Re: ath12k: inconsistent regdb for QCN9274

[Alexander Wilhelm <alexander.wilhelm@westermo.com>]

On Fri, Sep 25, 2026 at 01:36:39PM +0530, Thirusenthil Kumaran J wrote:
> On 9/8/2026 12:16 PM, Alexander Wilhelm wrote:
> > 
> > Hello Developers,
> > 
> > I am using QCN9274 chipsets with the `ath12k` driver on my devices. As far as I
> > can tell, the driver uses the regulatory database from the `board-2.bin` file.
> > However, some country definitions do not appear to be fully implemented, as the
> > values differ from those in Linux's standard `wireless-regdb` repository. I even
> > downloaded the latest `linux-firmware-20260810.tar.xz` and do not see any
> > related changes there.
> > 
> > For example, when switching to DE, I see the following values:
> > * Channels 52-64: 23 dBm; I would expect 20.0 dBm
> > * Channels 100-140: 30.0 dBm; I would expect 26.0 dBm
> > * Channels 144-173: (disabled); I would expect 13.0 dBm
> > 
> > US also appears to be inconsistent:
> > * Channels 36-48: 30.0 dBm; I would expect 23.0 dBm
> > * Channels 169-173: (disabled); I would expect 30.0 dBm
> > 
> > I am aware that `wireless-regdb` is intentionally restrictive in some cases. For
> > example, there are rules where 26.0 dBm is used instead of 30.0 dBm because it
> > is implicitly assumed that TPC is not supported. Therefore, some differences may
> > be expected.
> > 
> > However, the values above still appear to be incorrect. Could someone at
> > Qualcomm please investigate this and fix the regulatory information if it is
> > indeed wrong? If the current behavior is intentional, I would appreciate an
> > explanation of how these limits are derived, as they do not seem to match either
> > the `wireless-regdb` entries or the applicable regulatory requirements. Thank
> > you in advance.
> > 
> > 
> > Best regards
> > Alexander Wilhelm
> > 
> 
> Hi Alexander,
> 
> Our internal regulatory team is reviewing the source and rationale for
> these values. We would also like to confirm which BDF was selected on
> your platform during boot.

Hi Thirusenthil,

Thank you for your response. I am using a WLE7002Exx cards from "Compex Systems"
and have also received the corresponding custom BDFs. I then added them to
board-2.bin using qca-swiss-army-knife. For the regdb, I am using the default
version that comes with the kernel (the one with ID 255).

> Could you please share the following details from the affected platform?
> - The exact platform/board model, or RDP number if applicable which is
> used with the QCN9274.
> - The complete dmesg output from the affected boot.
>
> In particular, please include the ath12k QMI target-capability messages
> containing information similar to:
> 
> chip_id, chip_family, board_id, soc_id, fw_version,
> 
> These messages are printed from the 'ath12k_qmi_request_target_cap()'
> function. They will help us identify the chipset, board ID, SoC, and
> firmware version, and correlate the selected BDF with the regulatory data.
> 
> For a quick filtered view, you may also run:
> 
> dmesg | grep -i -E 'ath12k|board|bdf|chip_id|fw_version|fw_build|soc_id'
> 
> With these details, we can verify whether the reported channels are
> included in the selected BDF and continue investigating the regulatory
> limits.

The wireless modules are running on our in-house board based on a PowerPC64
T1023 platform. I am using OpenWrt v25.12.5 with wireless driver backports from
v6.18.26. The board-2.bin currently originates from v6.12.94. The dmesg output
(without debug messages) is provided below:

    user@host-A:~# logread -e ath12k
    ath12k_pci 0001:01:00.0: BAR 0 [mem 0xc00000000-0xc001fffff 64bit]: assigned
    ath12k_pci 0001:01:00.0: MSI vectors: 1
    ath12k_pci 0001:01:00.0: Hardware name: qcn9274 hw2.0
    ath12k_pci 0002:01:00.0: BAR 0 [mem 0xc10000000-0xc101fffff 64bit]: assigned
    ath12k_pci 0002:01:00.0: MSI vectors: 1
    ath12k_pci 0002:01:00.0: Hardware name: qcn9274 hw2.0
    ath12k_pci 0001:01:00.0: qmi dma allocation failed (29360128 B type 1), will try later with small size
    ath12k_pci 0001:01:00.0: memory type 10 not supported
    ath12k_pci 0001:01:00.0: chip_id 0x0 chip_family 0xb board_id 0x1005 soc_id 0x401a2200
    ath12k_pci 0001:01:00.0: fw_version 0x160484db fw_build_timestamp 2025-12-09 20:09 fw_build_id QC_IMAGE_VERSION_STRING=WLAN.WBE.1.6-01243-QCAHKSWPL_SILICONZ-1
    ath12k_pci 0002:01:00.0: qmi dma allocation failed (29360128 B type 1), will try later with small size
    ath12k_pci 0002:01:00.0: memory type 10 not supported
    ath12k_pci 0002:01:00.0: chip_id 0x0 chip_family 0xb board_id 0x1008 soc_id 0x401a2200
    ath12k_pci 0002:01:00.0: fw_version 0x160484db fw_build_timestamp 2025-12-09 20:09 fw_build_id QC_IMAGE_VERSION_STRING=WLAN.WBE.1.6-01243-QCAHKSWPL_SILICONZ-1
    ath12k_pci 0001:01:00.0: leaving PCI ASPM disabled to avoid MHI M2 problems
    debugfs: File 'ath12k' in directory 'phy0' already present!
    ath12k_pci 0002:01:00.0: leaving PCI ASPM disabled to avoid MHI M2 problems
    debugfs: File 'ath12k' in directory 'phy1' already present!


Best regards
Alexander Wilhelm