irdaping Command in Linux

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The irdaping is a ping-like command in Linux that sends IrDA test frames. IrDA (Infrared Data Association) is a technology standard that enables devices to communicate wirelessly using infrared light.

IrDA test frames are specific data frames transmitted over an IrDA connection to test and validate the communication between two IrDA-enabled devices. These frames are used to assess the quality, reliability, and performance of the infrared connection by sending data packets. Test frames are similar to the ping command used in networking to check a network connection's availability and response time.

Table of Contents

Here is a comprehensive guide to the options available with the irdaping command −

• Prerequisites for irdaping Command
• Syntax of irdaping Command
• irdaping Command Options
• Examples of irdaping Command in Linux

Note − The irdaping command and the associated IrDA utilities, often referred to as irad-utils are considered deprecated in modern Linux distributions. This shift is due to the decline of IrDA technology. Additionally, updates to the kernel architecture have made existing IrDA utilities incompatible with modern hardware and operating systems.

Prerequisites for irdaping Command

The irdaping command may not be available by default in Linux. It is a part of the irda-utils packages. To install the irdaping command, use the following instructions.

To install the irdaping command on Ubuntu, Kali Linux, Debian, and other Debian-based distributions, use the command given below −

sudo apt install irda-utils

To install it on Fedora, use the following command −

sudo dnf install irda-utils

To check the availability of the irdaping command, use the following command −

which irdaping

If the output shows the irdaping command binary path, that means the command is installed on Linux.

Syntax of irdaping Command

The syntax of the irdaping command is as follows −

irdaping [daddr] [-s <framesize>]

The [daddr] is the IrDA device's destination address (daddr) that needs to be pinged. This is usually obtained through a discovery tool like irdadump or by checking /proc/net/irda/discovery. The [-s <framesize>] option is used to specify the size of the test frame in bytes. If omitted, a default frame size is used.

irdaping Command Options

The options of the irdaping command are listed below −

Examples of irdaping Command in Linux

This section demonstrates the usage of the irdaping command in Linux with examples −

Sending Test Frames to an IrDA Device

To send test frames to an IrDA device, use the irdaping command with the daddr or device destination address −

irdaping 0x4e5f6a7b

The device's address is in hexadecimal format and can be obtained using the irdadump command or by accessing the /proc/net/irda/discovery file.

The destination address is the unique identifier for an IrDA device used to route data packets during communication. Knowing the destination address is essential for sending data accurately between devices in an IrDA network.

Sending Test Frames to an IrDA Device by Specifying the Frame Size

To send the test frames to an IrDA device by specifying the frame size, use the -s option. For example, to set the frame size to 512 use the irdaping command in the following way −

irdaping 0x4e5f6a7b -s 512

Conclusion

The irdaping command is a Linux tool similar to ping, used to send IrDA test frames. IrDA (Infrared Data Association) is the standard for this communication, with test frames acting as data packets that evaluate the quality and reliability of the infrared connection between two devices. Like the traditional ping command, irdaping checks the availability and response time of an IrDA connection.

It is important to note that irdaping and the related IrDA utilities, known as irda-utils, are now considered deprecated in modern Linux distributions due to the decline of IrDA technology and incompatibility issues arising from updates to the kernel architecture.

In this tutorial, we explained the irdaping command, its installation, syntax, options, and usage in Linux with examples.