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    In/Out errors :(

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Wireless
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    • N
      nima.m
      last edited by

      Hoba,

      I did some more testing and now I fiugre out what should be done.
      Whenever, you change the /cf/conf/config.xml  file, you need to reboot the router immediately once .

      So this is how I make it work :

      1.Search /cf/conf/config.xml for

      Replace it with :
      <afterfilterchangeshellcmd>sysctl dev.ath.0.rxantenna=1;sysctl dev.ath.0.txantenna=1;sysctl dev.ath.0.diversity=0</afterfilterchangeshellcmd>

      2.Reboot

      3.Now, Whenever you change config for interfaces inside WebGUI, you don't loose the wirless parameters.

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      • S
        sullrich
        last edited by

        You have to remove /tmp/rules.debug as well after changing config.xml as its the cached version and will simply overwrite config.xml on the next filter reload operation.

        So technically the reboot is not needed.

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        • B
          billm
          last edited by

          @sullrich:

          You have to remove /tmp/rules.debug as well after changing config.xml as its the cached version and will simply overwrite config.xml on the next filter reload operation.

          So technically the reboot is not needed.

          close… /tmp/config.cache :)

          --Bill

          pfSense core developer
          blog - http://www.ucsecurity.com/
          twitter - billmarquette

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          • S
            sullrich
            last edited by

            @billm:

            @sullrich:

            You have to remove /tmp/rules.debug as well after changing config.xml as its the cached version and will simply overwrite config.xml on the next filter reload operation.

            So technically the reboot is not needed.

            close… /tmp/config.cache :)

            --Bill

            Grr.  Bill is absolutely right.  This head cold is driving me ape shit.

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            • P
              pcatiprodotnet
              last edited by

              My Tx was set to 0, and Rx to 1 (on Atheros).
              Is 0 or 1 the First antenna?  And, what does it mean when set to "2".
              Thank you,
              -Pete

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              • H
                hoba
                last edited by

                The second time I link to http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=1149.msg6765#msg6765 in this thread  :P

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                • P
                  pcatiprodotnet
                  last edited by

                  Thanks hoba!
                  Although it's fairly obvious, I was just hoping to see it spelled out in no uncertain terms that 0=Main and 1=Aux.
                  I was careful to read the card's docs to be sure I put the First pigtail (labeled "Antenna#1") on Main,
                  and the Second pigtail (labeled "Antenna#2") on Aux.  -Pete

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                  • N
                    nima.m
                    last edited by

                    2 means Auto.

                    What I did was to set both antenna to 0 fisrt and check the in/out errror, then set both to 1 and check the errors again.
                    Do the same and see when you get less error, then you know which antenna port you should use.

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                    • P
                      pcatiprodotnet
                      last edited by

                      nima.m, is it possible that you plugged your single pigtail into the card's Aux antenna port, and that is why you had to set it to 1?

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                      • H
                        hoba
                        last edited by

                        @pcatiprodotnet:

                        Thanks hoba!
                        Although it's fairly obvious, I was just hoping to see it spelled out in no uncertain terms that 0=Main and 1=Aux. -Pete

                        I think that is related to the hardwarelayout. I have even seen cards with no label on either of the antennaoutputs. I recommend doing what nima.m suggested. Try to see what gives you the best results. Generate some traffic (try to load it) and you should see errors increasing rather fast with the wrong setting. Closing the case might help finding the wrong setting too, so you get some noise reflections inside the case with the non hooked up output.

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                        • N
                          nima.m
                          last edited by

                          I have no idea :-)

                          I bought one of those Lintex 6 Nic router and told them to install a CM9 minipci and a external antenna and send it to me.
                          And they did that, And I havn't open my case for checking it.

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                          • P
                            pcatiprodotnet
                            last edited by

                            I just tried the above procedure on beta4, deleted /tmp/config.cache, rebooted for good measure, and it didn't change.
                            I loaded up /cf/conf/config.xml , and re-checked it…
                            <maximumstates><afterfilterchangeshellcmd>sysctl dev.ath.0.rxantenna=0;sysctl dev.ath.0.txantenna=0;sysctl dev.ath.0.diversity=0</afterfilterchangeshellcmd>

                            but in shell it still reports...

                            sysctl dev.ath.0.diversity

                            dev.ath.0.diversity: 1

                            sysctl dev.ath.0.rxantenna

                            dev.ath.0.rxantenna: 1

                            sysctl dev.ath.0.txantenna

                            dev.ath.0.txantenna: 0</maximumstates>

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                            • N
                              nima.m
                              last edited by

                              Change it to :

                              <shellcmd>sysctl dev.ath.0.rxantenna=1;sysctl dev.ath.0.txantenna=1;sysctl dev.ath.0.diversity=0</shellcmd>
                              <afterfilterchangeshellcmd>sysctl dev.ath.0.rxantenna=1;sysctl dev.ath.0.txantenna=1;sysctl dev.ath.0.diversity=0</afterfilterchangeshellcmd>

                              then reboot and check

                              sysctl dev.ath.0.diversity

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                              • P
                                pcatiprodotnet
                                last edited by

                                It's still unchanged. -Pete

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                                • P
                                  pcatiprodotnet
                                  last edited by

                                  Is there a way to simply run a shell script after pfsense finishes booting?  If so, I could put the sysctl commands there.
                                  This problem with the antennas is causing us quite a bit of hassle.
                                  Also, I wouldn't recommend pfSense pre-determining the antenna settings because people will often attach a single pigtail on the "wrong" mini-pci U.FL connector or transpose two connectors for main/aux.  If you must, perhaps setting both Tx & Rx to Auto would be the most generally helpful; but, having the ability to set them in the GUI is golden.
                                  Thank you, -Pete

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                                  • L
                                    lsf
                                    last edited by

                                    This is not something we controll, it's controlled by the freebsd driver/HAL. One of the reasons i haven't added these settings are just because of that. What should be defaults ? should I first up the card and enable it, and then allow the values to be changed ? if not, how should i get the defaults ? (the defaults "change" based on what settings it found "sensible" when the interface was up'ed and configured).
                                    Basically what i'm trying to say is that the driver does not behave the same on every HW combo/user setup. So it's hard to pick any default. I know the driver does not do this perfectly, but it probably does a better job then us presetting/hardcoding this.

                                    -lsf

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                                    • N
                                      nima.m
                                      last edited by

                                      @pcatiprodotnet:

                                      Is there a way to simply run a shell script after pfsense finishes booting?  If so, I could put the sysctl commands there.

                                      Thats what shellcmd tag do,

                                      Lets try this
                                      1.Change your config file in this way :
                                        <shellcmd>echo 1 > /beforeShell;sysctl dev.ath.0.rxantenna=1;sysctl dev.ath.0.txantenna=1;sysctl dev.ath.0.diversity=0;echo 1 > /afterShell</shellcmd>
                                        <afterfilterchangeshellcmd>echo 1 > /beforeFilter;sysctl dev.ath.0.rxantenna=1;sysctl dev.ath.0.txantenna=1;sysctl dev.ath.0.diversity=0;echo 1 > /afterFilter;</afterfilterchangeshellcmd>

                                      2.Reboot

                                      3.SSH to your router

                                      4.Run this command one by one and see the result :

                                      ls /beforeShell
                                      ls /afterShell
                                      ls /beforeFilter
                                      ls /afterFilter

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                                      • P
                                        pcatiprodotnet
                                        last edited by

                                        After some investigation, I discovered that boot commands are working; however, after a little time, the old settings get put back. I'm not quite sure what to make of this.  Perhaps with Diversity is On, the wireless card is changing the Rx antenna setting based on what it thinks is best at the moment?

                                        Another handy command: athstats

                                        Although information is sparse, it appears that for tx/rxantenna setting: 0=auto, 1=antenna1, 2=antenna2.

                                        -Pete

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                                        • B
                                          billm
                                          last edited by

                                          @pcatiprodotnet:

                                          After some investigation, I discovered that boot commands are working; however, after a little time, the old settings get put back. I'm not quite sure what to make of this.
                                          -Pete

                                          Yeah, I believe some of that is the ATH driver.  It's annoying.  FWIW, I have a machine with two antenna's attached and I constantly get errors - it doesn't seem to impact the performance of the unit, so I've just learned to ignore it.

                                          –Bill

                                          pfSense core developer
                                          blog - http://www.ucsecurity.com/
                                          twitter - billmarquette

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                                          • L
                                            lsf
                                            last edited by

                                            @pcatiprodotnet:

                                            Although information is sparse, it appears that for tx/rxantenna setting: 0=auto, 1=antenna1, 2=antenna2.

                                            To be honest i haven't checked this in a while, so it might have changed in the ath driver, however madwifi also seems to have what I stated earlier, and it used to be the defautls of the HAL.
                                            So this might be some weirdness with athstats as well (i'll check this out later)
                                            BTW: both=auto

                                            If diversity is on then it should change antennas whenever it needs to (autosense), however if diversity is off then it should stick to what you set it to. And diversity should not turn on again unless you change the interface settings or up/down the interface.

                                            -lsf

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