xref: /freebsd/share/man/man4/ral.4 (revision 6fc44dab1979102b0fca53bb5a723fc77c62934d) 
1.\" Copyright (c) 2005-2010 Damien Bergamini <damien.bergamini@free.fr>
2.\"
3.\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
4.\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
5.\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
6.\"
7.\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
8.\" WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
9.\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
10.\" ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
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12.\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
13.\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
14.\"
15.\" $FreeBSD$
16.\"
17.Dd May 10, 2012
18.Dt RAL 4
19.Os
20.Sh NAME
21.Nm ral
22.Nd "Ralink Technology IEEE 802.11a/g/n wireless network device"
23.Sh SYNOPSIS
24To compile this driver into the kernel,
25place the following lines in your
26kernel configuration file:
27.Bd -ragged -offset indent
28.Cd "device ral"
29.Cd "device ralfw"
30.Cd "device wlan"
31.Cd "device wlan_amrr"
32.Cd "device firmware"
33.Ed
34.Pp
35Alternatively, to load the driver as a
36module at boot time, place the following line in
37.Xr loader.conf 5 :
38.Bd -literal -offset indent
39if_ral_load="YES"
40.Ed
41.Sh DESCRIPTION
42The
43.Nm
44driver supports PCI/PCIe/CardBus wireless adapters based on the Ralink RT2500,
45RT2501, RT2600, RT2700, RT2800, RT3090 and RT3900E chipsets.
46.Pp
47The RT2500 chipset is the first generation of 802.11b/g adapters from Ralink.
48It consists of two integrated chips, an RT2560 MAC/BBP and an RT2525 radio
49transceiver.
50.Pp
51The RT2501 chipset is the second generation of 802.11a/b/g adapters from
52Ralink.
53It consists of two integrated chips, an RT2561 MAC/BBP and an RT2527 radio
54transceiver.
55This chipset provides support for the IEEE 802.11e standard with multiple
56hardware transmission queues and allows scatter/gather for efficient DMA
57operations.
58.Pp
59The RT2600 chipset consists of two integrated chips, an RT2661 MAC/BBP and an
60RT2529 radio transceiver.
61This chipset uses the MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) technology with
62multiple radio transceivers to extend the operating range of the adapter and
63to achieve higher throughput.
64However, the RT2600 chipset does not support any of the 802.11n features.
65.Pp
66The RT2700 chipset is a low-cost version of the RT2800 chipset.
67It supports a single transmit path and two receiver paths (1T2R).
68It consists of two integrated chips, an RT2760 or RT2790 (PCIe) MAC/BBP and
69an RT2720 (2.4GHz) or RT2750 (2.4GHz/5GHz) radio transceiver.
70.Pp
71The RT2800 chipset is the first generation of 802.11n adapters from Ralink.
72It consists of two integrated chips, an RT2860 or RT2890 (PCIe) MAC/BBP and
73an RT2820 (2.4GHz) or RT2850 (2.4GHz/5GHz) radio transceiver.
74The RT2800 chipset supports two transmit paths and up to three receiver
75paths (2T2R/2T3R).
76It can achieve speeds up to 144Mbps (20MHz bandwidth) and 300Mbps (40MHz
77bandwidth.)
78.Pp
79The RT3090 chipset is the first generation of single-chip 802.11n adapters
80from Ralink.
81.Nm
82supports
83.Cm station ,
84.Cm adhoc ,
85.Cm hostap ,
86.Cm mesh ,
87.Cm wds ,
88and
89.Cm monitor
90mode operation.
91Only one
92.Cm hostap
93or
94.Cm mesh
95virtual interface may be configured at a time.
96Any number of
97.Cm wds
98virtual interfaces may be configured together with a
99.Cm hostap
100interface.
101Multiple
102.Cm station
103interfaces may be operated together with a
104.Cm hostap
105interface to construct a wireless repeater device.
106.Pp
107The RT3900E chipset is a single-chip 802.11n adapters from Ralink.
108The MAC/Baseband Processor can be an RT5390 or RT5392.
109The RT5390 chip operates in the 2GHz spectrum and supports 1 transmit path
110and 1 receiver path (1T1R).
111The RT5392 chip operates in the 2GHz spectrum and supports up to 2 transmit
112paths and 2 receiver paths (2T2R).
113.Pp
114The transmit speed is user-selectable or can be adapted automatically by the
115driver depending on the number of hardware transmission retries.
116For more information on configuring this device, see
117.Xr ifconfig 8 .
118.Sh HARDWARE
119The
120.Nm
121driver supports PCI/PCIe/CardBus wireless adapters based on Ralink Technology
122chipsets, including:
123.Pp
124.Bl -column -compact ".Li Atlantis Land A02-PCM-W54" "RT2561S" "CardBus"
125.It Em Card Ta Em MAC/BBP Ta Em Bus
126.It "A-Link WL54H" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
127.It "A-Link WL54PC" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
128.It "AirLink101 AWLC5025" Ta RT2661 Ta CardBus
129.It "AirLink101 AWLH5025" Ta RT2661 Ta PCI
130.It "Amigo AWI-914W" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
131.It "Amigo AWI-922W" Ta RT2560 Ta mini-PCI
132.It "Amigo AWI-926W" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
133.It "AMIT WL531C" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
134.It "AMIT WL531P" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
135.It "AOpen AOI-831" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
136.It "ASUS WL-107G" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
137.It "ASUS WL-130g" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
138.It "Atlantis Land A02-PCI-W54" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
139.It "Atlantis Land A02-PCM-W54" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
140.It "Belkin F5D7000 v3" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
141.It "Belkin F5D7010 v2" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
142.It "Billionton MIWLGRL" Ta RT2560 Ta mini-PCI
143.It "Canyon CN-WF511" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
144.It "Canyon CN-WF513" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
145.It "CC&C WL-2102" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
146.It "CNet CWC-854" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
147.It "CNet CWP-854" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
148.It "Compex WL54G" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
149.It "Compex WLP54G" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
150.It "Conceptronic C54RC" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
151.It "Conceptronic C54Ri" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
152.It "D-Link DWA-525 rev A2" Ta RT5392 Ta PCI
153.It "Digitus DN-7001G-RA" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
154.It "Digitus DN-7006G-RA" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
155.It "E-Tech WGPC02" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
156.It "E-Tech WGPI02" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
157.It "Edimax EW-7108PCg" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
158.It "Edimax EW-7128g" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
159.It "Eminent EM3036" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
160.It "Eminent EM3037" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
161.It "Encore ENLWI-G-RLAM" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
162.It "Encore ENPWI-G-RLAM" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
163.It "Fiberline WL-400P" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
164.It "Fibreline WL-400X" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
165.It "Gigabyte GN-WI01GS" Ta RT2561S Ta mini-PCI
166.It "Gigabyte GN-WIKG" Ta RT2560 Ta mini-PCI
167.It "Gigabyte GN-WMKG" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
168.It "Gigabyte GN-WP01GS" Ta RT2561S Ta PCI
169.It "Gigabyte GN-WPKG" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
170.It "Hawking HWC54GR" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
171.It "Hawking HWP54GR" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
172.It "iNexQ CR054g-009 (R03)" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
173.It "JAHT WN-4054P" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
174.It "JAHT WN-4054PCI" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
175.It "LevelOne WNC-0301 v2" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
176.It "LevelOne WPC-0301 v2" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
177.It "Linksys WMP54G v4" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
178.It "Micronet SP906GK" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
179.It "Micronet SP908GK V3" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
180.It "Minitar MN54GCB-R" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
181.It "Minitar MN54GPC-R" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
182.It "MSI CB54G2" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
183.It "MSI MP54G2" Ta RT2560 Ta mini-PCI
184.It "MSI PC54G2" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
185.It "OvisLink EVO-W54PCI" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
186.It "PheeNet HWL-PCIG/RA" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
187.It "Pro-Nets CB80211G" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
188.It "Pro-Nets PC80211G" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
189.It "Repotec RP-WB7108" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
190.It "Repotec RP-WP0854" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
191.It "SATech SN-54C" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
192.It "SATech SN-54P" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
193.It "Sitecom WL-112" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
194.It "Sitecom WL-115" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
195.It "SMC SMCWCB-GM" Ta RT2661 Ta CardBus
196.It "SMC SMCWPCI-GM" Ta RT2661 Ta PCI
197.It "SparkLAN WL-685R" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
198.It "Surecom EP-9321-g" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
199.It "Surecom EP-9321-g1" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
200.It "Surecom EP-9428-g" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
201.It "Sweex LC500050" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
202.It "Sweex LC700030" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
203.It "TekComm NE-9321-g" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
204.It "TekComm NE-9428-g" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
205.It "Unex CR054g-R02" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
206.It "Unex MR054g-R02" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
207.It "Zinwell ZWX-G160" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
208.It "Zinwell ZWX-G360" Ta RT2560 Ta mini-PCI
209.It "Zinwell ZWX-G361" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
210.It "Zonet ZEW1500" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
211.It "Zonet ZEW1600" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
212.El
213.Sh EXAMPLES
214Join an existing BSS network (i.e., connect to an access point):
215.Pp
216.Dl "ifconfig wlan create wlandev ral0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00"
217.Pp
218Join a specific BSS network with network name
219.Dq Li my_net :
220.Bd -literal -offset indent
221ifconfig wlan create wlandev ral0 inet 192.168.0.20 \e
222    netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net
223.Ed
224.Pp
225Join a specific BSS network with 40-bit WEP encryption:
226.Bd -literal -offset indent
227ifconfig wlan create wlandev ral0 inet 192.168.0.20 \e
228    netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net \e
229    wepmode on wepkey 0x1234567890 weptxkey 1
230.Ed
231.Pp
232Join a specific BSS network with 104-bit WEP encryption:
233.Bd -literal -offset indent
234ifconfig wlan create wlandev ral0 inet 192.168.0.20 \e
235    netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net \e
236    wepmode on wepkey 0x01020304050607080910111213 weptxkey 1
237.Ed
238.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
239.Bl -diag
240.It "ral%d: could not load 8051 microcode"
241An error occurred while attempting to upload the microcode to the onboard 8051
242microcontroller unit.
243.It "ral%d: timeout waiting for MCU to initialize"
244The onboard 8051 microcontroller unit failed to initialize in time.
245.It "ral%d: device timeout"
246A frame dispatched to the hardware for transmission did not complete in time.
247The driver will reset the hardware.
248This should not happen.
249.El
250.Sh SEE ALSO
251.Xr cardbus 4 ,
252.Xr intro 4 ,
253.Xr wlan 4 ,
254.Xr wlan_ccmp 4 ,
255.Xr wlan_tkip 4 ,
256.Xr wlan_wep 4 ,
257.Xr wlan_xauth 4 ,
258.Xr hostapd 8 ,
259.Xr ifconfig 8 ,
260.Xr wpa_supplicant 8
261.Rs
262.%T "Ralink Technology"
263.%U http://www.ralinktech.com/
264.Re
265.Sh HISTORY
266The
267.Nm
268driver first appeared in
269.Ox 3.7 .
270Support for the RT2501 and RT2600 chipsets was added in
271.Ox 3.9 .
272Support for the RT2800 chipset was added in
273.Ox 4.3 .
274Support for the RT2700 chipset was added in
275.Ox 4.4 .
276Support for the RT3090 chipset was added in
277.Ox 4.9 .
278.Sh AUTHORS
279The original
280.Nm
281driver was written by
282.An Damien Bergamini Aq Mt damien@openbsd.org .
283.Sh CAVEATS
284The
285.Nm
286driver does not make use of the hardware cryptographic engine.
287.Pp
288The
289.Nm
290driver does not support any of the 802.11n capabilities offered by
291the RT2700 and RT2800 chipsets.
292Additional work is required in before those features can be supported.
293.Pp
294Host AP mode doesn't support power saving.
295Clients attempting to use power saving mode may experience significant
296packet loss (disabling power saving on the client will fix this).
297.Pp
298Some PCI
299.Nm
300adapters seem to strictly require a system supporting PCI 2.2 or greater and
301will likely not work in systems based on older revisions of the PCI
302specification.
303Check the board's PCI version before purchasing the card.
304