[PATCH] Make in-kernel hostap less annoying

[PATCH] Make in-kernel hostap less annoying

[Kyle McMartin]

Most user don't want their kern.log/dmesg filled with
debugging gibberish, and could turn it on if prompted.

( Example:
wifi0: TXEXC - status=0x0004 ([Discon]) tx_control=000c
retry_count=0 tx_rate=0 fc=0x0108 (Data::0 ToDS)
A1=00:0f:66:43:d7:0a A2=00:05:3c:06:63:01 A3=33:33:00:00:00:16 
A4=00:00:00:00:00:00 )


Also make hostap default to managed mode, instead of master mode, which
has bitten a few users expecting it to behave like the orinoco driver
it is replacing.

Signed-off-by: Kyle McMartin <kyle@parisc-linux.org>

---
Two minor things I've been carrying around in my personal tree
for quite some time. (This is only relevant to the in-kernel driver,
I see no reason to change the out-of-tree driver.)

Cheers,
Kyle

diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/hostap/hostap_config.h b/drivers/net/wireless/hostap/hostap_config.h
index c090a5a..bc51fa9 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/hostap/hostap_config.h
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/hostap/hostap_config.h
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ #endif
  */
 
 /* Do not include debug messages into the driver */
-/* #define PRISM2_NO_DEBUG */
+#define PRISM2_NO_DEBUG
 
 /* Do not include /proc/net/prism2/wlan#/{registers,debug} */
 /* #define PRISM2_NO_PROCFS_DEBUG */
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/hostap/hostap_hw.c b/drivers/net/wireless/hostap/hostap_hw.c
index 328e9a1..57438e8 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/hostap/hostap_hw.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/hostap/hostap_hw.c
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ static char essid[33] = "test";
 module_param_string(essid, essid, sizeof(essid), 0444);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(essid, "Host AP's ESSID");
 
-static int iw_mode[MAX_PARM_DEVICES] = { IW_MODE_MASTER, DEF_INTS };
+static int iw_mode[MAX_PARM_DEVICES] = { IW_MODE_INFRA, DEF_INTS };
 module_param_array(iw_mode, int, NULL, 0444);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(iw_mode, "Initial operation mode");
 

Re: [PATCH] Make in-kernel hostap less annoying

[Jouni Malinen]

On Mon, Jun 12, 2006 at 03:13:02PM -0400, Kyle McMartin wrote:

> Most user don't want their kern.log/dmesg filled with
> debugging gibberish, and could turn it on if prompted.
> 
> ( Example:
> wifi0: TXEXC - status=0x0004 ([Discon]) tx_control=000c
> retry_count=0 tx_rate=0 fc=0x0108 (Data::0 ToDS)
> A1=00:0f:66:43:d7:0a A2=00:05:3c:06:63:01 A3=33:33:00:00:00:16 
> A4=00:00:00:00:00:00 )

I agree with removing these by default. However, I would prefer to do
this in more selective manor than disabling all debugging information at
build time. This would probably involve going through all debug messages
using this mechanism and selecting whether they are reasonable to enable
by default or not and ideally doing this as a run-time option.

> Also make hostap default to managed mode, instead of master mode, which
> has bitten a few users expecting it to behave like the orinoco driver
> it is replacing.

NAK. Host AP has been configured to use master mode by default for the
past six years and that is what most users would expect it to continue
to do. I do understand that this default differs from all drivers that
do not support AP mode, but I think it is too late to change this now.
The default could change once Host AP gets replaced with
net/d80211-based implementation for Prism2/2.5/3, but I would not change
this for Host AP driver.

> Two minor things I've been carrying around in my personal tree
> for quite some time. (This is only relevant to the in-kernel driver,
> I see no reason to change the out-of-tree driver.)

That would be even more confusing for the default mode.. I believe that
both versions should continue to use Master mode as the default unless
overridden by user.

-- 
Jouni Malinen                                            PGP id EFC895FA

Re: [PATCH] Make in-kernel hostap less annoying

[Dan Williams]

On Wed, 2006-06-14 at 20:41 -0700, Jouni Malinen wrote: 
> On Mon, Jun 12, 2006 at 03:13:02PM -0400, Kyle McMartin wrote:
> 
> > Most user don't want their kern.log/dmesg filled with
> > debugging gibberish, and could turn it on if prompted.
> > 
> > ( Example:
> > wifi0: TXEXC - status=0x0004 ([Discon]) tx_control=000c
> > retry_count=0 tx_rate=0 fc=0x0108 (Data::0 ToDS)
> > A1=00:0f:66:43:d7:0a A2=00:05:3c:06:63:01 A3=33:33:00:00:00:16 
> > A4=00:00:00:00:00:00 )
> 
> I agree with removing these by default. However, I would prefer to do
> this in more selective manor than disabling all debugging information at
> build time. This would probably involve going through all debug messages
> using this mechanism and selecting whether they are reasonable to enable
> by default or not and ideally doing this as a run-time option.
> 
> > Also make hostap default to managed mode, instead of master mode, which
> > has bitten a few users expecting it to behave like the orinoco driver
> > it is replacing.
> 
> NAK. Host AP has been configured to use master mode by default for the
> past six years and that is what most users would expect it to continue
> to do. I do understand that this default differs from all drivers that
> do not support AP mode, but I think it is too late to change this now.
> The default could change once Host AP gets replaced with
> net/d80211-based implementation for Prism2/2.5/3, but I would not change
> this for Host AP driver.

Furthermore, if your network scripts and/or network daemon don't know to
change the card to Managed mode before they starts trying to make a
connection, they need to be fixed.  It shouldn't really matter to users
what mode the driver starts up in, since the mode needs to get
unconditionally set on the card anyway for each connection you try to
make.  That doesn't matter if it's a human or a script.

Dan