ethX get_link_costs set_link_costs "cost54 cost36 cost11 cost1" Sets the mesh hop base cost for the used speeds. The input parameter will specify the cost for hops at 54Mbps, 36Mbps, 11Mbps and 1Mbps, in that order. A cost of 0 will disable a specific rate. iwpriv ethX set_link_costs "cost54 cost36 cost11 cost1"
ETHTOOL
Use the -i option to retrieve version information from the driver.
# ethtool -i eth0
driver: libertas
version: COMM-USB8388-318.p4
firmware-version: 5.110.7
bus-info:
Use the -e option to read the EEPROM contents of the card.
Usage:
ethtool -e ethX [raw on|off] [offset N] [length N]
-e retrieves and prints an EEPROM dump for the specified ethernet
device. When raw is enabled, then it dumps the raw EEPROM data
to stdout. The length and offset parameters allow dumping cer-
tain portions of the EEPROM. Default is to dump the entire EEP-
ROM.
# ethtool -e eth0 offset 0 length 16
Offset Values
------ ------
0x0000 38 33 30 58 00 00 34 f4 00 00 10 00 00 c4 17 00
DEBUGFS COMMANDS
those commands are used via debugfs interface
rdmac
rdbbp
rdrf
These commands are used to read the MAC, BBP and RF registers from the
card. These commands take one parameter that specifies the offset
location that is to be read. This parameter must be specified in
hexadecimal (its possible to preceed preceding the number with a "0x").
Path: /debugfs/libertas_wireless/ethX/registers/
Usage:
echo "0xa123" > rdmac ; cat rdmac
echo "0xa123" > rdbbp ; cat rdbbp
echo "0xa123" > rdrf ; cat rdrf
wrmac
wrbbp
wrrf
These commands are used to write the MAC, BBP and RF registers in the
card. These commands take two parameters that specify the offset
location and the value that is to be written. This parameters must
be specified in hexadecimal (its possible to preceed the number
with a "0x").
Usage:
echo "0xa123 0xaa" > wrmac
echo "0xa123 0xaa" > wrbbp
echo "0xa123 0xaa" > wrrf
sleepparams
This command is used to set the sleepclock configurations
Path: /debugfs/libertas_wireless/ethX/
Usage:
cat sleepparams: reads the current sleepclock configuration
echo "p1 p2 p3 p4 p5 p6" > sleepparams: writes the sleepclock configuration.
where:
p1 is Sleep clock error in ppm (0-65535)
p2 is Wakeup offset in usec (0-65535)
p3 is Clock stabilization time in usec (0-65535)
p4 is Control periodic calibration (0-2)
p5 is Control the use of external sleep clock (0-2)
p6 is reserved for debug (0-65535)
subscribed_events
The subscribed_events directory contains the interface for the
subscribed events API.
Path: /debugfs/libertas_wireless/ethX/subscribed_events/
Each event is represented by a filename. Each filename consists of the
following three fields:
Value Frequency Subscribed
To read the current values for a given event, do:
cat event
To set the current values, do:
echo "60 2 1" > event
Frequency field specifies the reporting frequency for this event.
If it is set to 0, then the event is reported only once, and then
automatically unsubscribed. If it is set to 1, then the event is
reported every time it occurs. If it is set to N, then the event is
reported every Nth time it occurs.
beacon_missed
Value field specifies the number of consecutive missing beacons which
triggers the LINK_LOSS event. This event is generated only once after
which the firmware resets its state. At initialization, the LINK_LOSS
event is subscribed by default. The default value of MissedBeacons is
60.
failure_count
Value field specifies the consecutive failure count threshold which
triggers the generation of the MAX_FAIL event. Once this event is
generated, the consecutive failure count is reset to 0.
At initialization, the MAX_FAIL event is NOT subscribed by
default.
high_rssi
This event is generated when the average received RSSI in beacons goes
above a threshold, specified by Value.
low_rssi
This event is generated when the average received RSSI in beacons goes
below a threshold, specified by Value.
high_snr
This event is generated when the average received SNR in beacons goes
above a threshold, specified by Value.
low_snr
This event is generated when the average received SNR in beacons goes
below a threshold, specified by Value.
extscan
This command is used to do a specific scan.
Path: /debugfs/libertas_wireless/ethX/
Usage: echo "SSID" > extscan
Example:
echo "LINKSYS-AP" > extscan
To see the results of use getscantable command.
getscantable
Display the current contents of the driver scan table (ie. get the
scan results).
Path: /debugfs/libertas_wireless/ethX/
Usage:
cat getscantable
setuserscan
Initiate a customized scan and retrieve the results
Path: /debugfs/libertas_wireless/ethX/
Usage:
echo "[ARGS]" > setuserscan
where [ARGS]:
chan=[chan#][band][mode] where band is [a,b,g] and mode is
blank for active or 'p' for passive
bssid=xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx specify a BSSID filter for the scan
ssid="[SSID]" specify a SSID filter for the scan
keep=[0 or 1] keep the previous scan results (1), discard (0)
dur=[scan time] time to scan for each channel in milliseconds
probes=[#] number of probe requests to send on each chan
type=[1,2,3] BSS type: 1 (Infra), 2(Adhoc), 3(Any)
Any combination of the above arguments can be supplied on the command line.
If the chan token is absent, a full channel scan will be completed by
the driver. If the dur or probes tokens are absent, the driver default
setting will be used. The bssid and ssid fields, if blank,
will produce an unfiltered scan. The type field will default to 3 (Any)
and the keep field will default to 0 (Discard).
Examples:
1) Perform an active scan on channels 1, 6, and 11 in the 'g' band:
echo "chan=1g,6g,11g" > setuserscan
2) Perform a passive scan on channel 11 for 20 ms:
echo "chan=11gp dur=20" > setuserscan
3) Perform an active scan on channels 1, 6, and 11; and a passive scan on
channel 36 in the 'a' band:
echo "chan=1g,6g,11g,36ap" > setuserscan
4) Perform an active scan on channel 6 and 36 for a specific SSID:
echo "chan=6g,36a ssid="TestAP"" > setuserscan
5) Scan all available channels (B/G, A bands) for a specific BSSID, keep
the current scan table intact, update existing or append new scan data:
echo "bssid=00:50:43:20:12:82 keep=1" > setuserscan
6) Scan channel 6, for all infrastructure networks, sending two probe
requests. Keep the previous scan table intact. Update any duplicate
BSSID/SSID matches with the new scan data:
echo "chan=6g type=1 probes=2 keep=1" > setuserscan
All entries in the scan table (not just the new scan data when keep=1)
will be displayed upon completion by use of the getscantable ioctl.