broadcom-wl-drv package
Information on this package is covered here.
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Package
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Description
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License
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broadcom-wl-drv
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Devicescape proprietary Broadcom driver used by the IEEE80211 package.
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Summary
The Broadcom wireless driver supports both BCM4306 mini-PCI and the BCM471x system-on-a-chip (SoC) radios. This is a monolithic driver that does not use the Devicescape IEEE 802.11 protocol stack module.
In addition to the basic IEEE 802.11 features, this driver supports the following extensions:
- Wireless Multimedia Extensions (WMM) (formerly WME)
- WiFi Protected Access (WPA) and WPA2
This driver can be used in both access point and client solutions.
Usage
Start/Stop Options
Use the following commmands to control the Broadcom driver on the target device.
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Action
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Command
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Start
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/etc/init.d/broadcom-wl-drv start
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Restart
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/etc/init.d/broadcom-wl-drv restart
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There are no configuration options for this initialization script.
Runtime Configuration
The Broadcom driver (wl.o) is primarily configured using hostapd (hostapd package) or wpa_supplicant (wpa_supplicant package). It can also be configured using Broadcom's wl command line utility (broadcom-wl package).
Access Point Configuration
The Broadcom driver is not yet fully integrated into hostapd driver interface (driver_broadcom.c), so the Broadcom user space tool, wl, is needed for some part of the Access Point configuration. The hostapd connfiguration (described in hostapd package) is mainly used to set up parameters for IEEE 802.1X and WPA state machines. More "lower level" IEEE 802.11/radio configuration uses wl.
Before starting hostapd, the Broadcom driver must be configured to access point mode with:
wl -i eth1 ap 1
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Notes
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- For a Broadcom bridge interface you must add the following line in the
hostapd.conf file:
bridge=<BridgeName> (for example, bridge=br0). Whereas in the Atheros driver, creating the bridge (in an interfaces file or via command ine) is enough.
- When using the Broadcom driver, you must add a the following line in the
hostapd.conf file:
driver=broadcom.
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The sections below provide information on what is and is not supported for this driver, and what to use to configure supported options (Broadcom wl or hostapd.conf):
hostapd.conf Options Requiring External Configuration with Broadcom wl
The following table shows configuration options that the current version of hostapd cannot configure directly on Broadcom. The hostapd option and counterpart Broadcom wl command is shown. Use the Broadcom wl command line to configure these features. (For complete information on Broadcom wl see documentation on broadcom-wl package.)
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hostapd Configuration Option
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Broadcom wl Configuration
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adm_status
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wl -i eth1 radio <on/off>
WLC_SET_RADIO:
WL_RADIO_SW_DISABLE (1<<0)
WL_RADIO_HW_DISABLE (1<<1)
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cts_protection_type
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To disable (0) or enable (1) CTS protection:
wl -i eth1 gmode_protection_cts <0/1>
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force_unicast_rate
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wl -i eth1 rate <rate>
Where rates are in note: rate in Mbps
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macaddr_acl
accept_mac_file
deny_mac_file
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wl -i eth1 macmode <0/1/2>
Where:
0 = disable MAC address matching
1 = deny association with stations on MAC list
2 = allow association only with station on MAC list
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preamble
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wl -i eth1 plcphdr <long/auto>
WLC_SET_PLCPHDR:
WLC_PLCP_AUTO (-1),
WLC_PLCP_SHORT (0),
WLC_PLCP_LONG (1)
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supported_rates
basic_rates
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wl -i eth1 rateset <Default/All/ArbitraryRateset>
Where rate set is a space-separated list of rates in Mbps.
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tx_power_reduction
tx_power_adjustment
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wl -i eth1 txpwr <TX_Power_in_mW>
For example:
wl -i eth1 txpwr 16
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wds,
wds_remote_addr
wds_wep_key
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wl -i eth1 wds xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx [xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx ...]
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hostapd.conf Options Supported in the Broadcom Driver
The following options can be configured using hostapd.conf and will be supported in the Broadcom driver. (See hostapd package.)
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Supported hostapd Option
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ieee80211d
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acct_server_*
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allow_non_wpa
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antenna_mode
antenna_sel
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auth_server_*
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beacon_int
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bridge
bridge_packets
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channel
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country_code
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dtim_period
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debug
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dump_file
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driver=broadcom
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eap_message
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eapol_key_index_workaround
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fragm_threshold
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hw_mode
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iapp_interface
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ieee802_11f
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ieee8021x
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ignore_broadcast_ssid
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interface
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key_monitor_addr
key_monitor_port
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layer2_update
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logger_syslog
logger_syslog_level
logger_stdout
logger_stdout_level
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minimal_eap
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own_ip_addr
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radius_failover_limit, radius_retry_primary_interval
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reg_domain_filename
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rsn_preauth
rsn_preauth_interface
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rts_threshold
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ssid
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wep_key*
wep_default_key
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wep_key_len_broadcast
wep_key_len_unicast
wep_rekey_period
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wpa,
wpa_gmk_rekey
wpa_group_rekey
wpa_pairwise_cipher
wpa_plaintext_eapol_start_workaround
wpa_poll_interval
wpa_use_psk
wpa_psk_hex
wpa_psk_ascii
wpa_tkip_ccmp_workaround
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hostapd/80211.o Features Not Supported by Broadcom wl.o
The following hostapd options do not have matching Broadcom wl commands. In most cases, this is because the feature is not supported by wl. In a few cases (as indicated), there may be a counterpart wl command but we have not yet identified it.
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Feature
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Option
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auth_algs
(wl command unknown)
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Broadcast/Multicast Rate Limit
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rate_limit
rate_limit_burst
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Channel and Channel Policy(Auto channel selection: non-zero)
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channel_policy
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atheros_super_ag
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load_balance_*
stat_time
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tx_fail_percentage_limit
tx_fail_interval
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max_num_sta
(wl command unknown)
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max_ratectrl_rate
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assoc_min_rate
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bss
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multi_*
vlan
security_policy
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tx_queue_*, wme_ac_*
(wl command unknown)
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Rogue Detection (passive scanning)
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passive_scan_*
ap_table_*
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ap_max_inactivity,
inactivity_policy (wl command unknown)
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key_tx_rx_threshold
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Client Configuration
If you are configuring a client device (wpa_supplicant), you will set most options in wpa_supplicant.conf (see Runtime Configuration (wpa_supplicant.conf) of wpa_supplicant package documentation). However, the following driver-specific options must be configured in the driver. For the Broadcom driver, use wl to configure these options.
(The following wl options and examples are shown here for convenience. For complete information on wl configuration options, see broadcom-wl package of broadcom-wl-drv package documentation.)
Wi-Fi Multimedia Extensions
The interface must be down (iconfig eth1 down) when changing the Wi-Fi Multimedia (WMM) configuration.
WMM extensions are disabled by default.
To enable WMM extensions:
wl -i eth1 wme 1
To disable WMM extensions:
wl -i eth1 wme 0
Country/Regulatory Domain
The interface must be down (iconfig eth1 down) when changing country configuration.
To set country to United States:
wl -i eth1 country US
Wireless Monitor Mode (Sniffer)
To set the client to monitor mode:
wl -i eth1 monitor 1
iwconfig eth1 channel 6
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Note
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The Broadcom driver adds a new network interface, prism0, for the monitor mode. This interface must be used (instead of eth#) when configuring tcpdump or Ethereal.
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Debugging
Refer to the broadcom-wl package for ways to get information about the current state of the driver.
Building the Package
Follow standard instructions for building kernel modules in the Devicescape Developer Guide topic on "Building the Packages", see subtopic: "Building a Kernel Module from a Source RPM"
Licensing
Broadcom
Related Packages
Required
None
Suggested
broadcom-wl package
hostapd package
wpa_supplicant package
