Bug 14398

Summary: Unstable wireless connection with ath9k module - Qualcomm Atheros AR9462
Product: Mageia Reporter: Martin Volf <yullaw>
Component: RPM PackagesAssignee: Mageia Bug Squad <bugsquad>
Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX QA Contact:
Severity: minor    
Priority: Normal CC: col.fouks, doc-bugs, doktor5000, lovaren, marja11, rverschelde, tmb
Version: 4   
Target Milestone: ---   
Hardware: x86_64   
OS: Linux   
Whiteboard: MGA4-NO, MGA4.1-NO, MGA5b2-NO
Source RPM: kernel CVE:
Status comment:

Description Martin Volf 2014-10-28 13:06:29 CET 
Description of problem:
After fresh Mageia 4.1 installation the wifi connection (module ath9k, Atheros  AR9462) is unstable. It means connection to the Internet works a few seconds, then wifi is lost and wifi icon is changed to an icon with red cross. After a few seconds wifi is connected automaticaly. This process comes again.

SW: Mageia 4.1 - does not matter if the system is updated or not - tested
HW: [yullaw@localhost ~]$ lspcidrake -v | grep -i net
ath9k           : Qualcomm Atheros|AR9462 Wireless Network Adapter [NETWORK_OTHER] (vendor:168c device:0034 subv:105b subd:e052) (rev: 01)

How reproducible:
always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. install fresh Mageia 4.1 (after BIOS รข select "Install Mageia" directly)
2. after installation set a wifi connection (SSIDs available, WEP2, password, IP adress is set manually - faster connection)
3. a package madwifi-source for Atheros is not installed, no need (as written https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Setup_wireless_networking#Most_common_drivers)
4. try Internet connection - lost/good connection - or watch wifi icon
5. LED light of wifi device is not blinking during transfers !
6. rfkill - no device is blocked
7. networkmanager is not installed

Workaround:
1. create the file /etc/modprobe.d/ath9k.conf as root

2. add a new line:
option ath9k nohwcrypt=1 blink=1 btcoex_enable=1 enable_diversity=1

3. as root (is not needed):
# rmmod ath9k
# modprobe -b ath9k

4. reboot
5. wifi connection stabilised and works perfectly! LED light of wifi device is blinking during transfers !

Please, add a steps 1. and 2. from workaround to the wiki documentation, if needed, because it seems to be working for ath5k module, for MGA3 as well!
For MGA5a1 I did not test it yet.

Simillar issues (please, let them try it a workaround):
* https://bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=13578
* https://bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=14280
* https://bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=6633 (ath5k)

Reproducible: 

Steps to Reproduce:
Martin Volf 2014-10-28 13:16:50 CET

CC: (none) => col.fouks, kristoffer.grundstrom1983, manuel.mageia, marja11, remi, tmb

Martin Volf 2014-10-28 13:18:49 CET

CC: (none) => doktor5000

Manuel Hiebel 2014-10-28 13:27:51 CET

CC: manuel.mageia => (none)

Comment 1 Marja Van Waes 2014-10-28 14:33:34 CET 
cc'ing docteam because of the request to add the workaround to the wiki documentation.

However, Martin, if you feel comfortable editing the wiki, please go ahead and add it yourself.

Component: Release (media or process) => RPM Packages
CC: sysadmin-bugs => doc-bugs

Comment 2 Florian Hubold 2014-10-28 23:35:20 CET 
(In reply to Marja van Waes from comment #1)
> cc'ing docteam because of the request to add the workaround to the wiki
> documentation.
> 
> However, Martin, if you feel comfortable editing the wiki, please go ahead
> and add it yourself.

Should be added here:
https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Setup_wireless_networking#known_issues_with_specific_drivers
Comment 3 Martin Volf 2015-01-18 14:50:42 CET 
Still I have to modify after fresh installation of MGA5b2 (LiveDVD, DVD).

Just only to /etc/modprobe.d/ create a file ath9k.conf and add:
option ath9k nohwcrypt=1 blink=1 btcoex_enable=1 enable_diversity=1

save and reboot, then it works.

Can Mageia developer add this command to some file for example as mga-config.conf ?

Because otherwise the user has to use LAN internet connection and find the solution.

And if still needed, please add this solution to wiki page.

Thanks a lot!
Martin Volf 2015-01-18 14:55:49 CET

Whiteboard: (none) => MGA4-NO, MGA4.1-NO, MGA5b2-NO

Comment 4 Florian Hubold 2015-01-18 16:51:47 CET 
(In reply to Martin Volf from comment #3)
> Still I have to modify after fresh installation of MGA5b2 (LiveDVD, DVD).
> 
> Just only to /etc/modprobe.d/ create a file ath9k.conf and add:
> option ath9k nohwcrypt=1 blink=1 btcoex_enable=1 enable_diversity=1

@Thierry: WDYT? Would it be viable to add support for this to harddrake or is there a more suitable place for specific options like that? In https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Setup_wireless_networking#known_issues_with_specific_drivers there are more quirks for specific wireless chips.

CC: (none) => thierry.vignaud

Comment 5 Thierry Vignaud 2015-02-03 11:09:38 CET 
The right place would be in kernel: picking the right options according to the detected model...
Though the real fix would be for Atheros to make their driver work reliably...
Comment 6 Thomas Backlund 2015-02-03 11:40:42 CET 
Yeah, the problem of adding quirks to the installer / harddrake is that they tend to get forgotten so no-one knows when they are not needed anymore.

Not to mention it would bring different bug reports about "features not working" because of an added quirk that should not be applied

And mapping it to pci ids / chip id is not easy either as it may depend on the how the rest of the hw is wired up too so we would probably need to do dmi matching too... and sometimes it changes with a bios / uefi update, and it becomes huge pain to track.

so errata it the best solution for now until Atheros fix their stuff..
Thierry Vignaud 2015-02-03 11:43:15 CET

Source RPM: (none) => kernel
CC: thierry.vignaud => (none)

Comment 7 Florian Hubold 2015-02-03 17:25:35 CET 
Ok, so I'll keep adding those issues into https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Setup_wireless_networking#known_issues_with_specific_drivers
As Martin has already added this quirk there, let's close this.

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

Comment 8 Martin Volf 2015-02-03 19:59:43 CET 
For me clear, closing.