iwlwifi started failing consistently, trying to determine root cause

DinoSaar · 2026-05-19 20:21:06

Hello everyone, first post here.

I have an old Dell mini PC that I use as a little homelab running Arch Linux.
I've been running it for about 3 years without issues, but in the last few weeks I've been having an issue where it disconnects from the network a day or two after booting, with what looks like a failure in iwlwifi.
This is what I see in journalctl at the time of failure:

May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: ------------[ cut here ]------------
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: Timeout waiting for hardware access (CSR_GP_CNTRL 0xffffffff)
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: WARNING: drivers/net/wireless/intel/iwlwifi/pcie/gen1_2/trans.c:2387 at _iwl_trans_pcie_grab_nic_access+0x16b/0x1e0 [iwlwifi], CPU#2: swapper/2/0
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: Modules linked in: nf_conntrack_netlink xt_nat xt_tcpudp veth xt_conntrack xt_MASQUERADE bridge stp llc xfrm_user xfrm_algo xt_set ip_set nft_chain_nat nf_nat nf_conntrack nf_defrag_ipv6 nf_defrag_ipv4 xt_addrtype nft_compat x_tables nf_tables wireguard libcurve25519 ip6_udp_tunnel udp_tunnel ccm overlay vfat fat intel_rapl_msr intel_rapl_common x86_pkg_temp_thermal intel_powerclamp coretemp snd_ctl_led iwlmvm kvm_intel mac80211 snd_hda_codec_alc269 kvm snd_hda_codec_realtek_lib snd_hda_scodec_component snd_hda_codec_intelhdmi snd_hda_codec_generic libarc4 snd_hda_codec_hdmi irqbypass snd_hda_intel ghash_clmulni_intel iwlwifi btusb platform_profile aesni_intel snd_hda_codec btmtk snd_hda_core rapl btrtl at24 btbcm dell_wmi mei_wdt mei_pxp mei_hdcp snd_intel_dspcfg i2c_i801 btintel intel_cstate snd_intel_sdw_acpi dell_smbios i2c_smbus cfg80211 snd_hwdep dcdbas bluetooth sparse_keymap e1000e intel_uncore wmi_bmof pcspkr i2c_mux mei_me intel_oc_wdt dell_wmi_descriptor snd_pcm spi_nor iTCO_wdt mei snd_timer
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  rfkill mtd ptp intel_pmc_bxt snd pps_core soundcore mac_hid squashfs loop nfnetlink dm_mod ses enclosure scsi_transport_sas ata_generic pata_acpi uas usb_storage i915 spi_intel_platform spi_intel i2c_algo_bit drm_buddy ttm intel_gtt drm_display_helper video ata_piix cec wmi lpc_ich
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/2 Not tainted 7.0.3-arch1-2 #1 PREEMPT(full)  88a2c8f55a128ad9505b4014386291e7c04d5e88
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: Hardware name: Dell Inc. OptiPlex 9020M/0Y5DDC, BIOS A19 05/30/2019
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: RIP: 0010:_iwl_trans_pcie_grab_nic_access+0x171/0x1e0 [iwlwifi]
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: Code: 15 3c 83 d9 48 8b 5c 24 08 4c 8b 64 24 18 4c 8b 74 24 28 4c 8b 7c 24 30 e9 b8 fe ff ff 48 8d 3d c5 fb 56 00 89 c6 89 44 24 04 <67> 48 0f b9 3a 48 8b b3 88 1a 00 00 48 89 df e8 fb 05 ff ff 83 7c
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: RSP: 0018:ffffd4d280160dc8 EFLAGS: 00010246
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: RAX: 00000000ffffffff RBX: ffff8d78872b8028 RCX: 00000000ffffffff
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: RDX: 0000000000004e34 RSI: 00000000ffffffff RDI: ffffffffc12876d0
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000004df3 R09: 0000000000000002
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: R10: 00000000000000a9 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: 0000000000000011
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: R13: ffffffffc0d0e730 R14: 0000000000000008 R15: 0000000000000001
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8d79fa667000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: CR2: 00007f7543d4be64 CR3: 000000020fc24004 CR4: 00000000001726f0
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: Call Trace:
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  <IRQ>
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  iwl_trans_pcie_grab_nic_access+0x1f/0x50 [iwlwifi 1fd91fa5056268c1c20053c996c5de21dc3baac7]
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  ? enqueue_task_fair+0x596/0xbe0
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  iwl_read_prph+0x1b/0x60 [iwlwifi 1fd91fa5056268c1c20053c996c5de21dc3baac7]
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  ? psi_task_change+0xf5/0x100
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  iwl_txq_log_scd_error+0x148/0x230 [iwlwifi 1fd91fa5056268c1c20053c996c5de21dc3baac7]
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  ? __pfx_iwl_txq_stuck_timer+0x10/0x10 [iwlwifi 1fd91fa5056268c1c20053c996c5de21dc3baac7]
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  iwl_txq_stuck_timer+0x3c/0x60 [iwlwifi 1fd91fa5056268c1c20053c996c5de21dc3baac7]
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  ? __pfx_iwl_txq_stuck_timer+0x10/0x10 [iwlwifi 1fd91fa5056268c1c20053c996c5de21dc3baac7]
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  call_timer_fn+0x2a/0x140
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  __run_timers+0x269/0x330
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  run_timer_softirq+0x86/0xf0
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  ? irqtime_account_irq+0x30/0xc0
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  handle_softirqs+0xe8/0x2c0
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  __irq_exit_rcu+0xc9/0xf0
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x71/0x90
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  </IRQ>
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  <TASK>
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  asm_sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x1a/0x20
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: RIP: 0010:cpuidle_enter_state+0xbb/0x440
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: Code: 00 00 e8 98 fc ec fe e8 93 ee ff ff 48 89 c5 0f 1f 44 00 00 31 ff e8 d4 50 eb fe 45 84 ff 0f 85 74 01 00 00 fb 0f 1f 44 00 00 <45> 85 f6 0f 88 cb 01 00 00 44 89 f1 48 2b 2c 24 48 6b d1 68 48 89
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: RSP: 0018:ffffd4d2800e7e70 EFLAGS: 00000246
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: RAX: ffff8d79fa667000 RBX: 0000000000000005 RCX: 0000000000000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: RDX: 00009ff2f41865a6 RSI: fffffffbfca06ce7 RDI: 0000000000000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: RBP: 00009ff2f41865a6 R08: 0000000000000005 R09: ffff8d7996b21820
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: R10: ffff8d7996b217c0 R11: 0000000000000004 R12: ffff8d7996b3adc0
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: R13: ffffffff9ba0cb20 R14: 0000000000000005 R15: 0000000000000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  cpuidle_enter+0x31/0x50
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  do_idle+0x14b/0x2a0
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  cpu_startup_entry+0x29/0x30
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  start_secondary+0x119/0x150
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  common_startup_64+0x13e/0x141
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel:  </TASK>
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: iwlwifi transaction failed, dumping registers
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: iwlwifi device config registers:
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: 00000000: 08b18086 00100000 028000bb 00000000 00000004 00000000 00000000 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: 00000020: 00000000 00000000 00000000 c4708086 00000000 000000c8 00000000 00000100
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: 00000040: 00020010 10008ec0 001b0c10 0006ec11 10110000 00000000 00000000 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: 00000060: 00000000 00080812 00000005 00000000 00010001 00000000 00000000 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: 00000080: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: 000000a0: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: 000000c0: 00000000 00000000 c823d001 0d000000 00804005 00000000 00000000 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: 000000e0: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: 00000100: 14010001 00100000 00000000 00462031 000031c1 00002000 00000014 40000001
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: 00000120: 0000000f f7c00460 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: 00000140: 14c10003 ffc3371e cc3d82ff 15410018 00000000 0001000b 0141cafe 00f01e1f
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: iwlwifi device memory mapped registers:
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: 00000000: ffffffff ffffffff ffffffff ffffffff ffffffff ffffffff ffffffff ffffffff
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: 00000020: ffffffff ffffffff ffffffff ffffffff ffffffff ffffffff ffffffff ffffffff
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: iwlwifi device AER capability structure:
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: 00000000: 14010001 00100000 00000000 00462031 000031c1 00002000 00000014 40000001
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: 00000020: 0000000f f7c00460 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: iwlwifi parent port (0000:00:1c.3) config registers:
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:00:1c.3: 00000000: 8c168086 00100507 060400d4 00810010 00000000 00000000 00020200 200000f0
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:00:1c.3: 00000020: f7c0f7c0 0001fff1 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000040 00000000 0012040a
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:00:1c.3: 00000040: 01428010 00008000 00110000 04323c12 30110c42 001cb200 01480000 00000008
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:00:1c.3: 00000060: 00000000 00000817 00000000 00000000 00010002 00000000 00000000 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:00:1c.3: 00000080: 00019005 fee00258 00000000 00000000 0000a00d 06691028 00000000 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:00:1c.3: 000000a0: c8030001 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:00:1c.3: 000000c0: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 01000000 00001842 0b118008 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:00:1c.3: 000000e0: 00000300 88aa88aa 00000001 00000000 00000050 0c000040 08060fb1 04002800
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:00:1c.3: 00000100: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00060011 000011c1 00002000 00000000 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:00:1c.3: 00000120: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:00:1c.3: 00000140: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:00:1c.3: 00000160: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:00:1c.3: 00000180: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:00:1c.3: 000001a0: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:00:1c.3: 000001c0: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:00:1c.3: 000001e0: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:00:1c.3: 00000200: 00000000 00000000 00000000
May 16 22:46:44 saarver kernel: iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: Queue 10 is active on fifo 2 and stuck for 10000 ms. SW [83, 104] HW [90, 90] FH TRB=0x05a5a5a5a

I can't think of any changes in the network or to the computer that should have affected anything.
I think it could be a hardware issue since this computer is relatively old (i5 4th gen), but I don't know how I would verify this.
Does this log suggest anything for sure? What else can I do to find the root cause?

clfarron4 · Yesterday 02:21:22

Did it happen after an update? If so, what happens if you roll back to before the update? You should be able to test this using the Arch Linux Archive: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Arch_Linux_Archive

DinoSaar · Yesterday 04:56:04

clfarron4 wrote:

Did it happen after an update? If so, what happens if you roll back to before the update? You should be able to test this using the Arch Linux Archive: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Arch_Linux_Archive

I don't remember exactly, but it could be related to an update. iwlwifi is part of the kernel, so would I need to roll back the kernel, right?

seth · Yesterday 06:33:33

Smells like power saving, does it happen if you keep a life-line (eternal ping to your _gateway or google.com) on the NIC?
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Power_ … interfaces (obviously try the opposite of saving, iwlmvm.power_scheme=1) and also pcie_aspm=off (can't tell whether the system supports aspm from that log-bit)

DinoSaar · Today 10:04:19

seth wrote:

Smells like power saving, does it happen if you keep a life-line (eternal ping to your _gateway or google.com) on the NIC?
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Power_ … interfaces (obviously try the opposite of saving, iwlmvm.power_scheme=1) and also pcie_aspm=off (can't tell whether the system supports aspm from that log-bit)

It is connected to a wireguard server, shouldn't the handshakes be enough to keep it alive?

Last edited by DinoSaar (Today 10:05:40)

seth · Today 13:26:28

At what frequency do those happen?
Have you tried perma-pinging something?

DinoSaar · Today 14:56:15

seth wrote:

At what frequency do those happen?
Have you tried perma-pinging something?

Over the last few weeks it happened usually a day or two after boot. Today it happened again about 15 minutes after boot, but hasn't happened again since.
I'll try a permanent ping to see if it helps.

seth · Today 15:12:58

No, I meant how frequent you run a wireguard handshake w/ the VPN - once a day won't help much, even once an hour isn't enough itr.

DinoSaar · Today 15:22:43

seth wrote:

No, I meant how frequent you run a wireguard handshake w/ the VPN - once a day won't help much, even once an hour isn't enough itr.

Ah, my bad. It's configured with persistent keepalive every 25 seconds.

seth · Today 19:47:43

That should™ keep it powered … do you have a complete journal for an occurrence?
(Maybe something builds up to it or there's noise on the bus from another device)

Arch Linux

#1 2026-05-19 20:21:06

iwlwifi started failing consistently, trying to determine root cause

#2 Yesterday 02:21:22

Re: iwlwifi started failing consistently, trying to determine root cause

#3 Yesterday 04:56:04

Re: iwlwifi started failing consistently, trying to determine root cause

#4 Yesterday 06:33:33

Re: iwlwifi started failing consistently, trying to determine root cause

#5 Today 10:04:19

Re: iwlwifi started failing consistently, trying to determine root cause

#6 Today 13:26:28

Re: iwlwifi started failing consistently, trying to determine root cause

#7 Today 14:56:15

Re: iwlwifi started failing consistently, trying to determine root cause

#8 Today 15:12:58

Re: iwlwifi started failing consistently, trying to determine root cause

#9 Today 15:22:43

Re: iwlwifi started failing consistently, trying to determine root cause

#10 Today 19:47:43

Re: iwlwifi started failing consistently, trying to determine root cause

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