Re: RTL8187 bugs

[Larry Finger <Larry.Finger@lwfinger.net>]

On 11/27/2013 04:59 PM, Nikita N. wrote:
> Alright then :) lets start:
>
>
> - Bug #1:
> Im running on standard Slitaz4, updating modules, the following script:
> ./backports-3.13-rc1-1/scripts/compress_modules.sh
> the "if" is not able to detect the present compression, as result the
> new modules are not compressed, and get mixed with the old ones
> compressed, resulting in errors.
> My actual workaround is just to delete the "if" line.
> The issue is present in all backports releases, since the switch from
> compat-drivers.

That is a backports bug, not one in rtl8187. It should be reported separately.

> - Bug #2:
> I previously updated to backports-3.11-rc3, after install here the dmesg
> report:
> "
> Loading modules backported from Linux version v3.11-rc3-0-g5ae90d8
> Backport generated by backports.git v3.11-rc3-1-0-g4e81a94
> cfg80211: Calling CRDA to update world regulatory domain
> NET: Registered protocol family 10
> rtl8187: Invalid hwaddr! Using randomly generated MAC address
> ieee80211 phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'minstrel_ht'
> ieee80211 phy0: hwaddr 6a:d5:65:93:2c:69, RTL8187vB (default) V1 +
> rtl8225z2, rfkill mask 2
> rtl8187: Customer ID is 0x00
> Registered led device: rtl8187-phy0::radio
> Registered led device: rtl8187-phy0::tx
> Registered led device: rtl8187-phy0::rx
> rtl8187: wireless switch is on
> usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8187
> "
> The "Invalid hwaddr!" is the bug.
> As workaround I had to rollback to compat-drivers, where the problem
> does not exists, infact here dmesg:
> "
> Compat-drivers backport release: compat-drivers-v3.9-rc4-2-su
> Backport based on linux-stable.git v3.9-rc4
> compat.git: linux-stable.git
> cfg80211: Calling CRDA to update world regulatory domain
> NET: Registered protocol family 10
> ieee80211 phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'minstrel_ht'
> ieee80211 phy0: hwaddr 00:e0:4c:X:X:X, RTL8187vB (default) V1 +
> rtl8225z2, rfkill mask 2

On my system, my RTL8187B shows the following for kernel 13.1-rc1:

[11213.196114] usb 1-5: new high-speed USB device number 5 using ehci-pci
[11214.663577] rtl8187: inconsistency between id with OEM info!
[11214.666105] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2412 MHz with 
regulatory rule:
[11214.666114] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz - 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2700 mBm)
[11214.666118] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2417 MHz with 
regulatory rule:

--snip--

ieee80211 phy2: Selected rate control algorithm 'minstrel_ht'
ieee80211 phy2: hwaddr 00:11:6b:3e:c4:0a, RTL8187BvB(early) V0 + rtl8225z2, 
rfkill mask 2
rtl8187: Customer ID is 0x00
rtl8187: wireless switch is on
usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8187
systemd-udevd[5796]: renamed network interface wlan1 to wlp0s2f1u5

> - Bug #3:
> After reverting back to compat-drivers, my interface started behaving
> wrong in monitor mode.
> Monitor mode was always working properly before, but after applying
> backports-3.11 now is broken.
> The symptoms are the following: whatever is the channel, from airodump
> or wireshark I can see only broadcasts frames (dest ff:ff:ff..) and
> management frames (ack,probes,beacons,req send,block,
> assoc,auth,deauth,..)
> I tried also other live-RAM-only distros as BT5, Kali and Weaknet, the
> issue persists.
> The interface behaves like some kind of "wrong" data has been written
> permanently (in the eeprom?) which instructs the interface to discard
> all data frames when in monitor mode.
> Managed mode still works perfectly.
> I still could not find a workaround for this bug, as result my interface
> is still unusable in monitor mode.

I cannot address this problem very much as I have no idea what went wrong when 
you installed backports. Refreshing your kernel from the distro, or regenerating 
it again if you build your own should help. The device's EEPROM cannot be 
changed, thus your conjecture about discarded frames is not right.

> - Bug #4:
> Today I tried install latest stable backports-3.13-rc1-1, but RTL
> modules are not compiled.
> Running make defconfig-rtlwifi, it compiles only generic modules.
> Running make defconfig-wifi, compilation is very fast, and skips lots of
> chipsets, again same issue - no RTL modules.
> No workaround - I reverted back again to compat-drivers.

The rtlwifi package only includes the drivers that use rtlwifi for their basic 
communications. Driver rtl8187 is *NOT* one of them. You have to configure it 
separately. This is not a bug.

I have just dowloaded backports 3.13-rc1 and will try it.

Larry