Provided by: plc-utils-extra_0.0.6+git20230504.1ba7d5a0-1_amd64 
NAME
int6kmod - Qualcomm Atheros Powerline Device Module Manager
SYNOPSIS
int6kmod [options] [device] [device] [...]
DESCRIPTION
Read or write Atheros custom powerline modules using VS_MODULE_OPERATION messages. Modules may be read
from a device and written to a file or read from a file and written to a device. Modules may have any of
several formats and purposes. Where the firmware permits, this program can now read modules in excess of
1400 bytes and can write multiple modules that exceed 1400 bytes in one operation.
This program is part of the Qualcomm Atheros Powerline Toolkit. See the plc man page for an overview and
installation instructions.
OPTIONS
-d Read the specified module from NVRAM and write to standard output in hexadecimal dump format. The
module is identified by module and sub-module using options -t and -s. Runtime firmware will
report an error if the module is not available. The session identifier is not required for a
module read operation and is ignored. The largest module that can be read is 1400 bytes. This
option and option -m are mutually exclusive.
-e Redirects stderr messages to stdout. By convention status and error messages are printed on
stderr while primary program output is printed on stdout. This option prints all output on stdout
in cases where this is desired.
-i interface
Select the host Ethernet interface. All requests are sent via this host interface and only
reponses received via this host interface are recognized. The default interface is eth1 because
most people use eth0 as their principle network connection; however, if environment string "PLC"
is defined then it takes precedence over the default interface. This option then takes precedence
over either default.
-m filename
Read the specified module from NVRAM and write it to the named file. The module is identified by
module and sub-module using options -t and -s. Runtime firmware will report an error if the
module is not available. The session identifier is not required for a module read operation and
is ignored. The largest module that can be read is 1400 bytes. This option and option -d are
mutually exclusive.
-M filename
Read the named module file and download it to the named device and commit NVRAM. The module is
assigned to a module and sub-module identifier using options -t and -s. Runtime firmware will
reject modules having invalid module and sub-mocule identifiers. Module files must be a multiple
of four bytes or an error will occur. As implemented, int6kmod will reject files exceeding 1400
bytes but this restriction will be removed in later versions.
-q Suppresses status messages on stderr.
-s sub-module-id
The sub-module identifier expressed as a 16-bit hexadecimal value with optional 0x prefix. This
identifier indicates a specific module with the module class specified using option -t. Any
16-bit value is permitted but only certain values are accepted by device firmware depending on
firmware type and revision. The default value is 0x0000.
-S session-id
The session identifier expressed as a 32-bit hexadecimal value with optional 0x prefix. The
session identifier value is arbitrary and so any 32-bit value is permitted but 0x00000000 and
0xFFFFFFFF are illegal. The 0x prefix is optional for this argument. The default session-id is
0x78563412.
-t module-id
The module identifier expressed as a 16-bit hexadecimal value with optional 0x prefix. This
identifier indicates the module type or class. Option -s indicates the specific member of a
module class. Any 16-bit value is permitted but only certain values will be accepted by device
firmware. The default value is 0x0000.
-v Print additional information on stdout. In particular, this option dumps incoming and outgoing
packets which can be saved as text files for reference.
-w Write settings to the device instead of reading settings from the device. If omitted then
settings are read from the device and displayed. If present, the user should specify all settings
to avoid writing default values to the device.
-?,--help
Print program help summary on stdout. This option takes precedence over other options on the
command line.
-?,--version
Print program version information on stdout. This option takes precedence over other options on
the command line. Use this option when sending screen dumps to Atheros Technical Support so that
they know exactly which version of the Linux Toolkit you are using.
ARGUMENTS
device The MAC address of some powerline device. More than one address may be specified on the command
line. If more than one address is specified then operations are performed on each device in turn.
The default address is local. See DEVICES for information.
DEVICES
Powerline devices use Ethernet Media Access Control (MAC) addresses. A MAC address is a 48-bit value
entered as 12 hexadecimal digits in upper, lower or mixed character case. Octets may be separated with
colons for clarity. For example, "00b052000001", "00:b0:52:00:00:01" and "00b052:000001" are valid and
equivalent.
The following MAC addresses are special and may be entered by name instead of number.
all Same as "broadcast".
broadcast
A synonym for the Ethernet broadcast address, FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF. All devices, whether local,
remote or foreign recognize messages sent to this address. A remote device is any device at the
far end of a powerline connection. A foreign device is any device not manufactured by Atheros.
local A synonym for the Qualcomm Atheros vendor specific Local Management Address (LMA),
00:B0:52:00:00:01. All local Atheros devices recognize this address but remote and foreign
devices do not. A remote device is any device at the far end of a powerline connection. A
foreign device is any device not manufactured by Atheros.
REFERENCES
See the Qualcomm Atheros HomePlug AV Firmware Technical Reference Manual for more information.
DISCLAIMER
Atheros HomePlug AV Vendor Specific Management Message structure and content is proprietary to Qualcomm
Atheros, Ocala FL USA. Consequently, public information is not available. Qualcomm Atheros reserves the
right to modify message structure or content in future firmware releases without any obligation to notify
or compensate users of this program.
EXAMPLES
The following command reads module file abc.bin and writes it to the local device. The module identifier
0x1000 indicates that it is an MDIO Init module. The sub-module identifer defaults to 0x0000 because
option -s is omitted. The session identifier defaults to 0x78563412 because option -S is omitted. The
operation takes place in three steps. The last step may take 2 or 3 seconds to complete.
# int6kmod -M abc.bin -t 0x1000
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Request Session
eth1 00:B0:52:BE:EF:03 Request Granted
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Write abc.bin
eth1 00:B0:52:BE:EF:03 Written
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Commit Modules
eth1 00:B0:52:BE:EF:03 Committed
The next example does the same thing but writes module file def.bin to remote device 00:B0:52:BA:BE:02.
The module identifier 0x4000 indicates that it is an Advanced Power Management uC module. The session
identifier used is 0xA5A5A5A5. The sub-module identifer defaults to 0x0000 because option -s is omitted.
# int6kmod -M def.bin -t 0x4000 -S A5A5A5A5 00:B0:52:BA:BE:02
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Request Session
eth1 00:B0:52:BE:EF:03 Request Granted
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Write abc.bin
eth1 00:B0:52:BE:EF:03 Written
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Commit Modules
eth1 00:B0:52:BE:EF:03 Committed
The next example reads back the module written in the first example and saves it in file zyx.bin.
# int6kmod -m xyz.bin -t 0x1000
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Read zyx.bin
eth1 00:B0:52:BE:EF:03 Read
SEE ALSO
plc(1), int6kmdio(1), int6kmdio2(1), mdioblock(1), mdioblock2(1), mdiodump(1), mdiogen(1)
CREDITS
Charles Maier
open-plc-utils-0.0.3 November 2013 int6kmod(1)