Does Pandaboard WiFi support AP or ad-hoc modes in Linux?

[Dave C]

What is the status of the built-in WiFi on the PandaBoard?

My project needs either WiFi access point capability, or at least
support for ad-hoc networking in Linux, preferably a debian-based
Linux.

-dave

[Dechesne, Nicolas]

Ubuntu for OMAP4 10.10 has support for Panda WLAN if you install TI packages from PPA (and accept the corresponding EULA). 

11.04 will have full support with open source drivers, no need for EULA or PPA anymore, it will be based on a .38 kernel.

[Dave N6NZ]

Sorry to be pedantic, but just so I'm clear: you are saying the open
source drivers will support access point (master mode) and ad-hoc
networking?

Thanks,
Dave

[alxx]

On Mar 7, 10:39 am, "Dechesne, Nicolas" <n-deche...@ti.com> wrote:

Will the same packages work for angstrom and fedora(arm) ?

Are these the packages ?
https://gforge.ti.com/gf/project/wilink_drivers/frs/

Is it just that package for bluetooth and wifi or just wifi ?

Running custom angstrom image but need to get network ,wifi and
bluetooth running.

Thank you
Alex

p.s sorry if the earlier message I sent went to email

[Krakowski, Oz]

Dave,

You also have the option of using the TI wifi driver that is based on
mac80211. See the wiki page here:
http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/wl12xx
Access point mode is support with this driver.

Regards,
Oz.

>
> Thanks,
>  Dave
>
>

[gontadu]

Thanks people! Also was about to comment recommending those on
linuxwireless.org. But i see its already been done. I guess by the
time I get my pandaboard, 11.04 will be out :)!

On Mar 7, 8:55 am, "Krakowski, Oz" <o...@ti.com> wrote:
> Dave,
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> On Sun, Mar 6, 2011 at 7:18 PM, Dave N6NZ <n...@arrl.net> wrote:
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> > On Mar 6, 2011, at 3:39 PM, Dechesne, Nicolas wrote:
>

[christian667]

Oz,
Did you compile the wl12xx drivers by LinuxWireless successfully?
The git source has about 500MB!
Are they stable in AP mode?
Regards
Christian

On 7 Mrz., 07:55, "Krakowski, Oz" <o...@ti.com> wrote:
> Dave,
>
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> On Sun, Mar 6, 2011 at 7:18 PM, Dave N6NZ <n...@arrl.net> wrote:
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> > On Mar 6, 2011, at 3:39 PM, Dechesne, Nicolas wrote:
>

[gontadu]

Ok here's what i've observed for now.

Using the pre-built 11.04 ubuntu image, the wireless card is supported
but AP mode support appears to be absent. I found that out when trying
with hostapd.

From linuxwireless.org i read that the wl12xx tree they are referring
to has AP mode support enabled. And they suggest patching the kernel
with that if you want the functionality. So could someone please tell
me how to patch, once I've cloned the git repository. How and what to
patch. For now the pandaboard is running 2.6.38 omap kernel.

[Luca]

Hi gontadu,

Kernel 2.6.38 should include AP-mode support in wl12xx, so you don't
need to patch anything. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm installing
Ubuntu 11.04 for my pandaboard now, so I'll be able to help you with
more details soon.

Meanwhile, why do you assume that AP-mode is not supported? Can you
give me more info on what exactly you tried and what kind of results
you got?

Cheers,
Luca.

[Luca]

I figured out that some people are still trying to use the old
iwconfig way of setting the interface to AP mode. That doesn't work
anymore with recent kernels.

Please read http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Documentation/hostapd
for more information on how to setup AP-mode with hostapd and nl80211.

Cheers,
Luca.

[gontadu]

Hi Luca,

I thought so because when I tried using hostapd (I am aware iwconfig
route does not work) to run a hotspot it spat out an error. Can't
remember the exact words but was along the lines of being unable to
initialize it. There is a parameter

driver=

in the hostapd.conf file. There is used nl80211. I am not sure if we
were to not include the parameter? I'm sorry i am vague but that's all
i remember, and I will be unable to try for a few weeks again.

Please let me know how you setup AP mode in Ubuntu using hostapd?

[ludovic sauge]

Dear all,
I confirm that wifi is working out-of-the box in AP mode using vanilla kernel (2.6.39-rc4).
But do not forget to install wl12xx firmware. Follow advice from the web page: http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/wl12xx#Firmware

Hope it helps.
Ludo

[Luca]

On May 15, 3:03 pm, gontadu <esh...@live.co.za> wrote:
> I thought so because when I tried using hostapd (I am aware iwconfig
> route does not work) to run a hotspot it spat out an error. Can't
> remember the exact words but was along the lines of being unable to
> initialize it. There is a parameter
>
> driver=
>
> in the hostapd.conf file. There is used nl80211. I am not sure if we
> were to not include the parameter? I'm sorry i am vague but that's all
> i remember, and I will be unable to try for a few weeks again.

nl80211 is the correct value for that parameter.

> Please let me know how you setup AP mode in Ubuntu using hostapd?

The hostapd configuration is complex and you need to fine-tune it for
your needs. The best way to proceed on this would be if you could
attach your hostapd.conf file and the output of the error you're
getting.

In any case, if you use the example hostapd.conf that comes with the
hostpd code, there are at least 3 things you need to change to get it
to work with wl12xx:

1) Make sure you have "driver=nl80211";
2) Change the hw_mode setting from "hw_mode=a" to "hw_mode=g" (the
wl1271 on pandaboard doesn't support 802.11a);
3) Choose a channel in the "g" (ie. 2.4GHz) band, for example use
"channel=5".

I have tried this with the latest hostapd code and it works fine (with
the latest kernel, 2.6.39-rc7, but should work with 2.6.38 as well).

I hope this helps, if not, please paste your hostapd.conf and the
error output here, so we can debug the problem.

Cheers,
Luca.

[Luca]

Sorry guys, one correction:

On May 13, 9:15 am, Luca <coe...@ti.com> wrote:
> Kernel 2.6.38 should include AP-mode support in wl12xx, so you don't
> need to patch anything.

Actually AP-mode only works out-of-the-box with 2.6.39 kernels. I
just realized that the AP-mode support didn't reach the merge window
for 2.6.38. I was looking at an internal tree that was based on
wireless-testing.

It may be possible to backport the AP-mode patches from 2.6.39 into
2.6.38, but it will not be an easy task. So I recommend either using
compat-wireless or upgrading the kernel to use 2.6.39,

Cheers,
Luca.

[Sandipan Patra]

Luca <coelho@...> writes:

Hello Luca,

Here I face the same problem as well.
Like when ever I execute "iwconfig" it gives me an erroneous output as:
/sbin/iwconfig: line 1:
����������������������������������������������������������������������

and that it quits to the prompt.

can you please elaborate somewhat on the file "hostapd.conf" that you are
talking about ??

Even I checked for the file in the source and found only in
/Documentation/networking/mac80211_hwsim/hostapd.conf

So do I need to keep it some where else or how can I proceed.
And here below is the all about inside of "hostapd.conf" :

interface=wlan0
driver=nl80211

hw_mode=g
channel=1
ssid=mac80211 test

wpa=2
wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
wpa_pairwise=CCMP
wpa_passphrase=12345678

Waiting for your reply.

Thanks,
Sandipan.

[Jing Tang]

Dear dave:

      I am researching the WiFI access point in android, and installed linaro ICS(12-08),but can't open network share function.Google has supported that function in android sdk2.2+.

      Now I use android sdk4.1.1 and linxu kernel 3.2+, and think it should have the hostap driver.

      I can't motify linaro source,which has been compiled. so I don't know how to get the lianro androi souce and motify android code,could you give some advice for me.Thanks!

                          Jing