Contents

Overview

The Gumstix Verdex Pro has multiple interfaces for connecting to a network.  The following examples demonstrate settings for the wireless interface that get entered into the (/etc/network/interfaces) configuration file on the Gumstix Verdex Pro. 

You must be comfortable with the following tools and means before attempting any networking configuration. 

• Familiarity with the "iwconfig" command.  Please refer to the Linux Programmer's iwconfig manual page for detailed information. 
• Familiarity with the "ifconfig" command.  Please refer to the Linux Programmer's ifconfig manual page for detailed information. 
• Basic text file editing ability (possibly using VI ). 
• Gained command line access to the Gumstix Verdex Pro. 

Networking Settings

You can manipulate and diagnose networking settings using both the "ifconfig" and "iwconfig" commands.  Networks can vary dramatically affecting which settings will need to get issued to get the Gumstix Verdex to connect to the network.  A detailed walkthrough is available on setting up an embedded Linux processor on a wireless Ad-Hoc network using the command line. 

Learn about the current networking settings by issuing the following command. 

Which will give you something like:

All networking settings can be manipulated for the appropriate network using ifconfig and iwconfig.  All settings changed using the command line are only persistent until the Gumstix Verdex is power cycled.  If settings are changed through the command line, the networking interfaces can be restarted if necessary without doing a power cycle. 

Wireless WEP Network with Static IP Address on Boot

Often it useful to have the Gumstix on the network with a known IP address.  This example demonstrates getting onto a network named "YOURNETWORK" with a password of "YOURPASSWORD" and an IP address of "192.168.1.217".  The network interfaces configuration file is edited with the following information (/etc/network/interfaces):

Wireless Ad-Hoc Network with Static IP Address on Boot

Garcia robots and distributed systems are often used in an Ad-Hoc network.  This configuration is how factory Garcia robots are configured to operate in.  For example, an Ad-Hoc network name is desired to be "NETWORKNAME." The network interfaces configuration file is edited with the following information (/etc/network/interfaces):

Wireless WEP Network with Dynamic IP Address on Boot

Some configurations may not be particular about what IP address is assigned to the Gumstix Verdex Pro.  DHCP is a dynamic means to gain an IP address that is assigned by the wireless access point. 

Wireless WPA (TKIP, passkey) using a Static IP Address on Boot

WPA has many variations and this is for WPA wireless networks using as shared passkey and TKIP.  Others may be similar.  Below are the settings in the /etc/networking/interfaces file:

If you look carefully, this starts and stops the network interface by first running a program called wpq_supplicant and then stopping it on teardown.  This program contains some configuration parameters which are stored in the file /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf in this example.  The contents of this file are:

The "psk" parameter is an encoded password and you use the wpa_supplicant program to generate this from your plain-text password.  To do this, you type:

This will output a partial configuration file that looks something like:

You then copy and paste the psk line into the /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf file you are working on to incorporate your encrypted password. 

Revision History:

• 2010-05-03: simplified ad-hoc network setup instructions.
• 2009-06-26: Included information on ASCII password length. Thanks Shivashis Saha for bring this up.
• 2009-06-15: Added in the WPA details.
• 2009-06-12: Page created detailing various networking configurations.

Related Links:

Configuration steps for using a Gumstix Verdex Pro on a Garcia robot

How To: Configure a wireless card for the Stargate