brcmsmac crashed 3.3-rc5 kernel

brcmsmac crashed 3.3-rc5 kernel

[Helmut Jarausch]

Hi,

on an HP625 I have the following device

06:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11b/g/
n Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:4727] (rev 01)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:145c]
        Kernel driver in use: bcma-pci-bridge


This device isn't recognized by the brcmfmac driver but only by the 
brcmsfac driver.

My kernel configuration is

# Broadcom specific AMBA
#
CONFIG_BCMA=y
CONFIG_BCMA_HOST_PCI_POSSIBLE=y
CONFIG_BCMA_HOST_PCI=y
# CONFIG_BCMA_DEBUG is not set

# CONFIG_B43 is not set
# CONFIG_B43LEGACY is not set
CONFIG_BRCMUTIL=m
CONFIG_BRCMSMAC=m
# CONFIG_BRCMFMAC is not set
CONFIG_BRCMDBG=y

CONFIG_CFG80211=y
# CONFIG_NL80211_TESTMODE is not set
CONFIG_CFG80211_DEVELOPER_WARNINGS=y
CONFIG_CFG80211_REG_DEBUG=y
CONFIG_CFG80211_DEFAULT_PS=y

CONFIG_MAC80211=y
CONFIG_MAC80211_HAS_RC=y
CONFIG_MAC80211_RC_MINSTREL=y
CONFIG_MAC80211_RC_MINSTREL_HT=y
CONFIG_MAC80211_RC_DEFAULT_MINSTREL=y
CONFIG_MAC80211_RC_DEFAULT="minstrel_ht"
CONFIG_MAC80211_MESH=y
CONFIG_MAC80211_LEDS=y

The device is recognized :
wlan0     IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:off/any  
          Mode:Managed  Access Point: Not-Associated   Tx-Power=0 dBm   
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:on
          
but doing  /etc/init.d/net.wlan0 start
crashes the kernel - even <Ctrl><Alt><Shift><SysRq>  doesn't work anymore.
I've tried strace, but the output file doesn't get closed so it's missing 
after reboot.

Any help is very much appreciated.

P.S. the GRML64 live CD system does work on that hardware but it uses a 
3.1 kernel and a staging driver.

Since I'd like to use BTRFS I'd like to use a 3.3 kernel.
Helmut.

Re: brcmsmac crashed 3.3-rc5 kernel

[Arend van Spriel]

On 03/01/2012 12:33 PM, Helmut Jarausch wrote:
> Hi,
>
> on an HP625 I have the following device
>
> 06:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11b/g/
> n Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:4727] (rev 01)
>          Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:145c]
>          Kernel driver in use: bcma-pci-bridge
>
>
> This device isn't recognized by the brcmfmac driver but only by the
> brcmsfac driver.

That is expected. brcmfmac is support sdio/usb cards. brcmsmac is used 
for bcm4313 card.

> My kernel configuration is
>
> # Broadcom specific AMBA
> #
> CONFIG_BCMA=y
> CONFIG_BCMA_HOST_PCI_POSSIBLE=y
> CONFIG_BCMA_HOST_PCI=y
> # CONFIG_BCMA_DEBUG is not set
>
> # CONFIG_B43 is not set
> # CONFIG_B43LEGACY is not set
> CONFIG_BRCMUTIL=m
> CONFIG_BRCMSMAC=m
> # CONFIG_BRCMFMAC is not set
> CONFIG_BRCMDBG=y
>

looks ok.

>
> but doing  /etc/init.d/net.wlan0 start
> crashes the kernel - even<Ctrl><Alt><Shift><SysRq>   doesn't work anymore.
> I've tried strace, but the output file doesn't get closed so it's missing
> after reboot.

You could try some kernel hacking features. Some can help to get some 
vital info on screen.

> Any help is very much appreciated.
>
> P.S. the GRML64 live CD system does work on that hardware but it uses a
> 3.1 kernel and a staging driver.
>
> Since I'd like to use BTRFS I'd like to use a 3.3 kernel.
> Helmut.

Some more details would certainly increase my ability to help you.

Gr. AvS

Re: brcmsmac crashed 3.3-rc5 kernel

[Arend van Spriel]

On 03/07/2012 05:01 PM, Helmut Jarausch wrote:
> Hi Arend,
> thanks for your interest.
>
> Unfortunately, I have no experience in kernel debugging.
> If I switch on several flags in the 'kernel hacking' section, I get
> losts of information on screen - but I don't know how capture these on
> disk.

Sometimes your last resort is using a digital camera to capture what is 
showing on your screen. Can you do that and sent me the picture?

> Meanwhile I have found out that the brcmsmac driver does work under
> special circumstances.
>
> My notebook (HP 625) has to NICs - ethernet and Wlan (BCM4313).
> If I disconnect my PC from the internet, or configure it not to start
> the ethernet connection, then I can start the WLAN successfully - and
> it even seems to be stable.

What happens when you start ethernet after WLAN?

> On the other hand, if I start the ethernet (RTL8101E/RTL8102E) first
> and try to start the WLAN next, the kernel crashes each time as
> reported.

Maybe an issue with shared interrupts. Can you provide the lspci output 
(ie. lspci -v) to me.

> I can live with this situation but if you like me to find out what's
> going on I'm willing to help. But for that I need your help on kernel
> debugging first (currently 3.3-rc6)

Safe the good stuff for later ;-)

Gr. AvS