PandaBoard WiFi

[Wayne C. Gramlich]

All:

I'm working with Bill Benson to bring up a robot that uses the
PandaBoard for the main brain. We followed Ralph's instructions
and got the Pandaboard image installed on a 4GB memory card.
It boots and we can log on.

We want to fire up the Wi-Fi. Here a bunch of questions:

1) Where does wpa_supplicant come from. I tried to do
"sudo apt-get install wpa_supplicant" and got discovered
that apt-get is not present.

2) Are we going to need an antenna? or can we get some limited
range without installing an antenna? Where should we get an
antenna from?

3) Will I be able to set a static IP address for the PandaBoard
using wpa_supplicant?

4) Will I be able to configure the PandaBoard to try multiple
SSID's for connecting to a router?

I'm sure other questions will arise, but I just wanted to start
the conversation.

The long term goal is to control the platform using Python. We
want to use X-Windows to run a Python IDE on the PandaBoard
but see the windows show up on Bill's MacBook Pro.

Regards,

-Wayne

[Ralph Gnauck]

Wayne,
See answers below

Ralph

---

From: Wayne C. Gramlich <wayne.gra...@gmail.com>
To: RobotRefPlatform <robotrefere...@googlegroups.com>
Cc: Wayne C. Gramlich <wayne.gra...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tue, August 21, 2012 5:56:17 PM
Subject: [RobotRefPlatform] PandaBoard WiFi

All:

I'm working with Bill Benson to bring up a robot that uses the
PandaBoard for the main brain.  We followed Ralph's instructions
and got the Pandaboard image installed on a 4GB memory card.
It boots and we can log on.

We want to fire up the Wi-Fi.  Here a bunch of questions:

1) Where does wpa_supplicant come from.  I tried to do
    "sudo apt-get install wpa_supplicant" and got discovered
    that apt-get is not present.

Use:
sudo apt-get install wpasupplicant

No underscore!!!

 

apt-get should be there if you installed using my build instructions, especially if you completed all steps to include the kernel and TI Extras, apt-get is used in those steps.
 it was one of main criteria for the build!!!

 

wpa_supplicant.conf is the file you edit, it may not be their but I thought there was a default one, it should be in /etc

If you cant find wpa_supplicant.conf just create one with vi

(see examples below)

2) Are we going to need an antenna?  or can we get some limited
    range without installing an antenna?  Where should we get an
    antenna from?

 

Don't think you need an antenna, it has a built in chip antenna on the board but an external one  may help,
I am using a salvaged one from a broken wireless audio system.

This link has part numbers for a compatible ant.  I think any 2.4Ghz uf.l dipole would work

http://www.lsr.com/downloads/products/330-0045.pdf
( you need both the cable and antenna)

3) Will I be able to set a static IP address for the PandaBoard
    using wpa_supplicant?

 

Yes, but you don't do it in wpa_supplicant.conf, that just defines wireless security, you use /etc/networking/interfaces to set up IP address information

4) Will I be able to configure the PandaBoard to try multiple
    SSID's for connecting to a router?

 

I think so but haven't tried it, I have multiple configurations set and manual edit the file to enable/disable the one I want to use.

 
------------- Snip - example wpa_supplicant.conf --------------------------

# ap_scan=0 Driver does the scanning, 1  Normal Visible AP, 2 Hidden AP
ap_scan=1

# WPA2 based security with private pre shared key
network={
        disabled=0
        ssid="<Yo ssiid>"
        mode=0
        proto=RSN
        auth_alg=OPEN
        pairwise=CCMP
        key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
        scan_ssid=0
        psk=<big long hex string here for security key>

# see man wpa_passphrase for generating the key to include above
# eg:  wpa_passphrase <ssid> [passphrase]
# it will spit out the key to put in this file based on your SSID and the pass phrase you want to use

}

-----------------End Sample ----------------

you can repeat the network section above for each network you want to use

BTW: Ubuntu now have pre-built images for the panda for both headless and full GUI(desktop) builds.

 

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ARM/OMAP

 

I just upgraded my distribution using the headless (server) version 12.04 (precise pangolin) and it has gone pretty smoothly.

 

You still need to add a  bunch of extra stuff to get all of the TI supported graphics etc running.

 

I will try to update my instructions to using this approach soon.

[Wayne C. Gramlich]

Ralph:

Thanks for the quick response. I'll try and bring Bill's robot
to the SIG. Maybe we can spend a couple of minutes configurating...

Regards,

-Wayne

On 08/21/2012 09:57 PM, Ralph Gnauck wrote:
>
> Wayne,
> See answers below
>
> Ralph

[snippage]

[Ralph Gnauck]

NP, see you there.

Ralph

---

From: Wayne C. Gramlich <wayne.gra...@gmail.com>

To: robotrefere...@googlegroups.com

Cc: Wayne C. Gramlich <wayne.gra...@gmail.com>

Sent: Tue, August 21, 2012 10:10:22 PM
Subject: Re: [RobotRefPlatform] PandaBoard WiFi

[Osman Eralp]

Here is some more info on Q's 2 and 3:

2. Without an antenna, I've accessed my PandaBoard wirelessly at distances of 20 ft. So, no you don't need an antenna if the PandaBoard is close by.

3. Here is a /etc/network/interface file that will give you a static address:

# The loopback network interface

auto lo

iface lo inet loopback

# The primary network interface

#iface eth0 inet dhcp

auto eth0

iface eth0 inet static

        address 192.168.1.100

        netmask 255.255.255.0

        broadcast 192.168.1.255

        gateway 192.168.1.1

--Osman