NAME
wpi —
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG IEEE
802.11a/b/g wireless network driver
SYNOPSIS
wpi* at pci? dev ? function ?
DESCRIPTION
The
wpi driver provides support for Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG
Mini PCI Express network adapters.
These are the modes the
wpi driver can operate in:
-
-
- BSS mode
- Also known as infrastructure mode, this
is used when associating with an access point, through which all traffic
passes. This mode is the default.
-
-
- 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 to which it
wouldn't normally have access, or to scan for access points.
wpi supports software WEP. Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is
the de facto encryption standard for wireless networks. It can be typically
configured in one of three modes: no encryption; 40-bit encryption; or 104-bit
encryption. Unfortunately, due to serious weaknesses in the WEP protocol it is
strongly recommended that it not be used as the sole mechanism to secure
wireless communication. WEP is not enabled by default.
CONFIGURATION
The
wpi driver can be configured at runtime with
ifconfig(8) using the
following parameters:
-
-
- bssid
bssid
- Set the desired BSSID.
-
-
- -bssid
- Unset the desired BSSID. The interface will automatically
select a BSSID in this mode, which is the default.
-
-
- chan
n
- Set the channel (radio frequency) to be used by the driver
based on the given channel ID n.
-
-
- -chan
- Unset the desired channel to be used by the driver. The
driver will automatically select a channel in this mode, which is the
default.
-
-
- media
media
- The wpi driver supports the following
media types:
- autoselect
- Enable autoselection of the media type and
options.
-
-
- mediaopt
opts
- The wpi driver supports the following
media options:
- monitor
- Select monitor mode.
-
-
- -mediaopt
opts
- Disable the specified media options on the driver and
return it to the default mode of operation (BSS).
-
-
- mode
mode
- The wpi driver supports the following
modes:
- 11a
- Force 802.11a operation.
- 11b
- Force 802.11b operation.
- 11g
- Force 802.11g operation.
-
-
- nwid
id
- Set the network ID. The id can either
be any text string up to 32 characters in length, or a series of
hexadecimal digits up to 64 digits. An empty id
string allows the interface to connect to any available access points. By
default the wpi driver uses an empty string. Note that
network ID is synonymous with Extended Service Set ID (ESSID).
-
-
- nwkey
key
- Enable WEP encryption using the specified
key. The key can either be a
string, a series of hexadecimal digits (preceded by ‘0x’), or
a set of keys of the form “n:k1,k2,k3,k4”, where
‘n’ specifies which of the keys will be used for transmitted
packets, and the four keys, “k1” through “k4”, are
configured as WEP keys. If a set of keys is specified, a comma
(‘,’) within the key must be escaped with a backslash. Note
that if multiple keys are used, their order must be the same within the
network. wpi is capable of using both 40-bit (5
characters or 10 hexadecimal digits) or 104-bit (13 characters or 26
hexadecimal digits) keys.
-
-
- -nwkey
- Disable WEP encryption. This is the default mode of
operation.
FILES
The driver needs at least version 2.14.4 of the following firmware file, which
is loaded when an interface is brought up:
- /libdata/firmware/if_wpi/iwlwifi-3945.ucode
-
EXAMPLES
# ifconfig wpi0 nwkey 0x1deadbeef1
Return wpi0 to its default settings:
# ifconfig wpi0 -bssid -chan media autoselect \
nwid "" -nwkey
Join an existing BSS network, “my_net”:
# ifconfig wpi0 192.168.1.1 netmask 0xffffff00 nwid my_net
DIAGNOSTICS
- wpi%d: device timeout
- A frame dispatched to the hardware for transmission did
not complete in time. The driver will reset the hardware. This should not
happen.
- wpi%d: fatal firmware error
- For some reason, the firmware crashed. The driver will
reset the hardware. This should not happen.
- wpi%d: Radio transmitter is
off
- The radio transmitter is off and thus no packet can go
out. The driver will reset the hardware. Make sure the laptop radio switch
is on.
- wpi%d: could not read firmware
file
- For some reason, the driver was unable to read the
firmware image from the filesystem. The file might be missing or
corrupted.
- wpi%d: firmware file too short: %d
bytes
- The firmware image is corrupted and can't be loaded into
the adapter.
- wpi%d: could not load firmware
- An attempt to load the firmware into the adapter failed.
The driver will reset the hardware.
NOTES
On some laptops the radio transmitter button must be pushed twice to get the
driver working, or you will get a
wpi%d: fatal firmware
error when the interface will be set to up
SEE ALSO
arp(4),
ifmedia(4),
intro(4),
netintro(4),
pci(4),
ifconfig(8),
firmload(9)
The IPW Web Page,
http://damien.bergamini.free.fr/ipw/.
AUTHORS
The
wpi driver was originally written by
Damien Bergamini
<
damien@openbsd.org>.
NetBSD porting was done by
Jean-Baptiste Campesato
<
camjelemon@gmail.com>.