On Thu, Jan 29, 2015 at 12:19:26PM +0100, Stefan Sperling wrote:
> On Thu, Jan 29, 2015 at 09:02:52AM +0100, Bradain Foley wrote:
> > >Synopsis:  Add example to ifconfig(8) for wireless monitor mode
> > >Category:  documentation
> > >Environment:
> >     System      : OpenBSD 5.6
> >     Details     : OpenBSD 5.6 (GENERIC) #310: Fri Aug  8 00:14:24 MDT 2014
> >                      
> > [email protected]:/usr/src/sys/arch/amd64/compile/GENERIC
> > 
> >     Architecture: OpenBSD.amd64
> >     Machine     : amd64
> > >Description:
> > It would be helpful to add an example of how to put a wireless card
> > into monitor (rfmon) mode. The man pages for various wireless cards 
> 
> > (such as athn(4), urtwn(4)) mention monitor mode but not how to set 
> > it.
> > I scoured ifconfig(8) and device man pages for days without finding 
> > a hint. Finally I resorted to writing a C program with libpcap to 
> > turn on monitor mode. Only then did I notice in ifconfig output 
> > that monitor mode is related to mediaopt.
> > There is a hint in ifconfig(8) already to look at output from:
> >     # ifconfig interface media 
> > but it was too oblique for me to appreciate the connection.
> > >Fix:
> > Here is a patch.
> 
> I agree with this idea because searching ifconifg(8) for 'monitor'
> currently yields nothing.
> 

well, ifconfig is already a big page. you could argue the text is wrong
if it's missing important detail. still i'm inclined to agree with the
diff because we already have a wireless example in ifconfig(8), how to
scan, which is largely redundant, since the wireless pages also have it.

i propose we swap examples.

> > --- src/sbin/ifconfig/ifconfig.8.orig       Fri Jan 30 04:00:54 2015
> > +++ src/sbin/ifconfig/ifconfig.8    Fri Jan 30 04:47:19 2015
> > @@ -1568,6 +1568,12 @@
> >  Scan for wireless networks using bwi0:
> >  .Pp
> >  .Dl # ifconfig bwi0 scan
> > +.Pp
> > +Put the athn0 wireless interface into monitor (rfmon) mode.
> 
> "rfmon" is a bit of an obscure acronym I think.
> Saying just "monitor mode" is sufficient.
> 
> > +Refer to the interface's driver-specific man page to see if
> > +the card supports monitor mode:
> 
> The above seems unnecessary. Most drivers support monitor mode. If I'm
> grepping correctly the only ones that don't are atu(4), atw(4), and rsu(4).
> 
> > +.Pp
> > +.Dl # ifconfig athn0 mediaopt monitor
> >  .Sh DIAGNOSTICS
> >  Messages indicating the specified interface does not exist, the
> >  requested address is unknown, or the user is not privileged and
> 

i totally agree with both points above.

jmc

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