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#1 2018-02-20 00:47:18

lsbkf
Member
Registered: 2018-02-19
Posts: 4

rtl8723ae module triggers phantom CPU usage

Hello,

I'm using a MSI-CX61-2QF laptop, and I noticed since yesterday that sometimes, in htop, my CPU usage on a core goes up to 80% on IRQ stuff, and no process indicates any significant usage of resources. I even checked kernel threads and stuff, still nothing. When I reboot, the problem is gone but comes back after some time. I decided to kill processes and modules until the problem is solved. netctl stop-all sometimes fixes the problem, and when it doesn't, I disable the wifi chipset driver with rmmod rtl8723ae to definitely free the CPU. If I try to restart them right after, the CPU goes back to 80% usage immediately. Using rfkill or iwconfig wlp5s0 txpower off doesn't prevent the driver from hogging those resources and I can't hard reboot the device, so I need to reboot the entire laptop to go back to a normal activity.
I believe the problem arises when I download a lot of data, because I usually notice the fan is not slowing down after watching a Youtube video or grabbing a big file. But I can't definitely say it occurs from this.

I tried downgrading the kernel (which includes the driver I use) to 4.15.1-2 and I'm pretty sure it was fine back then, yet the problem is still here. Otherwise I went from 4.15.3-1 a few days ago to 4.15.3-2 now. On the other hand, it happened just as I moved into an urban area, so I don't know if the device being busier with all the signals going around is a deciding factor. I don't really want to try a downgrade to 4.14 because it's going to mess with a lot of dependencies.

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