Provided by: plc-utils-extra_0.0.6+git20250517.7fb8ac5-1_amd64 
NAME
int6kwait - Qualcomm Atheros INT6x00 Powerline Device Procrastinator
SYNOPSIS
int6kwait [options] [device] [device] [...]
DESCRIPTION
Poll a Qualcomm Atheros powerline device, waiting for one or more events to occur before continuing or
returning. The events include reset or power off, restart or power on and network association. It is
used to pause shell scripts at critical points where a device must be in a known state before continuing.
This program is part of the Qualcomm Atheros Powerline Toolkit. See the plc man page for an overview and
installation instructions.
OPTIONS
-a Poll the device every few seconds using VS_NW_INFO messages until the device indicates that a
networks exists and has at least one station. This option can give false readings if other
devices have dropped off-line and the device bridging table still holds information about them.
The program always checks for this event last if other event options are specified.
-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 300.
-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.
-f firmware
The identification string for firmware that should be running after the device starts. This
option can be used to detect a failed firmware load. If the actual identification string does not
match this one once the device starts then an error is reported. If option -x is present then the
program terminates with a non-zero exit code. This option has no effect unless option -s is
present. An identification string looks like "INT6000-MAC-3-1-3143-1690-20071107-FINAL-B" and can
be obtained using int6k -r.
-i 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.
-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 Enter quiet mode. Progress messages are suppressed.
-r Poll the device every few seconds using VS_SW_VER messages until the bootloader or runtime
firmware fails to respond or the poll count exhausts. The absence of a response indicates that
the device either lost connection to the host, lost power or has reset. The program always checks
for this event first when other events are specified.
-R Reset the device then check return status. Exit program on error if option -x is present;
otherwise, repeat the reset request until the device either accepts the request or the wait time
is exceeded.
-s Poll the device every few seconds using VS_SW_VER messages until the bootloader or runtime
firmware responds or the poll count exhausts. The presence of a response indicates that the
device has either connected to the host, received power or finished reboot.
-t Display the actual time in seconds taken for successful completion, or waited for unsuccessful
completion, of ecah event.
-v Enter verbose mode. All Etherenet frames sent or received by the program are displayed on stdout.
-w seconds
Additional time to wait once all events have occured. This wait does not occur if any of the
events timeout. When no other events are specified this option is effectively equivalent to
sleep. This option can be used to allow the device or the network to settle. For example, a
nominal 5 second wait is recommended after a device successfully associates before attempting to
transfer data.
-x Exit program on first error with a non-zero exit code. This option allows shell scripts to detect
failed or incomplete operations and take the appropriate action.
-?, --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 Media Access Control (MAC) address of some device. Addresses are 6 hexadecimal octets
optionally separated by colon. For example, the addresses "00b052000001", "00:b0:52:00:00:01" and
"00b052:000001" are all valid and equivalent. For convenience, the symbolic address "local"
resolves to "00:b0:52:00:00:01" and the symbolic addresses "all" and "broadcast" both resolve to
"ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff".
REFERENCES
See the Qualcomm Atheros HomePlug AV Firmware Technical Reference Manual for more information.
DISCLAIMER
Atheros HomePlug AV Vendor Specific Management Message Entry structure and content is proprietary to
Qualcomm Atheros, Ocala FL USA. Consequently, public information may not be available. Qualcomm 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.
EXAMPLES
The following command polls the local device until firmware stops running then polls the device until
firmware starts running again. This command can be inserted into a shell script at a point where the
device must reset and reboot before proceeding. Observer that the program waits up to 60 seconds for
each event, in turn. The 60 seconds is the product of 60 poll attempts spaced 1 second apart.
# int6kwait -rs
eth0 00:B0:52:BA:BA:01 Allow 60 seconds for Reset
eth0 00:B0:52:BA:BA:01 Allow 60 seconds for Start
The following example specifies 5 poll attempts spaced 10 seconds apart. Less frequent polling reduces
network traffic but makes the program less responsive to events. Observe that the allotted time applies
to each event in turn.
# int6kwait -rs -p 10 -c 5
eth0 00:B0:52:BA:BA:01 Allow 50 seconds for Reset
eth0 00:B0:52:BA:BA:01 Allow 50 seconds for Start
The next example reports the actual amount of time taken for each event to occur. Observe that the last
event, device association, did not occur within the allotted time.
# int6kwait -rsat
eth0 00:B0:52:BA:BA:01 Allow 60 seconds for Reset
etho 00:B0:52:BA:BA:01 Waited 22 seconds to Reset
eth0 00:B0:52:BA:BA:01 Allow 60 seconds for Start
etho 00:B0:52:BA:BA:01 Waited 4 seconds to Start
eth0 00:B0:52:BA:BA:01 Allow 60 seconds for Assoc
etho 00:B0:52:BA:BA:01 Waited 60 seconds for Assoc
etho 00:B0:52:BA:BA:01 Device did not Assoc
The following example illustrates use of the revision string to detect mismatched firmware. In this
example, we reset the device first, using program int6k, then wait for it to reset then start up again.
There are also operation that can cause the device to reset.
# int6k -R
# int6kwait -xrsf INT6000-MAC-3-1-3143-1690-20071107-FINAL-B
eth0 00:B0:52:BA:BA:01 Device started wrong firmware
Immediately after a reset we wait for the firmware to stop responding, with option -r, and then start
responding, with option -s, and then perform a string comparison against the actual firmware revision
string, with option -f. If the strings do not match then an error is reported. In this case, the
program will exit with a non-zero return code since option -x is present.
DISCLAIMER
Atheros HomePlug AV Vendor Specific Management Message Entry structure and content is proprietary to
Qualcomm Atheros, Ocala FL USA. Consequently, public information may not be available. Qualcomm 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
plc(1), int6k(1), int6kf(1), int6khost(1), int6kid(1), int6krate(1), int6krule(1), int6kstat(1)
CREDITS
Charles Maier
open-plc-utils-0.0.3 November 2013 int6kwait(1)