path: root/static/freebsd/man4/ral.4 3.html

<table class="head">
  <tr>
    <td class="head-ltitle">RAL(4)</td>
    <td class="head-vol">Device Drivers Manual</td>
    <td class="head-rtitle">RAL(4)</td>
  </tr>
</table>
<div class="manual-text">
<section class="Sh">
<h1 class="Sh" id="NAME"><a class="permalink" href="#NAME">NAME</a></h1>
<p class="Pp"><code class="Nm">ral</code> &#x2014; <span class="Nd">Ralink
    Technology IEEE 802.11a/g/n wireless network driver</span></p>
</section>
<section class="Sh">
<h1 class="Sh" id="SYNOPSIS"><a class="permalink" href="#SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></h1>
<p class="Pp">To compile this driver into the kernel, place the following lines
    in your kernel configuration file:</p>
<div class="Bd Pp Bd-indent"><code class="Cd">device ral</code>
<br/>
<code class="Cd">device ralfw</code>
<br/>
<code class="Cd">device wlan</code>
<br/>
<code class="Cd">device wlan_amrr</code>
<br/>
<code class="Cd">device firmware</code></div>
<p class="Pp">Alternatively, to load the driver as a module at boot time, place
    the following line in <a class="Xr">loader.conf(5)</a>:</p>
<div class="Bd Pp Bd-indent Li">
<pre>if_ral_load=&quot;YES&quot;</pre>
</div>
</section>
<section class="Sh">
<h1 class="Sh" id="DESCRIPTION"><a class="permalink" href="#DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></h1>
<p class="Pp">The <code class="Nm">ral</code> driver supports PCI/PCIe/CardBus
    wireless adapters based on the Ralink RT2500, RT2501, RT2600, RT2700,
    RT2800, RT3090 and RT3900E chipsets.</p>
<p class="Pp">The RT2500 chipset is the first generation of 802.11b/g adapters
    from Ralink. It consists of two integrated chips, an RT2560 MAC/BBP and an
    RT2525 radio transceiver.</p>
<p class="Pp">The RT2501 chipset is the second generation of 802.11a/b/g
    adapters from Ralink. It consists of two integrated chips, an RT2561 MAC/BBP
    and an RT2527 radio transceiver. This chipset provides support for the IEEE
    802.11e standard with multiple hardware transmission queues and allows
    scatter/gather for efficient DMA operations.</p>
<p class="Pp">The RT2600 chipset consists of two integrated chips, an RT2661
    MAC/BBP and an RT2529 radio transceiver. This chipset uses the MIMO
    (multiple-input multiple-output) technology with multiple radio transceivers
    to extend the operating range of the adapter and to achieve higher
    throughput. However, the RT2600 chipset does not support any of the 802.11n
    features.</p>
<p class="Pp">The RT2700 chipset is a low-cost version of the RT2800 chipset. It
    supports a single transmit path and two receiver paths (1T2R). It consists
    of two integrated chips, an RT2760 or RT2790 (PCIe) MAC/BBP and an RT2720
    (2.4GHz) or RT2750 (2.4GHz/5GHz) radio transceiver.</p>
<p class="Pp">The RT2800 chipset is the first generation of 802.11n adapters
    from Ralink. It consists of two integrated chips, an RT2860 or RT2890 (PCIe)
    MAC/BBP and an RT2820 (2.4GHz) or RT2850 (2.4GHz/5GHz) radio transceiver.
    The RT2800 chipset supports two transmit paths and up to three receiver
    paths (2T2R/2T3R). It can achieve speeds up to 144Mbps (20MHz bandwidth) and
    300Mbps (40MHz bandwidth.)</p>
<p class="Pp">The RT3090 chipset is the first generation of single-chip 802.11n
    adapters from Ralink. <code class="Nm">ral</code> supports
    <code class="Cm">station</code>, <code class="Cm">adhoc</code>,
    <code class="Cm">hostap</code>, <code class="Cm">mesh</code>,
    <code class="Cm">wds</code>, and <code class="Cm">monitor</code> mode
    operation. Only one <code class="Cm">hostap</code> or
    <code class="Cm">mesh</code> virtual interface may be configured at a time.
    Any number of <code class="Cm">wds</code> virtual interfaces may be
    configured together with a <code class="Cm">hostap</code> interface.
    Multiple <code class="Cm">station</code> interfaces may be operated together
    with a <code class="Cm">hostap</code> interface to construct a wireless
    repeater device.</p>
<p class="Pp">The RT3900E chipset is a single-chip 802.11n adapters from Ralink.
    The MAC/Baseband Processor can be an RT5390 or RT5392. The RT5390 chip
    operates in the 2GHz spectrum and supports 1 transmit path and 1 receiver
    path (1T1R). The RT5392 chip operates in the 2GHz spectrum and supports up
    to 2 transmit paths and 2 receiver paths (2T2R).</p>
<p class="Pp">The transmit speed is user-selectable or can be adapted
    automatically by the driver depending on the number of hardware transmission
    retries. For more information on configuring this device, see
    <a class="Xr">ifconfig(8)</a>.</p>
</section>
<section class="Sh">
<h1 class="Sh" id="HARDWARE"><a class="permalink" href="#HARDWARE">HARDWARE</a></h1>
<p class="Pp">The <code class="Nm">ral</code> driver supports PCI/PCIe/CardBus
    wireless adapters based on Ralink Technology chipsets, including:</p>
<p class="Pp"></p>
<table class="Bl-column Bd-indent Bl-compact">
  <tr id="Card">
    <td><a class="permalink" href="#Card"><i class="Em">Card</i></a></td>
    <td><a class="permalink" href="#MAC/BBP"><i class="Em" id="MAC/BBP">MAC/BBP</i></a></td>
    <td><a class="permalink" href="#Bus"><i class="Em" id="Bus">Bus</i></a></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>A-Link WL54H</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>A-Link WL54PC</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>AirLink101 AWLC5025</td>
    <td>RT2661</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>AirLink101 AWLH5025</td>
    <td>RT2661</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Amigo AWI-914W</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Amigo AWI-922W</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>mini-PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Amigo AWI-926W</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>AMIT WL531C</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>AMIT WL531P</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>AOpen AOI-831</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>ASUS WL-107G</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>ASUS WL-130g</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Atlantis Land A02-PCI-W54</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Atlantis Land A02-PCM-W54</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Belkin F5D7000 v3</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Belkin F5D7010 v2</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Billionton MIWLGRL</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>mini-PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Canyon CN-WF511</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Canyon CN-WF513</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>CC&amp;C WL-2102</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>CNet CWC-854</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>CNet CWP-854</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Compex WL54G</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Compex WLP54G</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Conceptronic C54RC</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Conceptronic C54Ri</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>D-Link DWA-525 rev A2</td>
    <td>RT5392</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Digitus DN-7001G-RA</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Digitus DN-7006G-RA</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>E-Tech WGPC02</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>E-Tech WGPI02</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Edimax EW-7108PCg</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Edimax EW-7128g</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Eminent EM3036</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Eminent EM3037</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Encore ENLWI-G-RLAM</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Encore ENPWI-G-RLAM</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Fiberline WL-400P</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Fibreline WL-400X</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Gigabyte GN-WI01GS</td>
    <td>RT2561S</td>
    <td>mini-PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Gigabyte GN-WIKG</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>mini-PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Gigabyte GN-WMKG</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Gigabyte GN-WP01GS</td>
    <td>RT2561S</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Gigabyte GN-WPKG</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Hawking HWC54GR</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Hawking HWP54GR</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>iNexQ CR054g-009 (R03)</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>JAHT WN-4054P</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>JAHT WN-4054PCI</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>LevelOne WNC-0301 v2</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>LevelOne WPC-0301 v2</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Linksys WMP54G v4</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Micronet SP906GK</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Micronet SP908GK V3</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Minitar MN54GCB-R</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Minitar MN54GPC-R</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>MSI CB54G2</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>MSI MP54G2</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>mini-PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>MSI PC54G2</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>OvisLink EVO-W54PCI</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>PheeNet HWL-PCIG/RA</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Planex GW-NS300N</td>
    <td>RT2860</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Pro-Nets CB80211G</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Pro-Nets PC80211G</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Repotec RP-WB7108</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Repotec RP-WP0854</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>SATech SN-54C</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>SATech SN-54P</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Sitecom WL-112</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Sitecom WL-115</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>SMC SMCWCB-GM</td>
    <td>RT2661</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>SMC SMCWPCI-GM</td>
    <td>RT2661</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>SparkLAN WL-685R</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Surecom EP-9321-g</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Surecom EP-9321-g1</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Surecom EP-9428-g</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Sweex LC500050</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Sweex LC700030</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>TekComm NE-9321-g</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>TekComm NE-9428-g</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Unex CR054g-R02</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Unex MR054g-R02</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Zinwell ZWX-G160</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Zinwell ZWX-G360</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>mini-PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Zinwell ZWX-G361</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Zonet ZEW1500</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>CardBus</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Zonet ZEW1600</td>
    <td>RT2560</td>
    <td>PCI</td>
  </tr>
</table>
</section>
<section class="Sh">
<h1 class="Sh" id="EXAMPLES"><a class="permalink" href="#EXAMPLES">EXAMPLES</a></h1>
<p class="Pp">Join an existing BSS network (i.e., connect to an access
  point):</p>
<p class="Pp"></p>
<div class="Bd Bd-indent"><code class="Li">ifconfig wlan create wlandev ral0
  inet 192.0.2.20/24</code></div>
<p class="Pp">Join a specific BSS network with network name
    <var class="Ar">my_net</var>:</p>
<div class="Bd Pp Bd-indent Li">
<pre>ifconfig wlan create wlandev ral0 inet 192.0.2.20/24 \
    ssid my_net</pre>
</div>
<p class="Pp">Join a specific BSS network with 40-bit WEP encryption:</p>
<div class="Bd Pp Bd-indent Li">
<pre>ifconfig wlan create wlandev ral0 inet 192.0.2.20/24 \
    ssid my_net wepmode on wepkey 0x1234567890 weptxkey 1</pre>
</div>
<p class="Pp">Join a specific BSS network with 104-bit WEP encryption:</p>
<div class="Bd Pp Bd-indent Li">
<pre>ifconfig wlan create wlandev ral0 inet 192.0.2.20/24 \
    ssid my_net \
    wepmode on wepkey 0x01020304050607080910111213 weptxkey 1</pre>
</div>
</section>
<section class="Sh">
<h1 class="Sh" id="DIAGNOSTICS"><a class="permalink" href="#DIAGNOSTICS">DIAGNOSTICS</a></h1>
<dl class="Bl-diag">
  <dt>ral%d: could not load 8051 microcode</dt>
  <dd>An error occurred while attempting to upload the microcode to the onboard
      8051 microcontroller unit.</dd>
  <dt>ral%d: timeout waiting for MCU to initialize</dt>
  <dd>The onboard 8051 microcontroller unit failed to initialize in time.</dd>
  <dt>ral%d: device timeout</dt>
  <dd>A frame dispatched to the hardware for transmission did not complete in
      time. The driver will reset the hardware. This should not happen.</dd>
</dl>
</section>
<section class="Sh">
<h1 class="Sh" id="SEE_ALSO"><a class="permalink" href="#SEE_ALSO">SEE
  ALSO</a></h1>
<p class="Pp"><a class="Xr">cardbus(4)</a>, <a class="Xr">intro(4)</a>,
    <a class="Xr">wlan(4)</a>, <a class="Xr">wlan_ccmp(4)</a>,
    <a class="Xr">wlan_tkip(4)</a>, <a class="Xr">wlan_wep(4)</a>,
    <a class="Xr">wlan_xauth(4)</a>, <a class="Xr">networking(7)</a>,
    <a class="Xr">hostapd(8)</a>, <a class="Xr">ifconfig(8)</a>,
    <a class="Xr">wpa_supplicant(8)</a></p>
</section>
<section class="Sh">
<h1 class="Sh" id="HISTORY"><a class="permalink" href="#HISTORY">HISTORY</a></h1>
<p class="Pp">The <code class="Nm">ral</code> driver first appeared in
    <span class="Ux">OpenBSD 3.7</span>. Support for the RT2501 and RT2600
    chipsets was added in <span class="Ux">OpenBSD 3.9</span>. Support for the
    RT2800 chipset was added in <span class="Ux">OpenBSD 4.3</span>. Support for
    the RT2700 chipset was added in <span class="Ux">OpenBSD 4.4</span>. Support
    for the RT3090 chipset was added in <span class="Ux">OpenBSD 4.9</span>.</p>
</section>
<section class="Sh">
<h1 class="Sh" id="AUTHORS"><a class="permalink" href="#AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></h1>
<p class="Pp">The original <code class="Nm">ral</code> driver was written by
    <span class="An">Damien Bergamini</span>
    &lt;<a class="Mt" href="mailto:damien@openbsd.org">damien@openbsd.org</a>&gt;.</p>
</section>
<section class="Sh">
<h1 class="Sh" id="CAVEATS"><a class="permalink" href="#CAVEATS">CAVEATS</a></h1>
<p class="Pp">The <code class="Nm">ral</code> driver does not make use of the
    hardware cryptographic engine.</p>
<p class="Pp">The <code class="Nm">ral</code> driver does not support any of the
    802.11n capabilities offered by the RT2700 and RT2800 chipsets. Additional
    work is required in before those features can be supported.</p>
<p class="Pp">Host AP mode does not support power saving. Clients attempting to
    use power saving mode may experience significant packet loss (disabling
    power saving on the client will fix this).</p>
<p class="Pp">Some PCI <code class="Nm">ral</code> adapters strictly require a
    system supporting PCI 2.2 or greater. Check the board's PCI version before
    purchasing the card as it is likely these adapters will not work in systems
    based on older revisions of the PCI specification.</p>
</section>
</div>
<table class="foot">
  <tr>
    <td class="foot-date">November 10, 2024</td>
    <td class="foot-os">FreeBSD 15.0</td>
  </tr>
</table>