[PATCH v3 1/2] wifi: mwifiex: ignore ROM regulatory hint on WRT3200ACM/WRT32x

[PATCH v3 1/2] wifi: mwifiex: ignore ROM regulatory hint on WRT3200ACM/WRT32x

[Georgi Valkov]

WRT3200ACM and WRT32x routers always report a fixed US regulatory domain
from the mwifiex ROM, which conflicts with the platform regulatory
configuration on units sold outside the US market. For example:
- phy0 mwlwifi 5 GHz, hard-coded region 98 EU mapped to FR
- phy1 mwlwifi 2.4 GHz, hard-coded region 98 EU mapped to FR
- phy2 mwifiex 2.4 and 5 GHz, hard-coded region US

When the system boots, it detects a conflict between the user selected
region and the radios, e.g. BG FR US, and applies extreme restrictions,
preventing use of 5 GHz and DFS channels. This also affects phy0.

Implement a device-tree flag, which allows affected platforms to ignore
an incorrect regulatory hint in the ROM, so userspace can set the correct
platform regulatory domain. The radios in WRT3200ACM/WRT32x are locked to
the hard-coded configuration for which they are certified, so the only
impact is that the region conflict is avoided and the 5 GHz radios can
be used.

The change affects only platforms which explicitly define this flag, and
helps overcome the incorrect behaviour of proprietary radio firmware.

[1] https://github.com/kaloz/mwlwifi/issues/173#issuecomment-307879699
[2] https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/issues/9956

Tested-on: WRT3200ACM, OpenWrt
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Georgi Valkov <gvalkov@gmail.com>
---
Hi Jeff,
I did not consider the idea suggested by openwrt-ai, because I do not
understand it and I do not know how to implement it.
Any help is welcome!

v3:
I implemented and tested a better approach with no board specific code:
1. check for a device-tree flag in mwifiex_register_cfg80211in()
  !of_property_read_bool(of_root, "marvell,ignore-regulatory-hint")
2. add this flag to the root device tree of each affected board
Currently this affects only armada-385-linksys-rango.dts,
because Linux has no dts for venom. OpenWrt will take care of that.
This approach is more flexible and scalable, because the flag can
also be used in other drivers, e.g. mwlwifi (not part of Linux).

v2:
Replace the compatible device names, which are currently only available on
OpenWrt with board names which are available on both Linux and OpenWrt.

 drivers/net/wireless/marvell/mwifiex/cfg80211.c | 7 +++++++
 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+)

diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/marvell/mwifiex/cfg80211.c b/drivers/net/wireless/marvell/mwifiex/cfg80211.c
index abc703441c5d..0239b1c9214b 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/marvell/mwifiex/cfg80211.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/marvell/mwifiex/cfg80211.c
@@ -4899,7 +4899,14 @@ int mwifiex_register_cfg80211(struct mwifiex_adapter *adapter)
 				country_code =
 					mwifiex_11d_code_2_region(
 						adapter->region_code);
+
+				/* Allow platforms to ignore an incorrect
+				 * regulatory hint from ROM, so userspace
+				 * can set the correct regulatory domain.
+				 */
 				if (country_code &&
+				    !of_property_read_bool(of_root,
+							   "marvell,ignore-regulatory-hint") &&
 				    regulatory_hint(wiphy, country_code))
 					mwifiex_dbg(priv->adapter, ERROR,
 						    "regulatory_hint() failed\n");
-- 
2.55.0

[PATCH v3 2/2] ARM: dts: armada: WRT3200ACM: add marvell,ignore-regulatory-hint

[Georgi Valkov]

WRT3200ACM and WRT32x routers always report a fixed US regulatory domain
from the mwifiex ROM, which conflicts with the platform regulatory
configuration on units sold outside the US market. For example:
- phy0 mwlwifi 5 GHz, hard-coded region 98 EU mapped to FR
- phy1 mwlwifi 2.4 GHz, hard-coded region 98 EU mapped to FR
- phy2 mwifiex 2.4 and 5 GHz, hard-coded region US

When the system boots, it detects a conflict between the user selected
region and the radios, e.g. BG FR US, and applies extreme restrictions,
preventing use of 5 GHz and DFS channels. This also affects phy0.

Add a device-tree flag marvell,ignore-regulatory-hint to the WRT3200ACM
device-tree, which signals mwifiex to ignore an incorrect regulatory hint
in the ROM, so userspace can set the correct platform regulatory domain.
The radios in WRT3200ACM/WRT32x are locked to the hard-coded configuration
for which they are certified, so the only impact is that the region
conflict is avoided and the 5 GHz radios can be used.

The Linux kernel sources do not have support for WRT32x. An equivalent
patch for these routers has to be sent to OpenWrt.

[1] https://github.com/kaloz/mwlwifi/issues/173#issuecomment-307879699
[2] https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/issues/9956

Tested-on: WRT3200ACM, OpenWrt
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Georgi Valkov <gvalkov@gmail.com>
---
 arch/arm/boot/dts/marvell/armada-385-linksys-rango.dts | 1 +
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)

diff --git a/arch/arm/boot/dts/marvell/armada-385-linksys-rango.dts b/arch/arm/boot/dts/marvell/armada-385-linksys-rango.dts
index 4ab45f294de2..6e283e223ca4 100644
--- a/arch/arm/boot/dts/marvell/armada-385-linksys-rango.dts
+++ b/arch/arm/boot/dts/marvell/armada-385-linksys-rango.dts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ / {
 	model = "Linksys WRT3200ACM";
 	compatible = "linksys,rango", "linksys,armada385", "marvell,armada385",
 		     "marvell,armada380";
+	marvell,ignore-regulatory-hint;
 };
 
 &expander0 {
-- 
2.55.0

Re: [PATCH v3 1/2] wifi: mwifiex: ignore ROM regulatory hint on WRT3200ACM/WRT32x

[Johannes Berg]

On Fri, 2026-08-07 at 21:21 +0300, Georgi Valkov wrote:
> 
> +				/* Allow platforms to ignore an incorrect
> +				 * regulatory hint from ROM, so userspace
> +				 * can set the correct regulatory domain.
> +				 */
>  				if (country_code &&
> +				    !of_property_read_bool(of_root,
> +							   "marvell,ignore-regulatory-hint") &&
>  				    regulatory_hint(wiphy, country_code))

You're supposed to always update bindings first, no?

johannes

Re: [PATCH v3 1/2] wifi: mwifiex: ignore ROM regulatory hint on WRT3200ACM/WRT32x

[George Valkov]

Hello Johannes, and thank you for your quick reply!

> You're supposed to always update bindings first, no?
To me the logical order is to implement the feature in the driver and
then enable it in each board which needs it. For Linux just WRT3200ACM.
A separate patch for WRT32x should be sent to OpenWrt.

Please let me know if I should reverse the order.


Hello Sashiko AI,
Yes, I intentionally implemented the flag as a root node.
This way the new device-tree property can be reused for the
other radios, which use mwlwifi, and also require this fix.

It would be inefficient and impractical to define a separate
device-tree property for each radio, where it is actually the
board that is affected, so it should be a per-board setting.

Also my attempts to use per device nodes or the parent always
return false so they are not usable.

I do not understand the part about dependence on CONFIG_OF.
of_property_read_bool() returns false when the flag is not
defined. This preserves the original behaviour as if it is
set to false, so the feature is disabled.
External radios which do not implement support for this flag
are not affected.

v2 of this PR used of_machine_is_compatible, but there was an
objection that this adds platform code to the driver.

How can I add binding documentation and where?

On Fri, 7 Aug 2026 at 21:39, Johannes Berg <johannes@sipsolutions.net> wrote:
>
> On Fri, 2026-08-07 at 21:21 +0300, Georgi Valkov wrote:
> >
> > +                             /* Allow platforms to ignore an incorrect
> > +                              * regulatory hint from ROM, so userspace
> > +                              * can set the correct regulatory domain.
> > +                              */
> >                               if (country_code &&
> > +                                 !of_property_read_bool(of_root,
> > +                                                        "marvell,ignore-regulatory-hint") &&
> >                                   regulatory_hint(wiphy, country_code))
>
> You're supposed to always update bindings first, no?
>
> johannes

Re: [PATCH v3 1/2] wifi: mwifiex: ignore ROM regulatory hint on WRT3200ACM/WRT32x

[Brian Norris]

On Fri, Aug 07, 2026 at 10:49:40PM +0300, George Valkov wrote:
> Hello Johannes, and thank you for your quick reply!
> 
> > You're supposed to always update bindings first, no?
> To me the logical order is to implement the feature in the driver and
> then enable it in each board which needs it. For Linux just WRT3200ACM.
> A separate patch for WRT32x should be sent to OpenWrt.
> 
> Please let me know if I should reverse the order.

Johannes is asking about the binding documentation (.txt or .yaml), not
the .c (driver) or .dts/.dtsi files. You haven't included
"marvell,ignore-regulatory-hint" in any valid binding document, so it's
not a valid property to use in this driver.

See Documentation/devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/marvell,sd8787.yaml
for the correct binding file relevant to this driver.

> Hello Sashiko AI,
> Yes, I intentionally implemented the flag as a root node.
> This way the new device-tree property can be reused for the
> other radios, which use mwlwifi, and also require this fix.
> 
> It would be inefficient and impractical to define a separate
> device-tree property for each radio, where it is actually the
> board that is affected, so it should be a per-board setting.

I'm not sure what you're saying here. Device Tree Blobs are inherently a
per-board object. The question here is simply where within the Device
Tree we want to add a property.

I believe that you're describing problems with the radio, and so you
should add DT properties to the node for the radio(s) in question, not
the root node.

> Also my attempts to use per device nodes or the parent always
> return false so they are not usable.

That seems like something you need to figure out. Just because you found
it difficult doesn't mean we should accept the wrong approach.

IIUC, you're using a PCIe-based WiFi card, and that's enabled in
arch/arm/boot/dts/marvell/armada-385-linksys.dtsi:

&pcie1 {
        /* Marvell 88W8864, 5GHz-only */
        status = "okay";
};

&pcie2 {
        /* Marvell 88W8864, 2GHz-only */
        status = "okay";
};

I think those are the "port" nodes, and there currently is no node that
actually represents the PCIe endpoint device (i.e., your wifi cards).
You need to add those as children, like:

&pcie1 {
...
	wifi@0 {
		compatible = "pciXXXX,YYYY"; /* figure out the appropriate IDs here */
		marvell,ignore-regulatory-hint;
		...
	};
};
...

> I do not understand the part about dependence on CONFIG_OF.
> of_property_read_bool() returns false when the flag is not
> defined. This preserves the original behaviour as if it is
> set to false, so the feature is disabled.
> External radios which do not implement support for this flag
> are not affected.

I think if you stop using 'of_root', you'll dodge this problem. And you
should not be looking at of_root.

> v2 of this PR used of_machine_is_compatible, but there was an
> objection that this adds platform code to the driver.
> 
> How can I add binding documentation and where?

Documentation/devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/marvell,sd8787.yaml. See
the other hints above too.

Side question: did you consider Jeff's suggestion from v2, to try the
'reg_alpha2' module param? It might already do what you need, and it
only requires you configure your OpenWrt builds properly, I think.

Brian

> On Fri, 7 Aug 2026 at 21:39, Johannes Berg <johannes@sipsolutions.net> wrote:
> >
> > On Fri, 2026-08-07 at 21:21 +0300, Georgi Valkov wrote:
> > >
> > > +                             /* Allow platforms to ignore an incorrect
> > > +                              * regulatory hint from ROM, so userspace
> > > +                              * can set the correct regulatory domain.
> > > +                              */
> > >                               if (country_code &&
> > > +                                 !of_property_read_bool(of_root,
> > > +                                                        "marvell,ignore-regulatory-hint") &&
> > >                                   regulatory_hint(wiphy, country_code))
> >
> > You're supposed to always update bindings first, no?
> >
> > johannes

[PATCH 1/3] dt-bindings: net: wireless: add flag marvell,ignore-regulatory-hint

[Georgi Valkov]

WRT3200ACM and WRT32x routers always report a fixed US regulatory domain
from the mwifiex ROM, which conflicts with the platform regulatory
configuration on units sold outside the US market. For example:
- phy0 mwlwifi 5 GHz, hard-coded region 98 EU mapped to FR
- phy1 mwlwifi 2.4 GHz, hard-coded region 98 EU mapped to FR
- phy2 mwifiex 2.4 and 5 GHz, hard-coded region US

When the system boots, it detects a conflict between the user selected
region and the radios, e.g. BG FR US, and applies extreme restrictions,
preventing use of 5 GHz and DFS channels. This also affects phy0.

Add a device-tree flag, which allows affected platforms to ignore
an incorrect regulatory hint from ROM, so userspace can set the
correct platform regulatory domain.

[1] https://github.com/kaloz/mwlwifi/issues/173#issuecomment-307879699
[2] https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/issues/9956

Tested-on: WRT3200ACM, OpenWrt
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Georgi Valkov <gvalkov@gmail.com>
---
Thank you Brian and Johannes!

> Just because you found it difficult doesn't mean we should accept the
> wrong approach.

I agree. Guidance and careful inspection helps reach a good solution.

> IIUC, you're using a PCIe-based WiFi card, and that's enabled in
> arch/arm/boot/dts/marvell/armada-385-linksys.dtsi:
>
> &pcie1 {
>         /* Marvell 88W8864, 5GHz-only */
>         status = "okay";
> };
>
> &pcie2 {
>         /* Marvell 88W8864, 2GHz-only */
>         status = "okay";
> };

No, you are referring to the main radios, which are not part of these
patch series. Would you allow me to also add the flag to them? Their
driver is not part of Linux so only dt bindings need to be added.

The changes here target the third radio:
- phy2: Marvell 88W8887 802.11ac/b/g/n 2.4 / 5 GHz, region US
- compatible = marvell,sd8897 works

I cannot confirm if any other devices from the family need the fix
or not, so I intentionally target the board dts, and not the include:
armada-385-linksys.dtsi

> Side question: did you consider Jeff's suggestion from v2, to try the
> 'reg_alpha2' module param? It might already do what you need, and it
> only requires you configure your OpenWrt builds properly, I think.

A universal solution is better than targeting OpenWrt only.
And unfortunately I have no idea how to implement this.

> I'm not sure what you're saying here

In v3 I wanted to reuse a flag for both drivers. Using a root flag was
objected, so in v4 I added a flag for mwifiex, and I would like to add
the same flag to mwlwifi later.

- driver
dev_name(adapter->dev) = mmc0:0001:1
dev_fwnode(adapter->dev) = wifi@1
marvell,ignore-regulatory-hint = 1

- procfs
/proc/device-tree/soc/internal-regs/sdhci@d8000/wifi@1
compatible = marvell,sd8897
marvell,ignore-regulatory-hint
name = wifi
reg

v4:
1. Add binding documentation for flag marvell,ignore-regulatory-hint
2. Add dt for sd8897 and move the flag there, I used sample from docs
3. Use device_property_read_bool in the driver

v3:
I implemented and tested a better approach with no board specific code:
1. check for a device-tree flag in mwifiex_register_cfg80211in()
  !of_property_read_bool(of_root, "marvell,ignore-regulatory-hint")
2. add this flag to the root device tree of each affected board
Currently this affects only armada-385-linksys-rango.dts,
because Linux has no dts for venom. OpenWrt will take care of that.
This approach is more flexible and scalable, because the flag can
also be used in other drivers, e.g. mwlwifi (not part of Linux).

v2:
Replace the compatible device names, which are currently only available on
OpenWrt with board names which are available on both Linux and OpenWrt.

 .../devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/marvell,sd8787.yaml    | 6 ++++++
 1 file changed, 6 insertions(+)

diff --git a/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/marvell,sd8787.yaml b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/marvell,sd8787.yaml
index 930b700b73d0..5f235cb9f3e5 100644
--- a/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/marvell,sd8787.yaml
+++ b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/marvell,sd8787.yaml
@@ -59,6 +59,12 @@ properties:
     description: Calibration data for sub-band 3 in the 5GHz band.
     maxItems: 502
 
+  marvell,ignore-regulatory-hint:
+    $ref: /schemas/types.yaml#/definitions/flag
+    description:
+      Ignore an incorrect regulatory hint from ROM,
+      so userspace can set the correct regulatory domain.
+
   marvell,wakeup-pin:
     $ref: /schemas/types.yaml#/definitions/uint32
     description:
-- 
2.55.0

[PATCH 2/3] ARM: dts: armada: WRT3200ACM: add marvell,ignore-regulatory-hint

[Georgi Valkov]

WRT3200ACM and WRT32x routers always report a fixed US regulatory domain
from the mwifiex ROM, which conflicts with the platform regulatory
configuration on units sold outside the US market. For example:
- phy0 mwlwifi 5 GHz, hard-coded region 98 EU mapped to FR
- phy1 mwlwifi 2.4 GHz, hard-coded region 98 EU mapped to FR
- phy2 mwifiex 2.4 and 5 GHz, hard-coded region US

When the system boots, it detects a conflict between the user selected
region and the radios, e.g. BG FR US, and applies extreme restrictions,
preventing use of 5 GHz and DFS channels. This also affects phy0.

Add a flag marvell,ignore-regulatory-hint to the WRT3200ACM device-tree,
which signals mwifiex to ignore an incorrect regulatory hint from ROM,
so userspace can set the correct platform regulatory domain. The radios
in WRT3200ACM/WRT32x are locked to the hard-coded configuration for which
they are certified, so the only impact is that the region conflict is
avoided and the 5 GHz radios can be used.

The Linux kernel sources do not have support for WRT32x. An equivalent
patch for these routers has to be sent to OpenWrt.

[1] https://github.com/kaloz/mwlwifi/issues/173#issuecomment-307879699
[2] https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/issues/9956

Tested-on: WRT3200ACM, OpenWrt, make dt_binding_check: pass
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Georgi Valkov <gvalkov@gmail.com>
---
 arch/arm/boot/dts/marvell/armada-385-linksys-rango.dts | 6 ++++++
 1 file changed, 6 insertions(+)

diff --git a/arch/arm/boot/dts/marvell/armada-385-linksys-rango.dts b/arch/arm/boot/dts/marvell/armada-385-linksys-rango.dts
index 4ab45f294de2..c5f94463ef71 100644
--- a/arch/arm/boot/dts/marvell/armada-385-linksys-rango.dts
+++ b/arch/arm/boot/dts/marvell/armada-385-linksys-rango.dts
@@ -165,6 +165,12 @@ &sdhci {
 	wp-inverted;
 	bus-width = <8>;
 	status = "okay";
+
+	wifi@1 {
+		compatible = "marvell,sd8897";
+		reg = <1>;
+		marvell,ignore-regulatory-hint;
+	};
 };
 
 &usb3_1_vbus {
-- 
2.55.0

[PATCH 3/3] wifi: mwifiex: add dt flag to ignore incorrect ROM regulatory hint

[Georgi Valkov]

WRT3200ACM and WRT32x routers always report a fixed US regulatory domain
from the mwifiex ROM, which conflicts with the platform regulatory
configuration on units sold outside the US market. For example:
- phy0 mwlwifi 5 GHz, hard-coded region 98 EU mapped to FR
- phy1 mwlwifi 2.4 GHz, hard-coded region 98 EU mapped to FR
- phy2 mwifiex 2.4 and 5 GHz, hard-coded region US

When the system boots, it detects a conflict between the user selected
region and the radios, e.g. BG FR US, and applies extreme restrictions,
preventing use of 5 GHz and DFS channels. This also affects phy0.

Implement a device-tree flag, which allows affected platforms to ignore
an incorrect regulatory hint from ROM, so userspace can set the correct
platform regulatory domain. This avoids the region conflict and allows
the 5 GHz radios to be used.

The change affects only platforms which explicitly define this flag, and
helps overcome the incorrect behaviour of proprietary radio firmware.

[1] https://github.com/kaloz/mwlwifi/issues/173#issuecomment-307879699
[2] https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/issues/9956

Tested-on: WRT3200ACM, OpenWrt
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Georgi Valkov <gvalkov@gmail.com>
---
 drivers/net/wireless/marvell/mwifiex/cfg80211.c | 7 +++++++
 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+)

diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/marvell/mwifiex/cfg80211.c b/drivers/net/wireless/marvell/mwifiex/cfg80211.c
index abc703441c5d..26978158a0ad 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/marvell/mwifiex/cfg80211.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/marvell/mwifiex/cfg80211.c
@@ -4899,7 +4899,14 @@ int mwifiex_register_cfg80211(struct mwifiex_adapter *adapter)
 				country_code =
 					mwifiex_11d_code_2_region(
 						adapter->region_code);
+
+				/* Allow platforms to ignore an incorrect
+				 * regulatory hint from ROM, so userspace
+				 * can set the correct regulatory domain.
+				 */
 				if (country_code &&
+				    !device_property_read_bool(adapter->dev,
+							       "marvell,ignore-regulatory-hint") &&
 				    regulatory_hint(wiphy, country_code))
 					mwifiex_dbg(priv->adapter, ERROR,
 						    "regulatory_hint() failed\n");
-- 
2.55.0