UATH(4) OpenBSD Programmer's Manual UATH(4)NAMEuath - Atheros USB IEEE 802.11a/b/g wireless network device
SYNOPSIS
uath* at uhub? port ?
DESCRIPTION
The uath driver supports USB 2.0 wireless network devices based on
Atheros Communications fifth generation AR5005UG and AR5005UX chipsets.
The AR5005UG chipset is made of an AR5523 multiprotocol MAC/baseband
processor and an AR2112 Radio-on-a-Chip that can operate between 2300 and
2500 MHz (802.11b/g).
The AR5005UX chipset is made of an AR5523 multiprotocol MAC/baseband
processor and an AR5112 dual band Radio-on-a-Chip that can operate
between 2300 and 2500 MHz (802.11b/g) or 4900 and 5850 MHz (802.11a).
The AR5005UG and AR5005UX chipsets both have an integrated 32-bit MIPS
R4000-class processor that runs a firmware and manages, among other
things, the automatic control of the transmit rate and the calibration of
the radio.
These are the modes the uath 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 which it wouldn't normally have
access to, or to scan for access points.
uath supports hardware 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 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 uath driver can be configured at runtime with ifconfig(8) or on boot
with hostname.if(5).
FILES
The following firmware file is loaded when a device is plugged:
/etc/firmware/uath-ar5523
This firmware file is not freely redistributable.
A prepackaged version of the firmware, designed to be used with
pkg_add(1), can be found at:
http://damien.bergamini.free.fr/packages/openbsd/uath-firmware-1.0p0.tgz
HARDWARE
The following adapters should work:
Adapter Chipset
Compex WLU108AG AR5005UX
Compex WLU108G AR5005UG
D-Link DWL-G132 AR5005UG
IODATA WN-G54/US AR5005UG
MELCO WLI-U2-KAMG54 AR5005UX
Netgear WG111T AR5005UG
Netgear WG111U AR5005UX
Netgear WPN111 AR5005UG
Olitec 000544 AR5005UG
Philips SNU6500 AR5005UG
PLANET WDL-U357 AR5005UX
Siemens Gigaset 108 AR5005UG
SMC SMCWUSBT-G AR5005UG
SMC SMCWUSBT-G2 AR5005UG
SparkLAN WL-785A AR5005UX
TP-Link TL-WN620G AR5005UG
TRENDware International TEW-444UB AR5005UG
TRENDware International TEW-504UB AR5005UX
Unex Technology UR054ag AR5005UX
ZyXEL XtremeMIMO M-202 AR5005UX
An up to date list can be found at
http://customerproducts.atheros.com/customerproducts/default.asp.
EXAMPLES
The following hostname.if(5) example configures uath0 to join whatever
network is available on boot, using WEP key ``0x1deadbeef1'', channel 11,
obtaining an IP address using DHCP:
dhcp NONE NONE NONE nwkey 0x1deadbeef1 chan 11
Configure uath0 for WEP, using hex key ``0x1deadbeef1'':
# ifconfig uath0 nwkey 0x1deadbeef1
Return uath0 to its default settings:
# ifconfig uath0 -bssid -chan media autoselect \
nwid "" -nwkey
Join an existing BSS network, ``my_net'':
# ifconfig uath0 192.168.1.1 netmask 0xffffff00 nwid my_net
DIAGNOSTICS
uath%d: error %d, could not read firmware %s For some reason, the driver
was unable to read the firmware image from the filesystem. The file
might be missing or corrupted.
uath%d: could not load firmware (error=%s) An error occurred while
attempting to upload the firmware to the onboard MIPS R4000 processor.
uath%d: could not initialize adapter (error=%d) The firmware was
uploaded successfully but did not initialize properly or in time.
uath%d: could not send command (error=%s) An attempt to send a command
to the firmware failed.
uath%d: timeout waiting for command reply A read command was sent to the
firmware but the firmware failed to reply in time.
uath%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.
SEE ALSOarp(4), ifmedia(4), intro(4), netintro(4), usb(4), hostname.if(5),
ifconfig(8)HISTORY
The uath driver first appeared in OpenBSD 4.0.
AUTHORS
The uath driver was written by Damien Bergamini <damien@openbsd.org>.
CAVEATS
Atheros Communications refuses to release any documentation for their
products. Atheros proprietary 108 Mbps mode (aka Super AG mode) is not
supported.
The uath driver does not attempt to do any regulation of radio
frequencies.
OpenBSD 4.9 January 6, 2011 OpenBSD 4.9
