Ath0 countrycode

MdeWendt

Hello,

i want more 11a channels. so i tried to modify the countrycode to germany.

ifconfig ath0 list freq

Channel 1 : 2412* Mhz 11g Channel 10 : 2457* Mhz 11g
Channel 2 : 2417* Mhz 11g Channel 11 : 2462* Mhz 11g
Channel 3 : 2422* Mhz 11g Channel 12 : 2467* Mhz 11g
Channel 4 : 2427* Mhz 11g Channel 13 : 2472* Mhz 11g
Channel 5 : 2432* Mhz 11g Channel 14 : 2484* Mhz 11b
Channel 6 : 2437* Mhz 11g Channel 34 : 5170* Mhz 11a
Channel 7 : 2442* Mhz 11g Channel 38 : 5190* Mhz 11a
Channel 8 : 2447* Mhz 11g Channel 42 : 5210* Mhz 11a
Channel 9 : 2452* Mhz 11g Channel 46 : 5230* Mhz 11a

sysctl -a dev.ath.0

dev.ath.0.%desc: Atheros 5212
dev.ath.0.countrycode: 392
dev.ath.0.regdomain: 64

cat /boot/loader.conf

…
dev.ath.0.countrycode=276
hw.ath.countrycode=276

i tried to set the countrycode to germany in the loader.conf.
as you can see the sysctl still displays dev.ath.0.countrycode as japan.
anyone an idea how to set the countrycode or what mistake i do?
has anyone more information about regdomain?

thx.

Martin

MdeWendt

Hello,

after playing around with a software named "Channel set utility" i get for my wlan card the following error message during boot (dmesg)

ath1: unable to collect channel list from hal; regdomain likely 96 country code 276
device_attach: ath1 attach returned 22

so switching to other channels will be disabled from the HAL driver. is there anyone outside who can give me more backround information or an hint where to continue my investigation?

For all others who buy an atheros card: take care which country code this card has. if you get one with japan country code in europe that the card can not be adjuted to all 11a channels.

Martin

MdeWendt

Hi everybody again,

so i solved the problem. here my short summary. please write an PN if you have further questions.

if you buy an atheros miniPCI wlan card, run it with pfsense and get only 4 11a channels then have a look at "sysctl -a dev.ath.0.countrycode" in an terminal window. if its something like 392 then you get an japan restricted version (with oly 4 11a channel in 5GHz band).
my solution for this: if you have an miniPCI to PCI adapter download the "Channel set utility", put the card into an windows xp pc and unlock all channels.
after this you but your card back into your pfsense system (in my case an WRAP board). don't put any countrycode etc in loader.conf. then you get such a nice channel list

ifconfig ath0 list freq

Channel 1 : 2412 Mhz 11g Channel 48 : 5240* Mhz 11a
Channel 2 : 2417 Mhz 11g Channel 52 : 5260* Mhz 11a
Channel 3 : 2422 Mhz 11g Channel 56 : 5280* Mhz 11a
Channel 4 : 2427 Mhz 11g Channel 60 : 5300* Mhz 11a
Channel 5 : 2432 Mhz 11g Channel 64 : 5320* Mhz 11a
Channel 6 : 2437 Mhz 11g Channel 100 : 5500* Mhz 11a
Channel 7 : 2442 Mhz 11g Channel 104 : 5520* Mhz 11a
Channel 8 : 2447 Mhz 11g Channel 108 : 5540* Mhz 11a
Channel 9 : 2452 Mhz 11g Channel 112 : 5560* Mhz 11a
Channel 10 : 2457 Mhz 11g Channel 116 : 5580* Mhz 11a
Channel 11 : 2462 Mhz 11g Channel 120 : 5600* Mhz 11a
Channel 12 : 2467* Mhz 11g Channel 124 : 5620* Mhz 11a
Channel 13 : 2472* Mhz 11g Channel 128 : 5640* Mhz 11a
Channel 14 : 2484* Mhz 11b Channel 132 : 5660* Mhz 11a
Channel 34 : 5170* Mhz 11a Channel 136 : 5680* Mhz 11a
Channel 36 : 5180* Mhz 11a Channel 140 : 5700* Mhz 11a
Channel 38 : 5190* Mhz 11a Channel 149 : 5745* Mhz 11a
Channel 40 : 5200* Mhz 11a Channel 153 : 5765* Mhz 11a
Channel 42 : 5210* Mhz 11a Channel 157 : 5785* Mhz 11a
Channel 44 : 5220* Mhz 11a Channel 161 : 5805* Mhz 11a
Channel 46 : 5230* Mhz 11a Channel 165 : 5825* Mhz 11a

Martin

hoba

Nice but where are the turbo channels or is that card not turbo capable?

MdeWendt

Hi hoba,

you are right. i have an atheros AR5004X (http://www.atheros.com/pt/AR5004XBulletin.htm) which normaly supports this 108Mbps turbo mode. i have never seen this mode in my list. i think there is an eeprom where countrycode etc is stored and all futures are enabled.
has anyone a datasheet about the AR5213 Multiprotocol MAC/baseband processor and can figure out that? or send it to me i will have a look at it.

Martin

hoba

This is what my card shows withou patching anything, however I'm missing turbo g channels:

$ ifconfig ath0 list channel
Channel 1 : 2412 Mhz 11g Channel 48 : 5240 Mhz 11a
Channel 2 : 2417 Mhz 11g Channel 50 : 5250 Mhz 11a Turbo
Channel 3 : 2422 Mhz 11g Channel 52 : 5260 Mhz 11a
Channel 4 : 2427 Mhz 11g Channel 56 : 5280 Mhz 11a
Channel 5 : 2432 Mhz 11g Channel 58 : 5290 Mhz 11a Turbo
Channel 6 : 2437 Mhz 11g Channel 60 : 5300 Mhz 11a
Channel 7 : 2442 Mhz 11g Channel 64 : 5320 Mhz 11a
Channel 8 : 2447 Mhz 11g Channel 149 : 5745 Mhz 11a
Channel 9 : 2452 Mhz 11g Channel 152 : 5760 Mhz 11a Turbo
Channel 10 : 2457 Mhz 11g Channel 153 : 5765 Mhz 11a
Channel 11 : 2462 Mhz 11g Channel 157 : 5785 Mhz 11a
Channel 36 : 5180 Mhz 11a Channel 160 : 5800 Mhz 11a Turbo
Channel 40 : 5200 Mhz 11a Channel 161 : 5805 Mhz 11a
Channel 42 : 5210 Mhz 11a Turbo Channel 165 : 5825 Mhz 11a
Channel 44 : 5220 Mhz 11a

My card seems to be running "0" already:

$ sysctl -a dev.ath.0
dev.ath.0.%desc: Atheros 5212
dev.ath.0.%driver: ath
dev.ath.0.%location: slot=13 function=0
dev.ath.0.%pnpinfo: vendor=0x168c device=0x0013 subvendor=0x185f subdevice=0x1012 class=0x020000
dev.ath.0.%parent: pci0
dev.ath.0.smoothing_rate: 95
dev.ath.0.sample_rate: 10
dev.ath.0.countrycode: 0
dev.ath.0.regdomain: 0
dev.ath.0.debug: 0
dev.ath.0.slottime: 9
dev.ath.0.acktimeout: 25
dev.ath.0.ctstimeout: 25
dev.ath.0.softled: 0
dev.ath.0.ledpin: 0
dev.ath.0.ledon: 0
dev.ath.0.ledidle: 2700
dev.ath.0.txantenna: 0
dev.ath.0.rxantenna: 2
dev.ath.0.diversity: 1
dev.ath.0.txintrperiod: 5
dev.ath.0.diag: 0
dev.ath.0.tpscale: 0
dev.ath.0.tpc: 0
dev.ath.0.tpack: 63
dev.ath.0.tpcts: 63
dev.ath.0.rfsilent: 1
dev.ath.0.rfkill: 1
dev.ath.0.monpass: 24

This is a CM9 bought from PC Engines btw.

MdeWendt

Hello hoba,

it seems to be a problem of this hal driver:
http://www.fehu.org/atheros-en.html#modes

Martin

squarepusher

@MdeWendt:

Hello hoba,

it seems to be a problem of this hal driver:
http://www.fehu.org/atheros-en.html#modes

Martin

That's so strange because the linux and BSD drivers use the same HAL,when I list the channels in linux there's a couple 11g turbo channels.
So what's up with the BSD drivers?

lsf

AFAIK, the linux driver has the same HAL if it's the normal madwifi driver. The madwifi-ng driver is different iirc.