Getting online with PiStorm32, Miami DX and Encrypted WiFi

[AndyFC]

Here are the steps I took to be able to browse using the new WiFiPi wireless network driver, and Miami DX.

Version 0.1: First version to document my experiences - still finding and fixing typos
Version 0.2 (8 May '24): Corrected grammar and added a bit more explanation to steps. Nothing fundamental has changed which alters the steps.
Version 0.3 (29 May 2024): Added DNS instructions for Miami as requested by bp500 in the comments.

Downloads:
Emu68Tools from 23 April: https://github.com/michalsc/Emu68-tools/releases/download/nightly/Emu68-tools-20240423-75ea45.zip (this version contains the first version of the Alpha wifipi driver to support encryption; check here for later versions https://github.com/michalsc/Emu68-tools/releases)
Emu68 release 1: https://github.com/michalsc/Emu68/releases
Prism2v2: https://aminet.net/driver/net/prism2v2.lha
MiamiDX (demo): https://aminet.net/comm/tcp/MiamiDx10cmain.lha and https://aminet.net/comm/tcp/MiamiDx10c-MUI.lha (I already had this up and running with a 3COM PCMCIA card)

The info for where to copy the files is based on Michal Schultz's post: https://www.patreon.com/posts/wi-fi-alpha-102261532

The steps probably also work for other versions of the PiStorm but I don't have the hardware to test with.

Important to note that currently this is still an Alpha version of the driver so bugs or problems can be expected.

Set up the Wireless network driver (these steps are the same for any Network stack, not just MiamiDX)
1: Unpack Emu68 tools
2: Copy file Emu68-WiFi/Devs/Networks/wifipi.device to DEVS:Networks
3: Copy the whole folder emu68/WiFi/Devs/Networks/Firmware to Devs: (so you end up with Devs:Firmware containing a series of txt, bin and clm_blob files; 14 files in the version I originally used) NOTE: I didn't have the Devs:Firmware folder to start with but some of you might)
4: Unpack Prism2v2.lha you can choose to run the installer or copy some files manually

IF MANUAL
5: Copy Wirelessmanager to C:
6: Create a text file in Envarc:sys/ called wireless.prefs
7: Add the lines
network={
     ssid="<name of your wireless network>"
     psk="<your network passphrase>"
}
8: Save the file
9: Reboot

IF USING THE INSTALLER:
5: Use expert mode
6: Choose 'No' when asked to install firmware for the Hermes chipset
7: Choose 'Yes' to set wireless preferences
8: Enter you wireless network name and password when prompted
9a: Choose whether or not to start WirelessManager automatically (it's up to you - see 'Observations' at the end)
9b: Finish the install and reboot

What's the difference between the Manual and the Installer set up?
The process using the installer creates an encrypted version of the wireless password and uses that instead of the open text version which is handy if you don't want your password saved in plain text on your Amiga.
My personal experience is that I couldn't connect after setting up the wireless.prefs file manually, I would just get a timeout. Users Lemaru and Shaytam on the PiStorm discord assured me it should work without the encrypted PSK, so I uncommented the plain text line and commented out the encrypted line, rebooted and it then worked. The timeout was probably not related to the setup method I used (I have an old house with thick brick internal walls and Wifi can sometimes drop).

Starting the Network
10: If you chose to use the installer and start automatically, and all being well, the wifipi.device should have been initialised on reboot. This is done silently so you won't see anything on screen to confirm it.
11: If you have chosen the manual route open up a Shell and enter 'Wirelessmanager wifipi.device' - after a few seconds you hopefully get confirmation that you are associated with a MAC address, key negotiation is completed and CTRL-EVENT-Connected ie you're connected to the access point.

Configuring MiamiDX (Note I already use MiamiDX with a PCMCIA card and copied the original settings rather than set up from scratch)
12: If not already done, install MiamiDX
13: Run Miami and open up `Hardware` > `New` to open up the 'Hardware definition' window
14: Give it a name e.g. WiFiPi (remember this for step 22)
15: `Type` should default to SANA-II driver (if not change it to that using the cycle gadget)
16: In `Driver` enter `DEVS:Networks/wifipi.device` (or browse to it) and leave `Unit` as 0
17: Open `SANA-II parameters`
18: Choose `Query Device` - the settings should auto-complete.
19: Choose `OK` to close the SANA-II parameters window and again to close the Hardware definition window
20: Choose `Interfaces` from the MiamiDX menu
21: Choose `New`
22: My settings are:
 - Name: eth1
 - Alias: WiFiPi
 - Type: Ethernet
 - Hardware: (whatever you called the interface in step 14)
 - Priority: 10
 - IP type: Static (note DHCP might work for you but my router doesn't serve DHCP to my Amiga properly)
 - IP Address: something relevant to your network
 - Netmask Type: Static
 - Netmask: 255.255.255.0 (pretty common)
 - Gateway Type: static
 - Gateway: ip address of your router
 - Multicasts: disabled
 - Multicast pri: 0
 - Control panel: ticked
 - GUI default: unticked
(I don't have any Auto-connect/disconnect settings or Manual routes/aliases)
Select `TCP/IP settings` and in the `Interface TCP\IP settings` screen::
 - Use ICMP: ticked
 - Fake IP: unticked
 - Get dynamic hostame, priority: 0
 - Get dynamic DNS servers: Ignore
 - Preferred offline state: Suspended
 - Get time: unticked
 - DHCP Enable: Ticked
 - Send hostname in request: Ticked
 - Host Name: Something you want to identify your Amiga on if looking in your router interface
23: Select `OK` to close the `Interface TCP/IP Settings` window and again to close the `Interface definition` window
24: Go to `Databases` from the left hand menu
25: Use the cycle gadet at the top to get to `DNS servers`
26: Select `Add` and enter 194.168.4.100 in the `IP address field`, press enter
27: Repeat 26 but enter 194.168.8.100 (these are Google's DNS servers; you may choose to use others)
28: Right-click and choose 'Save' from the Settings menu

Now to test:
29: In MiamiDX, and the `Interfaces` section, select your newly created Interface and select 'Online'

Observations:
I Use Tinymeter and as soon as I run wirelessmanager the CPU drops to around 30%-33% free, so I'm going to continue to run this manually for now, only when I want to go online. Discussion on Discord says this is because direct polling, not DMA is used. There's still more than enough free CPU to run web tools like IBrowse, FTP programs etc and not get noticeable slowdown.

If you make any changes to the wireless.prefs file reboot for them to take effect.

[AndyFC]

executing command (wirelessmanager wifipi.device) gets failed to initialize driver.
Why do all the other devices get recognized as files in the networks folder, such as cnet.device but the wifipi.device shows as a folder?
inside folder there is no .device to access.

Hi David, It's possibly something to do with the archive and what tool you're using to unpack it; occasionally I have problems with .Zip files where they don't unarchive correctly e.g. I'll use one tool and the tooltypes aren't set correctly or a folder is seen as a file, but unpacking using another utility will work.

The unpacked archive should contain the following file structure (just concentrating on the WiFi files):
Emu68-WiFi (folder)
 - Devs (folder)
   |- Networks (folder)
     |- wifipi.device (file)
   |- Firmware (folder)
     |- cyfmac43455-sdio.clm_blob (file)
     |- brcmfmac43436s-sdio.bin (file)
     |- brcmfmac43436-sdio.clm_blob (file)
     |- cyfmac43455-sdio.bin (file)
     |- brcmfmac43456-sdio.txt (file)
     |- brcmfmac43436-sdio.txt (file)
     |- brcmfmac43430-sdio.txt (file)
     |- brcmfmac43456-sdio.bin (file)
     |- brcmfmac43455-sdio.txt (file)
     |- cyfmac43430-sdio.clm_blob (file)
     |- brcmfmac43436-sdio.bin (file)
     |- cyfmac43430-sdio.bin (file)
     |- brcmfmac43456-sdio.clm_blob (file)
     |- brcmfmac43436s-sdio.txt (file)

[AndyFC]

Thanks @10MARC. In return, I'm linking to your video. I've learnt some things from it, like `shownetstatus`.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDvz9euZ-fg

[AndyFC]

Can you try unpacking from within AmigaOS? Doing it on Windows may change some of the file properties because it doesn't recognise Amiga ones.

I don't use Caffeine but I imagine it has file extraction for zips built in. Someone with experience of it will be able to confirm.