Bugreport - rtw89: RTL8852AE dead-link stall | linux-zen 7.1.3

Bugreport - rtw89: RTL8852AE dead-link stall | linux-zen 7.1.3

[Pochimilco]

Bugreport  (information collected with the help of AI - i'm not an 
expert but a more less experienced linux user ;) )

I hope it helps...  thanks, Pochimilco
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Title: rtw89: RTL8852AE dead-link stall ("connected but no traffic") 
under linux-zen 7.1.3, absent under linux-lts 6.18
Product: Networking
Component: Wireless
Kernel: 7.1.3-zen1-3-zen (Arch/Garuda)
Driver: rtw89 (in-kernel), module rtw89_8852ae
Hardware: ThinkPad L13 Gen 2a (21AB000PCK), Realtek RTL8852AE
Severity: high (intermittent connectivity loss, ~2-10 min, self-recovering)
Summary:
With the Zen kernel the RTL8852AE enters a "dead link" state: iw link 
shows the device stays associated (Connected, signal ~-49 dBm, RX bytes 
keep increasing), but all traffic to the gateway stops. ping to the 
gateway fails for 2–10 minutes, then recovers on its own. Switching to 
the LTS kernel (6.18.38-3-lts) with identical firmware and same AP 
eliminates the issue completely (0 stalls over multiple hours).
Environment:
     • Kernel affected: 7.1.3-zen1-3-zen
     • Kernel unaffected: 6.18.38-3-lts
     • Firmware: linux-firmware-realtek 20260622-1 (identical in both → 
not a firmware regression)
     • Driver: in-kernel rtw89 (modules: rtw89_8852ae, rtw89_8852a, 
rtw89_pci, rtw89_core)
     • Distro: Garuda Linux (Arch-based), NetworkManager + wpa_supplicant
     • AP: Bushaldestellenzombieparadies, BSSID 50:e6:36:b6:69:a4, 5 
GHz, channel 52 (5260 MHz, 80 MHz, DFS), SAE/FT-SAE, 802.11w=2
Reproduction:
1. Boot linux-zen 7.1.3.
2. Connect to 5 GHz DFS channel 52.
3. Under normal traffic the gateway ping dies after a few minutes; 
device stays associated.
4. Recovers after 2–10 min without user action.
5. Boot linux-lts 6.18.38 instead → no stalls over several hours of the 
same workload.
Mitigation attempts that did NOT help:
All four rtw89 module params set via /etc/modprobe.d/rtw89.conf and 
verified Y in /sys/module/.../parameters/:

options rtw89_core disable_ps_mode=y
options rtw89_pci disable_aspm_l1=y
options rtw89_pci disable_aspm_l1ss=y
options rtw89_pci disable_clkreq=y
Stalls persisted with all four active. Firmware downgrade (to 
20260519-1) also did not help.
Evidence (monitor log excerpt, Zen kernel):

2026-07-16 12:41:34 | channel 52 (5260 MHz), width: 80 MHz, center1: 
5290 MHz | gw-ping: OK
2026-07-16 12:41:49 | >>> STALL: Connected to 50:e6:36:b6:69:a4 (on wlp6s0)
   SSID: Bushaldestellenzombieparadies  freq: 5260.0  signal: -49 dBm
   rx bitrate: 6.0 MBit/s   tx bitrate: 1200.9 MBit/s 80MHz HE-MCS 11 ...
   ... (RX bytes climb 13.4M -> 14.0M across the stall) ...
2026-07-16 12:44:18 | >>> STALL: ... signal: -49 dBm ... gw-ping: FAIL
2026-07-16 12:46:36 | channel 52 (5260 MHz), width: 80 MHz, center1: 
5290 MHz | gw-ping: OK
Key observations during stall:
     • iw link always reports Connected, no deauth, beacon interval 
stable (100 TU).
     • RX byte counter keeps increasing → chip still receives, but TX to 
gateway is blocked.
     • Signal strong (-48 to -50 dBm), so not an RF/coverage issue.
     • Channel never changes (stays 52/5260 MHz) → not a DFS channel switch.

LTS comparison:
After rebooting into linux-lts 6.18.38-3-lts at 12:46, the same monitor 
reported gw-ping: OK continuously with zero >>> STALL entries for the 
rest of the session.
Expected: Stable connectivity on Zen kernel as on LTS.
Actual: Intermittent dead-link stalls requiring no action but causing 
2–10 min outages.
Additional info requested by maintainers (please attach):
     • dmesg from a Zen boot showing the stall window
     • sudo ethtool -i wlp6s0 (or iw dev wlp6s0 info)
     • cat /sys/kernel/debug/ieee80211/phy0/rtw89/... if available

RE: Bugreport - rtw89: RTL8852AE dead-link stall | linux-zen 7.1.3

[Ping-Ke Shih]

Pochimilco <pochimilco@ik.me> wrote:
> Bugreport  (information collected with the help of AI - i'm not an
> expert but a more less experienced linux user ;) )
> 
> I hope it helps...  thanks, Pochimilco
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Title: rtw89: RTL8852AE dead-link stall ("connected but no traffic")
> under linux-zen 7.1.3, absent under linux-lts 6.18
> Product: Networking
> Component: Wireless
> Kernel: 7.1.3-zen1-3-zen (Arch/Garuda)
> Driver: rtw89 (in-kernel), module rtw89_8852ae
> Hardware: ThinkPad L13 Gen 2a (21AB000PCK), Realtek RTL8852AE
> Severity: high (intermittent connectivity loss, ~2-10 min, self-recovering)

A patch [1] is going to be merged into 7.1.4 (I suppose). I think you can
try it again next week.

[1] https://lore.kernel.org/stable/20260716133048.437330106@linuxfoundation.org/