Hi,
There is a typo in the batmand startup (init.d) script the interface is refered as
interface=$(uci get batman.general.interface) while it should be interface=$(uci get batmand.general.interface) (ie. batman should be batmand)
similar is the case with the options too.
the uci command arguments are uci get/set packagename.config_profile.option
Regards, Vinay