[Solved] kernel panics related to usb wireless adapter?

Hy Ginsberg · 2012-10-14 14:49:22

First, I bought a TP-Link TL-WN722N USB wireless adapter, which uses the ath9k_htc driver. I switched it into promiscuous mode, as suggested by some posts here, and tried running the LTS kernel, as suggested by others. But whatever I tried I got kernel panics -- usually on startup (I could reboot 5 or 10 times in a row before I successfully got up and running), but then also at random times in the middle of whatever I was doing. It seemed to be more stable if it managed to stay up for a while, so that if I got through a day I just left it going and it might run for a few days. Anyway, I lived with it for a few months until I just couldn't stand the random crashes anymore. Then,...

Second, I replaced it with a D-Link DWA-125 USB wireless adapter, which uses the rt2800usb driver. And, very surprisingly, I still get kernel panics. But it's different -- I haven't had any when rebooting, but I still occasionally get them when I'm up and running and trying to get some work done.

Which leads me to wonder just what the heck is going on. I never had any such problems when I was using my wired adapter (which is no longer an option), so the wireless looks like the culprit. I did have to physically move the computer, so maybe some hardware got jostled in an unfortunate way (but the change in adapter did change the behavior). Do I just try a third adapter? (And if so, please give me a suggestion -- I need one with better reception than my new D-Link, it gets a weak signal which is trouble even when my computer isn't crashing.)

For what it's worth I'm on an old Dell Optiplex GX260 desktop, I run xmonad with no DE, I use chromium as my browser, and I start a Dropbox daemon in my .xinitrc (so there is always some network traffic going on in the background). And my system is fully upgraded.

Thanks for any of your thoughts.

Last edited by Hy Ginsberg (2012-10-18 18:33:27)

WonderWoofy · 2012-10-14 15:18:35

Maybe it is not the wireless adapters at all, but rather something like the ports? Really, I have no idea, and it is rather hard to debug without any real info. I just say this because it is happening with both wifi adapters.

I think if you expect have any hope for any kind of real help, you need to post any relevent info your comptuer is throwing at you. (ie. logs and/or stderr output, kernel panic printout, etc.)

Edit: These forums are all volunteers, you should not expect anything, as nothing is owed.

Last edited by WonderWoofy (2012-10-14 15:20:31)

Hy Ginsberg · 2012-10-14 16:18:24

Thanks -- yes I realize that everyone who replies is just being helpful.

I didn't post any logs because I don't know what kind of logs to look at -- my understanding is that kernel panics do not get logged, probably because they can't -- the kernel is crashing. But if there are logs that someone thinks it would be useful to see, please let me know and I will gladly post them.

Hy Ginsberg · 2012-10-18 18:33:04

For posterity: My problems are almost certainly hardware related, so the drivers and devices mentioned are not to blame.

Arch Linux

#1 2012-10-14 14:49:22

[Solved] kernel panics related to usb wireless adapter?

#2 2012-10-14 15:18:35

Re: [Solved] kernel panics related to usb wireless adapter?

#3 2012-10-14 16:18:24

Re: [Solved] kernel panics related to usb wireless adapter?

#4 2012-10-18 18:33:04

Re: [Solved] kernel panics related to usb wireless adapter?

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