UATH(4)                   OpenBSD Programmer's Manual                  UATH(4)

NAME
     uath - 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 pro-
     cessor 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 pro-
     cessor 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 asso-
                    ciating 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 in-
                    ternal receive filter and enables the card to capture
                    packets from networks which it wouldn't normally have ac-
                    cess 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 pro-
     tocol it is strongly recommended that it not be used as the sole mecha-
     nism 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 at-
     tempting to upload the firmware to the onboard MIPS R4000 processor.

     uath%d: could not initialize adapter (error=%d)  The firmware was upload-
     ed 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 transmis-
     sion did not complete in time.  The driver will reset the hardware.  This
     should not happen.

SEE ALSO
     arp(4), ifmedia(4), intro(4), netintro(4), usb(4), hostname.if(5),
     ifconfig(8)

     Atheros Communications AR5005UG/AR5005UX:
     http://www.atheros.com/pt/bulletins/AR5005UGBulletin.pdf
     http://www.atheros.com/pt/bulletins/AR5005UXBulletin.pdf

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 frequen-
     cies.

OpenBSD 4.7                   September 23, 2008                             3
