int6khost(1)

💖 int6khost — INT6300 Host Emulator 💖

okay bestie, sit down, hydrate, and let me tell you about int6khost(1) from the Qualcomm Atheros Open Powerline Toolkit because this one is a whole vibe. 🦋

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

int6khost [options] -C file -N file -P file -n file -p file

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

The INT6300 Host Emulator just... sits there, patiently, waiting for VS_HST_ACTION.IND messages from a local device, and then services them exactly like the INT6300 Technical Reference Manual says it should. It's the girl who shows up to demonstrate or verify that your device/host interaction is actually working for flash-less devices. 💅

🚨 real talk though: this program is not production grade. When things go wrong it will stop dead — like a bug! — no graceful exit, no coping, just dead. For real-time, production-grade applications you want the Qualcomm Atheros Embedded API, not this. periodt.

Host emulation is for flash-less device designs where a local host processor is the one holding the persistent storage. Your local host could theoretically provide a whole range of intelligent storage functions for a device, but this program offers one. That's it. That's the offering.

So here's the tea on the file options: -C, -N and -P name existing files that store factory default memory configuration, runtime firmware and parameters, respectively. Meanwhile -n and -p name scratch files that will store user firmware and parameters, respectively. This is similiar to the standard Atheros NVRAM scheme but still different. 👀

To use it: connect a flash-less device to the host via ethernet, then start this program with the correct filenames. The program will automatically respond to device requests to download memory configuration, firmware and/or parameters, and upload firmware or and/or parameters under device control. See the Qualcomm Atheros Firmware Technical Reference Manual for more info, bestie. 🫶

This program is part of the Qualcomm Atheros Powerline Toolkit. See the plc man page for an overview and installation instructions.

💅 OPTIONS 💅

• -C filename — use this file to download memory configuration when the local device requests it. The file has to exist and have a valid configuration file format or it will be rejected. No assumptions are made based on filename and no filename conventions are enforced. The program will not over-write this file. This option and argument are required. 🔥
• -e — redirects stderr messages to stdout. By convention status and error messages go to stderr while primary program output goes to stdout, so this one prints all output on stdout for when that's the vibe you want.
• -F[F] — flash NVRAM once downloaded firmware has started. The same firmware and PIB are downloaded, again, using VS_WR_MOD and written to NVRAM using VS_MOD_NVM. Adding a second F here or another -F anywhere on the command line will perform a forced flash. When no NVRAM is present, normal and force flash cause the device to upload to the host. When blank or corrupted NVRAM is present, forced flash writes to NVRAM. This operation will fail when no NVRAM is present. 😭
• -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. 👑
• -N filename — use this file to download firmware when the local device requests it. The file must exist and have a valid NVM file format or it will be rejected. No assumptions are made based on filename and no filename conventions are enforced. The program will not over-write this file. This option and argument are required.
• -n filename — use this file to store firmware uploaded from the local device. The file need not exist, but an error will occur if it cannot be created or written. If firmware is uploaded to this file, it is used for subsequent firmware downloads unless the device requests a factory reset — in that case, the file specified by option -N is used. This option and argument are optional. If omitted then the default filename host.pib will be used. (yes, host.pib. that's what it says. we don't make the rules. 💀)
• -P filename — use this file to download parameters when the local device requests them. The file must exist and have a valid PIB file format or it will be rejected. No assumptions are made based on filename and no filename conventions are enforced. The program will not over-write this file. This option and argument are required.
• -p filename — use this file to store parameters uploaded from the local device. The file need not exist, but an error will occur if it cannot be created or written. Once parameters are uploaded to this file, it is used for subsequent parameter downloads unless the device requests a factory reset — in that case, the file specified by option -P is used. This option and argument are optional. If omitted then the default filename host.nvm will be used.
• -q — suppress status messages on stderr. 🤫
• -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. In particular, this option will print incoming and outgoing Ethernet frames on stdout. 🌈
• -?, --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 🎀

None. literally none. nothing. ✨

📚 REFERENCES 📚

See the Qualcomm Atheros HomePlug AV Firmware Technical Reference Manual for more information.

🌟 EXAMPLES 🌟

The following command starts the host emulator. The -C, -N and -P options are always required. Their order is not important.

int6khost -C test.cfg -N test.nvm -P test.pib
> eth0 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Waiting for Host Action Requests
>

⚠️ DISCLAIMER ⚠️

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

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

plc(1), int64host(1), int6k(1), int6kboot(1) plchost(1)

💜 CREDITS 💜

Charles Maier

okay that's the whole page bestie, you ate it, no cap. This was open-plc-utils-0.0.3 from November 2013 — yeah, she's vintage, but she still slays. 🎀🦋✨