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James Ketrenos2c86c272005-03-23 17:32:29 -06001
James Ketrenos826d2ab2005-11-07 18:56:59 -06002Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2100 Driver for Linux in support of:
3
4Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2100 Network Connection
5
6Copyright (C) 2003-2005, Intel Corporation
7
James Ketrenos2c86c272005-03-23 17:32:29 -06008README.ipw2100
9
James Ketrenos826d2ab2005-11-07 18:56:59 -060010Version: 1.1.3
11Date : October 17, 2005
James Ketrenos2c86c272005-03-23 17:32:29 -060012
James Ketrenos2c86c272005-03-23 17:32:29 -060013Index
James Ketrenos826d2ab2005-11-07 18:56:59 -060014-----------------------------------------------
150. IMPORTANT INFORMATION BEFORE USING THIS DRIVER
161. Introduction
172. Release 1.1.3 Current Features
183. Command Line Parameters
194. Sysfs Helper Files
205. Radio Kill Switch
216. Dynamic Firmware
227. Power Management
238. Support
249. License
James Ketrenos2c86c272005-03-23 17:32:29 -060025
26
James Ketrenos826d2ab2005-11-07 18:56:59 -0600270. IMPORTANT INFORMATION BEFORE USING THIS DRIVER
28-----------------------------------------------
29
30Important Notice FOR ALL USERS OR DISTRIBUTORS!!!!
31
32Intel wireless LAN adapters are engineered, manufactured, tested, and
33quality checked to ensure that they meet all necessary local and
34governmental regulatory agency requirements for the regions that they
35are designated and/or marked to ship into. Since wireless LANs are
36generally unlicensed devices that share spectrum with radars,
37satellites, and other licensed and unlicensed devices, it is sometimes
38necessary to dynamically detect, avoid, and limit usage to avoid
39interference with these devices. In many instances Intel is required to
40provide test data to prove regional and local compliance to regional and
41governmental regulations before certification or approval to use the
42product is granted. Intel's wireless LAN's EEPROM, firmware, and
43software driver are designed to carefully control parameters that affect
44radio operation and to ensure electromagnetic compliance (EMC). These
45parameters include, without limitation, RF power, spectrum usage,
46channel scanning, and human exposure.
47
48For these reasons Intel cannot permit any manipulation by third parties
49of the software provided in binary format with the wireless WLAN
50adapters (e.g., the EEPROM and firmware). Furthermore, if you use any
51patches, utilities, or code with the Intel wireless LAN adapters that
52have been manipulated by an unauthorized party (i.e., patches,
53utilities, or code (including open source code modifications) which have
54not been validated by Intel), (i) you will be solely responsible for
55ensuring the regulatory compliance of the products, (ii) Intel will bear
56no liability, under any theory of liability for any issues associated
57with the modified products, including without limitation, claims under
58the warranty and/or issues arising from regulatory non-compliance, and
59(iii) Intel will not provide or be required to assist in providing
60support to any third parties for such modified products.
61
62Note: Many regulatory agencies consider Wireless LAN adapters to be
63modules, and accordingly, condition system-level regulatory approval
64upon receipt and review of test data documenting that the antennas and
65system configuration do not cause the EMC and radio operation to be
66non-compliant.
67
68The drivers available for download from SourceForge are provided as a
69part of a development project. Conformance to local regulatory
70requirements is the responsibility of the individual developer. As
71such, if you are interested in deploying or shipping a driver as part of
72solution intended to be used for purposes other than development, please
73obtain a tested driver from Intel Customer Support at:
74
75http://support.intel.com/support/notebook/sb/CS-006408.htm
76
77
781. Introduction
79-----------------------------------------------
James Ketrenos2c86c272005-03-23 17:32:29 -060080
81This document provides a brief overview of the features supported by the
82IPW2100 driver project. The main project website, where the latest
83development version of the driver can be found, is:
84
85 http://ipw2100.sourceforge.net
86
87There you can find the not only the latest releases, but also information about
88potential fixes and patches, as well as links to the development mailing list
89for the driver project.
90
91
James Ketrenos826d2ab2005-11-07 18:56:59 -0600922. Release 1.1.3 Current Supported Features
93-----------------------------------------------
James Ketrenos2c86c272005-03-23 17:32:29 -060094- Managed (BSS) and Ad-Hoc (IBSS)
95- WEP (shared key and open)
96- Wireless Tools support
97- 802.1x (tested with XSupplicant 1.0.1)
98
99Enabled (but not supported) features:
100- Monitor/RFMon mode
101- WPA/WPA2
102
103The distinction between officially supported and enabled is a reflection
104on the amount of validation and interoperability testing that has been
105performed on a given feature.
106
107
James Ketrenos826d2ab2005-11-07 18:56:59 -06001083. Command Line Parameters
109-----------------------------------------------
James Ketrenos2c86c272005-03-23 17:32:29 -0600110
111If the driver is built as a module, the following optional parameters are used
112by entering them on the command line with the modprobe command using this
113syntax:
114
115 modprobe ipw2100 [<option>=<VAL1><,VAL2>...]
116
117For example, to disable the radio on driver loading, enter:
118
119 modprobe ipw2100 disable=1
120
121The ipw2100 driver supports the following module parameters:
122
123Name Value Example:
124debug 0x0-0xffffffff debug=1024
125mode 0,1,2 mode=1 /* AdHoc */
126channel int channel=3 /* Only valid in AdHoc or Monitor */
127associate boolean associate=0 /* Do NOT auto associate */
128disable boolean disable=1 /* Do not power the HW */
129
130
James Ketrenos826d2ab2005-11-07 18:56:59 -06001314. Sysfs Helper Files
James Ketrenos2c86c272005-03-23 17:32:29 -0600132---------------------------
James Ketrenos826d2ab2005-11-07 18:56:59 -0600133-----------------------------------------------
James Ketrenos2c86c272005-03-23 17:32:29 -0600134
135There are several ways to control the behavior of the driver. Many of the
136general capabilities are exposed through the Wireless Tools (iwconfig). There
137are a few capabilities that are exposed through entries in the Linux Sysfs.
138
139
140----- Driver Level ------
141For the driver level files, look in /sys/bus/pci/drivers/ipw2100/
142
143 debug_level
144
145 This controls the same global as the 'debug' module parameter. For
146 information on the various debugging levels available, run the 'dvals'
147 script found in the driver source directory.
148
149 NOTE: 'debug_level' is only enabled if CONFIG_IPW2100_DEBUG is turn
150 on.
151
152----- Device Level ------
153For the device level files look in
154
155 /sys/bus/pci/drivers/ipw2100/{PCI-ID}/
156
157For example:
158 /sys/bus/pci/drivers/ipw2100/0000:02:01.0
159
160For the device level files, see /sys/bus/pci/drivers/ipw2100:
161
162 rf_kill
163 read -
164 0 = RF kill not enabled (radio on)
165 1 = SW based RF kill active (radio off)
166 2 = HW based RF kill active (radio off)
167 3 = Both HW and SW RF kill active (radio off)
168 write -
169 0 = If SW based RF kill active, turn the radio back on
170 1 = If radio is on, activate SW based RF kill
171
172 NOTE: If you enable the SW based RF kill and then toggle the HW
173 based RF kill from ON -> OFF -> ON, the radio will NOT come back on
174
175
James Ketrenos826d2ab2005-11-07 18:56:59 -06001765. Radio Kill Switch
177-----------------------------------------------
James Ketrenos2c86c272005-03-23 17:32:29 -0600178Most laptops provide the ability for the user to physically disable the radio.
179Some vendors have implemented this as a physical switch that requires no
180software to turn the radio off and on. On other laptops, however, the switch
181is controlled through a button being pressed and a software driver then making
182calls to turn the radio off and on. This is referred to as a "software based
183RF kill switch"
184
185See the Sysfs helper file 'rf_kill' for determining the state of the RF switch
186on your system.
187
188
James Ketrenos826d2ab2005-11-07 18:56:59 -06001896. Dynamic Firmware
190-----------------------------------------------
James Ketrenos2c86c272005-03-23 17:32:29 -0600191As the firmware is licensed under a restricted use license, it can not be
192included within the kernel sources. To enable the IPW2100 you will need a
193firmware image to load into the wireless NIC's processors.
194
195You can obtain these images from <http://ipw2100.sf.net/firmware.php>.
196
197See INSTALL for instructions on installing the firmware.
198
199
James Ketrenos826d2ab2005-11-07 18:56:59 -06002007. Power Management
201-----------------------------------------------
James Ketrenos2c86c272005-03-23 17:32:29 -0600202The IPW2100 supports the configuration of the Power Save Protocol
203through a private wireless extension interface. The IPW2100 supports
204the following different modes:
205
206 off No power management. Radio is always on.
207 on Automatic power management
208 1-5 Different levels of power management. The higher the
209 number the greater the power savings, but with an impact to
210 packet latencies.
211
212Power management works by powering down the radio after a certain
213interval of time has passed where no packets are passed through the
214radio. Once powered down, the radio remains in that state for a given
215period of time. For higher power savings, the interval between last
216packet processed to sleep is shorter and the sleep period is longer.
217
218When the radio is asleep, the access point sending data to the station
219must buffer packets at the AP until the station wakes up and requests
220any buffered packets. If you have an AP that does not correctly support
221the PSP protocol you may experience packet loss or very poor performance
222while power management is enabled. If this is the case, you will need
223to try and find a firmware update for your AP, or disable power
224management (via `iwconfig eth1 power off`)
225
226To configure the power level on the IPW2100 you use a combination of
227iwconfig and iwpriv. iwconfig is used to turn power management on, off,
228and set it to auto.
229
230 iwconfig eth1 power off Disables radio power down
231 iwconfig eth1 power on Enables radio power management to
232 last set level (defaults to AUTO)
233 iwpriv eth1 set_power 0 Sets power level to AUTO and enables
234 power management if not previously
235 enabled.
236 iwpriv eth1 set_power 1-5 Set the power level as specified,
237 enabling power management if not
238 previously enabled.
239
240You can view the current power level setting via:
241
242 iwpriv eth1 get_power
243
244It will return the current period or timeout that is configured as a string
245in the form of xxxx/yyyy (z) where xxxx is the timeout interval (amount of
246time after packet processing), yyyy is the period to sleep (amount of time to
247wait before powering the radio and querying the access point for buffered
248packets), and z is the 'power level'. If power management is turned off the
249xxxx/yyyy will be replaced with 'off' -- the level reported will be the active
250level if `iwconfig eth1 power on` is invoked.
251
252
James Ketrenos826d2ab2005-11-07 18:56:59 -06002538. Support
254-----------------------------------------------
James Ketrenos2c86c272005-03-23 17:32:29 -0600255
256For general development information and support,
257go to:
258
259 http://ipw2100.sf.net/
260
261The ipw2100 1.1.0 driver and firmware can be downloaded from:
262
263 http://support.intel.com
264
265For installation support on the ipw2100 1.1.0 driver on Linux kernels
2662.6.8 or greater, email support is available from:
267
268 http://supportmail.intel.com
269
James Ketrenos826d2ab2005-11-07 18:56:59 -06002709. License
271-----------------------------------------------
James Ketrenos2c86c272005-03-23 17:32:29 -0600272
273 Copyright(c) 2003 - 2005 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.
274
275 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
276 under the terms of the GNU General Public License (version 2) as
277 published by the Free Software Foundation.
278
279 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
280 ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
281 FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for
282 more details.
283
284 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
285 this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59
286 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
287
288 The full GNU General Public License is included in this distribution in the
289 file called LICENSE.
290
291 License Contact Information:
292 James P. Ketrenos <ipw2100-admin@linux.intel.com>
293 Intel Corporation, 5200 N.E. Elam Young Parkway, Hillsboro, OR 97124-6497
294