Before you start working with Atheros powerline devices, you should determine the chipset and firmware revision because that will determine the types of operations that can be performed and the order in which some operations should be performed. The following example illustrates how to determine this information.
Example 5.6. Device Identification
# int6k -r eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Fetch Version Information eth1 00:B0:52:DA:DA:23 INT6300A0 INT6000-MAC-3-0-3001-1081-LA-A NOT_UPGRADEABLE eth1 00:B0:52:FE:87:2D INT6000A1 INT6000-SL-0-1-0110-200-2006-0415-BETA NOT_UPGRADEABLE
This example demonstrates several things.
First, the int6k -r option requests hardware and software revision information from a device by sending an Atheros VS_SW_VER vendor-specific managerment message and waiting for a response. Atheros vendor-specific management messages are described in the Atheros HomePlug AV Firmware Technical Reference Manual. It you do not have access to this document then many toolkit features may be difficult to understand.
Since we did not specify an Ethernet interface on the command line, the default interface was used. In this case, the default interface was eth1 and so we observe that eth1 was used to both send requests and receive responses.
Since we did not specify a device address on the command line, the default address was used. Device addresses are also known as MAC, “Ethernet” or “hardware” addresses. They uniquely identify a device on a network. Unlike Ethernet cards, powlerlines device do not have IP addresses.
The default device address for toolkit programs is 00:B0:52:00:00:01. This address is the Local Management Address (LMA). All Atheros devices connected to the local host will respond to this address and include their actual address in the response. In the above example, two devices responded. This means that both were connected directly to eth1, perhaps via a network hub. Observer that device 00:B0:52:DA:DA:23 is an INT6300 and device 00:B0:52:FE:87:2D is an INT6000. The first device is running Atheros firmware and the second device is running the Atheros Softloader.
Example 5.7. Inspecting Device Configuration
To find out more about device 00:B0:52:DA:DA:23 we might issue the following command where option -I requests identity information stored in the device PIB. In this case, we specified the device by MAC address to prevent other local devices from responding. There is no harm in having both devices respond so we could have specified both hardware addresses.
# int6k -I 00:B0:52:DA:DA:23
eth1 00:B0:52:DA:DA:23 Device Identity
eth1 00:B0:52:DA:DA:23 -------
PIB 3-2 7864 bytes
MAC 00:B0:52:DA:DA:23
DAK 24:03:D7:84:09:A0:9A:78:8D:F6:82:75:AF:0D:0F:D8
NMK 50:D3:E4:93:3F:85:5B:70:40:78:4D:F8:15:AA:8D:B7 (HomePlugAV)
NID B0:F2:E6:95:66:6B:03
NET Jupiter-23
MFG Intergalactic Death Rays Inc.
USR Rattin Tordo
CCo Auto
Pay special attention to the MAC address after flashing NVRAM. Hardware address 00:B0:52:00:00:03 indicates the Default PIB used when no other PIB is available. The Default PIB disables communication over powerline.
Pay special attention to the NMK when devices cannot communicate. Devices having different NMK values will not form a network. Conversely, all devices having the same NMK will form a network. This becomes important when programming large numbers of devices. You must have an out-of-the-box networking strategy that balances user convenience and network security.
The string next to the NMK indicates that password “HomePlugAV” was used to generate that key. This is one of two default passwords and keys used by Atheros. In some cases, it may be another clue that the device is using the default PIB.