Provided by: plc-utils-extra_0.0.6+git20230504.1ba7d5a0-1_amd64 
NAME
plcboot - Qualcomm Atheros Panther/Lynx Powerline Device Bootstrapper
SYNOPSIS
plcboot [options] -N file -P file [device] [device] [...]
DESCRIPTION
Download and start runtime firmware on a local powerline device when it is in bootloader mode. A
powerline device enters bootloader mode if it has not flash memory or cannot load firmware from flash
memory for some reason. You can use this progrm to start the device and then, optionally, permanently
write a softloader, parameters and firmware into flash memory.
Qualcomm Atheros introduced new boot methods with the Lightning chipset and new file formats and flash
methods with the Panther chipset. This program supports the newer formats and methods. It does not
support the older formats and methods. See programs int6kboot or ampboot to initialize earlier chipsets.
This program is part of the Qualcomm Atheros Powerline Toolkit. See the plc man page for an overview and
installation instructions.
OPTIONS
-e Redirects stderr messages to stdout. Normally, 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.
-F[F] Flash or Force Flash NVRAM using either VS_MOD_NVM or VS_MODULE_OPERATION. Adding a second F here
or another -F anywhere on the command line will force-flash a blank or corrupted NVRAM. Firmware
loaded from NVRAM may treat force-flash as an error, depending of the firmware version.
-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.
-N filename
The file containing the firmware chain used to boot and flash the device. This option and
argument are required when booting or flashing a device but may appear anywhere on the command
line. Invalid image files will be rejected. No assumptions are made about this file based on
filename and no filename conventions are enforced.
-P filename
The file containing the firmware chain used to boot and flash the device. This option and
argument are required when booting or flashing a device but may appear anywhere on the command
line. Invalid image files will be rejected. No assumptions are made about this file based on
filename and no filename conventions are enforced.
-q Suppresses status messages on stderr.
-S filename
The file containing the softloader chain used to flash the device. On prior versions of plcboot,
the presence of this option indicated that flash memory should be programmed but that is no longer
the case. You must now specify bot this option and option -F in order to program flash memory.
This option and argument are required when flashing a device but may appear anywhere on the
command line. Invalid image files will be rejected. No assumptions are made about this file
based on filename and no filename conventions are enforced.
-t milliseconds
Read timeout in milliseconds. Values range from 0 through UINT_MAX. This is the maximum time
allowed for a response. The default is shown in brackets on the program menu.
-v Prints additional information on stdout. In particular, this option dumps outgoing Ethernet
packets on stdout.
-?,--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 Ethernet hardware 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. as explained in the DEVICES section.
DEVICES
Powerline device addresses are 12 hexadecimal digits in upper, lower or mixed case. Individual octets
may be separated by colons, for clarity, but colons are not required. For example, "00b052000001",
"00:b0:52:00:00:01" and "00b052:000001" are valid and equivalent.
A local device is any Atheros Powerline Device connected directly to a host Ethernet interface. A remote
device is any Atheros Powerline Device at the far end of a powerline connection. A foreign device is any
powerline device not manufactured by Atheros.
Common device addresses have symbolic names that can be used in place of the actual address value. The
following symbolic addresses are recognized by this program and most other toolkit programs.
all Equivalent to "broadcast", described next.
broadcast
A synonym for the Ethernet broadcast address, FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF. All devices, whether local,
remote or foreign will respond to this address.
local A synonym for the Qualcomm Atheros Local Management Address (LMA), 00:B0:52:00:00:01. All local
Atheros devices will respond to this address but remote and foreign devices will not.
REFERENCES
See the Qualcomm Atheros HomePlug AV Firmware Technical Reference Manual for technical information. See
the Qualcomm Atheros Powerline Toolkit Online Documetation for practical information and examples.
EXAMPLES
This example boots a powerline device by downloading runtime parameters and firmware then starting
firmware execution. The actual boot method used will depend on the file formats and powerline device
type detected by the program. The output shown here is typical for panther and lynx chipsets. Option -P
and -N are required but their order is not important. Tne MAC address may be omitted beccause it will
default to 00:B0:52:00:00:01 which is also the default bootloader device address. On completion, runtime
firmware is executing in SDRAM but flash memory has not been programmed. If This operation is common for
flash-less devices. If we reset the device at this point then it will return to bootloader mode.
# plcboot -P AR7420.pib -N AR7400.nvm
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 BootLoader is running
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Write AR7420.nvm (1) (0x00000040:6212)
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Start AR7420.nvm (1) (0x000000C0)
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Write AR7420.pib (1) (0x00200000:10904)
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Write AR7420.nvm (5) (0x002B610C:281252)
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Start AR7420.nvm (5) (0x002B64FC)
eth1 00:B0:52:BA:BE:88 MAC-QCA7420ES-0.9.0.278-0-20110914-INTERNAL is running
The next example boots a device, as before, then flashes the same parameters and firmware into non-
volatile memory attached to the device. Observe that a softloader is required and will be written to
flash memory before runtime parameters and firmware. The softloader need only be written once when first
programming a blank flash memory. Option -FF is optional but permitted for backward compatibility with
programs ampboot and int6kboot.
# plcboot -P AR7420.pib -N AR7400.nvm -S AR7420-softloader.nvm -FF
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Write AR7420.nvm (1) (00000040:6212)
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Start AR7420.nvm (1) (000000C0)
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Write AR7420.pib (1) (00200000:11692)
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Write AR7420.nvm (5) (002B6A4C:282444)
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Start AR7420.nvm (5) (002B6E3C)
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:06 MAC-QCA7420ES-1.0.0.280-00-20110923-ALPHA is running
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:06 Start Session
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:06 Flash AR7420-softloader.nvm
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:06 Close Session
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:06 Start Session
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:06 Flash AR7420.pib
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:06 Flash AR7420.nvm
eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:06 Close Session
DISCLAIMER
Qualcomm Atheros firmware file structure and content is proprietary to Qualcomm Atheros, Ocala FL USA.
Consequently, public information is not available. Qualcomm Atheros reserves the right to change
firmware file structure or content or change the name or behavior of any program that inspects or changes
firmware files, in future software releases without any obligation to notify or compensate users of such
programs. Qualcomm Atheros HomePlug AV Vendor Specific Management Message structure and content is
proprietary to Qualcomm Atheros, Ocala FL USA. Consequently, public information may not be available.
Aualcomm Atheros reserves the right to modify message structure and content in future firmware releases
without any obligation to notify or compensate users of this program.
SEE ALSO
ampboot(1), amptool(1), chknvm(1), chkpib(1), int6kboot(1), modpib(1), plctool(1)
CREDITS
Charles Maier
open-plc-utils-0.0.3 November 2013 plcboot(1)