plcboot.1
Author: cmaier@cmassoc.net

    plcboot(1)                                   Qualcomm Atheros Open Powerline Toolkit                                  plcboot(1)

    NAME
           plcboot - Qualcomm Atheros Panther/Lynx Powerline Device Bootstrapper

    SYNOPSIS
           plcboot [options] -N file -P file [device] [device] [...]

    DESCRIPTION
           Download and start runtime firmware on a local powerline device when it is in bootloader mode.  A powerline device enters
           bootloader mode if it has not flash memory or cannot load firmware from flash memory for some reason.  You can  use  this
           progrm  to start the device and then, optionally, permanently write a softloader, parameters and firmware into flash mem‐
           ory.

           Qualcomm Atheros introduced new boot methods with the Lightning chipset and new file formats and flash methods  with  the
           Panther  chipset.   This program supports the newer formats and methods.  It does not support the older formats and meth‐
           ods.  See programs int6kboot or ampboot to initialize earlier chipsets.

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

    OPTIONS
           -e     Redirects stderr messages to stdout.  Normally, status and error messages are printed on stderr while primary pro‐
                  gram output is printed on stdout.  This option prints all output on stdout in cases where this is desired.

           -F[F]  Flash or Force Flash NVRAM using either VS_MOD_NVM or VS_MODULE_OPERATION.  Adding a second F here or  another  -F
                  anywhere  on  the  command line will force-flash a blank or corrupted NVRAM.  Firmware loaded from NVRAM may treat
                  force-flash as an error, depending of the firmware version.

           -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
                  The  file  containing the firmware chain used to boot and flash the device.  This option and argument are required
                  when booting or flashing a device but may appear anywhere on the  command  line.   Invalid  image  files  will  be
                  rejected.  No assumptions are made about this file based on filename and no filename conventions are enforced.

           -P filename
                  The  file  containing the firmware chain used to boot and flash the device.  This option and argument are required
                  when booting or flashing a device but may appear anywhere on the  command  line.   Invalid  image  files  will  be
                  rejected.  No assumptions are made about this file based on filename and no filename conventions are enforced.

           -q     Suppresses status messages on stderr.

           -S filename
                  The  file containing the softloader chain used to flash the device.  On prior versions of plcboot, the presence of
                  this option indicated that flash memory should be programmed but that is no longer the case.  You must now specify
                  bot this option and option -F in order to program flash memory.  This option and argument are required when flash‐
                  ing a device but may appear anywhere on the command line.  Invalid image files will be rejected.   No  assumptions
                  are made about this file based on filename and no filename conventions are enforced.

           -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     Prints additional information on stdout.  In particular, this option dumps outgoing Ethernet packets 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
           device The Ethernet hardware address of some powerline device.  More than one address may be  specified  on  the  command
                  line.   If  more  than one address is specified then operations are performed on each device in turn.  The default
                  address is local.  as explained in the DEVICES section.

    DEVICES
           Powerline device addresses are 12 hexadecimal digits in upper, lower or mixed case.  Individual octets may  be  separated
           by   colons,   for  clarity,  but  colons  are  not  required.   For  example,  "00b052000001",  "00:b0:52:00:00:01"  and
           "00b052:000001" are valid and equivalent.

           A local device is any Atheros Powerline Device connected directly to a host Ethernet interface.  A remote device  is  any
           Atheros Powerline Device at the far end of a powerline connection.  A foreign device is any powerline device not manufac‐
           tured by Atheros.

           Common device addresses have symbolic names that can be used in place of the actual address value.   The  following  sym‐
           bolic addresses are recognized by this program and most other toolkit programs.

           all    Equivalent to "broadcast", described next.

           broadcast
                  A  synonym  for  the Ethernet broadcast address, FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF.  All devices, whether local, remote or foreign
                  will respond to this address.

           local  A synonym for the Qualcomm Atheros Local Management Address (LMA), 00:B0:52:00:00:01.  All local  Atheros  devices
                  will respond to this address but remote and foreign devices will not.

    REFERENCES
           See  the  Qualcomm  Atheros  HomePlug AV Firmware Technical Reference Manual for technical information.  See the Qualcomm
           Atheros Powerline Toolkit Online Documetation for practical information and examples.

    EXAMPLES
           This example boots a powerline device by downloading runtime parameters and firmware then  starting  firmware  execution.
           The  actual boot method used will depend on the file formats and powerline device type detected by the program.  The out‐
           put shown here is typical for panther and lynx chipsets.  Option -P and -N are required but their order is not important.
           Tne  MAC address may be omitted beccause it will default to 00:B0:52:00:00:01 which is also the default bootloader device
           address.  On completion, runtime firmware is executing in SDRAM but flash memory has not been programmed.  If This opera‐
           tion is common for flash-less devices.  If we reset the device at this point then it will return to bootloader mode.

              # plcboot -P AR7420.pib -N AR7400.nvm
              eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 BootLoader is running
              eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Write AR7420.nvm (1) (0x00000040:6212)
              eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Start AR7420.nvm (1) (0x000000C0)
              eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Write AR7420.pib (1) (0x00200000:10904)
              eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Write AR7420.nvm (5) (0x002B610C:281252)
              eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Start AR7420.nvm (5) (0x002B64FC)
              eth1 00:B0:52:BA:BE:88 MAC-QCA7420ES-0.9.0.278-0-20110914-INTERNAL is running

           The  next  example  boots  a  device,  as  before, then flashes the same parameters and firmware into non-volatile memory
           attached to the device.  Observe that a softloader is required and will be written to flash memory before runtime parame‐
           ters  and firmware.  The softloader need only be written once when first programming a blank flash memory.  Option -FF is
           optional but permitted for backward compatibility with programs ampboot and int6kboot.

              # plcboot -P AR7420.pib -N AR7400.nvm -S AR7420-softloader.nvm -FF
              eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Write AR7420.nvm (1) (00000040:6212)
              eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Start AR7420.nvm (1) (000000C0)
              eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Write AR7420.pib (1) (00200000:11692)
              eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Write AR7420.nvm (5) (002B6A4C:282444)
              eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:01 Start AR7420.nvm (5) (002B6E3C)
              eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:06 MAC-QCA7420ES-1.0.0.280-00-20110923-ALPHA is running
              eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:06 Start Session
              eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:06 Flash AR7420-softloader.nvm
              eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:06 Close Session
              eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:06 Start Session
              eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:06 Flash AR7420.pib
              eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:06 Flash AR7420.nvm
              eth1 00:B0:52:00:00:06 Close Session

    DISCLAIMER
           Qualcomm Atheros firmware file structure and content is proprietary to Qualcomm Atheros,  Ocala  FL  USA.   Consequently,
           public information is not available.  Qualcomm Atheros reserves the right to change firmware file structure or content or
           change the name or behavior of any program that inspects or changes firmware files, in future software  releases  without
           any  obligation  to notify or compensate users of such programs.  Qualcomm Atheros HomePlug AV Vendor Specific Management
           Message structure and content is proprietary to Qualcomm Atheros, Ocala FL USA.  Consequently, public information may not
           be  available.   Aualcomm  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
           ampboot(1), amptool(1), chknvm(1), chkpib(1), int6kboot(1), modpib(1), plctool(1)

    CREDITS
            Charles Maier <cmaier@qca.qualcomm.com>

    open-plc-utils-0.0.3                                        Mar 2014                                                  plcboot(1)

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