2 .\" Copyright (c) 2002-2009 Sam Leffler, Errno Consulting
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29 .\" $FreeBSD: src/share/man/man4/ath.4,v 1.52 2010/03/21 17:53:54 sam Exp $
36 .Nd "Atheros IEEE 802.11 wireless network driver"
38 To compile this driver into the kernel,
39 place the following lines in your
40 kernel configuration file:
41 .Bd -ragged -offset indent
44 .Cd "options AH_SUPPORT_AR5416"
45 .Cd "device ath_rate_sample"
49 Alternatively, to load the driver as a
50 module at boot time, place the following line in
52 .Bd -literal -offset indent
58 driver provides support for wireless network adapters based on
59 the Atheros AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, and AR5416 programming APIs.
60 These APIs are used by a wide variety of chips; most all chips with
61 a PCI and/or CardBus interface are supported.
63 Supported features include 802.11 and 802.3 frames, power management, BSS,
64 IBSS, MBSS, TDMA, and host-based access point operation modes.
65 All host/device interaction is via DMA.
69 driver encapsulates all IP and ARP traffic as 802.11 frames, however
70 it can receive either 802.11 or 802.3 frames.
71 Transmit speed and operating mode is selectable
72 and depends on the specific chipset.
73 AR5210-based devices support 802.11a operation with transmit speeds
74 of 6 Mbps, 9 Mbps, 12 Mbps, 18 Mbps, 24 Mbps, 36 Mbps, 48 Mbps, and 54 Mbps.
75 AR5211-based devices support 802.11a and 802.11b operation with transmit
76 speeds as above for 802.11a operation and
77 1Mbps, 2Mbps, 5.5 Mbps and 11Mbps for 802.11b operation.
78 AR5212-based devices support 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g operation
79 with transmit speeds appropriate to each.
80 AR5416-class devices are capable of 802.11n operation
81 but are supported only in legacy modes (802.11a, 11b, 11g).
82 Most chips also support an Atheros Turbo Mode (TM) that operates in
83 the 5Ghz frequency range with 2x the transmit speeds.
84 Some chips also support Turbo mode in the 2.4Ghz range with 802.11g
85 though this support is not presently available due to regulatory requirements.
86 (Note that Turbo modes are, however,
87 only interoperable with other Atheros-based devices.)
88 AR5212-based devices also support half- (10MHz) and quarter-width (5MHz) channels.
89 The actual transmit speed used is dependent on signal quality and the
91 algorithm employed by the driver.
92 All chips support WEP encryption.
93 AR5212 and AR5416 parts have hardware support for the
94 AES-CCM, TKIP, and Michael cryptographic
95 operations required for WPA.
96 To enable encryption, use
112 virtual interfaces may be configured for simultaneous
113 use on cards that use a 5212 part.
114 When multiple interfaces are configured each may have a separate
115 mac address that is formed by setting the U/L bits in the mac
116 address assigned to the underlying device.
119 virtual interfaces may be configured together with
124 interfaces may be operated together with
126 interfaces to construct a wireless repeater device.
127 The driver also support
129 operation when compiled with
130 .Cd "options IEEE80211_SUPPORT_TDMA"
131 (which also enables the required 802.11 support).
132 For more information on configuring this device, see
135 Devices supported by the
137 driver come in either Cardbus or mini-PCI packages.
138 Wireless cards in Cardbus slots may be inserted and ejected on the fly.
142 driver supports all Atheros Cardbus and PCI cards,
143 except those that are based on the AR5005VL chipset.
145 A list of cards that are supported can be found at
146 .Pa http://customerproducts.atheros.com/customerproducts/default.asp .
148 Join a specific BSS network with WEP encryption:
149 .Bd -literal -offset indent
150 ifconfig wlan0 create wlandev ath0
151 ifconfig wlan0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net \e
152 wepmode on wepkey 0x8736639624
155 Join/create an 802.11b IBSS network with network name
157 .Bd -literal -offset indent
158 ifconfig wlan0 create wlandev ath0 wlanmode adhoc
159 ifconfig wlan0 inet 192.168.0.22 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net \e
163 Create an 802.11g host-based access point:
164 .Bd -literal -offset indent
165 ifconfig wlan0 create wlandev ath0 wlanmode hostap
166 ifconfig wlan0 inet 192.168.0.10 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_ap \e
170 Create an 802.11a mesh station:
171 .Bd -literal -offset indent
172 ifconfig wlan0 create wlandev ath0 wlanmode mesh
173 ifconfig wlan0 meshid my_mesh mode 11a inet 192.168.0.10/24
176 Create two virtual 802.11a host-based access points, one with
177 with WEP enabled and one with no security, and bridge them to
178 the fxp0 (wired) device:
179 .Bd -literal -offset indent
180 ifconfig wlan0 create wlandev ath0 wlanmode hostap \e
181 ssid paying-customers wepmode on wepkey 0x1234567890 \e
183 ifconfig wlan1 create wlandev ath0 wlanmode hostap bssid \e
185 ifconfig bridge0 create addm wlan0 addm wlan1 addm fxp0 up
188 Create a master node in a two slot TDMA BSS configured to use
189 2.5 millisecond slots.
190 .Bd -literal -offset indent
191 ifconfig wlan0 create wlandev ath0 wlanmode tdma \e
192 ssid tdma-test tmdaslot 0 tdmaslotlen 2500 \e
197 .It "ath%d: unable to attach hardware; HAL status %u"
198 The Atheros Hardware Access Layer was unable to configure the hardware
200 The status code is explained in the HAL include file
201 .Pa sys/contrib/dev/ath/ah.h .
202 .It "ath%d: failed to allocate descriptors: %d"
203 The driver was unable to allocate contiguous memory for the transmit
204 and receive descriptors.
205 This usually indicates system memory is scarce and/or fragmented.
206 .It "ath%d: unable to setup a data xmit queue!"
207 The request to the HAL to set up the transmit queue for normal
209 This should not happen.
210 .It "ath%d: unable to setup a beacon xmit queue!"
211 The request to the HAL to set up the transmit queue for 802.11 beacon frames
213 This should not happen.
214 .It "ath%d: 802.11 address: %s"
215 The MAC address programmed in the EEPROM is displayed.
216 .It "ath%d: hardware error; resetting"
217 An unrecoverable error in the hardware occurred.
218 Errors of this sort include unrecoverable DMA errors.
219 The driver will reset the hardware and continue.
220 .It "ath%d: rx FIFO overrun; resetting"
221 The receive FIFO in the hardware overflowed before the data could be
222 transferred to the host.
223 This typically occurs because the hardware ran short of receive
224 descriptors and had no place to transfer received data.
225 The driver will reset the hardware and continue.
226 .It "ath%d: unable to reset hardware; hal status %u"
227 The Atheros Hardware Access Layer was unable to reset the hardware
229 The status code is explained in the HAL include file
230 .Pa sys/contrib/dev/ath/ah.h .
231 This should not happen.
232 .It "ath%d: unable to start recv logic"
233 The driver was unable to restart frame reception.
234 This should not happen.
235 .It "ath%d: device timeout"
236 A frame dispatched to the hardware for transmission did not complete in time.
237 The driver will reset the hardware and continue.
238 This should not happen.
239 .It "ath%d: bogus xmit rate 0x%x"
240 An invalid transmit rate was specified for an outgoing frame.
241 The frame is discarded.
242 This should not happen.
243 .It "ath%d: ath_chan_set: unable to reset channel %u (%u MHz)"
244 The Atheros Hardware Access Layer was unable to reset the hardware
245 when switching channels during scanning.
246 This should not happen.
247 .It "ath%d: failed to enable memory mapping"
248 The driver was unable to enable memory-mapped I/O to the PCI device registers.
249 This should not happen.
250 .It "ath%d: failed to enable bus mastering"
251 The driver was unable to enable the device as a PCI bus master for doing DMA.
252 This should not happen.
253 .It "ath%d: cannot map register space"
254 The driver was unable to map the device registers into the host address space.
255 This should not happen.
256 .It "ath%d: could not map interrupt"
257 The driver was unable to allocate an IRQ for the device interrupt.
258 This should not happen.
259 .It "ath%d: could not establish interrupt"
260 The driver was unable to install the device interrupt handler.
261 This should not happen.
280 device driver first appeared in
282 and was imported into
285 Revision A1 of the D-LINK DWL-G520 and DWL-G650 are based on an
286 Intersil PrismGT chip and are not supported by this driver.
288 There is no software retransmit; only hardware retransmit is used.
290 The driver does not fully enable power-save operation of the chip
291 in station mode; consequently power use is suboptimal (e.g. on a laptop).
293 WPA is not supported for 5210 parts.