efeu(1)

✨ efeu — bestie's guide to the HomePlug AV Packet Reflector ✨

okay so real talk, this is efeu from the Qualcomm Atheros Open Powerline Toolkit manual pages (section 1, if you're keeping score 🎀), and she is literally a packet reflector. let's get into it 💅

🌸 NAME 🌸

efeu — HomePlug AV Packet Reflector. that's the whole vibe. she reflects packets. periodt.

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

efeu [options]

that's it. no positional args, no drama. just options, bestie.

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

So what she does: reads and reflects 802.3 Ethernet messages that are addressed to this host or to the broadcast address. and do NOT display reflected frames — she's reflecting them, not showing them off. subtle queen behavior 👑

This program is one example of a simple packet listener. Engineers and software developers can extend it to build custom sniffers or servers. Like, the framework is present but additional features must be added — it's giving starter pack, not finished product. iykyk 🧚

Also this program is part of the Qualcomm Atheros Powerline Toolkit. See the plc man page for an overview and installation instructions. go read that one too, she's the main character of the intro 🫶

✨ OPTIONS ✨

okay here's the whole menu, no skips, no cuts, every single one 💖

• -e ethertype — the protocol (or ethertype) of interest, expressed as a 16-bit hexadecimal integer. the prefix "0x" is optional. this filters out frames having any other ethertype. the default is ETH_P_802_2 as defined in if_ether.h. so if you want only one flavor of packet, this is your girl 🍓
• -i interface — names the host ethernet interface to watch. the named interface, such as eth0, eth1 and so on, must be connected to a HomePlug AV ethernet-to-powerline bridge adapter to receive any HomePlug AV traffic. the default interface is eth1. so like, plug it into the right thing or you'll be staring at nothing, bestie 😭
• -q — quiet mode. suppress the printing of the normal message descriptions on stdout. she's not gone, she's just not narrating 🎀
• -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 50 milliseconds. patience is a virtue but she has a limit ⏳
• -v — verbose mode. displays incoming frames in hexadecimal dump format on stdout. this option is independent of option -a which prints VS_ARPC message text on stderr. two different girls, two different streams, don't mix them up 💀
• -?, --help — print program help summary on stdout. this option takes precedence over other options on the command line. she wins, always 👑
• -!, --version — print program version information on stdout. this option takes precedence over other options on the command line too. 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. see the HomePlug AV Specification for a description of all HomePlug AV message types. see the Qualcomm Atheros INT6000 Firmware Reference Manual for a description of Atheros Vendor Specific message types. receipts matter, bestie 🧾

🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

The following command monitors the default interface eth1 for HomePlug AV traffic and dumps detected frames on the console as they occur. Terminate the foreground process by typing ^C or ^Z at the console. This program is usually run in a separate console window when performing other toolkit operations.

# efeu

The following command monitors host interface eth4 for incoming HomePlug AV frames and dumps writes them to file efeu.log. Frames are printed in hexadecimal dump format because option -v is present. Terminate the foreground process by typing ^C or ^Z at the console.

# efeu -v -i eth4 > efeu.log

so yeah — new console window, run it, ^C or ^Z when you're done. that's the whole ritual 🕯️

🚨 DISCLAIMER 🚨

Atheros HomePlug AV Vendor Specific Management Message structure and content is proprietary to Qualcomm Atheros, Ocala FL USA. Consequently, public information is not available. Qualcomm Atheros reserves the right to modify management message structure and content in future firmware releases without any obligation to notify or compensate users of this program.

like... it's not public, and it can change whenever they want, and they don't owe you a heads up or a refund. read that twice. no cap 😭

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

plc(1), efru(1), efsu(1), hpav(1), mme(1)

the whole friend group. go say hi 🫶

💜 CREDITS 💜

Charles Maier

^(there's a leading space in the original and i am respectfully preserving it, that's how much i care 🎀)

okay and this page is from open-plc-utils-0.0.3, dated November 2013 — so yeah she's an elder stateswoman of the toolkit, still iconic, still reflecting packets, still not showing them to you 💅✨ bye bestie, go run efeu and stay hydrated 🦋🌸