iPXE over WiFi (For LinuxMCE)

[Virucyde]

The main page mentions that it allows you to do this, but the documentation doesn't seem to specify which Wifi adapters are supported, or even how to say which access point to connect to. I'd also like to be able to use a password with WPA2.

So in the end I'd like to boot from the iPXE ROM on the USB/HDD on a computer with a wifi adapter, and have it connect wirelessly to my WPA2 secured network to download Linux MCE and boot into it. This would make my system more centralized and easier to update. Ideally this would be possible with a USB wireless adapter or one that's built into a mini-ITX motherboard.

[robinsmidsrod]

Yes, it is possible, but not very widespread. You can find the list of network adapters by using the src/util/niclist.pl script and grep for the obvious strings that identify wifi chips (802.11, wifi, etc.) I think there are 3 or 4 chipsets that are supported. To find out how to configure a wifi ipxe client, search for ssid on http://ipxe.org to find the right example. Be aware that you'll need an embedded script in your build to set the ssid and wpa key before you open the interface.

And sadly no, USB adapters are not supported. We don't (yet) have a USB driver stack in iPXE.

[Virucyde]

(2013-02-11 08:49)robinsmidsrod Wrote:  Yes, it is possible, but not very widespread. You can find the list of network adapters by using the src/util/niclist.pl script and grep for the obvious strings that identify wifi chips (802.11, wifi, etc.) I think there are 3 or 4 chipsets that are supported. To find out how to configure a wifi ipxe client, search for ssid on http://ipxe.org to find the right example. Be aware that you'll need an embedded script in your build to set the ssid and wpa key before you open the interface.

And sadly no, USB adapters are not supported. We don't (yet) have a USB driver stack in iPXE.

My search of the main site failed to turn up anything too promising:
http://dox.ipxe.org/group__net80211__settings.html - Best one
http://forum.ipxe.org/showthread.php?tid=3910
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=SSID+site%3Aipxe.org

I suppose I'll have to rely on a wireless switch or something..

[robinsmidsrod]

I believe there is an explanation somewhere in this video about how he got wifi pxe up and running.

If you haven't watched it already and is into netbooting, it is a good watch regardless.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFJL5vATy_k

Joshua Oreman (which is speaking in the video) is a member of the iPXE community, you can find him as oremanj on IRC.

[Virucyde]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFJL5vATy_k&t=81m0s

Unfortunately he doesn't talk much about the hardware or how he set it up, he just seems to have done it. It's just looking like I'd be better off going with a wireless bridge, and iPXE's HTTP support should make that more stable anyway.