RUM(4) BSD Kernel Interfaces Manual RUM(4)NAMErum — Ralink Technology USB IEEE 802.11a/b/g wireless network device
SYNOPSIS
rum* at uhub? port ?
DESCRIPTION
The rum driver supports USB 2.0 wireless adapters based on the Ralink
RT2501USB and RT2601USB chipsets.
The RT2501USB chipset is the second generation of 802.11a/b/g adapters
from Ralink. It consists of two integrated chips, an RT2571W MAC/BBP and
an RT2528 or RT5226 radio transceiver.
The RT2601USB chipset consists of two integrated chips, an RT2671 MAC/BBP
and an RT2527 or RT5225 radio transceiver. This chipset uses the MIMO
(multiple-input multiple-output) technology with multiple antennas to
extend the operating range of the adapter and to achieve higher through‐
put. MIMO is the basis of the forthcoming IEEE 802.11n standard.
These are the modes the rum driver can operate in:
BSS mode Also known as infrastructure mode, this is used when asso‐
ciating with an access point, through which all traffic
passes. This mode is the default.
IBSS mode Also known as IEEE ad-hoc mode or peer-to-peer mode. This
is the standardized method of operating without an access
point. Stations associate with a service set. However,
actual connections between stations are peer-to-peer.
Host AP In this mode the driver acts as an access point (base sta‐
tion) for other cards.
monitor mode In this mode the driver is able to receive packets without
associating with an access point. This disables the
internal receive filter and enables the card to capture
packets from networks which it wouldn't normally have
access to, or to scan for access points.
rum supports software WEP. Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is the de
facto encryption standard for wireless networks. It can be typically
configured in one of three modes: no encryption; 40-bit encryption; or
104-bit encryption. Unfortunately, due to serious weaknesses in WEP pro‐
tocol it is strongly recommended that it not be used as the sole mecha‐
nism to secure wireless communication. WEP is not enabled by default.
CONFIGURATION
The rum driver can be configured at runtime with ifconfig(8) or on boot
with ifconfig.if(5) using the following parameters:
bssid bssid
Set the desired BSSID.
-bssid Unset the desired BSSID. The interface will automatically select
a BSSID in this mode, which is the default.
chan n Set the channel (radio frequency) to be used by the driver based
on the given channel ID n.
-chan Unset the desired channel to be used by the driver. The driver
will automatically select a channel in this mode, which is the
default.
media media
The rum driver supports the following media types:
autoselect Enable autoselection of the media type and options.
DS1 Set 802.11b DS 1Mbps operation.
DS2 Set 802.11b DS 2Mbps operation.
DS5 Set 802.11b DS 5.5Mbps operation.
DS11 Set 802.11b DS 11Mbps operation.
OFDM6 Set 802.11a/g OFDM 6Mbps operation.
OFDM9 Set 802.11a/g OFDM 9Mbps operation.
OFDM12 Set 802.11a/g OFDM 12Mbps operation.
OFDM18 Set 802.11a/g OFDM 18Mbps operation.
OFDM24 Set 802.11a/g OFDM 24Mbps operation.
OFDM36 Set 802.11a/g OFDM 36Mbps operation.
OFDM48 Set 802.11a/g OFDM 48Mbps operation.
OFDM54 Set 802.11a/g OFDM 54Mbps operation.
mediaopt opts
The rum driver supports the following media options:
hostap Select Host AP operation.
ibss Select IBSS operation.
monitor Select monitor mode.
-mediaopt opts
Disable the specified media options on the driver and return it
to the default mode of operation (BSS).
mode mode
The rum driver supports the following modes:
11a Force 802.11a operation.
11b Force 802.11b operation.
11g Force 802.11g operation.
nwid id
Set the network ID. The id can either be any text string up to
32 characters in length, or a series of hexadecimal digits up to
64 digits. An empty id string allows the interface to connect to
any available access points. By default the rum driver uses an
empty string. Note that network ID is synonymous with Extended
Service Set ID (ESSID).
nwkey key
Enable WEP encryption using the specified key. The key can
either be a string, a series of hexadecimal digits (preceded by
‘0x’), or a set of keys of the form “n:k1,k2,k3,k4”, where ‘n’
specifies which of the keys will be used for transmitted packets,
and the four keys, “k1” through “k4”, are configured as WEP keys.
If a set of keys is specified, a comma (‘,’) within the key must
be escaped with a backslash. Note that if multiple keys are
used, their order must be the same within the network. rum is
capable of using both 40-bit (5 characters or 10 hexadecimal dig‐
its) or 104-bit (13 characters or 26 hexadecimal digits) keys.
-nwkey Disable WEP encryption. This is the default mode of operation.
FILES
The following firmware file is loaded when an interface is brought up:
/libdata/firmware/rum/rum-rt2573
See firmload(9) for how to change this.
HARDWARE
The following adapters should work:
Airlink101 AWLL5025
ASUS WL-167g ver 2
Belkin F5D7050 ver 3
Belkin F5D9050 ver 3
CNet CWD-854 ver F
Conceptronic C54RU ver 2
D-Link DWL-G122 rev C1
D-Link WUA-1340
Edimax EW-7318USG
Gigabyte GN-WB01GS
Hawking HWUG1
LevelOne WNC-0301USB
Linksys WUSB54G rev C
Planex GW-USMM
Senao NUB-3701
Sitecom WL-113 ver 2
Sitecom WL-172
TP-LINK TL-WN321G
EXAMPLES
The following ifconfig.if(5) example configures rum0 to join whatever
network is available on boot, using WEP key “0x1deadbeef1”, channel 11:
inet 192.168.1.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 nwkey 0x1deadbeef1 chan 11
The following ifconfig.if(5) example creates a host-based access point on
boot:
inet 192.168.1.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 media autoselect \
mediaopt hostap nwid my_net chan 11
Configure rum0 for WEP, using hex key “0x1deadbeef1”:
# ifconfig rum0 nwkey 0x1deadbeef1
Return rum0 to its default settings:
# ifconfig rum0 -bssid -chan media autoselect \
nwid "" -nwkey
Join an existing BSS network, “my_net”:
# ifconfig rum0 192.168.1.1 netmask 0xffffff00 nwid my_net
DIAGNOSTICS
rum%d: failed loadfirmware of file %s For some reason, the driver was
unable to read the microcode file from the filesystem. The file might be
missing or corrupted.
rum%d: could not load 8051 microcode An error occurred while attempting
to upload the microcode to the onboard 8051 microcontroller unit.
rum%d: device timeout A frame dispatched to the hardware for transmis‐
sion did not complete in time. The driver will reset the hardware. This
should not happen.
SEE ALSOarp(4), ifmedia(4), netintro(4), usb(4), ifconfig.if(5), hostapd(8),
ifconfig(8), firmload(9)
Ralink Technology: http://www.ralinktech.com
HISTORY
The rum driver first appeared in NetBSD 4.0 and OpenBSD 4.0.
AUTHORS
The rum driver was written by Niall O'Higgins ⟨niallo@openbsd.org⟩ and
Damien Bergamini ⟨damien@openbsd.org⟩.
CAVEATS
The rum driver supports automatic control of the transmit speed in BSS
mode only. Therefore the use of a rum adapter in Host AP mode is dis‐
couraged.
BSD February 7, 2007 BSD
