SMesh on ADI Pronghorn
This is step-by-step tutorial on how to install and run SMesh on a Pronghorn SBC dual-radio wireless router, from ADI Engineering. Generic instructions for setting up SMesh can be found in the README from the SMesh distribution.
SMesh relies on kernel options that are not enabled in the images provided by ADI Engineering or OpenWrt. I started with the latest OpenWrt distribution, Kamikaze 8.09.1, and I compiled new images, enabling these options in the kernel:
IP: policy routing
IP: equal cost multipath
"mark" match support
"MARK" target support
Packet filtering
"ttl" match support
TTL target support
CONFIG_IP_MULTIPLE_TABLES
CONFIG_IP_ROUTE_MULTIPATH
CONFIG_NETFILTER_XT_MATCH_MARK
CONFIG_NETFILTER_XT_TARGET_MARK
CONFIG_IP_NF_FILTER
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_TTL
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_TTL
Here's the entire kernel configuration file.
1. Flashing the firmware
Download the rootfs and kernel images (or this for Pronghorn Metro). I'm using a serial cable made using ADI Engineering's wiring scheme.
Power the box and follow these steps once you get to the Redboot prompt:
+No devices on IDE controller 0
Trying NPE-B...success. Using NPE-B with PHY 0.
... waiting for BOOTP information
Ethernet eth0: MAC address 00:08:a2:03:78:bc
IP: 128.220.221.78/255.255.255.0, Gateway: 128.220.221.1
Default server: 0.0.0.0
RedBoot(tm) bootstrap and debug environment [ROM]
Red Hat certified release, version 3.30 - built 17:12:29, May 2 2007
Platform: ADI Engineering Pronghorn Wifi Router (IXP42X 266MHz) BE
Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Red Hat, Inc.
RAM: 0x00000000-0x04000000, [0x00029b60-0x03fc1000] available
FLASH: 0x50000000 - 0x50400000, 32 blocks of 0x00020000 bytes each.
RedBoot> fis unlock -f 0x50000000 -l 0x3fffff
... Unlock from 0x50000000-0x503fffff: ................................
RedBoot> fis init -f
About to initialize [format] FLASH image system - continue (y/n)? y
*** Initialize FLASH Image System
... Erase from 0x50060000-0x503c0000: ...........................
... Erase from 0x503e0000-0x503e0000:
... Unlock from 0x503e0000-0x50400000: .
... Erase from 0x503e0000-0x50400000: .
... Program from 0x03fe0000-0x04000000 at 0x503e0000: .
... Lock from 0x503e0000-0x50400000: .
RedBoot> fis list
Name FLASH addr Mem addr Length Entry point
RedBoot 0x50000000 0x50000000 0x00060000 0x00000000
RedBoot config 0x503C0000 0x503C0000 0x00001000 0x00000000
FIS directory 0x503E0000 0x503E0000 0x00020000 0x00000000
RedBoot> load -r -b %{FREEMEMLO} openwrt-pronghorn-zImage -m ymodem
CRaw file loaded 0x00029c00-0x0011f447, assumed entry at 0x00029c00
xyzModem - CRC mode, 7859(SOH)/0(STX)/0(CAN) packets, 4 retries
RedBoot> fis cre linux
... Erase from 0x50060000-0x50160000: ........
... Program from 0x00029c00-0x0011f448 at 0x50060000: ........
... Unlock from 0x503e0000-0x50400000: .
... Erase from 0x503e0000-0x50400000: .
... Program from 0x03fe0000-0x04000000 at 0x503e0000: .
... Lock from 0x503e0000-0x50400000: .
RedBoot> fis list
Name FLASH addr Mem addr Length Entry point
RedBoot 0x50000000 0x50000000 0x00060000 0x00000000
linux 0x50060000 0x00029C00 0x00100000 0x00029C00
RedBoot config 0x503C0000 0x503C0000 0x00001000 0x00000000
FIS directory 0x503E0000 0x503E0000 0x00020000 0x00000000
RedBoot> load -r -b %{FREEMEMLO} openwrt-ixp4xx-squashfs.img -m ymodem
CRaw file loaded 0x00029c00-0x00169bff, assumed entry at 0x00029c00
xyzModem - CRC mode, 10242(SOH)/0(STX)/0(CAN) packets, 3 retries
RedBoot> fis cre rootfs
... Erase from 0x50160000-0x502a0000: ..........
... Program from 0x00029c00-0x00169c00 at 0x50160000: ..........
... Unlock from 0x503e0000-0x50400000: .
... Erase from 0x503e0000-0x50400000: .
... Program from 0x03fe0000-0x04000000 at 0x503e0000: .
... Lock from 0x503e0000-0x50400000: .
RedBoot> fis list
Name FLASH addr Mem addr Length Entry point
RedBoot 0x50000000 0x50000000 0x00060000 0x00000000
linux 0x50060000 0x00029C00 0x00100000 0x00029C00
rootfs 0x50160000 0x00029C00 0x00140000 0x00029C00
RedBoot config 0x503C0000 0x503C0000 0x00001000 0x00000000
FIS directory 0x503E0000 0x503E0000 0x00020000 0x00000000
RedBoot> fis load linux
RedBoot> exec
Using base address 0x00029c00 and length 0x000f5848
Uncompressing Linux.................................................................... done, booting the kernel.
Linux version 2.6.26.8 (ralucam@sky2) (gcc version 4.1.2) #2 Thu Jul 16 18:48:35 EDT 2009
CPU: XScale-IXP42x Family [690541f1] revision 1 (ARMv5TE), cr=000039ff
Machine: ADI Engineering Pronghorn
Memory policy: ECC disabled, Data cache writeback
CPU0: D VIVT undefined 5 cache
CPU0: I cache: 32768 bytes, associativity 32, 32 byte lines, 32 sets
CPU0: D cache: 32768 bytes, associativity 32, 32 byte lines, 32 sets
Built 1 zonelists in Zone order, mobility grouping on. Total pages: 16256
Kernel command line: root=/dev/mtdblock2 rootfstype=squashfs,jffs2 noinitrd console=ttyS0,115200 init=/etc/preinit
PID hash table entries: 256 (order: 8, 1024 bytes)
Dentry cache hash table entries: 8192 (order: 3, 32768 bytes)
Inode-cache hash table entries: 4096 (order: 2, 16384 bytes)
Memory: 64MB = 64MB total
Memory: 62732KB available (1868K code, 174K data, 92K init)
SLUB: Genslabs=12, HWalign=32, Order=0-3, MinObjects=0, CPUs=1, Nodes=1
Mount-cache hash table entries: 512
CPU: Testing write buffer coherency: ok
net_namespace: 644 bytes
NET: Registered protocol family 16
IXP4xx: Using 16MiB expansion bus window size
PCI: IXP4xx is host
PCI: IXP4xx Using direct access for memory space
PCI: bus0: Fast back to back transfers enabled
dmabounce: registered device 0000:00:0e.0 on pci bus
dmabounce: registered device 0000:00:0f.0 on pci bus
NET: Registered protocol family 2
IP route cache hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
TCP established hash table entries: 2048 (order: 2, 16384 bytes)
TCP bind hash table entries: 2048 (order: 1, 8192 bytes)
TCP: Hash tables configured (established 2048 bind 2048)
TCP reno registered
NET: Registered protocol family 1
IXP4xx Queue Manager initialized.
squashfs: version 3.0 (2006/03/15) Phillip Lougher
Registering mini_fo version $Id$
JFFS2 version 2.2. (NAND) (SUMMARY) © 2001-2006 Red Hat, Inc.
msgmni has been set to 122
io scheduler noop registered
io scheduler deadline registered (default)
Serial: 8250/16550 driver $Revision: 1.90 $ 4 ports, IRQ sharing disabled
serial8250.0: ttyS0 at MMIO 0xc8001000 (irq = 13) is a XScale
console [ttyS0] enabled
serial8250.0: ttyS1 at MMIO 0xc8000000 (irq = 15) is a XScale
eth0: MII PHY 0 on NPE-B
eth1: MII PHY 1 on NPE-C
eth1: MII read failed
eth1: MII read failed
eth1: MII read failed
eth1: MII read failed
IXP4XX-Flash.0: Found 1 x16 devices at 0x0 in 16-bit bank
Intel/Sharp Extended Query Table at 0x0031
Using buffer write method
cfi_cmdset_0001: Erase suspend on write enabled
Searching for RedBoot partition table in IXP4XX-Flash.0 at offset 0x3e0000
5 RedBoot partitions found on MTD device IXP4XX-Flash.0
Creating 5 MTD partitions on "IXP4XX-Flash.0":
0x00000000-0x00060000 : "RedBoot"
0x00060000-0x00160000 : "linux"
0x00160000-0x003c0000 : "rootfs"
mtd: partition "rootfs" set to be root filesystem
mtd: partition "rootfs_data" created automatically, ofs=280000, len=140000
0x00280000-0x003c0000 : "rootfs_data"
0x003c0000-0x003c1000 : "RedBoot config"
0x003e0000-0x00400000 : "FIS directory"
i2c /dev entries driver
i2c-gpio: probe failed: -19
IXP4xx Watchdog Timer: heartbeat 60 sec
Registered led device: pronghorn:green:status
TCP westwood registered
NET: Registered protocol family 17
Bridge firewalling registered
802.1Q VLAN Support v1.8 Ben Greear
All bugs added by David S. Miller
XScale DSP coprocessor detected.
drivers/rtc/hctosys.c: unable to open rtc device (rtc0)
VFS: Mounted root (squashfs filesystem) readonly.
Freeing init memory: 92K
Please be patient, while OpenWrt loads ...
- preinit -
Press CTRL-C for failsafe
jffs2 not ready yet; using ramdisk
mini_fo: using base directory: /
mini_fo: using storage directory: /tmp/root
- init -
Please press Enter to activate this console. firmware: requesting NPE-B
NPE-B: firmware's license can be found in /usr/share/doc/LICENSE.IPL
NPE-B: firmware functionality 0x2, revision 0x2:1
eth0: link up, 100Mbps, half-duplex, lpa 0x0081
br-lan: Dropping NETIF_F_UFO since no NETIF_F_HW_CSUM feature.
device eth0 entered promiscuous mode
br-lan: port 1(eth0) entering learning state
br-lan: topology change detected, propagating
br-lan: port 1(eth0) entering forwarding state
ip_tables: (C) 2000-2006 Netfilter Core Team
nf_conntrack version 0.5.0 (1024 buckets, 4096 max)
wlan: trunk
ath_hal: module license 'Proprietary' taints kernel.
ath_hal: 2009-05-08 (AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, AR5416, RF5111, RF5112, RF2413, RF5413, RF2133, RF2425, REGOPS_FUNC, XR)
ath_rate_minstrel: Minstrel automatic rate control algorithm 1.2 (trunk)
ath_rate_minstrel: look around rate set to 10%
ath_rate_minstrel: EWMA rolloff level set to 75%
ath_rate_minstrel: max segment size in the mrr set to 6000 us
wlan: mac acl policy registered
ath_pci: trunk
PCI: enabling device 0000:00:0e.0 (0340 -> 0342)
Atheros HAL provided by OpenWrt, DD-WRT and MakSat Technologies
wifi0: 11a rates: 6Mbps 9Mbps 12Mbps 18Mbps 24Mbps 36Mbps 48Mbps 54Mbps
wifi0: 11b rates: 1Mbps 2Mbps 5.5Mbps 11Mbps
wifi0: 11g rates: 1Mbps 2Mbps 5.5Mbps 11Mbps 6Mbps 9Mbps 12Mbps 18Mbps 24Mbps 36Mbps 48Mbps 54Mbps
wifi0: turboA rates: 6Mbps 9Mbps 12Mbps 18Mbps 24Mbps 36Mbps 48Mbps 54Mbps
wifi0: turboG rates: 6Mbps 12Mbps 18Mbps 24Mbps 36Mbps 48Mbps 54Mbps
wifi0: H/W encryption support: WEP AES AES_CCM TKIP
ath_pci: wifi0: Atheros 5413: mem=0x48000000, irq=23
PCI: enabling device 0000:00:0f.0 (0340 -> 0342)
Atheros HAL provided by OpenWrt, DD-WRT and MakSat Technologies
wifi1: 11b rates: 1Mbps 2Mbps 5.5Mbps 11Mbps
wifi1: 11g rates: 1Mbps 2Mbps 5.5Mbps 11Mbps 6Mbps 9Mbps 12Mbps 18Mbps 24Mbps 36Mbps 48Mbps 54Mbps
wifi1: turboG rates: 6Mbps 12Mbps 18Mbps 24Mbps 36Mbps 48Mbps 54Mbps
wifi1: H/W encryption support: WEP AES AES_CCM TKIP
ath_pci: wifi1: Atheros 2413: mem=0x48010000, irq=28
jffs2_scan_eraseblock(): End of filesystem marker found at 0x0
jffs2_build_filesystem(): unlocking the mtd device... done.
jffs2_build_filesystem(): erasing all blocks after the end marker... done.
mini_fo: using base directory: /
mini_fo: using storage directory: /jffs
BusyBox v1.11.2 (2009-07-15 23:59:40 EDT) built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.
_______ ________ __
| |.-----.-----.-----.| | | |.----.| |_
| - || _ | -__| || | | || _|| _|
|_______|| __|_____|__|__||________||__| |____|
|__| W I R E L E S S F R E E D O M
KAMIKAZE (8.09.1, unknown) ----------------------------
* 10 oz Vodka Shake well with ice and strain
* 10 oz Triple sec mixture into 10 shot glasses.
* 10 oz lime juice Salute!
---------------------------------------------------
root@OpenWrt:/#
In OpenWrt the default IP for eth is 192.168.1.1. You can telnet to the router now. Once you change the root password, telnet is disabled and ssh is enabled. For simplicity I continued using the serial cable.
root@OpenWrt:/# passwd
Changing password for root
New password:
Bad password: too weak
Retype password:
Password for root changed by root
If everything went ok, you should get something like this:
root@OpenWrt:/# df -h
Filesystem Size Used Available Use% Mounted on
rootfs 1.1M 1.1M 0 100% /
/dev/root 1.1M 1.1M 0 100% /rom
mini_fo:/tmp/root 1.1M 1.1M 0 100% /tmp/root
/dev/mtdblock3 1.3M 392.0k 888.0k 31% /jffs
mini_fo:/jffs 1.1M 1.1M 0 100% /
root@OpenWrt:/# ls -la
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 0 Jan 1 00:00 .
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 0 Jan 1 00:00 ..
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 496 Jul 16 2009 bin
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 0 Jan 1 00:00 dev
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 0 Jan 1 00:05 etc
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 Jan 1 00:00 home
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 0 Jan 1 00:00 jffs
drwxr-xr-x 9 root root 488 Jul 16 2009 lib
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 3 Jul 16 2009 mnt
dr-xr-xr-x 32 root root 0 Jan 1 00:00 proc
drwxr-xr-x 16 root root 145 Jul 16 2009 rom
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 3 Jul 16 2009 root
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 402 Jul 16 2009 sbin
drwxr-xr-x 10 root root 0 Jan 1 00:00 sys
drwxr-xr-x 9 root root 0 Jan 1 00:00 tmp
drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 47 Jul 16 2009 usr
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4 Jul 16 2009 var -> /tmp
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 3 Jul 16 2009 www
2. Basic settings
Remove the bridge between lan and wireless interfaces. Change the default IP to one in your network or to dhcp by editing the /etc/config/network file. Mine looks like this:
root@OpenWrt:/# cat /etc/config/network
# Copyright (C) 2006 OpenWrt.org
config interface loopback
option ifname lo
option proto static
option ipaddr 127.0.0.1
option netmask 255.0.0.0
config interface lan
option ifname eth0
option proto dhcp
#config interface lan
# option ifname eth0
# option type bridge
# option proto static
# option ipaddr 192.168.1.1
# option netmask 255.255.255.0
Restart the network service:
root@OpenWrt:/# /etc/init.d/network restart
br-lan: port 1(eth0) entering disabled state
eth0: link up, 100Mbps, half-duplex, lpa 0x0081
device eth0 left promiscuous mode
br-lan: port 1(eth0) entering disabled state
eth0: link up, 100Mbps, half-duplex, lpa 0x0081
udhcpc (v1.11.2) started
'wifi0' is disabled
'wifi1' is disabled
'wifi0' is disabled
Sending discover...
'wifi1' is disabled
root@OpenWrt:/# Sending select for 128.220.221.77...
Lease of 128.220.221.77 obtained, lease time 21600
udhcpc: ifconfig eth0 128.220.221.77 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast +
udhcpc: setting default routers: 128.220.221.1
udhcpc: setting dns servers: 128.220.221.1
root@OpenWrt:/# ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:08:A2:03:78:BC
inet addr:128.220.221.77 Bcast:128.220.221.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:3981 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:7 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:100
RX bytes:1029651 (1005.5 KiB) TX bytes:1770 (1.7 KiB)
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Now we can update the packages list:
root@OpenWrt:/# opkg update
Downloading http://downloads.openwrt.org/kamikaze/8.09.1/ixp4xx/packages/Packages.gz
Connecting to downloads.openwrt.org (195.56.146.238:80)
Packages.gz 100% |*******************************| 142k 00:00:00 ETA
Inflating http://downloads.openwrt.org/kamikaze/8.09.1/ixp4xx/packages/Packages.gz
Updated list of available packages in /var/opkg-lists/snapshots
Install ip and iptables-mod-ipopt packages. They are required for running SMesh:
root@OpenWrt:/# opkg install ip iptables-mod-ipopt
Installing ip (2.6.25-1) to root...
Downloading http://downloads.openwrt.org/kamikaze/8.09.1/ixp4xx/packages/ip_2.6.25-1_armeb.ipk
Connecting to downloads.openwrt.org (195.56.146.238:80)
ip_2.6.25-1_armeb.ip 100% |*******************************| 78706 00:00:00 ETA
Installing iptables-mod-ipopt (1.4.0-1) to root...
Downloading http://downloads.openwrt.org/kamikaze/8.09.1/ixp4xx/packages/iptables-mod-ipopt_1.4.0-1_armeb.ipk
Connecting to downloads.openwrt.org (195.56.146.238:80)
iptables-mod-ipopt_1 100% |*******************************| 23847 --:--:-- ETA
Installing kmod-ipt-ipopt (2.6.26.8-ixp4xx-1) to root...
Downloading http://downloads.openwrt.org/kamikaze/8.09.1/ixp4xx/packages/kmod-ipt-ipopt_2.6.26.8-ixp4xx-1_armeb.ipk
Connecting to downloads.openwrt.org (195.56.146.238:80)
kmod-ipt-ipopt_2.6.2 100% |*******************************| 9458 --:--:-- ETA
Configuring ip
Configuring iptables-mod-ipopt
Configuring kmod-ipt-ipopt
root@OpenWrt:/#
3. Running SMesh
First we're going to configure the wireless interface. Here is a simple script for setting the interface in adhoc mode and also, in monitor mode. Depending of how SMesh is configured, the monitoring interface is optional.
root@OpenWrt:/# cat /jffs/config.wireless
#!/bin/sh
wlanconfig ath0 destroy
wlanconfig ath1 destroy
wlanconfig ath0 create wlandev wifi0 wlanmode adhoc
wlanconfig ath1 create wlandev wifi0 wlanmode monitor
iwconfig ath0 essid smeshtest channel 6
/sbin/ifconfig ath0 up
/sbin/ifconfig ath1 up
/sbin/ifconfig ath0 10.0.0.2 netmask 255.0.0.0
Run the script. You should get something similar to this:
root@OpenWrt:/# chmod a+x /jffs/config.wireless
root@OpenWrt:/# /jffs/config.wireless
wlanconfig: ioctl: No such device
wlanconfig: ioctl: No such device
ath0
ath1
root@OpenWrt:/# ifconfig
ath0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:02:6F:44:CD:CA
inet addr:10.0.0.2 Bcast:10.255.255.255 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
ath1 Link encap:UNSPEC HWaddr 06-02-6F-44-CD-CA-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:1397 errors:0 dropped:1397 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:272388 (266.0 KiB) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:08:A2:03:78:BC
inet addr:128.220.221.77 Bcast:128.220.221.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:5842 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1683 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:100
RX bytes:1921986 (1.8 MiB) TX bytes:948703 (926.4 KiB)
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:40 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:40 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:3045 (2.9 KiB) TX bytes:3045 (2.9 KiB)
wifi0 Link encap:UNSPEC HWaddr 00-02-6F-44-CD-CA-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:1478 errors:0 dropped:5 overruns:0 frame:69
TX packets:5 errors:4 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:195
RX bytes:246156 (240.3 KiB) TX bytes:310 (310.0 B)
Interrupt:23
root@OpenWrt:/# iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
eth1 no wireless extensions.
br-lan no wireless extensions.
wifi0 no wireless extensions.
wifi1 no wireless extensions.
ath0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"smeshtest" Nickname:""
Mode:Ad-Hoc Frequency:2.437 GHz Cell: 02:02:6F:44:CD:CA
Bit Rate:0 kb/s Tx-Power:18 dBm Sensitivity=1/1
Retry:off RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality=0/70 Signal level=-96 dBm Noise level=-96 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:1 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0
ath1 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"" Nickname:""
Mode:Monitor Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 06:02:6F:44:CD:CA
Bit Rate:0 kb/s Tx-Power:18 dBm Sensitivity=1/1
Retry:off RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality=0/70 Signal level=-96 dBm Noise level=-96 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0
Transfer (scp) the SMesh binaries (spines, smesh_proxy) and config files (smesh.conf, runSmesh) to /jffs/smesh:
root@OpenWrt:/jffs/smesh# ls -la
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 Jan 1 00:13 .
drwxr-xr-x 9 root root 0 Jan 1 00:16 ..
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 11415 Jan 1 00:14 runSmesh
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4799 Jan 1 00:14 smesh.conf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 302244 Jan 1 00:13 smesh_proxy
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 196188 Jan 1 00:13 spines
The README file from the distribution explains various SMesh settings. In this example I set SMesh to use kernel mode 1, node autodiscovery, and not use the monitoring interface.
Finally, run the /jffs/smesh/runSmesh script. If everything goes ok, you should see two processes, spines and smesh_proxy running:
root@OpenWrt:/jffs/smesh# ./runSmesh
root@OpenWrt:/jffs/smesh# device ath0 entered promiscuous mode
root@OpenWrt:/jffs/smesh# ps
PID USER VSZ STAT COMMAND
1 root 1116 S init
2 root 0 SW< [kthreadd]
3 root 0 SW< [ksoftirqd/0]
4 root 0 SW< [events/0]
5 root 0 SW< [khelper]
38 root 0 SW< [kblockd/0]
66 root 0 SW [pdflush]
67 root 0 SW [pdflush]
68 root 0 SW< [kswapd0]
69 root 0 SW< [aio/0]
601 root 0 SW< [mtdblockd]
1854 root 1132 R /bin/ash --login
1862 root 1128 S syslogd -C16
1864 root 1108 S klogd
1876 root 592 S /sbin/hotplug2 --override --persistent --max-children 1 --no-coldplug
2317 root 1112 S /usr/sbin/httpd -p 80 -h /www -r OpenWrt
2321 root 1112 S telnetd -l /bin/login
2353 root 0 SWN [jffs2_gcd_mtd3]
2378 root 1108 S watchdog -t 5 /dev/watchdog
2386 root 892 S /usr/sbin/dropbear -p 22
2675 root 1132 S udhcpc -t 0 -i eth0 -b -p /var/run/eth0.pid -R
2763 root 948 S /usr/sbin/dropbear -p 22
2764 root 1128 S -ash
2842 root 892 S /usr/sbin/dropbear -p 722
3054 root 1308 S /jffs/smesh/spines -l 10.0.0.2 -p 8120 -k 0 -k 1 -d 225.5.5.5 -W -M6
3107 root 1208 S /jffs/smesh/smesh_proxy -p 8120 -k 1 -mesh_if ath0 -m arp -bht 3 -uht 3
-max 20 -ts 0.2 -df 0.2 -log /tmp/smesh.snapshot -dhcp 120 -igw_if eth0 -dns 128.220.221.1
3112 root 1116 R ps
4. Troubleshooting
Even though everything should go smooth, as I showed above, some problems may occur, especially if you play with a slightly different router, use different kernel or rootfs images, or experiment with various SMesh settings. Here are a few things you can check in this kind of situations.
4.1 spines or smesh_proxy processes are not running
Start by running the runSmesh script first. It loads the config file and attempts to run the daemons. If you don't see them, run them manually, from the command line. The commands are set in /tmp/spines.exe and /tmp/smesh.exe files. If both processes are missing, run spines first and then smesh_proxy.
root@OpenWrt:/jffs/smesh# cat /tmp/spines.exe
/jffs/smesh/spines -l 10.0.0.2 -p 8120 -k 0 -k 1 -d 225.5.5.5 -W -M 6 >> /dev/null 2>> /dev/null
root@OpenWrt:/jffs/smesh# cat /tmp/smesh.exe
/jffs/smesh/smesh_proxy -p 8120 -k 1 -mesh_if ath0 -m arp -bht 3 -uht 3 -max 20 -ts 0.2 -df 0.2 -log /tmp/smesh.snapshot -dhcp 120 -igw_if eth0 -dns 128.220.221.1 >> /dev/null 2>> /dev/null
4.2 Connectivity problem between nodes
To check the connectivity of the mesh topology, look in the /tmp/spines.snapshot file, which is automatically updated every 20 seconds. Here's how it looks in a simple mesh network with two nodes, 10.0.0.1 and 10.0.0.2:
root@OpenWrt:/jffs/smesh# cat /tmp/spines.snapshot
Available edges:
10.0.0.1 -> 10.0.0.2 :: 1 | 946690924:64171
10.0.0.2 -> 10.0.0.1 :: 1 | 1435:123056
Computing routing time: 46
ROUTES:
10.0.0.2 LOCAL NODE
10.0.0.1 via: 10.0.0.1 dist: 1; cost: 1
4.3 Client cannot connect or it cannot access the Internet
To check the clients' connectivity, look in the /tmp/smesh.snapshot file, which is also updated every 20 seconds. This is how it looks when a client (10.10.165.73) is connected:
root@OpenWrt:/jffs/smesh# cat /tmp/smesh.snapshot
LOG FILE -- LAST LQ CHECK TIME [60980] -- MON_MISSMATCH [0]
Client Edge: 10.0.0.2 -> 10.10.165.73 : 1 DR: 13 RR: 0 RSSI: 1 Metric: 13 GS: 3 LR: 0
In particular, look at the GS (group state) value. Value 3 means that the node is currently the access point of the client (member of the Client Data group). A value of 1 indicates that the node is only monitoring the client, being in its vicinity (member of Client Control group). At any point in time there should be at least one node with GS: 3. During a handoff, multiple nodes can have this value.
This is how the routing table should look like. Note the route to the client. When running SMesh in overlay mode (as explained in the README file), you will not see routes to the clients in the kernel routing table.
root@OpenWrt:/jffs/smesh# route -n
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
10.0.0.1 10.0.0.1 255.255.255.255 UGH 0 0 0 ath0
10.10.165.73 10.10.165.73 255.255.255.255 UGH 0 0 0 ath0
128.220.221.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
10.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 ath0
0.0.0.0 128.220.221.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
5. Contact
Enjoy. If you have problems, questions or suggestions, contact me at ralucam@cs.jhu.edu or drop me a line @ralucam on Twitter.