NAME

       int6ktest - Qualcomm Atheros Test Applet Loader

SYNOPSIS

       int6ktest [options] [file] [file] [...]

DESCRIPTION

       Download  and  execute  one  or  more  test  applets on the local powerline device.  An applet is a small
       firmware image that can be started by the bootloader and that returns to the bootloader when done.

       An Atheros image file can contain one or more firmware images.  Each image is preceded by a  header  that
       specifies  the  image size, load address and start address.  int6ktest sequentially dowloads and executes
       each image found in each image file specified as a command line argument.  It waits  for  each  image  to
       complete  before  it will download and execute the next image.  The program terminates once all images in
       all image files have been executed or some image fails to complete within 60 seconds.

       Most applets return to the Bootloader on successful completion so that another applet can  be  downloaded
       and  executed.   This  allows applet chains to be executed using one command.  A chain may consist of one
       image file containing many applets or several image files containing one applet each or any  combination.
       The chain will break, after a timeout, if any applet in the chain fails to return to the Bootloader.

       The  toolkit  contains a set of useful applets in folder applets.  Most, if not all, are as single applet
       image files.  Program chknvm can be used to inspect image files and programs nvmmerge and nvmsplit can be
       used to assemble and disassemble multi-applet image files.   This  allows  custom  applet  chains  to  be
       created  and  kept  together  in  one  file.   The  number and quality of available applets will probably
       increase with time.

       Users should take the time to understand the applets they attempt to execute  or  confusion  may  result.
       Each  applet  should  have an associated man page to explain what it does and how it works.  Most applets
       execute and return to the bootloader within seconds but some loop indefinitely or stop on failure.  Newer
       applets print test progress and outcomes on the console but older applets merely  flash  device  LEDs  to
       indicate test progress and outcomes.

       This program is part of the Qualcomm Atheros Powerline Toolkit.  See the plc man page for an overview and
       installation instructions.

COMMENTS

       This  program  is  an  alternative to program amptest but is deprecated.  In the future, applet designers
       should develop applets for amptest instead of this program.

OPTIONS

       -c count
              The number of times the program will poll the device  before  declaring  an  event  failure.   The
              program  will  wait  a  fixed  period  of  time  between  each poll attempt.  Overall wait time is
              count/frequency where count can be  modified  using  option  -c.   Overall  wait  time  is  always
              approximate  since  operating system overhead and latency are not taken into account.  The default
              count is 60.

       -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.

       -l     Sequentially execute and re-execute all applets in all files on the command line until the program
              is terminated with ^C.

       -p frequency
              The polling frequency expressed in polls-per-second.  For example, 1 means one poll per second and
              10 means ten polls per second.  Overall wait time is count/frequency where count may  be  modified
              using  option  -c.   Overall  wait  time is always approximate since operating system overhead and
              latency are not taken into account.  The default frequency is 5.

       -q     Suppresses normal progress and status messages.

       -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     Print  additional  information  on stdout.  Specifically, this option prints incoming and outgoing
              frames in hexadecimal format on stdout.  Output can be directed to a text file for analysis.

       -x     Cause the program to exit on the first error instead of moving on to the next applet.  Error exits
              return a non-zero value to the shell.

       -?, --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

       file   The  name  of  an  Atheros image file.  The image file may contain one or more images.  Each image
              will be downloaded and executed in turn until all images are executed or an image fails to  return
              the device to the Bootloader within 1 hour for some reason.

EXAMPLES

       The  following  example  sequentially  downloads  then executes each image in file abc.nvm in turn.  Each
       image must complete and return to the bootloader before the next one downloads.  Observe that  no  device
       address  is needed because Atheros powerline devices all use address 00:b0:52:00:00:01 when in bootloader
       mode.

          # int6ktest abc.nvm

       The following example will sequentially download and execute the images in each file abc.nvm, def.nvm and
       ghi.nvm in turn.

          # int6ktest abc.nvm def.nvm ghi.nvm

DISCLAIMER

       Atheros image 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  file  structure  or
       content in future firmware releases without any obligation to notify or compensate users of this program.
       This  program  is  reserved  for  use  by  Atheros  Field  Engineers.   Use of this program may void some
       contractual obligations made by Atheros.

SEE ALSO

       chknvm(1), chknvm2(1), amptest(1), nvmsplit(1), nvmmerge(1), plctest(1), setnvm(1)

CREDITS

        Charles Maier

open-plc-utils-0.0.3                              November 2013                                     int6ktest(1)