wpi
—
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG IEEE 802.11a/b/g wireless network
driver
wpi* at pci? dev ? function ?
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.
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.
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
-
# 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
- 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.
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