Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

FYI: iwlagn wireless driver dropping out frequently

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 1
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous template Next
    #1

    FYI: iwlagn wireless driver dropping out frequently

    My Intel 1500 wireless chip, driven by the iwlagn driver, began dropping my connection randomly and frequently, after a recent automatic update. Using wicd to disconnect and reconnect would fix it for a while, then it would start misbehaving again.

    The following pattern was repeated frequently with each disconnect episode:
    Code:
    May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387547] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0: Loaded firmware version: 8.24.2.12
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387567] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0: Start IWL Error Log Dump:
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387574] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0: Status: 0x000212E4, count: 5
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387721] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0: Desc                Time    data1   data2   line
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387731] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0: NMI_INTERRUPT_WDG      (#04) 0067388751 0x00000002 0x07030000 3664
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387737] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0: pc   blink1 blink2 ilink1 ilink2 hcmd
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387745] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0: 0x006E4 0x005AA 0x006E8 0x008B2 0x0229C 0xAF3001C
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387751] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0: CSR values:
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387756] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0: (2nd byte of CSR_INT_COALESCING is CSR_INT_PERIODIC_REG)
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387765] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0:    CSR_HW_IF_CONFIG_REG: 0X00480303
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387774] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0:     CSR_INT_COALESCING: 0X00000040
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387782] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0:           CSR_INT: 0X00000000
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387790] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0:        CSR_INT_MASK: 0X00000000
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387798] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0:      CSR_FH_INT_STATUS: 0X00000000
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387807] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0:         CSR_GPIO_IN: 0X00000000
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387815] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0:          CSR_RESET: 0X00000000
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387823] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0:        CSR_GP_CNTRL: 0X080403c5
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387832] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0:         CSR_HW_REV: 0X00000054
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387840] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0:       CSR_EEPROM_REG: 0X00000000
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387848] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0:        CSR_EEPROM_GP: 0X90000004
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387857] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0:       CSR_OTP_GP_REG: 0X00060000
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387865] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0:         CSR_GIO_REG: 0X00080046
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.387873] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0:      CSR_GP_UCODE_REG: 0X00006db1
...... clip lots of lines like the ones above and below ......
EVT_LOGT:2317825657:0x000000d7:0123
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.388470] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0: EVT_LOGT:2317825665:0x00000000:0125
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.902926] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0: Stopping AGG while state not ON or starting
May 29 14:48:52 kernel: [ 8794.902939] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0: queue number out of range: 0, must be 10 to 19
May 29 14:53:56 kernel: [ 9099.207112] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0: iwlagn_tx_agg_start on ra = d8:5d:4c:b9:f4:ba tid = 0
May 29 15:00:21 kernel: [ 9483.606109] iwlagn 0000:05:00.0: Microcode SW error detected. Restarting
    Googling "Stopping AGG while state not ON or starting" I found some bug reports that gave a fix.

    In /etc/modprobe.d/options.conf, which contained the following:
    options iwlagn disable_hw_scan=1 swcrypto50=1 swcrypto=1
    I added "1n_disable=1" to give:
    options iwlagn disable_hw_scan=1 swcrypto50=1 swcrypto=1 11n_disable=1

    A stable connection was back and there is no loss of performance. I still get 14Mb/s download speed.
    "A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
    – John F. Kennedy, February 26, 1962.
    Tags: None
    • Top
    • Bottom
    #2
    Re: FYI: iwlagn wireless driver dropping out frequently

    Hey GG! is that 1n or 11n? You say add "1n_disable=1" but in your last line it reads "11n_disable=1"
    • Top
    • Bottom

    Comment

      #3
      Re: FYI: iwlagn wireless driver dropping out frequently

      Opps! Thanks for catching the typo!

      modinfo iwlagn
      gives:
      ...
      depends: iwlcore,cfg80211,mac80211
      vermagic: 2.6.35-25-generic SMP mod_unload modversions
      parm: swcrypto50:using crypto in software (default 0 [hardware]) (deprecated) (bool)
      parm: swcrypto:using crypto in software (default 0 [hardware]) (int)
      parm: queues_num50:number of hw queues in 50xx series (deprecated) (int)
      parm: queues_num:number of hw queues. (int)
      parm: 11n_disable50:disable 50XX 11n functionality (deprecated) (int)
      parm: 11n_disable:disable 11n functionality (int)
      parm: amsdu_size_8K50:enable 8K amsdu size in 50XX series (deprecated) (int)
      parm: amsdu_size_8K:enable 8K amsdu size (int)
      parm: fw_restart50:restart firmware in case of error (deprecated) (int)
      parm: fw_restart:restart firmware in case of error (int)
      parm: disable_hw_scan:disable hardware scanning (default 0) (int)
      parm: ucode_alternative:specify ucode alternative to use from ucode file (int)
      "A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
      – John F. Kennedy, February 26, 1962.
      • Top
      • Bottom

      Comment

        #4
        Re: FYI: iwlagn wireless driver dropping out frequently

        I have a Windows system that does the same thing. I wonder if that would be the issue there as well?
        • Top
        • Bottom

        Comment

          #5
          Re: FYI: iwlagn wireless driver dropping out frequently

          Originally posted by MoonRise
          I have a Windows system that does the same thing. I wonder if that would be the issue there as well?
          Could be, but I have no clue if Windows wireless drivers have settable "parms", or if they do, how to set them. My guess would be the wireless device driver settings, or perhaps a config file.
          "A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
          – John F. Kennedy, February 26, 1962.
          • Top
          • Bottom

          Comment

            #6
            Re: FYI: iwlagn wireless driver dropping out frequently

            What does this do? Is it disabling wireless N in the device?
            • Top
            • Bottom

            Comment

              #7
              Re: FYI: iwlagn wireless driver dropping out frequently

              Originally posted by claydoh
              What does this do? Is it disabling wireless N in the device?
              Yes. The "n" part of the 802.11n standard is to allow multiple IO data streams (multiple wifi antennas) and 40Mhz channel widths. It appears that some Linux wifi drivers do not handle the MIMO or the 40MHz width (or both) very well.

              When I disabled the "n" capability, even though my wifi has 3 antennas, the drop outs stopped entirely. I am able to achieve 14.5Mb/s download speeds on my advertized 12Mb/s bandwidth, and FireFox 3.6.18 has stopped pausing for 30 seconds after I start it up before it reacts to my keyboard or mouse. It reacts within a couple seconds now. So, disabling the "n" has improved my wifi connection reliability and brought performance up to what I used to have before the updates.

              I found the fix here.
              "A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
              – John F. Kennedy, February 26, 1962.
              • Top
              • Bottom

              Comment

                #8
                Re: FYI: iwlagn wireless driver dropping out frequently

                I checked a Win7 installation and found that "Device Manger-->Network devices --> wireless --> Properties --> advanced" gives some "parm" properties which can be set.
                "A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
                – John F. Kennedy, February 26, 1962.
                • Top
                • Bottom

                Comment

                  #9
                  Re: FYI: iwlagn wireless driver dropping out frequently

                  I'll take a look.
                  • Top
                  • Bottom

                  Comment

                  Previous template Next
                  Working...
                  X