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