xref: /freebsd/share/man/man4/ral.4 (revision 87bf66d4a7488c496af110d4d05cc0273d49f82e) 
1.\" Copyright (c) 2005-2010 Damien Bergamini <damien.bergamini@free.fr>
2.\"
3.\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
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15.Dd April 4, 2017
16.Dt RAL 4
17.Os
18.Sh NAME
19.Nm ral
20.Nd "Ralink Technology IEEE 802.11a/g/n wireless network device"
21.Sh SYNOPSIS
22To compile this driver into the kernel,
23place the following lines in your
24kernel configuration file:
25.Bd -ragged -offset indent
26.Cd "device ral"
27.Cd "device ralfw"
28.Cd "device wlan"
29.Cd "device wlan_amrr"
30.Cd "device firmware"
31.Ed
32.Pp
33Alternatively, to load the driver as a
34module at boot time, place the following line in
35.Xr loader.conf 5 :
36.Bd -literal -offset indent
37if_ral_load="YES"
38.Ed
39.Sh DESCRIPTION
40The
41.Nm
42driver supports PCI/PCIe/CardBus wireless adapters based on the Ralink RT2500,
43RT2501, RT2600, RT2700, RT2800, RT3090 and RT3900E chipsets.
44.Pp
45The RT2500 chipset is the first generation of 802.11b/g adapters from Ralink.
46It consists of two integrated chips, an RT2560 MAC/BBP and an RT2525 radio
47transceiver.
48.Pp
49The RT2501 chipset is the second generation of 802.11a/b/g adapters from
50Ralink.
51It consists of two integrated chips, an RT2561 MAC/BBP and an RT2527 radio
52transceiver.
53This chipset provides support for the IEEE 802.11e standard with multiple
54hardware transmission queues and allows scatter/gather for efficient DMA
55operations.
56.Pp
57The RT2600 chipset consists of two integrated chips, an RT2661 MAC/BBP and an
58RT2529 radio transceiver.
59This chipset uses the MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) technology with
60multiple radio transceivers to extend the operating range of the adapter and
61to achieve higher throughput.
62However, the RT2600 chipset does not support any of the 802.11n features.
63.Pp
64The RT2700 chipset is a low-cost version of the RT2800 chipset.
65It supports a single transmit path and two receiver paths (1T2R).
66It consists of two integrated chips, an RT2760 or RT2790 (PCIe) MAC/BBP and
67an RT2720 (2.4GHz) or RT2750 (2.4GHz/5GHz) radio transceiver.
68.Pp
69The RT2800 chipset is the first generation of 802.11n adapters from Ralink.
70It consists of two integrated chips, an RT2860 or RT2890 (PCIe) MAC/BBP and
71an RT2820 (2.4GHz) or RT2850 (2.4GHz/5GHz) radio transceiver.
72The RT2800 chipset supports two transmit paths and up to three receiver
73paths (2T2R/2T3R).
74It can achieve speeds up to 144Mbps (20MHz bandwidth) and 300Mbps (40MHz
75bandwidth.)
76.Pp
77The RT3090 chipset is the first generation of single-chip 802.11n adapters
78from Ralink.
79.Nm
80supports
81.Cm station ,
82.Cm adhoc ,
83.Cm hostap ,
84.Cm mesh ,
85.Cm wds ,
86and
87.Cm monitor
88mode operation.
89Only one
90.Cm hostap
91or
92.Cm mesh
93virtual interface may be configured at a time.
94Any number of
95.Cm wds
96virtual interfaces may be configured together with a
97.Cm hostap
98interface.
99Multiple
100.Cm station
101interfaces may be operated together with a
102.Cm hostap
103interface to construct a wireless repeater device.
104.Pp
105The RT3900E chipset is a single-chip 802.11n adapters from Ralink.
106The MAC/Baseband Processor can be an RT5390 or RT5392.
107The RT5390 chip operates in the 2GHz spectrum and supports 1 transmit path
108and 1 receiver path (1T1R).
109The RT5392 chip operates in the 2GHz spectrum and supports up to 2 transmit
110paths and 2 receiver paths (2T2R).
111.Pp
112The transmit speed is user-selectable or can be adapted automatically by the
113driver depending on the number of hardware transmission retries.
114For more information on configuring this device, see
115.Xr ifconfig 8 .
116.Sh HARDWARE
117The
118.Nm
119driver supports PCI/PCIe/CardBus wireless adapters based on Ralink Technology
120chipsets, including:
121.Pp
122.Bl -column -compact ".Li Atlantis Land A02-PCM-W54" "RT2561S" "CardBus"
123.It Em Card Ta Em MAC/BBP Ta Em Bus
124.It "A-Link WL54H" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
125.It "A-Link WL54PC" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
126.It "AirLink101 AWLC5025" Ta RT2661 Ta CardBus
127.It "AirLink101 AWLH5025" Ta RT2661 Ta PCI
128.It "Amigo AWI-914W" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
129.It "Amigo AWI-922W" Ta RT2560 Ta mini-PCI
130.It "Amigo AWI-926W" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
131.It "AMIT WL531C" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
132.It "AMIT WL531P" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
133.It "AOpen AOI-831" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
134.It "ASUS WL-107G" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
135.It "ASUS WL-130g" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
136.It "Atlantis Land A02-PCI-W54" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
137.It "Atlantis Land A02-PCM-W54" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
138.It "Belkin F5D7000 v3" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
139.It "Belkin F5D7010 v2" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
140.It "Billionton MIWLGRL" Ta RT2560 Ta mini-PCI
141.It "Canyon CN-WF511" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
142.It "Canyon CN-WF513" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
143.It "CC&C WL-2102" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
144.It "CNet CWC-854" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
145.It "CNet CWP-854" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
146.It "Compex WL54G" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
147.It "Compex WLP54G" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
148.It "Conceptronic C54RC" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
149.It "Conceptronic C54Ri" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
150.It "D-Link DWA-525 rev A2" Ta RT5392 Ta PCI
151.It "Digitus DN-7001G-RA" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
152.It "Digitus DN-7006G-RA" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
153.It "E-Tech WGPC02" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
154.It "E-Tech WGPI02" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
155.It "Edimax EW-7108PCg" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
156.It "Edimax EW-7128g" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
157.It "Eminent EM3036" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
158.It "Eminent EM3037" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
159.It "Encore ENLWI-G-RLAM" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
160.It "Encore ENPWI-G-RLAM" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
161.It "Fiberline WL-400P" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
162.It "Fibreline WL-400X" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
163.It "Gigabyte GN-WI01GS" Ta RT2561S Ta mini-PCI
164.It "Gigabyte GN-WIKG" Ta RT2560 Ta mini-PCI
165.It "Gigabyte GN-WMKG" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
166.It "Gigabyte GN-WP01GS" Ta RT2561S Ta PCI
167.It "Gigabyte GN-WPKG" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
168.It "Hawking HWC54GR" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
169.It "Hawking HWP54GR" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
170.It "iNexQ CR054g-009 (R03)" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
171.It "JAHT WN-4054P" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
172.It "JAHT WN-4054PCI" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
173.It "LevelOne WNC-0301 v2" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
174.It "LevelOne WPC-0301 v2" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
175.It "Linksys WMP54G v4" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
176.It "Micronet SP906GK" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
177.It "Micronet SP908GK V3" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
178.It "Minitar MN54GCB-R" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
179.It "Minitar MN54GPC-R" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
180.It "MSI CB54G2" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
181.It "MSI MP54G2" Ta RT2560 Ta mini-PCI
182.It "MSI PC54G2" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
183.It "OvisLink EVO-W54PCI" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
184.It "PheeNet HWL-PCIG/RA" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
185.It "Planex GW-NS300N" Ta RT2860 Ta CardBus
186.It "Pro-Nets CB80211G" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
187.It "Pro-Nets PC80211G" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
188.It "Repotec RP-WB7108" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
189.It "Repotec RP-WP0854" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
190.It "SATech SN-54C" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
191.It "SATech SN-54P" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
192.It "Sitecom WL-112" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
193.It "Sitecom WL-115" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
194.It "SMC SMCWCB-GM" Ta RT2661 Ta CardBus
195.It "SMC SMCWPCI-GM" Ta RT2661 Ta PCI
196.It "SparkLAN WL-685R" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
197.It "Surecom EP-9321-g" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
198.It "Surecom EP-9321-g1" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
199.It "Surecom EP-9428-g" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
200.It "Sweex LC500050" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
201.It "Sweex LC700030" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
202.It "TekComm NE-9321-g" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
203.It "TekComm NE-9428-g" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
204.It "Unex CR054g-R02" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
205.It "Unex MR054g-R02" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
206.It "Zinwell ZWX-G160" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
207.It "Zinwell ZWX-G360" Ta RT2560 Ta mini-PCI
208.It "Zinwell ZWX-G361" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
209.It "Zonet ZEW1500" Ta RT2560 Ta CardBus
210.It "Zonet ZEW1600" Ta RT2560 Ta PCI
211.El
212.Sh EXAMPLES
213Join an existing BSS network (i.e., connect to an access point):
214.Pp
215.Dl "ifconfig wlan create wlandev ral0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00"
216.Pp
217Join a specific BSS network with network name
218.Dq Li my_net :
219.Bd -literal -offset indent
220ifconfig wlan create wlandev ral0 inet 192.168.0.20 \e
221    netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net
222.Ed
223.Pp
224Join a specific BSS network with 40-bit WEP encryption:
225.Bd -literal -offset indent
226ifconfig wlan create wlandev ral0 inet 192.168.0.20 \e
227    netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net \e
228    wepmode on wepkey 0x1234567890 weptxkey 1
229.Ed
230.Pp
231Join a specific BSS network with 104-bit WEP encryption:
232.Bd -literal -offset indent
233ifconfig wlan create wlandev ral0 inet 192.168.0.20 \e
234    netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net \e
235    wepmode on wepkey 0x01020304050607080910111213 weptxkey 1
236.Ed
237.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
238.Bl -diag
239.It "ral%d: could not load 8051 microcode"
240An error occurred while attempting to upload the microcode to the onboard 8051
241microcontroller unit.
242.It "ral%d: timeout waiting for MCU to initialize"
243The onboard 8051 microcontroller unit failed to initialize in time.
244.It "ral%d: device timeout"
245A frame dispatched to the hardware for transmission did not complete in time.
246The driver will reset the hardware.
247This should not happen.
248.El
249.Sh SEE ALSO
250.Xr cardbus 4 ,
251.Xr intro 4 ,
252.Xr wlan 4 ,
253.Xr wlan_ccmp 4 ,
254.Xr wlan_tkip 4 ,
255.Xr wlan_wep 4 ,
256.Xr wlan_xauth 4 ,
257.Xr hostapd 8 ,
258.Xr ifconfig 8 ,
259.Xr wpa_supplicant 8
260.Sh HISTORY
261The
262.Nm
263driver first appeared in
264.Ox 3.7 .
265Support for the RT2501 and RT2600 chipsets was added in
266.Ox 3.9 .
267Support for the RT2800 chipset was added in
268.Ox 4.3 .
269Support for the RT2700 chipset was added in
270.Ox 4.4 .
271Support for the RT3090 chipset was added in
272.Ox 4.9 .
273.Sh AUTHORS
274The original
275.Nm
276driver was written by
277.An Damien Bergamini Aq Mt damien@openbsd.org .
278.Sh CAVEATS
279The
280.Nm
281driver does not make use of the hardware cryptographic engine.
282.Pp
283The
284.Nm
285driver does not support any of the 802.11n capabilities offered by
286the RT2700 and RT2800 chipsets.
287Additional work is required in before those features can be supported.
288.Pp
289Host AP mode does not support power saving.
290Clients attempting to use power saving mode may experience significant
291packet loss (disabling power saving on the client will fix this).
292.Pp
293Some PCI
294.Nm
295adapters strictly require a system supporting PCI 2.2 or greater.
296Check the board's PCI version before purchasing the card as it is likely these
297adapters will not work in systems based on older revisions of the PCI
298specification.
299