Bug 11503

Summary: Update to 3.8.13.4-1mga3 breaks b43 Wireless (at least for Broadcom 4331 chipset)
Product: Mageia Reporter: Andy Liebman <AndrewL733>
Component: RPM PackagesAssignee: Mageia Bug Squad <bugsquad>
Status: RESOLVED OLD QA Contact:
Severity: major    
Priority: Normal    
Version: 3   
Target Milestone: ---   
Hardware: x86_64   
OS: Linux   
Whiteboard:
Source RPM: kernel-desktop-3.8.13.4-1.mga3-1-1.mga3.x86_64.rpm CVE:
Status comment:

Description Andy Liebman 2013-10-21 15:24:29 CEST 
I have a Macbook Pro 8,2 with Broadcom 4331 wireless chipset. The update from the orignal Mageia 3 kernel (3.8.13-1) to the 3.8.13.4-1 kernel broke my b43 wireless.  After the update, I had the following symptoms: 

-- Frequent disconnections from any wireless network.  Disconnections typically occur every 3-5 minutes.  To get the connection back, I have to disable and re-enable wireless in Gnome Network Settings (or Network Manager), or unload and reload b43 module in KDE. 
-- Failure to see many access points.  The only way to connect is to configure as a "hidden" network

Unfortunately, when running the Mageia 3.8.13.4-1 kernel, there is no information in dmesg or in the syslog to show what was going on.  iwconfig shows that I am still connected to the network.  ifconfig shows the connection is still "up". The Network Manager icon shows that I am still connected.  However, no traffic is passing in or out. 

I knew this didn't happen when I first installed Mageia 3 several months ago and in fact, going back to the Mageia 3 Live DVD got rid of the problem. To troubleshoot, I decided to try Mint 15 Live DVD (of course, I had to copy the b43 firmware into Mint).  Much to my surprise, I have the same problem with Mint.  But in Mint, unlike in Mageia, dmesg perhaps offers some clues as to what is going on. Every few minutes, I find a message which says, in effect, that the "b43 firmware crashed". 

From Mint dmesg: 

[  909.754038] b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware watchdog: The firmware died!
[  909.754050] b43-phy0: Controller RESET (Firmware watchdog) ...
[  909.949810] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[  909.949839] WARNING: at /build/buildd/linux-3.8.0/drivers/net/wireless/b43/main.c:2574 b43_chip_init+0x9b6/0x9d0 [b43]()
[  909.949844] Hardware name: MacBookPro8,2
[  909.949847] Modules linked in: arc4(F) b43 bcma mac80211 cfg80211 ssb dm_crypt(F) parport_pc(F) ppdev(F) lp(F) parport(F) uvcvideo snd_hda_codec_hdmi videobuf2_vmalloc videobuf2_memops videobuf2_core videodev coretemp btusb snd_hda_codec_cirrus kvm_intel snd_hda_intel bcm5974 kvm snd_hda_codec snd_hwdep(F) snd_pcm(F) joydev(F) apple_gmux dm_multipath(F) bnep applesmc ghash_clmulni_intel(F) aesni_intel(F) scsi_dh(F) snd_page_alloc(F) snd_seq_midi(F) snd_seq_midi_event(F) apple_bl snd_rawmidi(F) aes_x86_64(F) xts(F) lrw(F) gf128mul(F) ablk_helper(F) cryptd(F) snd_seq(F) rfcomm mac_hid mei snd_seq_device(F) snd_timer(F) bluetooth input_polldev snd(F) soundcore(F) lpc_ich microcode(F) binfmt_misc(F) squashfs(F) overlayfs(F) nls_utf8 isofs(F) nls_iso8859_1(F) dm_raid45 xor(F) dm_mirror(F) dm_region_hash(F) dm_log(F) hid_generic hid_apple usbhid hid radeon firewire_ohci firewire_core crc_itu_t(F) i2c_algo_bit ttm tg3 drm_kms_helper sdhci_pci drm ptp sdhci pps_core video(F) [last unloaded: bcma]
[  909.949988] Pid: 3917, comm: kworker/u:1 Tainted: GF       W    3.8.0-19-generic #29-Ubuntu
[  909.949992] Call Trace:
[  909.950006]  [<ffffffff810587ef>] warn_slowpath_common+0x7f/0xc0
[  909.950014]  [<ffffffff8105884a>] warn_slowpath_null+0x1a/0x20
[  909.950028]  [<ffffffffa0585fc6>] b43_chip_init+0x9b6/0x9d0 [b43]
[  909.950041]  [<ffffffffa0586142>] b43_wireless_core_init+0x162/0x840 [b43]
[  909.950054]  [<ffffffffa0586fb7>] b43_chip_reset+0x67/0x120 [b43]
[  909.950064]  [<ffffffff8107671c>] process_one_work+0x15c/0x4d0
[  909.950072]  [<ffffffff81077f7e>] worker_thread+0x16e/0x480
[  909.950080]  [<ffffffff81077e10>] ? manage_workers+0x2a0/0x2a0
[  909.950087]  [<ffffffff8107d2b0>] kthread+0xc0/0xd0
[  909.950094]  [<ffffffff8107d1f0>] ? kthread_create_on_node+0x120/0x120
[  909.950105]  [<ffffffff816d36ec>] ret_from_fork+0x7c/0xb0
[  909.950111]  [<ffffffff8107d1f0>] ? kthread_create_on_node+0x120/0x120
[  909.950117] ---[ end trace a14aa72aa3cdd697 ]---
[  909.950123] b43-phy0: Loading OpenSource firmware version 666.2535
[  909.950148] b43-phy0: Hardware crypto acceleration not supported by firmware
[  910.009859] b43-phy0: Controller restarted
[  970.655552] b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware watchdog: The firmware died!
[  970.655564] b43-phy0: Controller RESET (Firmware watchdog) ...
[  970.851367] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[  970.851395] WARNING: at /build/buildd/linux-3.8.0/drivers/net/wireless/b43/main.c:2574 b43_chip_init+0x9b6/0x9d0 [b43]()
[  970.851399] Hardware name: MacBookPro8,2
[  970.851403] Modules linked in: arc4(F) b43 bcma mac80211 cfg80211 ssb dm_crypt(F) parport_pc(F) ppdev(F) lp(F) parport(F) uvcvideo snd_hda_codec_hdmi videobuf2_vmalloc videobuf2_memops videobuf2_core videodev coretemp btusb snd_hda_codec_cirrus kvm_intel snd_hda_intel bcm5974 kvm snd_hda_codec snd_hwdep(F) snd_pcm(F) joydev(F) apple_gmux dm_multipath(F) bnep applesmc ghash_clmulni_intel(F) aesni_intel(F) scsi_dh(F) snd_page_alloc(F) snd_seq_midi(F) snd_seq_midi_event(F) apple_bl snd_rawmidi(F) aes_x86_64(F) xts(F) lrw(F) gf128mul(F) ablk_helper(F) cryptd(F) snd_seq(F) rfcomm mac_hid mei snd_seq_device(F) snd_timer(F) bluetooth input_polldev snd(F) soundcore(F) lpc_ich microcode(F) binfmt_misc(F) squashfs(F) overlayfs(F) nls_utf8 isofs(F) nls_iso8859_1(F) dm_raid45 xor(F) dm_mirror(F) dm_region_hash(F) dm_log(F) hid_generic hid_apple usbhid hid radeon firewire_ohci firewire_core crc_itu_t(F) i2c_algo_bit ttm tg3 drm_kms_helper sdhci_pci drm ptp sdhci pps_core video(F) [last unloaded: bcma]
[  970.851543] Pid: 3917, comm: kworker/u:1 Tainted: GF       W    3.8.0-19-generic #29-Ubuntu
[  970.851547] Call Trace:
[  970.851561]  [<ffffffff810587ef>] warn_slowpath_common+0x7f/0xc0
[  970.851568]  [<ffffffff8105884a>] warn_slowpath_null+0x1a/0x20
[  970.851582]  [<ffffffffa0585fc6>] b43_chip_init+0x9b6/0x9d0 [b43]
[  970.851595]  [<ffffffffa0586142>] b43_wireless_core_init+0x162/0x840 [b43]
[  970.851608]  [<ffffffffa0586fb7>] b43_chip_reset+0x67/0x120 [b43]
[  970.851617]  [<ffffffff8107671c>] process_one_work+0x15c/0x4d0
[  970.851625]  [<ffffffff81077f7e>] worker_thread+0x16e/0x480
[  970.851633]  [<ffffffff81077e10>] ? manage_workers+0x2a0/0x2a0
[  970.851639]  [<ffffffff8107d2b0>] kthread+0xc0/0xd0
[  970.851646]  [<ffffffff8107d1f0>] ? kthread_create_on_node+0x120/0x120
[  970.851657]  [<ffffffff816d36ec>] ret_from_fork+0x7c/0xb0
[  970.851663]  [<ffffffff8107d1f0>] ? kthread_create_on_node+0x120/0x120
[  970.851668] ---[ end trace a14aa72aa3cdd698 ]---
[  970.851675] b43-phy0: Loading OpenSource firmware version 666.2535
[  970.851700] b43-phy0: Hardware crypto acceleration not supported by firmware
[  970.911468] b43-phy0: Controller restarted

If you google "b43 4331 3.8 kernel" or "b43 4331 disconnection" you will find lots of posts from people having trouble with the 4331 broadcom chipset and the 3.8 kernel.  

Bug 913341 â Kernel 3.8 breaks b43 wireless
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=913341

14e4:4331 Broadcom BCM4331 unusable with Raring kernel 3.8.0-19
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1174347

Bug #1142385 âB43 Wireless Autoconnect Failureâ : Bugs : âlinux ...
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1142385

strange b43 problem // 3.9 regression? (Linux Wireless) - spinics.net
http://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-wireless/msg108825.html


For whatever reason, the 3.8 kernel originally included with Mageia 3 does NOT have this problem (one disconnection seems to occur maybe once every few days) whereas with the updated kernel it occurs every few minutes. 

Yesterday I managed to revert my computer to the original Mageia 3 kernel.  The wireless stayed up all day without a problem. And now all day today. 

Do you have any ideas if this is fixed in the upcoming 3.10 kernel that is in the updates-testing repository? 



Reproducible: 

Steps to Reproduce:
Comment 1 Manuel Hiebel 2013-10-21 18:06:33 CEST 
>Do you have any ideas if this is fixed in the upcoming 3.10 kernel that is in >the updates-testing repository? 
You could try
Comment 2 Marja Van Waes 2015-03-31 16:02:54 CEST 
Mageia 3 changed to end-of-life (EOL) status 4 months ago.
http://blog.mageia.org/en/2014/11/26/lets-say-goodbye-to-mageia-3/ 

Mageia 3 is no longer maintained, which means that it will not receive any further security or bug fix updates. As a result we are closing this bug.

If you can reproduce this bug against a currently maintained version of Mageia
please feel free to click on "Version" change it against that version of Mageia
and reopen this bug.

Thank you for reporting this bug and we are sorry it could not be fixed.

--
The Mageia Bugsquad

Status: NEW => RESOLVED
Resolution: (none) => OLD