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authorsam <sam@FreeBSD.org>2003-06-23 20:34:28 +0000
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ath driver manual page
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+.\"-
+.\" 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.
+.\"
+.\" $FreeBSD$
+.\"/
+.Dd June 23, 2003
+.Dt ATH 4
+.Os
+.Sh NAME
+.Nm ath
+.Nd "Atheros IEEE 802.11 driver"
+.Sh SYNOPSIS
+.Cd "device ath"
+.Sh DESCRIPTION
+The
+.Nm
+driver provides support for wireless network adapters based on
+the Atheros AR5210, AR5211, and AR5212 chips.
+Chip-specific support is provided by the Atheros Hardware Access Layer
+(HAL), that is packaged separately.
+.Pp
+Supported features include 802.11 and 802.3 frames, power management, BSS,
+IBSS, and host-based access point operation modes.
+All host/device interaction is via DMA.
+.Pp
+The
+.Nm
+driver encapsulates all IP and ARP traffic as 802.11 frames, however
+it can receive either 802.11 or 802.3 frames.
+Transmit speed and operating mode is selectable
+depending on your hardware.
+AR5210-based devices support 802.11a operation with trasmit speeds
+of 6 Mbps, 9 Mbps, 12 Mbps, 18 Mbps, 24 Mbps, 36 Mbps, 48 Mbps, and 54 Mbps.
+AR5211-based devices support 802.11a and 802.11b operation with transmit
+speeds as above for 802.11a operation and
+1Mbps, 2Mbps, 5.5 Mbps and 11Mbps for 802.11b operation.
+AR5212-based devices support 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g operation
+with transmit speeds appropriate to each.
+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.)
+The actual transmit speed used is dependent on signal quality and the
+``rate control'' algorithm employed by the driver.
+All chips support WEP encryption.
+AR5211 and AR5212 support the AES, TKIP, and Michael cryptographic
+operations required for WPA but at this time the driver does support them.
+To enable encryption, use
+.Xr ifconfig 8
+as shown below.
+.Pp
+By default, the
+.Nm
+driver configures the card for BSS operation (aka infrastructure
+mode).
+This mode requires the use of an access point (base station).
+.Pp
+The
+.Nm
+driver also supports the standard IBSS point-to-point mode
+where stations can communicate amongst themselves without the
+aid of an access point.
+.Pp
+The driver may also be configured to operate in hostap mode.
+In this mode a host may function as an access point (base station).
+Access points are different than operating in IBSS mode.
+They operate in BSS mode.
+They allow for easier roaming and bridge all ethernet traffic such
+that machines connected via an access point appear to be on the local
+ethernet segment.
+.Pp
+For more information on configuring this device, see
+.Xr ifconfig 8 .
+.Pp
+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 "D-Link DWL-AG650" "AR5212" "Cardbus"
+.Em "Card Chip Bus"
+D-Link DWL-AB650 AR5211 Cardbus
+D-Link DWL-AG520 AR5212 Cardbus
+D-Link DWL-AG650 AR5212 PCI
+Linksys WMP55AG AR5212 Cardbus
+Linksys WPC51AB AR5211 Cardbus
+Linksys WPC55AG AR5212 PCI
+Netgear WAB501 AR5211 Cardbus
+Netgear WAG511 AR5212 Cardbus
+.El
+.Sh EXAMPLES
+Join an existing BSS network (ie: connect to an access point):
+.Pp
+.Dl "ifconfig ath0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00"
+.Pp
+Join a specific BSS network with network name
+.Dq Li my_net :
+.Pp
+.Dl "ifconfig ath0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net"
+.Pp
+Join a specific BSS network with WEP encryption:
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+ifconfig ath0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net \e
+ wepmode on wepkey 0x8736639624
+.Ed
+.Pp
+Join/create an 802.11b IBSS network with network name
+.Dq Li my_net :
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+ifconfig ath0 inet 192.168.0.22 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net \e
+ mode 11b mediaopt adhoc
+.Ed
+.Pp
+Create an 802.11g host-based access point:
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+ifconfig ath0 inet 192.168.0.10 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_ap \e
+ mode 11g mediaopt hostap
+.Ed
+.Pp
+Create an 802.11a host-based access point with WEP enabled:
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+ifconfig ath0 inet 192.168.0.10 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_ap \e
+ wepmode on wepkey 0x1234567890 mode 11a mediaopt hostap
+.Ed
+.Pp
+Create a host-based wireless bridge to fxp0:
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+Add BRIDGE to the kernel config.
+ifconfig ath0 inet up ssid my_ap media DS/11Mbps mediaopt hostap
+sysctl net.link.ether.bridge=1
+sysctl net.link.ether.bridge_cfg="ath0 fxp0"
+sysctl net.inet.ip.forwarding=1
+.Ed
+.Pp
+This will give you the same functionality as an access point.
+.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
+.Bl -diag
+.It "ath%d: unable to attach hardware; HAL status %u"
+The Atheros Hardware Access Layer was unable to configure the hardware
+as requested.
+The status code is explained in the HAL include file
+.Pa sys/contrib/dev/ath/ah.h .
+.It "ath%d: failed to allocate descriptors: %d"
+The driver was unable to allocate contiguous memory for the transmit
+ad 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 setup 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 setup the transmit queue for 802.11 beacon frames
+frames failed.
+This should not happen.
+.It "ath%d: 802.11 address: %s"
+The MAC address programmed in the EEPROM is displayed.
+.It "ath%d: hardware error; resetting"
+A nunrecoverable 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 Atheros Hardware Access Layer was unable to reset the hardware
+as requested.
+The status code is explained in the HAL include file
+.Pa sys/contrib/dev/ath/ah.h .
+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 hapen.
+.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 Atheros 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: %s: %dM -> %dM (%d ok, %d err, %d retr)"
+The driver's rate control algorithm changed the current rate for transmitting
+frames.
+This message is temporarily enabled for normal use to help in diagnosing
+and improving the rate control algorithm.
+The message indicates the new and old transmit rates and the statistics
+it used to decide on this change.
+.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 an 4 ,
+.Xr arp 4 ,
+.Xr ath_hal 4,
+.Xr card 4 ,
+.Xr netintro 4 ,
+.Xr pcic 4 ,
+.Xr wi 4 ,
+.Xr wlan 4 ,
+.Xr ifconfig 8 ,
+.Xr wicontrol 8
+.Re
+.Sh HISTORY
+The
+.Nm
+device driver first appeared in
+.Fx 5.2 .
+.Sh CAVEATS
+Different regulatory domains have different default channels for adhoc
+mode.
+See
+.Xr ifconfig 8
+for information on how to change the channel.
+See
+.Xr wicontrol 8
+for information on different regulatory domains.
+.Pp
+802.11g support is little tested and may have interoperabity problems.
+The software is known to function with an Atheros 11g access point but
+interoperability may be problematic until vendors update firmware in
+existing 11g products.
+If you encounter problems using an 11g access point you should be able
+to workaround incompatibilities by locking the driver to 11b mode.
+Alternatively, most 11g compatibility issues are in the 802.11 layer
+and you may be able to workaround issues by modifying the
+.Xr wlan 4
+module.
+.Pp
+Atheros Turbo mode is untested.
+.Sh BUGS
+.Pp
+Roaming mode is broken.
+If you lose your access point by going out of
+range the driver does not automaticaly re-associate.
+.Pp
+Adhoc mode is untested and possibly/probably broken.
+.Pp
+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 (hint: all the information needed is availble to the driver).
+.Pp
+General performance is suboptimal.
+The Atheros hardware is known to be capable of transfer rates of 23-34 Mb/s
+(or more) in 11a and 11g modes using their NDIS (aka Windows) driver.
+Results with this driver are mixed and seem to vary significantly.
+.Pp
+It has been observed that getting a DHCP address sometimes requires
+multiple tries.
+This seems to happen only with AR5211 and AR5212 parts and mostly
+in a noisy environment (i.e. one where many access points are found).
+This problem is specific to the driver and not the hardware.
+.Pp
+The driver does not fully enable power-save operation of the chip;
+consequently power use is suboptimal.
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