Ralink RT3290 possible hardware failure? [SOLVED]

JohnBobSmith · 2015-08-26 00:51:52

Hello everyone,

I am experiencing a very strange issue. My internal PCI Ralink RT3290 wifi adapter seems to be having hardware issues, in the sense that the adapter completely dies on me, lshw and related tools won't list it, and I cannot connect to it. When the adapter heads south, I get what seems to be a kernel panic. Every aspect of the system completely locks up, ctrl + alt +f1 does nothing. I have never been able to get the magic srsyrq keys to work but they don't reboot either. I can reboot (after mashing the power button) into a functional system, and have working USB wifi. Everything will be completely fine, just the Ralink adapter went bunk. The strange part is this issue has persisted across multiple kernels and linux distributions. It happens completely randomly, and I have no way at this time of figuring out what's causing the issue, short of hardware failure. The adapter sometimes works after a cold reboot (no battery in the laptop, no AC), or otherwise randomly comes back online. Note that after upgrading to arch, this issue has been present much more often.

Here are my current system specs:

[dmb@linux-box ~]$ inxi -SCN
System:    Host: linux-box Kernel: 4.1.6-1-ARCH x86_64 (64 bit) Desktop: i3 4.10.3 Distro: Arch Linux
CPU:       Dual core AMD A4-4300M APU with Radeon HD Graphics (-MCP-) cache: 2048 KB 
           clock speeds: max: 2500 MHz 1: 1400 MHz 2: 1600 MHz
Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller driver: r8169
           Card-2: Belkin F5D8053 N Wireless USB Adapter v3000 [Ralink RT2870] driver: rt2800usb
[dmb@linux-box ~]$

Note that the PCI Ralink wifi card is not shown. Its as if my Ralink adapter has disconnected from the PCI slot or failed on me. Heres the complete output of lspci to confirm.

[dmb@linux-box ~]$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Root Complex
00:01.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Trinity [Radeon HD 7420G]
00:01.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Trinity HDMI Audio Controller
00:10.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB XHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:10.1 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB XHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:11.0 SATA controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SATA Controller [AHCI mode]
00:12.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB OHCI Controller (rev 11)
00:12.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller (rev 11)
00:13.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB OHCI Controller (rev 11)
00:13.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller (rev 11)
00:14.0 SMBus: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SMBus Controller (rev 14)
00:14.2 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH Azalia Controller (rev 01)
00:14.3 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH LPC Bridge (rev 11)
00:14.4 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH PCI Bridge (rev 40)
00:15.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Hudson PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 0)
00:15.1 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Hudson PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 1)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 0
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 1
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 2
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 3
00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 4
00:18.5 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 5
03:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5229 PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)
04:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller (rev 05)
[dmb@linux-box ~]$

Once again the adapter isn't listed.

When my adapter comes back online, I will post the above command outputs again. The randomness of the working/nonworking states are driving me insane. I will find the drivers it's using and blacklist them when it starts working again. That way at least my system *shouldnt* crash on me like this. If it is hardware failure, I will need to find a new internal card. One thats 110% supported by Arch and the Linux Kernel. This particular ralink card has really never worked well.

If anyone has any ideas on how to confirm my suspected hardware failure, let me know. I strongly suspect hardware failure because the *exact* same issue has been present when I was using Linux Mint running a 3.16 kernel. So it looks like I will be using my Belkin adapter for now.

Last edited by JohnBobSmith (2015-09-20 17:44:41)

JohnBobSmith · 2015-08-26 05:29:57

Greeting everyone,

I had left my laptop on for an extended (more than 6 hours) period of time to donwload some games. Upon a reboot, the Ralink device is working and as such, here are the following command outputs:

[dmb@dmb-arch-laptop ~]$ inxi -SCN
System:    Host: dmb-arch-laptop Kernel: 4.1.6-1-ARCH x86_64 (64 bit) Desktop: i3 4.10.3 Distro: Arch Linux
CPU:       Dual core AMD A4-4300M APU with Radeon HD Graphics (-MCP-) cache: 2048 KB 
           clock speeds: max: 2500 MHz 1: 1800 MHz 2: 1800 MHz
Network:   Card-1: Ralink RT3290 Wireless 802.11n 1T/1R PCIe driver: rt2800pci
           Card-2: Realtek RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller driver: r8169

[dmb@dmb-arch-laptop ~]$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Root Complex
00:01.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Trinity [Radeon HD 7420G]
00:01.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Trinity HDMI Audio Controller
00:04.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Root Port
00:10.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB XHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:10.1 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB XHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:11.0 SATA controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SATA Controller [AHCI mode]
00:12.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB OHCI Controller (rev 11)
00:12.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller (rev 11)
00:13.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB OHCI Controller (rev 11)
00:13.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller (rev 11)
00:14.0 SMBus: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SMBus Controller (rev 14)
00:14.2 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH Azalia Controller (rev 01)
00:14.3 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH LPC Bridge (rev 11)
00:14.4 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH PCI Bridge (rev 40)
00:15.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Hudson PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 0)
00:15.1 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Hudson PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 1)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 0
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 1
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 2
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 3
00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 4
00:18.5 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 5
02:00.0 Network controller: Ralink corp. RT3290 Wireless 802.11n 1T/1R PCIe
02:00.1 Bluetooth: Ralink corp. RT3290 Bluetooth
04:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5229 PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)
05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller (rev 05)
[dmb@dmb-arch-laptop ~]$

This is with my belkin USB adapter unplugged.

I am really stumped by this odd behaviour. Complete intermittent failures. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. I still suspect hardware failure because the same issue has persisted over different kernels and OS's altogether.

betseg · 2015-08-26 07:28:17

I have the same device. This AUR package solves my problem: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/rt3290sta-dkms

ant0nio · 2015-08-26 09:33:01

Hi,

Do you have bluetooth working wit this device?

thanks,

betseg · 2015-08-26 10:19:04

Nope, not in any distro.

JohnBobSmith · 2015-08-26 15:30:10

Betseg, I will try that package now and let you know what happens.

JohnBobSmith · 2015-08-26 15:57:36

Gah, it didn't work.

I want to keep troubleshooting this issue, but not at the current moment. I finally finished downloading a new game shooter game, Xonotic. I really want to try it out after fixing my sound. I hope it will be good, because I dont plan on installing steam on this box if at all possible.

I will likely bump this thread at a later date, provided its okay with the mod/admin team. I dont see the point of duplicating exactly the same topic.

betseg · 2015-08-26 16:02:09

You shuld start dkms after installing:

$ sudo systemctl start dkms

JohnBobSmith · 2015-09-20 17:43:42

Sorry for the very lengthy bump...

I managed to solve the issue. First I pacman -Syu'ed. Then I proceeded to blacklist the following drivers:

[dmb@dmb-arch-laptop ~]$ cat /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-ralink.conf 
#Wireless drivers conflicting with rt3290sta
blacklist rt2800pci
blacklist rt2x00pci
[dmb@dmb-arch-laptop ~]$

Then I re-downloaded the rt3290sta-dkms file again. I re-installed with makepkg -sri. I disabled hostname changing for connman. Finally, after sudo systemctl enable dkms.service AND sudo systemctl start dkms.service, everyhing seems to be working. Chances are high I messsed up or missed a step when I first posted this topic. Just thought I'd post my solution for anyone else who comes across the same problem.

Topic solved, thanks for the help

Arch Linux

#1 2015-08-26 00:51:52

Ralink RT3290 possible hardware failure? [SOLVED]

#2 2015-08-26 05:29:57

Re: Ralink RT3290 possible hardware failure? [SOLVED]

#3 2015-08-26 07:28:17

Re: Ralink RT3290 possible hardware failure? [SOLVED]

#4 2015-08-26 09:33:01

Re: Ralink RT3290 possible hardware failure? [SOLVED]

#5 2015-08-26 10:19:04

Re: Ralink RT3290 possible hardware failure? [SOLVED]

#6 2015-08-26 15:30:10

Re: Ralink RT3290 possible hardware failure? [SOLVED]

#7 2015-08-26 15:57:36

Re: Ralink RT3290 possible hardware failure? [SOLVED]

#8 2015-08-26 16:02:09

Re: Ralink RT3290 possible hardware failure? [SOLVED]

#9 2015-09-20 17:43:42

Re: Ralink RT3290 possible hardware failure? [SOLVED]

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