iBlitzz BWU613SB

Hi there!

Just got this merry little gizmo for christmas here. :) It's a
"Wireless USB Adapter". The products page is:

http://iblitzz.com/Product/spec.asp?mn=BWU613&spec=open

From there they provide a windows driver *and* a Linux driver. The
linux driver is a snapshot of the atmel driver from sourceforge, dated
20030522. However, the driver they provide *does not* work, oddly
enough. The USB ID for the device is not listed in config.h and adding
it doesn't solve anything.

So I went to that atmel driver site on sourceforge and found your
effort, and I figured I might try this one since it seems to support a
wider range of cards, and especially the intersil drivers. As the
guide says at the above URL, it seems it is needed for the card to
work at all.

So I downloaded a snapshot of the CVS this morning (28-12-2003, I
started this procedure a while ago.. :). Compiled it against my Debian
standard kernel image:

Linux clementine.anarcat.ath.cx 2.4.23-1-686 #1 Sun Nov 30 20:51:10 EST 2003 i686 GNU/Linux

So this is Debian unstable, with no patches applied. I have been able
to compile the driver cleanly after figuring out I needed the
kernel-source package installed, along with:

ln -s /usr/src/kernel-source* /usr/src/linux
ln -s /usr/src/linux /lib/modules/.../build
cp /boot/config* /usr/src/linux 
cd /usr/src/linux
make oldconfig
make dep

So the driver compiled and installed fine. But my device wasn't picked
up because the USB ID isn't listed (vend/prod 0x12fd/0x1001). So I
tried adding the magic lines in many files. The only one that seemed
to do it was:

#define VENDOR_ID_IBLITZZ             0x12fd
#define PRODUCT_ID_BWU613SB           0x1001

static struct usb_device_id dev_table[] = {
        { USB_DEVICE(VENDOR_ID_IBLITZZ,  PRODUCT_ID_BWU613SB          ) },

in at76c503-rfmd.c. The -acc.c didn't seem to work any better, and all
the others were giving odd warnings. I haven't been able to determine
the real chipset behind this device. The FCC id is Q8NAWU2000B, which
points to another company, AIN Communications. I can't figure out how
to link to the search page, but here is the exhibit page:

https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/cf/eas/reports/ViewExhibitReport.cfm?mode=Exhibits&RequestTimeout=500&calledFromFrame=N&application_id=423176&fcc_id='Q8NAWU2000B'

Of course, the AIN COMM website doesn't provide anything more useful
than the iBlitzz one. Indeed, both sites look religiously the same, in
terms of drivers and documentation:

http://www.aincomm.com.tw/prod_usb_awu2000b_feature.htm

Anyways, this compiles fine and the driver is now installed. When
Debian boots up, I see this in the logs:

Jan  5 12:15:20 clementine kernel: usbdfu.c: USB Device Firmware Upgrade (DFU) handler v0.12beta2 loading
Jan  5 12:15:20 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: Generic Atmel at76c503/at76c505 routines v0.12beta2
Jan  5 12:15:20 clementine kernel: at76c503-fw_skel.c: Atmel at76c503 (RFMD) Wireless LAN Driver v0.12beta2 loading
Jan  5 12:15:20 clementine kernel: usb.c: registered new driver at76c503-rfmd
Jan  5 12:15:20 clementine kernel: at76c503-fw_skel.c: using compiled-in firmware
Jan  5 12:15:20 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: $Id: at76c503.c,v 1.38 2003/12/27 00:03:35 jal2 Exp $ compiled Dec 28 2003 03:35:01
Jan  5 12:15:20 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: firmware version 1.101.0 #93 (fcs_len 4)
Jan  5 12:15:20 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: device's MAC 00:0d:2f:00:67:08, regulatory domain FCC (U.S) (id 16)
Jan  5 12:15:20 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: registered wlan0

Which looks ok, I guess. Disconnecting it gives me:

Jan  5 23:01:54 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: wlan0: get_cmd_status failed: -110
Jan  5 23:01:54 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: wlan0 start_scan completed with -110
Jan  5 23:01:54 clementine kernel: usb.c: USB disconnect on device 00:06.2-1 address 8
Jan  5 23:01:54 clementine kernel: at76c503-fw_skel.c: wlan0 disconnecting
Jan  5 23:01:54 clementine kernel: at76c503-fw_skel.c: at76c503-rfmd disconnected

And reconnection:

Jan  5 23:02:01 clementine kernel: at76c503-fw_skel.c: using compiled-in firmware
Jan  5 23:02:01 clementine kernel: hub.c: new USB device 00:06.2-1, assigned address 9
Jan  5 23:02:01 clementine kernel: at76c503-fw_skel.c: using compiled-in firmware
Jan  5 23:02:03 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: $Id: at76c503.c,v 1.38 2003/12/27 00:03:35 jal2 Exp $ compiled Dec 28 2003 03:35:01
Jan  5 23:02:03 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: firmware version 1.101.2 #84 (fcs_len 4)
Jan  5 23:02:03 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: device's MAC 00:0d:2f:00:67:08, regulatory domain FCC (U.S) (id 16)
Jan  5 23:02:03 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: registered wlan0
Jan  5 23:02:05 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: using BSSID 02:00:7c:f8:11:00

Now I'm stuck at trying to connect to the base station. Initially, the
card is configured in ad-hoc mode, and with a default essid, both of
which are wrong:

# iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11-DS  ESSID:"okuwlan"  Nickname:"okuwlan"
          Mode:Ad-Hoc  Channel:10  Cell: 02:00:7C:F8:11:00  
          Bit Rate:11Mb/s   
          RTS thr=1536 B   Fragment thr=1536 B   
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

Now I try to make it connect to the base station:

# iwconfig wlan0 essid raS6aexe nick raS6aexe channel 10 mode Managed rate auto 

This appears to do something, but doesn't bring me any closer:

# iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11-DS  ESSID:"raS6aexe"  Nickname:"raS6aexe"
          Mode:Managed  Channel:10  Access Point: 00:00:00:00:00:00  
          Bit Rate:11Mb/s   
          RTS thr=1536 B   Fragment thr=1536 B   
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

If I try ifconfig wlan0 up && ifconfig wlan0 192.168.1.37 (which is in
the correct subnet), I cannot ping the base station (192.168.1.254).

This is the correct essid, and I'm close enough to the base station. I
am able to connect to the station in windows98 using the iBlitzz
windows drivers, of course.

Now to the troubleshooting part. I can compile fine, I can start it
fine, I can iwconfig it fine, so I'm stuck at "trying to reach the
peer". The suggested method is:

      iwpriv wlan0 set_debug 0x180003
      iwconfig wlan0 essid raS6aexe

And this is the output:

Jan  5 23:09:25 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: wlan0 BSS table (curr=00000000, new=00000000):
Jan  5 23:09:26 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: wlan0 BSS table (curr=00000000, new=00000000):
Jan  5 23:09:26 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: wlan0: state 1 -> 6 (JOINING)
Jan  5 23:09:26 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: wlan0 find_matching_bss: returned 00000000
Jan  5 23:09:26 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: wlan0: state 6 -> 1 (SCANNING)

printed over and over again. The troubleshooting guide says this might
be because I tried at76c503-rfmd.c instead of at76c503-rfmd-acc.c

Trying this gives me a similar syslog output:

Jan  5 23:16:53 clementine kernel: hub.c: new USB device 00:06.2-1, assigned address 10
Jan  5 23:16:55 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: $Id: at76c503.c,v 1.38 2003/12/27 00:03:35 jal2 Exp $ compiled Dec 28 2003 03:35:01
Jan  5 23:16:55 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: firmware version 1.101.2 #84 (fcs_len 4)
Jan  5 23:16:55 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: device's MAC 00:0d:2f:00:67:08, regulatory domain FCC (U.S) (id 16)
Jan  5 23:16:55 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: registered wlan0
Jan  5 23:16:55 clementine ifplugd.hotplug[9393]: Invoking ifplugd for wlan0
Jan  5 23:16:57 clementine kernel: at76c503.c: using BSSID 02:00:55:7b:17:00
Jan  5 23:16:58 clementine kernel: at76c503-fw_skel.c: Atmel at76c503 (RFMD/Accton) Wireless LAN Driver v0.12beta2 loading
Jan  5 23:16:58 clementine kernel: usb.c: registered new driver at76c503-rfmd-acc

and doesn't achieve connection with the base station either (same
output as above).

I notice that "find_matching_bss" always returns 00000000, but I do
not understand the meaning of "If it always returns address 00000000,
check your driver parameters (earlier in the syslog)."

tcpdump -i wlan0 doesn't show any packets.

routing and arp tables look ok to me.

Running a tcpdump on the ethernet port does show up suspicious
packets, but I think it might be because of a routing problem. This is
a bit complex... :) I'm usually connected using a regular NIC on the
"other side" of the access point, on the 192.168.0.x subnet. When I
connect the laptop directly on the access point, on the 192.168.1.x
subnet, to get a sniff of the traffic, I think the packets get sent
out to the eth0 interface instead of the wlan0 interface.. But I can't
be sure unless I run tcpdump using an extra computer which I don't
have handy right now.. :(

This is the suspicious packet:

23:26:42.629986 802.1d config 8000.02:02:2d:b3:4e:f7.8000 root 8000.02:02:2d:b3:4e:f7 pathcost 0 age 0 max 8 hello 2 fdelay 5 

This is pretty much all I can do right now... I hope this is clear
enough... I am fully available for debugging, inserting printfs in
code and any other magic. :) I'm eager to see this thing work on
linux.

A.

PS: the only reference I could find about this device working on linux
is in this forum:

http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6190

and concerns Knoppix. Also, there is only a mention of the gizmo, and
no clear mention of "Greg" having successfully setup its BWU613SB
stick on knoppix.

-- 
Imagination is more important than knowledge
                        - Albert Einstein

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