IWN(4)

💅 IWN(4) — like, the Intel IEEE 802.11n wireless network driver, bestie ✨

okay so real talk, this is the iwn page from the Kernel Interfaces Manual — yes, section 4, the driver section, we love a networking icon 👑

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🌸 NAME 🌸

iwn — the Intel IEEE 802.11n wireless network driver. that's it, that's the whole vibe. wifi but make it Intel. 📶

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

so if you wanna bake this driver into the kernel (no cap, some people do), you gotta drop these lines into your kernel configuration file:

device iwn
device pci
device wlan
device firmware

but wait, you're not done yet, bestie 😭 you ALSO need to pick a firmware for your device. choose one from this little menu:

device iwn1000fw
device iwn100fw
device iwn105fw
device iwn135fw
device iwn2000fw
device iwn2030fw
device iwn4965fw
device iwn5000fw
device iwn5150fw
device iwn6000fw
device iwn6000g2afw
device iwn6000g2bfw
device iwn6050fw

ORRR you can just be lazy in the most correct way possible and use

device iwnfw

to include them all. slay, one line, zero decisions 🎀

alternatively (the module girlies rise up 🙌), to load the driver as a module at boot time, put these lines in loader.conf(5):

if_iwn_load="YES"
iwn1000fw_load="YES"
iwn100fw_load="YES"
iwn105fw_load="YES"
iwn135fw_load="YES"
iwn2000fw_load="YES"
iwn2030fw_load="YES"
iwn4965fw_load="YES"
iwn5000fw_load="YES"
iwn5150fw_load="YES"
iwn6000fw_load="YES"
iwn6000g2afw_load="YES"
iwn6000g2bfw_load="YES"
iwn6050fw_load="YES"

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

the iwn driver supports station and monitor mode operation. and here's the tea: only ONE virtual interface may be configured at any time. one. just the one. main character energy, no sharing 💅

for more info on configuring this device, go look at ifconfig(8) (she knows things, trust).

also important: this driver requires the firmware built with the iwnfw module to work. no firmware, no wifi, no vibes. periodt. 🔥

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👑 HARDWARE 👑

the iwn driver provides support for all of these icons:

• Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6200
• Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205
• Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230
• Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235
• Intel Centrino Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250
• Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300
• Intel Centrino Wireless-N 100
• Intel Centrino Wireless-N 105
• Intel Centrino Wireless-N 130
• Intel Centrino Wireless-N 135
• Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1000
• Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030
• Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2200
• Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2230
• Intel Centrino Wireless-N 4965
• Intel Centrino Wireless-N 5100
• Intel Centrino Wireless-N 6150
• Intel Centrino Wireless-N 6200
• Intel Centrino Wireless-N 6250
• Intel Centrino Wireless-N + WiMAX 6150
• Intel Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300
• Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965
• Intel WiFi Link 5100
• Intel WiMAX/WiFi Link 5150
• Intel WiMAX/WiFi Link 5350

like look at that list. it's giving legacy excellence. 🫶

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🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

join an existing BSS network (i.e., connect to an access point):

# ifconfig wlan create wlandev iwn0 inet 192.168.0.20 \
    netmask 0xffffff00

join a specific BSS network with network name ‘my_net’:

# ifconfig wlan create wlandev iwn0 ssid my_net up

join a specific BSS network with 64-bit WEP encryption:

# ifconfig wlan create wlandev iwn0 ssid my_net \
        wepmode on wepkey 0x1234567890 weptxkey 1 up

join a specific BSS network with 128-bit WEP encryption:

# ifconfig wlan create wlandev iwn0 wlanmode adhoc ssid my_net \
    wepmode on wepkey 0x01020304050607080910111213 weptxkey 1

copy, paste, tweak, thrive. you got this 💖

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💀 DIAGNOSTICS 💀

okay so when things go wrong, here's what the kernel is yelling about. read it carefully, bestie, it's literally telling you the problem:

• iwn%d: device timeout — the driver will reset the hardware. this should not happen. 🙈
• iwn%d: firmware error — the onboard microcontroller crashed for some reason. the driver will reset the hardware. this should not happen.
• iwn%d: timeout waiting for firmware initialization to complete — the onboard microcontroller failed to initialize in time. this should not happen.
• iwn%d: could not load firmware image '%s' — the driver failed to load the firmware image using the firmware(9) subsystem. verify the iwnfw(4) firmware module is present. (this one's usually just a missing module, ngl 🧚)
• iwn%d: could not load boot firmware — an attempt to upload the boot firmware image to the onboard microcontroller failed. this should not happen.
• iwn%d: could not load microcode — an attempt to upload the microcode image to the onboard microcontroller failed. this should not happen.
• iwn%d: could not load main firmware — an attempt to upload the main firmware image to the onboard microcontroller failed. this should not happen.

notice how many of these say "this should not happen"? yeah. if you see one, that's a moment. 😭

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🔍 SEE ALSO 🔍

iwnfw(4), pci(4), wlan(4), wlan_ccmp(4), wlan_tkip(4), wlan_wep(4), networking(7), ifconfig(8), wpa_supplicant(8)

go read them, iykyk 📚

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🎀 AUTHORS 🎀

the original iwn driver was written by Damien Bergamini <damien.bergamini@free.fr>. legend behavior, honestly. 👏

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and that's the whole page, bestie!! this one came from the Debian crew, dated October 17, 2024 — so go forth, connect to wifi, and remember: only one virtual interface at a time 💅✨