Linux Unwired [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

5.4 Flashing Your Access Point

One feature that is not immediately apparent in the
Java
Configurator is located in the drop-down File menu: Upload
New Base Station Firmware. This feature is also available
in the Orinoco configuration software for Windows and in the Apple
AirPort software for Mac OS X, as well as in the FreeBase software
mentioned earlier.

However, a neat hack that the Java configurator and FreeBase allow is
the uploading of firmware to a device that does not explicitly match
the firmware in question.

For example, the original Apple AirPort and the Orinoco RG-1000 are
identical hardware, so you can flash either unit with the firmware
image of the other. You can also flash both of these models and the
Orinoco RG-1100 with the Orinoco AP-500 or AP-1000 firmware (which is
quite a feature upgrade because it supports bridging, protocol
filtering, RADIUS, and many other advanced configuration options).

To flash the firmware, you need the firmware images. The Orinoco CLI
proxy software comes with binary (.bin) firmware
images for the AP-500 and AP-1000. The Orinoco AP Manager software for
Windows comes with these images, as well as the RG-1000 and RG-1100
images. It is available from http://www.proxim.com/support/all/orinoco/software/dl2002_orinoco_ap_75l.

Apple has built its firmware updates into the executables for its
AirPort updater software. If you're a Mac-head, you
can use ResEdit to remove the binary firmware
from the executable. However, we won't go into that
here. There is a non-Apple web page available that provides binary
firmware images for the various AirPort versions: http://www.icir.org/fenner/airport. Use these
images at your own risk. For more information on creative ways to
flash an access point, see Chapter 6.