[ath9k-devel] ath9k driver instability

[Ben Gamari <bgamari@gmail.com>]

On Sat, 29 May 2010 22:16:13 -0700 (PDT), Cloud Strife <piroisl33t@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Sometimes the card stops working all together (cannot scan, connect,
> etc.), I have to ifconfig wlan0 down; rmmod ath9k; modprobe ath9k;
> ifconfig wlan0 up to get it started again. There is also no
> interference in my area as well. 
> 
I too have been experiencing this sort of failure with my AR5008
cards. I have a AR5008 rev. 1 card in my server running in master mode,
which dies about once per day. During this period all stations
attempting to associate with the access point timeout. Unfortunately,
there is no useful error message produced by the driver, so I have no
idea what might be going wrong. The only way to bring the card back is
to reload the driver.

I have another similar card in my personal laptop, which generally runs
in managed mode. Here, I experience similar types of failures several
times a day. The symptoms are almost identical, with inexplicable timeouts

I'm aware that the Atheros developers aren't actively supporting
AR5008 hardware but even some hints as to where to begin in debugging
would be appreciated. I've more than once stated my complete willingness
to do whatever necessary to troubleshoot this issue yet Atheros has
remained entirely silent.

I would be more than willing to buy hardware based on a newer Atheros
chipset if there were products available. However, despite the dozens of
products listed on the Ath9k products page[1], I have not seen a single
AR92xx-based full-sized mini-PCIe card available to consumers (most of
the hardware is produce for OEM it appears, a market to which most
individuals have no access). Meanwhile, AR5008 hardware is cheap,
available, and works, albeit not with ath9k. However, I would be most
appreciative of anyone who could point me in the direction of where to
acquire a newer card compatible with my hardware.

Any input Atheros could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,

- Ben


[1] http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/ath9k/products/external