Arch Linux

KenMacD

Member

Registered: 2014-01-06

Posts: 20

wifi-menu not working on iwlwifi kernel 3.16.*

Since upgrading to a 3.16 kernel I no longer get any results from

wifi-menu

on boot.

Once I run

netctl start <profile>

and connect to my home wireless wifi-menu will start working again.

01:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Wireless 7260 (rev 6b)
	Subsystem: Intel Corporation Wireless-N 7260
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 63
	Memory at b0400000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8K]
	Capabilities: [c8] Power Management version 3
	Capabilities: [d0] MSI: Enable+ Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
	Capabilities: [40] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
	Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
	Capabilities: [140] Device Serial Number 11-22-33-44-55-66-77-88
	Capabilities: [14c] Latency Tolerance Reporting
	Capabilities: [154] Vendor Specific Information: ID=cafe Rev=1 Len=014 <?>
	Kernel driver in use: iwlwifi
	Kernel modules: iwlwifi

$ journalctl -b 0 | grep wifi
Aug 16 18:32:35 kernel: iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: irq 63 for MSI/MSI-X
Aug 16 18:32:35 kernel: iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: loaded firmware version 23.214.9.0 op_mode iwlmvm
Aug 16 18:32:35 kernel: iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: Detected Intel(R) Wireless N 7260, REV=0x144
Aug 16 18:32:35 kernel: iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: L1 Disabled; Enabling L0S
Aug 16 18:32:35 kernel: iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: L1 Disabled; Enabling L0S
... after netctl ...
Aug 16 18:35:47 kernel: iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: L1 Disabled; Enabling L0S
Aug 16 18:35:47 kernel: iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: L1 Disabled; Enabling L0S

Rexilion

Member

Registered: 2013-12-23

Posts: 784

Re: wifi-menu not working on iwlwifi kernel 3.16.*

Which version was your previous kernel?

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fs/super.c : "Self-destruct in 5 seconds.  Have a nice day...\n",

KenMacD

Member

Registered: 2014-01-06

Posts: 20

Re: wifi-menu not working on iwlwifi kernel 3.16.*

The old kernel was linux-3.15.7-1.x86_64, current is 3.16.1-1.

If I downgrade to that wifi-menu works fine.

Also after I connect to the first network wifi-menu works fine. If I then go somewhere else I enter the wrong info for the network then it stops working again.

Rexilion

Member

Registered: 2013-12-23

Posts: 784

Re: wifi-menu not working on iwlwifi kernel 3.16.*

You should provide a dmesg of a failing and a working kernel. Then we can have a look what changed on the surface.

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fs/super.c : "Self-destruct in 5 seconds.  Have a nice day...\n",

nfwWoQN7Hh

Member

Registered: 2014-08-24

Posts: 5

Re: wifi-menu not working on iwlwifi kernel 3.16.*

Hi,

I confirm this regression, I have exactly the same hardware.

First I have lost the ability to use wifi-menu but things have worsen. Now I am unable to use N mode, when I connect to an AP I have to disable the power_save otherwise I get so much packet loss and high latencies. I can't also get above 54Mb/s bit rate. I was perfectly able to do 100Mbit/s with my AP before withouth touching anything.

The weirdest thing is that I have tried downgrading the kernel and the problem persists. I also get nothing interesting in the kernel logs.

The symptoms are similar to this:
https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=79741

Now I am wondering why when downgrading the kernel I still get the issue despite it was fine before? What else may I miss?

Last edited by nfwWoQN7Hh (2014-08-24 00:37:29)

Rexilion

Member

Registered: 2013-12-23

Posts: 784

Re: wifi-menu not working on iwlwifi kernel 3.16.*

Perhaps alzo consider to downgrade the linux firmware package?

---

fs/super.c : "Self-destruct in 5 seconds.  Have a nice day...\n",

nfwWoQN7Hh

Member

Registered: 2014-08-24

Posts: 5

Re: wifi-menu not working on iwlwifi kernel 3.16.*

Perhaps alzo consider to downgrade the linux firmware package?

The last upgrade of the linux-firmware package was prior the beginning of the issues. Though I have tried to downgrade it too but it did not fix the issue.
Since the installation of Arch on this machine the package only one upgrade had been made, so I have restored the first version that was installed at the time everything was fine and it did not help.

Downgrading the kernel fixes the problem with power_save but the bit rate remains stuck at 54 Mb/s.

Last edited by nfwWoQN7Hh (2014-08-24 13:46:16)

nfwWoQN7Hh

Member

Registered: 2014-08-24

Posts: 5

Re: wifi-menu not working on iwlwifi kernel 3.16.*

I've got the modulation issue fixed by using "options iwlwifi 11n_disable=0".

As for wifi-menu, I got it working by blacklisting the module "ideapad_laptop", this has something to do with rfkill. Everything was working fine despite this module was enabled before, trying to downgrade did not solve the issue.

There's a power management issue in 3.16.1, if power_save is "on" the performances are extremely bad, it gets better when turned off but the only way to regain full performances for now is to downgrade the kernel.

Thanks

Rexilion

Member

Registered: 2013-12-23

Posts: 784

Re: wifi-menu not working on iwlwifi kernel 3.16.*

Could you please list all the packages that were upgraded when the kernel was updated?

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fs/super.c : "Self-destruct in 5 seconds.  Have a nice day...\n",

nfwWoQN7Hh

Member

Registered: 2014-08-24

Posts: 5

Re: wifi-menu not working on iwlwifi kernel 3.16.*

Could you please list all the packages that were upgraded when the kernel was updated?

It's difficult to tell because I have performed several upgrades without rebooting the machine so I can't tell exactly when this really begun to happen. I am working on it.