efru(1)

💖 efru — HomePlug AV Packet Listener 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to efru, straight out of the Qualcomm Atheros Open Powerline Toolkit. she's a little packet listener and she's literally the moment. let's get into it 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

efru — HomePlug AV Packet Listener 🌸

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

efru [options]

no arguments, no drama, just vibes and options. slay. 💅

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so what she does is: she displays incoming 802.3 Ethernet frames that are addressed to this host, or that are broadcast. that's it, that's the job. and the one thing she will NOT do — not now, not ever — is display outgoing frames. she's an observer, not a participant. main character energy but make it passive. ✨

ngl this program is an example of a simple packet listener. like, it's a template. engineers and software developers are literally invited to take this code and extend it into custom sniffers or servers. the framework is already sitting there for you — but the extra features? you gotta add those yourself, bestie. she's not gonna do your homework. 😭

also important: this program is part of the Qualcomm Atheros Powerline Toolkit. if you want the overview and the installation instructions, go read the plc man page. iykyk. 📖

💅 OPTIONS 💅

• -e ethertype — the protocol (or ethertype) you're obsessed with, written as a 16-bit hexadecimal integer. the 0x prefix is optional, she doesn't care. this filters out any frame that has a different ethertype, so only your faves make it through. the default is ETH_P_802_2, as defined in if_ether.h. 🔥
• -i interface — names the host ethernet interface to watch. so like, the named interface — think eth0, eth1, and so on — must be connected to a HomePlug AV ethernet-to-powerline bridge adapter if you want to receive literally any HomePlug AV traffic. no bridge, no tea. ☕ the default interface is eth1.
• -q — quiet mode 🍓. suppresses the printing of the normal message descriptions on stdout. she's giving minimalism.
• -t milliseconds — read timeout in milliseconds. values range from 0 through UINT_MAX. this is the maximum time allowed for a response — like, how long she's willing to wait before she moves on with her life. the default is 50 milliseconds. ⏳
• -v — verbose mode 👑. displays incoming frames in hexadecimal dump format on stdout. and heads up: this option is independent of option -a, which prints VS_ARPC message text on stderr. two different girls, two different streams, no overlap. 🫶
• -?, --help — print program help summary on stdout. and the way this option takes precedence over other options on the command line?? iconic. she comes first, periodt. 💅
• -!, --version — print program version information on stdout. this one also takes precedence over other options on the command line, so yeah, she's also that girl. use this option when you're sending screen dumps to Atheros Technical Support so they know exactly which version of the Linux Toolkit you're using. no guessing games. 🙈 also: see the HomePlug AV Specification for a description of all HomePlug AV message types, and see the Qualcomm Atheros INT6000 Firmware Reference Manual for a description of Atheros Vendor Specific message types. 📚

🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

okay so example one: this 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. pro tip from the original: this program is usually run in a separate console window when you're doing other toolkit operations. multitasking queen. ✨

# efru

example two: this command monitors host interface eth4 for incoming HomePlug AV frames and dumps writes them to file efru.log. (yes, the original says "dumps writes them" — we keep it, we don't fix it, we respect the canon. 💀) frames are printed in hexadecimal dump format because option -v is present. terminate the foreground process by typing ^C or ^Z at the console.

# efru -v -i eth4 > efru.log

⚠️ DISCLAIMER ⚠️

bestie. listen. this part is serious. 🚨

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. so yeah — no cap, they can change stuff and you just gotta deal. 😭

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

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

go read your sisters, they're all iconic in their own ways. 💜

🌟 CREDITS 🌟

Charles Maier 🎀

and that's the whole page, bestie!! this one shipped as part of open-plc-utils-0.0.3, dated November 2013 — an absolute classic, still serving looks. mwah. 💖✨🦋🌸💅👑