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2 Agere Systems Inc. July 2004
3 Readme for Linux Driver Source for Wavelan Version: 7.22-abg
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6 This text file includes update information, installation instructions,
7 limitations to the current version of the product, and suggestions to solve
8 known issues or problems.
14 2. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
15 3. NEW IN THIS RELEASE
17 5. TECHNICAL CONSTRAINTS
21 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
24 With this package, you can build and install a Wireless driver for a
25 specific Linux kernel.
27 The driver in this package supports the network interface cards based on:
28 - WL60010, a.k.a. Hermes-II
29 - WL60040, a.k.a. Hermes-II.5
31 Although derived from the Hermes-I/II Linux driver, this release ONLY
32 Supports Hermes-II/II.5 chipsets. Hermes-I is no longer supported.
34 The software is distributed in a compressed source file archive:
35 - wl_lkm_7_22_abg.tar.gz
37 Because this release supports more than one Hermes CPU and bus
38 architecture, a naming convention is used for the resulting binaries that
39 can be built from this source code. Driver binaries are named as follows:
41 wlags49_<hermes_type>_<bus_arch>.o
43 where 'wlags49' denotes an Agere WaveLan Linux build,
45 <hermes_type> is: 'h2' for Hermes-II, 'h25' for Hermes-II.5
47 <bus_arch> is: 'cs' for Card Services (PCMCIA, Compact Flash), PCI for
50 For example, a driver built for Hermes-II Card Services (PCMCIA/Compact
51 Flash) is named wlags49_h2_cs.o, whereas a driver built for Hermes-II
52 MiniPCI is named wlags49_h2_pci.o.
53 The following software is included with this distribution:
56 * README.wlags49 This file
57 * LICENSE.wlags49 License
58 * wlags49.mk Top level Makefile
59 * Build Script to build driver
60 * Install Script to install driver
63 * wireless/ MSF source
64 * hcf/ HCF and F/W source
65 * wireless/wlags49_cs.mk Driver Makefile, PC Card
66 * wireless/wlags49_pci.mk Driver Makefile, PCI
67 * include/hcf/debug.h Driver debug support
68 * include/hcf/hcfcfg.h Header to configure HCF
69 * include/wireless/*.h Driver source headers
71 Driver online manual page:
72 * man/wlags49.4 Driver manual page
74 PCMCIA configuration update:
75 * etc/wlags49.conf Add-on config file
76 * etc/wlags49.mk config update Makefile
77 * etc/wlags49.patch config update patch file
79 The driver is build up of 2 modules:
80 - a higher module called Module Specific Functions (MSF), which contains
81 the functions of the driver that are network driver interface and
82 Operating System specific.
83 - a lower module called Hardware Control Functions (HCF), which contains
84 the functions to interface to the Network Interface Card (NIC). The HCF
85 provides for all WaveLAN NIC types one standard interface to the MSF.
86 This I/F is called the Wireless Connection Interface (WCI) and is the
87 subject of a separate document (025726).
89 The HCF directory contains firmware images to allow the card to operate in
90 either station (STA) or Access Point (AP) mode. In the build process, the
91 files fw_h2.c and fw_h25.c are used for Hermes-II and Hermes-II.5
92 respectively. The firmware images in this release are identified as:
93 - HII Station F/W: fw_h2.c.sta
94 - HII.5 Station F/W: fw_h25.c.sta
95 - HII AccesPoint F/W: fw_h2.c.ap
96 - HII.5 AccesPoint F/W: fw_h25.c.ap
97 To build a STA or AP mode driver, the suffix .sta or .ap must be removed.
98 The files as distributed by this release build STA drivers by default.
100 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
101 2. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
105 This software can be compiled and installed with Linux kernel versions
106 2.4.x. Although this driver should compile for other CPUs as well, as of
107 the date of this release, no CPU architectures other than x86 have been
110 wl_lkm_7_22_abg is tested with the following Linux Distributions:
111 * Red Hat version 9.0
114 If you're building for PC Card or Compact Flash, you need the Card Services
117 wl_lkm_7_22_abg is tested with:
118 * pcmcia-cs-3.2.7.tar.gz
122 To compile the software you need to have the full set of Linux kernel
123 source files installed, as well as a sane build environment which includes
124 all tools necessary for compiling and linking code. Depending on the exact
125 version of the kernel, you need approximately 150 MB of free disk space.
126 Once compiled, the driver uses about 150-200 KB. Please note, this size is
127 approximate and can vary depending on which version of the driver is built.
128 In addition, adding debug tracing support increases this size.
130 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
131 3. NEW IN THIS RELEASE
133 Version 7.22 abg - July 28, 2004
135 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
136 4. INSTALLATION NOTES
138 The driver files for the Linux driver are not "ready" for direct
139 installation onto any Linux computer. To build and install the driver you
140 need some expertise on the Linux operating system in general and the type
141 and version installed of the kernel installed on your computer. With this
142 knowledge you can use the driver source files provided to build your own
143 Linux driver for your specific computer and kernel.
147 1) Determine the type and version of the Linux kernel of your computer and
148 check whether it meets the system requirements listed in section 2 of this
151 2) If you're building for PC Card or Compact Flash, read the Linux
152 PCMCIA-HOWTO by David Hinds. This document is probably provided on the
153 CD-ROM of your Linux distribution. You can download the latest version
156 http://pcmcia-cs.sourceforge.net
158 Please read the section titled "Prerequisites and kernel setup" of the
161 4.2 Build the driver for PC Card / Compact Flash
163 1) Obtain a copy of the Linux PCMCIA package from a CD-ROM of your Linux
164 distribution or download the latest version.
165 For your convenience, the Agere Systems Wireless CD-ROM contains a copy of
166 the PCMCIA package in sub-directory: Xtras/Linux/PCMCIA
168 2) To unpack the Linux PCMCIA package, copy it to the current working
170 % tar xzvf pcmcia-cs-x.y.z.tar.gz
171 % mv pcmcia-cs-x.y.z pcmcia-cs
173 Note: If you use the archive supplied on the CDROM, use archive name
174 "pc3_2_1.tgz" instead of "pcmcia-cs-3.2.7.tar.gz".
176 Note: even though PCMCIA code exists in the kernel source tree, the PCMCIA
177 Card Services package needs to be unpacked locally to build drivers based
180 3) Extract the wlags49 distribution archive on top of the Linux PCMCIA
183 % tar xzvf ../wl_lkm_7_22_abg.tar.gz
185 4) To build and install the driver, follow the procedure below:
188 Answer the presented questions. Usually the default answers are OK and
189 pressing "Enter" is enough.
190 On newer RedHat systems, however, you should specify "/usr/src/linux-2.4"
191 as the Linux source directory instead of the default "/usr/src/linux".
193 For more detailed information on configuration, building and installing,
194 see the PCMCIA-HOWTO.
196 To build the default drivers, which support Hermes-II in station mode, run
200 This script determines whether your system uses in-kernel PCMCIA and either
201 builds the full PCMCIA package or just the driver.
203 Before installing the driver with the Install script, you must become
209 This script determines whether your system uses in-kernel PCMCIA and either
210 installs the full PCMCIA package or just the driver.
212 5) If it becomes necessary to clean the build, issue the following
217 4.3 Build the driver for PCI
219 1) Extract the wlags49 to the current working directory.
220 % tar xzvf wl_lkm_7_22.tar.gz
222 Note: there is no need to unpack the driver source into a PCMCIA build
225 2) To build the PCI driver:
226 % make -f wlags49.mk wlags49_h2_pci
228 % make -f wlags49.mk wlags49_h25_pci
230 3) Install the driver.
231 % insmod ./wireless/wlags49_h25.o
233 4) If it becomes necessary to clean the build.
234 % make -f wlags49.mk pci_clean
236 4.4 Configure your Wireless PC Card
238 There are 3 ways to configure the driver
239 - module parameters (/etc/pcmcia/config.opts)
240 - wireless extension (/etc/pcmcia/wireless.opts)
241 - Agere configuration file (/etc/agere/iwconfig-eth#)
244 4.4.1 Configure through /etc/pcmcia/config.opts
246 To use this method, make sure that /etc/pcmcia/wireless.opts file is either
247 absent or contains blank parameter values as shown below.
249 *,*,*,00:60:1D:*|*,*,*,00:02:2D:*)
256 1) To configure the Wireless PC Card, please refer to:
257 * The online manual page (wlags49.4)
259 * The network adapter sections of the PCMCIA documentation.
262 2) Use an editor to configure the module parameters:
263 # vi /etc/pcmcia/config.opts
265 a) To connect your computer to a wireless infrastructure that includes
266 access points such as the AP-1000 or AP-500, you need to identify the
267 network name of the wireless infrastructure.
269 For example if your infrastructure uses the network name "My Network",
270 edit the config.opts file to include the following:
272 module "<driver_name>" opts "network_name=My\ Network"
274 Notice that the space character needs to be escaped with a backslash.
276 b) To connect your computer to a Residential Gateway RG-1000, you need
277 to know the RG ID (=network_name) and the encryption key. You can find
278 the RG ID on a small label on the rear of the unit.
280 For example if your RG-1000 has ID 225ccf and you did not change the
281 encryption key yet, edit the config.opts file to include the following:
283 module "<driver_name>" opts "network_name=\"225ccf\" key_1=\"25ccf\"
286 If you changed your encryption key, you should specify this key as key_1
287 on the parameter line.
289 c) To connect your computer to a peer-to-peer network, in an environment
290 without access points, the IBSS mode is recommended.
292 For example to connect to a peer-to-peer network called "My Network",
293 enter the following in the config.opts file:
295 module "<driver_name>" opts "create_ibss=Y network_name=My\ Network"
297 d) Optionally you can also include a "Station Name" value that can be
298 used to indentify your computer on the wireless network.
300 For example if you wish to name your computer "Wave1" when connecting it
301 to a wireless infrastructure, edit the config.opts file to include the
304 module "<driver_name>" opts "network_name=Ocean station_name=Wave1"
306 e) To connect your computer to an Ad-Hoc workgroup of wireless
307 computers, enter the following in the config.opts file:
309 module "<driver_name>" opts "port_type=3"
311 Note that the "Ad-Hoc Demo Mode" is not the recommended mode for a
312 peer-to-peer network. The configuration of this non-interoperable mode
313 is only explained here for special applications (e.g. research, or
314 compatibility with other / previous WaveLAN/IEEE products).
316 The IBSS mode described in c) is the preferred and interoperable mode
317 for creating a peer-to-peer network.
319 3) Use an editor to modify the network options for your adapter.
320 # vi /etc/pcmcia/network.opts
322 The parameters need to be correct for the connected network. Check with
323 your system administrator for the correct network information. Refer to
324 the PCMCIA-HOWTO for more configuration information.
331 NETMASK="255.255.255.0"
333 BROADCAST="10.0.0.255"
336 DNS_1="dns1.domain.org"
339 RedHat and Suse do not use the network.opts to configure the driver.
340 Instead RedHat uses a GUI-based tool called 'neat' ('net.cfg' in older
341 versions) and SuSE Linux uses 'YaST'. These tools creates scripts, like
342 ifcfg-eth0, in the directory /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts. Using the
343 default GNOME menu, you can start netcfg from: Programs->System->Network
346 4) Restart the PCMCIA services.
347 # /etc/rc.d/rc.pcmcia restart
349 # /etc/rc.d/init.d/pcmcia restart
352 For a more detailed description about the various configuration options and
353 definitions, please consult the Wireless documentation.
355 4.4.2 Configure through /etc/pcmcia/wireless.opts
357 This driver has support for the "Wireless Extensions". This interface
358 allows the "Wireless Tools" to get statistics from the driver and allows to
359 change the configuration of the driver on the fly.
361 The latest versions of the PCMCIA package contain scripts that use the
362 wireless extension to configure the driver as an alternative to the
363 configuration through module parameters as described in section 4.4.1.
364 Read the /etc/pcmcia/wireless.opts file for the theory of operation. When
365 the driver is configured, go to section 4.4.1 step 3 to configure the
368 For more information, refer to the following WEB pages:
369 http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/Linux.Wireless.Extensions.html
370 http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/Tools.html
372 4.4.3 Configure through /etc/agere/iwconfig-eth#
374 In addition to using either the module options or the wireless extensions
375 methods to configure a wireless device, this version of the software also
376 supports an Agere specific implementation. This was done because:
377 * Module options configures multiple devices the same.
378 * Wireless extensions parameters do not cover all of the available options
381 For each wireless ethernet device (identified by eth<n>, where n is a
382 positive integer), a file /etc/agere/iwconfig-eth<n> can be created which
383 contains configuration information for a wireless device. For example, the
384 file /etc/agere/iwconfig-eth1 is the config file for eth1. This file should
385 contain Key/Value pairs in the format:
389 where <Key> is the parameter to configure and <Value> is the value to
390 assign it. For example, if the config file /etc/agere/iwconfig-eth1
391 described above contains the following:
393 DesiredSSID=some_network
398 this configures eth1 to associate to the ESSID 'some_network' with
399 encryption on, where the the first encryption key is 'net01' and the key to
400 use for encryption is Key 1.
402 Note that this only works on Agere hardware which uses this driver. For
403 other wireless drivers, or non-wireless devices, this file can be present,
406 Please refer to the man page for more information on this configuration
407 file and the parameters that can be set.
410 4.5 Configuring your Wireless PCI card
412 Note that the above method of configuring the card using
413 /etc/pcmcia/config.opts is only valid for PCMCIA/CF cards. For [mini]PCI
414 and CardBus cards, refer to your system's documentation on modules.conf to
415 load the driver with the proper options for a given wireless ethernet
416 interface. In addition, network configuration tools like 'netcfg', 'neat',
417 or 'YaST' (see Section 4.4.1, Step 3) can be used to configure the miniPCI
418 card. Lastly, the Agere configuration file described in Section 4.4.3 may
419 also be used for [mini]PCI and CardBus devices.
423 When the Wireless PC Card is inserted, the card manager emit beeps in
424 different tones to indicate success or failure of particular configuration
427 - The card was identified and configured successfully.
428 b) One high beep followed by a low beep
429 - The card was identified, but could not be configured.
430 - Examine the system log (dmesg) for PCMCIA error or warning messages.
432 - The card could not be identified.
433 - Execute "cardctl ident" to display the adapter PnP information.
434 Verify the PnP information matches an entry in the PCMCIA
435 configuration file (/etc/pcmcia/config).
436 - Examine the system log (dmesg) for PCMCIA error or warning messages.
438 The Wireless PC Card has two LEDs that indicate the state of the adapter
440 * Power LED (toward the middle of the adapter)
441 - This LED indicates power has been applied, and the card is
442 functional. In normal operation mode with Card Power Management
443 disabled, it is steady-on. With Card Power Management enabled, it
444 blinks rapidly (several times per second).
445 * Transmit/Receive LED (closer to the edge of the adapter)
446 - This LED flashes when it detects transmit or receive packets.
448 * Both LEDs blink at the same time every 10 seconds.
449 - The adapter was unable to make contact with the named wireless
450 network. Verify the network_name, in the config.opts file matches the
451 network name of the access point.
452 * LEDs indicate normal operation with the Power LED
453 steady-on or blinking rapidly and Transmit/Receive LED flashing, but no
455 - If the network is operating in normal mode (ie. port_type = 0 or not
456 specified), and a network_name has been specified, verify the
457 workstation network parameters (ifconfig, route, etc.) are correct
458 for the wireless network.
459 - If the network is operating in Ad-Hoc (peer-to-peer) mode (ie.
460 port_type = 3), the adapter needs another workstation/adapter to
461 communicate with. Verify the network parameters on both of the
462 workstations (ifconfig, route, etc.) are correct.
464 Refer to the online manual page for additional configuration, feature and
470 % nroff -man wlags49.4 | more
472 4.7 Identifying the software
474 This section explains how to identify the version of this software once it
475 is unpacked or installed.
477 The Linux Driver Source/Library distribution consist of two main
478 components, the driver source and the HCF module.
480 * To quickly identify the version of the source, type:
481 % grep DRV.*VERSION include/wireless/wl_version.h
482 #define DRV_MAJOR_VERSION 7
483 #define DRV_MINOR_VERSION 22
485 * To identify the revision of the HCF library contained in the driver,
487 % grep HCF.Revision hcf/hcf.c
488 #define HCF_VERSION TEXT( "HCF$Revision: 1.8 $" )
490 To identify a compiled wlags49 driver, go to the directory where the driver
491 is located. Card Services drivers (wlags49_h2_cs.o and wlags49_h25_cs.o)
493 /lib/modules/<kernel-version>/pcmcia
495 PCI drivers (wlags49_h2.o) are located in:
496 /lib/modules/<kernel-version>/kernel/drivers/net
498 * To retrieve the version of the source used to compile the driver, type:
499 % strings <driver_name>.o | grep Agere
500 <driver_name> v7.22-abg-Beta for PCMCIA
501 <driver_name> v7.22-abg-Beta for PCI
503 * Likewise, to retrieve the revision of the HCF used to compile the driver,
505 % strings <driver_name>.o | grep Revision
508 At startup the wlags49 driver reports its version in the system log file
511 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
512 5. TECHNICAL CONSTRAINTS
514 At the time of release of this software, the following constraints are
517 5.1 Using the ISA adapter
519 Description: To allow operation in desktop computers Agere also provides an
520 optional ISA bus to PC Card adapter (also referred to as "swapbox").
522 This ISA Adapter can be configured for two different I/O Address values:
523 * 3E2 (factory-set default)
526 Impact: By default the i82365 module of the Linux pcmcia package only
530 1) Read the manual page on the probing of the i82365 module, by typing the
534 2) Apply one of the two following options:
535 a) Change the I/O address strapping of the ISA adapter by replacing the
536 jumper on the ISA adapter. The correct jumper setting is pictured in
537 the electronic "Wireless ISA Adapter, Getting Started Guide" provided
538 on the Wireless Software CD-ROM. This guide is provided in Adobe's
541 b) Alternatively, you can load the i82365 module with the
542 "extra_sockets" parameter set to 1.
544 On a RedHat 5.x thru 7.x, system, put this in the file
545 "/etc/sysconfig/pcmcia":
548 PCIC_OPTS="extra_sockets=1"
552 For other Linux distributions, you are advised to consult the
553 "PCMCIA-HOWTO" notes for information about changing the I/O Address
556 5.2 Using the PCI Adapter
558 Description: To allow operation in desktop computers Agere also provides an
559 optional PCI bus to PC Card adapter (also referred to as "swapbox").
561 For correct interrupt assignment, the system should support PCIBIOS 2.2.
562 It is recommended to use PCMCIA package version 3.2.7 or higher.
564 The default configuration of the interrupt routing method of the PCI
565 Adapter's TI CardBus Controller is incorrect.
568 1) Read the manual page on the "Options specific for TI CardBus
569 Controllers" of the i82365 module, by typing the command:
572 2) Load the i82365 module with the "irq_mode" parameter set to 0.
573 On a RedHat 5.x thru 7.x system, put this in the file
574 "/etc/sysconfig/pcmcia":
577 PCIC_OPTS="irq_mode=0"
581 For the location of the PCMCIA scripts on other Linux distributions, you
582 are advised to consult the "PCMCIA-HOWTO", "Notes about specific Linux
585 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
588 This is the current list of known issues for this release, and will be
589 addressed in the near future:
591 1. This driver release contains a version of Hermes-II.5 firmware which
592 REQUIRES calibrated cards. If there is no calibration data present in the
593 PDA of the hardware, the firmware does not operate.
595 2. WDS is not yet supported.
597 3. DMA is not yet supported.
599 4. WPA is not yet supported.
601 5. 32-bits I/O is not yet supported.
603 6. The current Build script also builds the PCI drivers.
605 7. The current Install script also copies the PCI drivers to the lib
608 8. If F/W files are required from outside this release, the entry points
609 inside these F/W files have to be renamed from "ap" and "station" to
610 "fw_image" and they have to be renamed to fw_h2.c and fw_h25.c for
611 Hermes-II and Hermes-II.5.
613 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
616 7.1 Finding Information
618 On the Agere Systems Web Site you can find the most recent device drivers,
619 software updates and user documentation.
621 World Wide Web: http://www.agere.com
623 7.2 Contact Technical Support
625 If you encounter problems when installing or using this product, or would
626 like information about our other "Wireless" products, please contact your
627 local Authorized "Wireless" Reseller or Agere Systems sales office.
629 Addresses and telephone numbers of the Agere Systems sales offices are
630 listed on our Agere Systems web site.
632 When contacting Technical Support, please use the Problem Report Form and
633 send it to us by Fax or E-Mail. The Problem Report Form 'REPORT.TXT'
634 (Plain text format) is included on the disk. Alternatively, you can
635 download the Problem Report Form from the Agere Systems web site.
637 Include Product Name, Serial Number and software version number with each
638 request to help the Support Group helping you.
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