Arch Linux

Baspar

Member

Registered: 2016-06-28

Posts: 5

MacbookPro 13 2013: Screen flickering when connecting to 2.4Ghz networ

Hello,

I am running Archilnux on a Macbook Pro 13 from 2013 (Model a1502).

I'm currently facing a awkwardly specific error: while connected to a 2.4Ghz Wifi network, I'm facing some heaving screen flickering (~once per second).
When connected to a 5Ghz network, no issue thought.

For reference, I'm running brcmfmac driver and my Wifi chipset is a Broadcom BCM43602.

I tried to install alternative driver, like broadcom-wl(-dkms), but they fail to start because of a "taint kernel".

If anyone has some trick to make it run on their side, I'd be quite keen.

seth

Member

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 50,924

Re: MacbookPro 13 2013: Screen flickering when connecting to 2.4Ghz networ

they fail to start because of a "taint kernel"

Certainly not.

I can't say anything for the flicker (except pretty crap EM shielding for an expensive device?) but for the failure to use the wl driver, please provide actual IO (ie. commands you issued and outputs on the console; also a dmesg from an approach to load the wl driver)

There's btw. also https://www.archlinux.org/packages/comm … oadcom-wl/

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Baspar

Member

Registered: 2016-06-28

Posts: 5

Re: MacbookPro 13 2013: Screen flickering when connecting to 2.4Ghz networ

There's btw. also https://www.archlinux.org/packages/comm … oadcom-wl/

I've been using https://www.archlinux.org/packages/comm … m-wl-dkms/ so far.

After getting installed, I unload most of the previous conflicting drivers .

sudo rmmod b43 b43legacy bcm43xx bcma brcm80211 brcmfmac brcmsmac ssb wl

And then load the new wl one,

sudo modprobe wl

When inspecting dmesg logs, I get the following:

[12039.699009] wl: loading out-of-tree module taints kernel.
[12039.699013] wl: module license 'MIXED/Proprietary' taints kernel.
[12039.699014] Disabling lock debugging due to kernel taint
[12039.700714] wl: module verification failed: signature and/or required key missing - tainting kernel
[12039.712138] wl driver 6.30.223.271 (r587334) failed with code 1
[12039.712141] ERROR @wl_cfg80211_detach :
[12039.712142] NULL ndev->ieee80211ptr, unable to deref wl

So yes, it seems it's blocked to prevent a tainted kernel

seth

Member

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 50,924

Re: MacbookPro 13 2013: Screen flickering when connecting to 2.4Ghz networ

No. You just get informed on the taint - that's normal for out of tree modules.

The problem is in the last three lines, the driver fails to take control over the device.
Unloading the modules might fail if there's still userspace operating on the device, ie. you've to at least ensure that the interface is down. Check lsmod after the attempted unloading to ensure they're gone.

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How to upload text · How to boot w/o GUI · Disable Windows Fast-Start! · Fix your xinitrc

Baspar

Member

Registered: 2016-06-28

Posts: 5

Re: MacbookPro 13 2013: Screen flickering when connecting to 2.4Ghz networ

After running

sudo rmmod b43 b43legacy bcm43xx bcma brcm80211 brcmfmac brcmsmac ssb wl

The only remaining module running are the following:

Module                  Size  Used by
bcm5974                20480  0
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     57344  1
iptable_nat            16384  0
nf_nat_ipv4            16384  1 iptable_nat
nf_nat                 36864  1 nf_nat_ipv4
nf_conntrack          163840  2 nf_nat,nf_nat_ipv4
nf_defrag_ipv6         20480  1 nf_conntrack
nf_defrag_ipv4         16384  1 nf_conntrack
libcrc32c              16384  2 nf_conntrack,nf_nat
iptable_mangle         16384  0
iptable_filter         16384  0
bnep                   24576  2
intel_rapl             24576  0
x86_pkg_temp_thermal    16384  0
intel_powerclamp       16384  0
i915                 2097152  8
coretemp               16384  0
kvm_intel             245760  0
nls_iso8859_1          16384  1
nls_cp437              20480  1
joydev                 24576  0
kvmgt                  28672  0
vfat                   20480  1
vfio_mdev              16384  0
fat                    81920  1 vfat
mdev                   20480  2 kvmgt,vfio_mdev
vfio_iommu_type1       28672  0
vfio                   32768  3 kvmgt,vfio_mdev,vfio_iommu_type1
kvm                   737280  2 kvmgt,kvm_intel
mousedev               24576  0
input_leds             16384  0
hid_apple              16384  0
crct10dif_pclmul       16384  0
crc32_pclmul           16384  0
ghash_clmulni_intel    16384  0
pcbc                   16384  0
irqbypass              16384  1 kvm
i2c_algo_bit           16384  1 i915
aesni_intel           200704  0
drm_kms_helper        208896  1 i915
aes_x86_64             20480  1 aesni_intel
drm                   495616  6 drm_kms_helper,i915
crypto_simd            16384  1 aesni_intel
cryptd                 28672  3 crypto_simd,ghash_clmulni_intel,aesni_intel
hid_generic            16384  0
glue_helper            16384  1 aesni_intel
snd_hda_codec_cirrus    20480  1
snd_hda_codec_generic    86016  1 snd_hda_codec_cirrus
snd_hda_intel          45056  0
iTCO_wdt               16384  0
ofpart                 16384  0
snd_hda_codec         151552  4 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec_cirrus
snd_hda_core           94208  5 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_codec_cirrus
snd_hwdep              16384  1 snd_hda_codec
applesmc               24576  0
intel_cstate           16384  0
cmdlinepart            16384  0
input_polldev          16384  1 applesmc
snd_pcm               131072  4 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_core
intel_spi_platform     16384  0
btusb                  53248  0
intel_spi              20480  1 intel_spi_platform
spi_nor                36864  1 intel_spi
intel_gtt              24576  1 i915
mtd                    69632  5 cmdlinepart,intel_spi,ofpart
agpgart                49152  2 intel_gtt,drm
iTCO_vendor_support    16384  1 iTCO_wdt
btrtl                  16384  1 btusb
intel_uncore          135168  0
cfg80211              765952  0
intel_rapl_perf        16384  0
btbcm                  16384  1 btusb
syscopyarea            16384  1 drm_kms_helper
snd_timer              36864  1 snd_pcm
mei_me                 45056  0
btintel                24576  1 btusb
lpc_ich                28672  0
sysfillrect            16384  1 drm_kms_helper
pcspkr                 16384  0
snd                    98304  7 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hwdep,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_timer,snd_pcm
sysimgblt              16384  1 drm_kms_helper
bluetooth             647168  26 btrtl,btintel,btbcm,bnep,btusb
acpi_als               16384  0
mei                   114688  1 mei_me
fb_sys_fops            16384  1 drm_kms_helper
bdc_pci                16384  0
i2c_i801               32768  0
intel_pch_thermal      16384  0
soundcore              16384  1 snd
spi_pxa2xx_pci         16384  0
kfifo_buf              16384  1 acpi_als
thunderbolt           151552  0
industrialio           81920  2 acpi_als,kfifo_buf
sbs                    20480  0
apple_bl               16384  0
sbshc                  16384  1 sbs
evdev                  24576  14
spi_pxa2xx_platform    28672  0
mac_hid                16384  0
usbhid                 57344  0
ac                     16384  0
ecdh_generic           24576  1 bluetooth
rfkill                 28672  5 bluetooth,cfg80211
hid                   139264  3 usbhid,hid_apple,hid_generic
pcc_cpufreq            16384  0
crypto_user            16384  0
ip_tables              28672  3 iptable_filter,iptable_nat,iptable_mangle
x_tables               45056  3 iptable_filter,ip_tables,iptable_mangle
ext4                  733184  2
crc32c_generic         16384  0
crc16                  16384  2 bluetooth,ext4
mbcache                16384  1 ext4
jbd2                  122880  1 ext4
fscrypto               32768  1 ext4
uas                    28672  0
usb_storage            73728  1 uas
sd_mod                 61440  4
ahci                   40960  3
libahci                40960  1 ahci
libata                278528  2 libahci,ahci
xhci_pci               16384  0
scsi_mod              253952  4 sd_mod,usb_storage,uas,libata
crc32c_intel           24576  5
xhci_hcd              266240  1 xhci_pci

The last few bcm/broadcom modules up and running are related to Bluetooth (btbcm) and trackpad (bcm5974), so it shouldn't impact the loading of wl.

But when running

sudo modprobe wl
dmesg

I'm still getting

[  270.016620] wl driver 6.30.223.271 (r587334) failed with code 1
[  270.016622] ERROR @wl_cfg80211_detach :
[  270.016622] NULL ndev->ieee80211ptr, unable to deref wl

mich41

Member

Registered: 2012-06-22

Posts: 796

Re: MacbookPro 13 2013: Screen flickering when connecting to 2.4Ghz networ

The real question is - does the same problem occur when you connect to the same network in the vendor OS? I somehow doubt that it's a fault of software

See if reducing txpower helps.

As for wl, error 1 is "not permitted" unless it's some special broadcom-internal error code. That's actually a weird thing to see from a PCI driver.
If you have any clue about C and feel like fighting it, download and compile the driver and add more error checking in every file which calls kernel functions. If you are lucky, the error originates from some kernel function and not just the binary blob deciding you are not permitted to use this device for whatever reason.