DOKK / manpages / debian 12 / plc-utils-extra / chkpib.1.en
chkpib(1) Qualcomm Atheros Open Powerline Toolkit chkpib(1)

chkpib - Qualcomm Atheros PLC Parameter File Inspector

chkpib [options] file [file] [...]

The Qualcomm Atheros Parameter File Validator checks Qualcomm Atheros powerline parameter files for obvious errors, including obsolete format, wrong file size, bad checksums and read errors. It makes no attempt to check any internal information other than file length and checksum.

This program handles both the older Thunderbolt and Lightning and the newer Panther and Lynx parameter file formats. It validates files directly from disk and so it is slower than program chkpib2 but needs less memory at runtime.

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

-m
Display manifest content, if present. The manifest is a special module, included in some image chains, that contains useful information about the chain. This option suppresses the summary 'looks good' message.

-q
Suppresses printing of progress messages.

-v
Print additional information such as the PIB header for each file. This information can be used to confirm pib version and distinguish one PIB file from another.

-?,--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.

The name of a runtime parameter file. By convention, runtime parameter files have a .pib extention but this program does not enforce that convention.

Qualcomm Atheros parameter 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 parameter file structure or content or change the name or behavior of any program that inspects or changes parameter files, in future software releases without any obligation to notify or compensate users of such programs.

The next example reads file abc.pib and validates it. The message shown indicates that the PIB version is recent, the file is the correct size, the checksum is valid computes and there are no read errors.


# chkpib abc.pib
abc.pib looks good

The next example reads three files and reports on each one. You can suppress good news with the -q option. Remember that "looking good" does not mean "is good".


# chkpib INT6400.pib AR7400.pib AR7420.pib
INT6400.pib looks good
AR7400.pib looks good
AR7420.pib looks good

The next example reads three files and displays selected information about each one because option -v is present. Ov course, program output could be piped to a file and used for documentation purposes.


# chkpib -v INT6400.pib AR7400.pib AR7420.pib
------- INT6400.pib -------
PIB 4-2 10888 bytes
MAC 00:B0:52:BA:BE:00
DAK 68:9F:07:4B:8B:02:75:A2:71:0B:0B:57:79:AD:16:30 (HomePlugAV)
NMK 50:D3:E4:93:3F:85:5B:70:40:78:4D:F8:15:AA:8D:B7 (HomePlugAV)
NID B0:F2:E6:95:66:6B:03
NET Intellon Enabled Network
MFG Intellon HomePlug AV Device
USR Intellon Enabled Product
CCo Auto
MDU N/A
------- AR7400.pib -------
PIB 7-1 16352 bytes
MAC 00:B0:52:00:00:08
DAK F0:84:B4:E8:F6:06:9F:F1:30:0C:9B:DB:81:23:67:FF (HomePlugAV0123)
NMK 50:D3:E4:93:3F:85:5B:70:40:78:4D:F8:15:AA:8D:B7 (HomePlugAV)
NID B0:F2:E6:95:66:6B:03
NET Atheros Enabled Network
MFG Atheros HomePlug AV Device
USR Intergalactic Software Pirates
CCo Never
MDU Slave
------- AR7420.pib -------
PIB 0-2 10904 bytes
MAC 00:B0:52:00:00:01
DAK 68:9F:07:4B:8B:02:75:A2:71:0B:0B:57:79:AD:16:30 (HomePlugAV)
NMK 50:D3:E4:93:3F:85:5B:70:40:78:4D:F8:15:AA:8D:B7 (HomePlugAV)
NID B0:F2:E6:95:66:6B:03
NET Atheros Enabled Network
MFG Atheros HomePlug AV Device
USR Atheros Enabled Product
CCo Auto
MDU N/A

This example prints the manifest found inside newer parameter files. This can be used to distinguish parameter files from firmware files, determine exact firmware or parameter file revisions and so forth. Observe that we specified several files on the command line but only one file, AR7420.pib, contained a manifest.


# chkpib -m INT6400.pib AR7400.pib AR7420.pib
------- AR7420.pib (0) -------
Signature: 1234ABCD
Hardware Compatibility: AR74200
Chain Major Version: 0
Chain Minor Version: 1
Chain Type: Parameter Block
Build Major Version: 0
Build Minor Version: 0
Build Type: Special
Manifest Version: 1
Build Number: 0
Build Date: 20110811
Build Time: 203853
Device Type: 29728
Build Hostname: TOR-SW-SIM04
Build Username: buildbot
Build Description: Custom
Build Version String: AR-7420-FW-0_0-0_2-20110811:203853-buildbot:TOR-SW-SIM04-1-0_1

chkpib2(7), getpib(7), modpib(1), pib2xml(1), pibcomp(1), pibdump(1), setpib(1), xml2pib(1)


Charles Maier
Nathaniel Houghton

November 2013 open-plc-utils-0.0.3