ath5k and ".local" dropout

ath5k and ".local" dropout

[CSights]

Hello,
	I'm having a problem with the ath5k module found in kernel 2.6.31.5 and 
accessing ".local" addresses on the network.
	What I've observed so far is that when I first boot the computer I can 
successfully access (e.g. ping) other .local computers.  If the computer with 
the ath5k card sits for a few minutes I can no longer access .local 
computers.  (Trying to ping, ping returns "ping: unknown host")  Also, other 
computers on the network can no longer ping the ath5k computer (also "ping: 
unknown host")
	Pinging the .local computers by their IP address (e.g. 192.168.1.3) does 
work.
	Access to computers "on the internet" (e.g. www.case.edu) also works.

	At first I thought this was a problem with Avahi.  Later I tried a different 
wireless card (one that uses the RT2500pci module) and there was no problem 
with the .local fading away after a few minutes.

02:04.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR5212/AR5213 
Multiprotocol MAC/baseband processor (rev 01)                                            
        Subsystem: Compaq Computer Corporation Device 00e5                      
        Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 11                                            
        Memory at 90080000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]                
        Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2                           
        Kernel modules: ath5k

Anything else to try?  (I'm not subscribed to mailing list, so CC me in 
responses please!)

Thanks for your work!
	C.

Re: ath5k and ".local" dropout

[John W. Linville]

On Mon, Nov 02, 2009 at 07:07:16PM -0500, CSights wrote:
> Hello,
> 	I'm having a problem with the ath5k module found in kernel 2.6.31.5 and 
> accessing ".local" addresses on the network.
> 	What I've observed so far is that when I first boot the computer I can 
> successfully access (e.g. ping) other .local computers.  If the computer with 
> the ath5k card sits for a few minutes I can no longer access .local 
> computers.  (Trying to ping, ping returns "ping: unknown host")  Also, other 
> computers on the network can no longer ping the ath5k computer (also "ping: 
> unknown host")
> 	Pinging the .local computers by their IP address (e.g. 192.168.1.3) does 
> work.
> 	Access to computers "on the internet" (e.g. www.case.edu) also works.

Curious...if you ping a .local address before the failure, it is
still accessible after other .local addresses become unavailable?
I'm wondering if mdns results might be cached...

The .local address relationship suggests multicast DNS, which suggests
that ath5k might have a problem where it stops receiving multicast
frames.  Does this "ring any bells" for anyone?

John
-- 
John W. Linville		Someday the world will need a hero, and you
linville@tuxdriver.com			might be all we have.  Be ready.

Re: ath5k and ".local" dropout

[Bob Copeland]

On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 1:00 PM, John W. Linville <linville@tuxdriver.com> wrote:
>
> The .local address relationship suggests multicast DNS, which suggests
> that ath5k might have a problem where it stops receiving multicast
> frames.  Does this "ring any bells" for anyone?

Yeah in fact I posted a patch to ath5k-devel but forgot to copy
linux-wireless. :)

We zero out the mcast filter for some reason, I'm not sure why.  Maybe missing
tildes in front of the zeroes or something.

-- 
Bob Copeland %% www.bobcopeland.com

Re: ath5k and ".local" dropout

[John W. Linville]

On Tue, Nov 03, 2009 at 01:54:10PM -0500, Bob Copeland wrote:
> On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 1:00 PM, John W. Linville <linville@tuxdriver.com> wrote:
> >
> > The .local address relationship suggests multicast DNS, which suggests
> > that ath5k might have a problem where it stops receiving multicast
> > frames.  Does this "ring any bells" for anyone?
> 
> Yeah in fact I posted a patch to ath5k-devel but forgot to copy
> linux-wireless. :)
> 
> We zero out the mcast filter for some reason, I'm not sure why.  Maybe missing
> tildes in front of the zeroes or something.

Any feedback on that patch? :-)

-- 
John W. Linville		Someday the world will need a hero, and you
linville@tuxdriver.com			might be all we have.  Be ready.

Re: ath5k and ".local" dropout

[Bob Copeland]

On Tue, Nov 03, 2009 at 02:01:49PM -0500, John W. Linville wrote:
> > We zero out the mcast filter for some reason, I'm not sure why.  Maybe
> > missing tildes in front of the zeroes or something.
> 
> Any feedback on that patch? :-)

Positive, so far.  Saving CSights the trouble of requoting :)  I'll push it
unless C pops up with "any other problem"...

> > diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath5k/base.c
> > b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath5k/base.c index 1287ded..1e6e0b6 100644
> > --- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath5k/base.c
> > +++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath5k/base.c
> > @@ -1125,7 +1125,6 @@ ath5k_mode_setup(struct ath5k_softc *sc)
> >       /* configure operational mode */
> >       ath5k_hw_set_opmode(ah);
> >
> > -     ath5k_hw_set_mcast_filter(ah, 0, 0);
> >       ATH5K_DBG(sc, ATH5K_DEBUG_MODE, "RX filter 0x%x\n", rfilt);
> >  }
> 
> YES!
> At least I am able to ping for longer than 2 minutes. :)  I'll keep
> running  the modified code and see if any other problem crops up.

-- 
Bob Copeland %% www.bobcopeland.com