---
name: "awi"
section: "4freebsd"
platform: "linux"
package: "freebsd-manpages"
version: "7.0-2"
release: "Debian 5.0 (Lenny)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/awi/4freebsd"
---

# awi(4freebsd)

AMD PCnetMobile IEEE 802.11 PCMCIA wireless network driver

## NAME

**awi** – AMD PCnetMobile IEEE 802.11 PCMCIA wireless network driver

## SYNOPSIS

To compile this driver into the kernel, place the following lines in your kernel configuration file:

**device awi** **device wlan**

Alternatively, to load the driver as a module at boot time, place the following line in [loader.conf(5)](/loader.conf/5.md):

```
if_awi_load="YES"
```

## DESCRIPTION

The **awi** driver supports various IEEE 802.11 wireless cards which run AMD PCnetMobile firmware based on AMD 79c930 controller with Intersil (formerly Harris) PRISM radio chipset. It provides access to 32kb of memory shared between the controller and the host. All host/device interaction is via this shared memory, which can be accessed either via PCMCIA memory space or I/O space. The **awi** driver encapsulates all IP and ARP traffic as 802.11 frames.

The driver works both in infrastructure mode and in adhoc (independent BSS) mode.

In infrastructure mode, it communicates with an Access Point which serves as a link-layer bridge between an Ethernet and the wireless network. An access point also provides roaming capability which allows wireless nodes to move between access points.

In adhoc mode, it communicates peer to peer. Though it is more efficient to communicate between wireless nodes, the coverage is limited spatially due to lack of roaming capability.

In addition to these two modes in the IEEE 802.11 specification, the **awi** driver also supports a variant of adhoc mode out of spec for DS radio cards, which makes it possible to communicate with adhoc mode of [wi(4)](/wi/4.md) driver. The NWID does not affect in this mode.

For more information on configuring this device, see [ifconfig(8)](/ifconfig/8.md).

## HARDWARE

Cards supported by the **awi** driver include:

- BayStack 650

  1Mbps Frequency Hopping PCCARD adapter

- BayStack 660

  2Mbps Direct Sequence PCCARD adapter

- Icom SL-200

  2Mbps Direct Sequence PCCARD adapter

- Melco WLI-PCM

  2Mbps Direct Sequence PCCARD adapter

- NEL SSMagic

  2Mbps Direct Sequence PCCARD adapter

- Netwave AirSurfer Plus

  1Mbps Frequency Hopping PCCARD adapter

- Netwave AirSurfer Pro

  2Mbps Direct Sequence PCCARD adapter

- Nokia C020 WLAN

  2Mbps Direct Sequence PCCARD adapter

- Farallon SkyLINE

  2Mbps Direct Sequence PCCARD adapter

The original Xircom Netwave AirSurfer is supported by the [cnw(4)](/cnw/4.md) driver.

## MEDIA SELECTION

The DS cards support *DS1* and *DS2* media types, while the FH cards support *FH1* media type. For each media type, *adhoc* mediaopt can be used to indicate the driver to operate in adhoc mode. For DS radio cards, *adhoc*,*flag0* mediaopt can be used for [wi(4)](/wi/4.md) compatible adhoc mode. In addition to these station modes, *hostap* mediaopt can be used to create a host-based access point.

## DIAGNOSTICS

- awi0: awi\_pccard\_probe: bad banner:

  The device failed to initialize its firmware.

- awi0: failed to complete selftest (%s)

  The device failed to complete its self test. In some circumstances, resetting device after power on fails. Re-inserting the card or down-then-up interface may be helpful.

- awi0: transmit timeout

  The device failed to generate an interrupt to acknowledge a transmitted packet.

- awi0: failed to lock interrupt

  The system was unable to obtain the lock to access shared memory.

- awi0: command %d failed %x

  The device failed to complete the request from the system.

## SEE ALSO

[altq(4)](/altq/4.md), [arp(4)](/arp/4.md), [cnw(4)](/cnw/4.md), [miibus(4)](/miibus/4.md), [netintro(4)](/netintro/4.md), [pccard(4)](/pccard/4.md), [wi(4)](/wi/4.md), [wlan(4)](/wlan/4.md), [ifconfig(8)](/ifconfig/8.md) *Am79C930 PCnet Mobile Single-Chip Wireless LAN Media Access Controller*, http://www.amd.com.

## HISTORY

The **awi** device driver first appeared in NetBSD 1.5.

## AUTHORS

The initial version of the **awi** driver was written by Bill Sommerfeld ⟨sommerfeld@netbsd.org⟩. Then the **awi** driver module was completely rewritten to support cards with DS phy and to support adhoc mode by Atsushi Onoe ⟨onoe@netbsd.org⟩.