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#1 2010-04-15 21:11:21

shamanstk
Member
Registered: 2009-11-11
Posts: 35

[Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

I get random kernel panics when the wicd daemon is running. Nothing is logged in either the kernel log or the wicd log. My ipv6 mod is disabled. I got a 64 bit system and an Atheros AR9285 wireless. I dont know if matters but I have an nvidia card with proprietary drivers. I only get panics on my school's wireless network, not my home network (linksys). My current work around is to wait for the connection to connect and then stopping the daemon, so I don't think its dhcpcd. I've tried reinstalling the kernel, all the kernel headers. I've tried compat-wireless and compiling wicd from source. I wish I had more info, but my logs are clean right up till the freeze where nothing gets logged.

Last edited by shamanstk (2010-05-04 14:09:07)

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#2 2010-04-16 02:40:20

empthollow
Member
Registered: 2009-09-26
Posts: 168

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

Have you tried the madwifi driver for your card?  I have an older atheros card in my laptop and the kernel driver won't allow me to obtain an ip address.  I use madwifi and all is well.


--empthollow
Check out my Arch based live distro http://fluxcapacity.99k.org

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#3 2010-04-16 12:26:21

shamanstk
Member
Registered: 2009-11-11
Posts: 35

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

empthollow wrote:

Have you tried the madwifi driver for your card?

The madwifi driver doesn't seem to support the AR9285. I'll give it a shot though. I've heard its more buggy than the compat-wireless drivers.

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#4 2010-04-16 20:24:58

shamanstk
Member
Registered: 2009-11-11
Posts: 35

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

No go. Didn't help with the kernel panics and started causing network drops. I switched back to compat-wireless

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#5 2010-04-17 00:22:48

empthollow
Member
Registered: 2009-09-26
Posts: 168

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

Does your school network use a different security protocol than your home network.  If the kernel only panics on your school network, it would make sense that the panic is caused by something that is holding the connection like a security protocol.  I don't have problems with dhcpcd but you could try dhclient.  It's pretty easy to switch between the with wicd.


--empthollow
Check out my Arch based live distro http://fluxcapacity.99k.org

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#6 2010-04-19 16:46:01

shamanstk
Member
Registered: 2009-11-11
Posts: 35

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

Dhcpcd isn't the issue. If i connect with a script, or manually typing in the commands, there's no issue. If i connect with wicd, and then turn off wicd, (which is what i've in fact been doing) there's also no issue, provided i manage to turn off wicd before it locks up. The issue only happens when I leave the wicd monitor up. My home network is WPA and the school network is unsecured.

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#7 2010-04-19 17:27:21

oldmerovingian
Member
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: 2010-03-19
Posts: 60

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

Just out of curiosity, does it crash immediately, or does it crash at different times? In other words, does it crash right after connecting, or can it go for different amounts of time before crashing?

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#8 2010-04-19 18:10:28

shamanstk
Member
Registered: 2009-11-11
Posts: 35

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

Varying times. I've gone about half an hour without a crash, but I've had it crash while the de was loading (minimal openbox so that's saying something)

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#9 2010-04-19 18:37:28

oldmerovingian
Member
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: 2010-03-19
Posts: 60

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

Hmmm. I am having random kernel panics as well and I use wicd too. My panics happen in much greater spans of time though. I can go an entire day sometimes. I have the same wireless card too.

Are there any bug reports filed?

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#10 2010-04-19 18:39:43

shamanstk
Member
Registered: 2009-11-11
Posts: 35

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

the ath9k driver is buggy to begin with as is my schools network. I haven't found any on point bug reports and I dont have enough information to file one myself.

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#11 2010-04-19 19:41:11

oldmerovingian
Member
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: 2010-03-19
Posts: 60

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

Hmm. Your issue and mine may be related but I am not sure by how much. I get panics even on my home network with a dlink router. I am going to try to disable wicd and connect through the command line then try to get the kernel to panic. If it won't, perhaps we have the same issue and we can try to diagnose it together.

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#12 2010-04-20 14:28:13

shamanstk
Member
Registered: 2009-11-11
Posts: 35

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

Bah, I have a disheartening update. I just got two kernel panics without wicd on. I get the kernel panics much less frequently with the wicd monitor down. So now I'm confused. lol Are you using dhcpcd?

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#13 2010-04-20 15:06:22

oldmerovingian
Member
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: 2010-03-19
Posts: 60

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

Hah, I just got one this morning with wicd off. Damn it.
Yes, I am using dhcpcd. Another poster with an ath9k device said he was having panics in 2.6.33 as well.

Did you have any panics with 2.6.32?

EDIT: I have currently disabled the ath9k module and will report back if I can get it to panic.

Last edited by oldmerovingian (2010-04-20 16:21:05)

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#14 2010-04-20 18:35:26

shamanstk
Member
Registered: 2009-11-11
Posts: 35

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

No i didn't but it didn't happen immediately after the update. There was a dhcpcd update the other day and that was the first time i got a panic with wicd off. Are you able to get the latest (not stable) ath9k to build? I get an error that appears to be related to the kernel headers. Maybe there's a file that will be included with the 2.6.34? I'm sort of new to module building and kernel related stuff. I'm gonna try dhclient to see if that stops it with wicd up.

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#15 2010-04-20 19:20:17

oldmerovingian
Member
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: 2010-03-19
Posts: 60

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

I have not tried to build the newest one.  I want to keep this system off wireless for a day or two to be sure this is what it is.

So far I have run tons of flash and downloaded the Fedora 13 Beta DVD in an attempt to get it to panic and it hasnt.  Since it was random though, it may take some time.

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#16 2010-04-20 21:07:09

shamanstk
Member
Registered: 2009-11-11
Posts: 35

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

I tried dhclient with wicd and it locked up immediately, so it's probably not dhcpcd.

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#17 2010-04-20 22:16:28

oldmerovingian
Member
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: 2010-03-19
Posts: 60

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

shamanstk wrote:

I tried dhclient with wicd and it locked up immediately, so it's probably not dhcpcd.

So we can pretty much narrow it down to ath9k. 

What is interesting is that the type of network seems to play a role for me.  I seem to be able to use open networks just fine, without lock ups but my WPA at home gives me problems. 

Mine are not so instant though, and I wish they were so I could better diagnose the problem.  A few other threads have the same problem as us, and we are all using ath9k so we might as well file a bug report.  At least giving as much information as we have.

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#18 2010-04-21 11:42:06

shamanstk
Member
Registered: 2009-11-11
Posts: 35

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

oldmerovingian wrote:

What is interesting is that the type of network seems to play a role for me.  I seem to be able to use open networks just fine, without lock ups but my WPA at home gives me problems.

Thats exactly opposite of my issue. I can use my home's WPA fine without lock up all day, but when I go to my school's open network, I get a lock up. So it's probably not related to dhcpcd or wpa_supplicant. It's definitely network specific. What kind of routers are you working with? I got a linksys at home, I'll find out what the school's routers are.

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#19 2010-04-21 11:54:20

hokasch
Member
Registered: 2007-09-23
Posts: 1,461

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

Hi shamanstk, if this is not a problem with wicd after all, you might want to adjust the title (I experience lockups with ath9k as well, but never read this thread because I don't use wicd).

Could you check yesterday's comapt wireless?

Last edited by hokasch (2010-04-21 23:17:49)

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#20 2010-04-21 14:26:16

oldmerovingian
Member
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: 2010-03-19
Posts: 60

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

shamanstk wrote:
oldmerovingian wrote:

What is interesting is that the type of network seems to play a role for me.  I seem to be able to use open networks just fine, without lock ups but my WPA at home gives me problems.

Thats exactly opposite of my issue. I can use my home's WPA fine without lock up all day, but when I go to my school's open network, I get a lock up. So it's probably not related to dhcpcd or wpa_supplicant. It's definitely network specific. What kind of routers are you working with? I got a linksys at home, I'll find out what the school's routers are.

I use D-Link at home, but I am not sure what the school or the coffee shop I go to use.  I will try to find out. 

Does anyone else find this to be true?

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#21 2010-04-21 14:35:05

hokasch
Member
Registered: 2007-09-23
Posts: 1,461

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

D-Link (DIR-635) here as well, don't know about the other networks hardware. Only use WPA though. Encryption aside, n/g/mixed mode can sometime be flaky in my experience.

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#22 2010-04-21 18:10:00

shamanstk
Member
Registered: 2009-11-11
Posts: 35

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

I changed the name to Ath9k kernel panic because its unrelated to wicd

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#23 2010-04-21 19:59:19

oldmerovingian
Member
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: 2010-03-19
Posts: 60

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

hokasch wrote:

D-Link (DIR-635) here as well, don't know about the other networks hardware. Only use WPA though. Encryption aside, n/g/mixed mode can sometime be flaky in my experience.

Perhaps it has more to do with the router and it's interaction with the module. Granted, my router and wireless work fine in Ubuntu. This is vexing.

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#24 2010-04-21 20:57:21

shamanstk
Member
Registered: 2009-11-11
Posts: 35

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

ty hokasch. 4/20's bundle compiled fine. Unfortunately, I can not test to see if it fixed the kernel panics because I'm not at the network that causes the crash. Old, try the 4/20 bundle and see if it fixes the lock up.

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#25 2010-04-21 23:08:37

oldmerovingian
Member
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: 2010-03-19
Posts: 60

Re: [Solved] Ath9k kernel panic

shamanstk wrote:

ty hokasch. 4/20's bundle compiled fine. Unfortunately, I can not test to see if it fixed the kernel panics because I'm not at the network that causes the crash. Old, try the 4/20 bundle and see if it fixes the lock up.

Will do. I will get it done tonight and try to get it to panic. I am hoping this works.

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