p54pci randomly fails to load on boot

p54pci randomly fails to load on boot

[Piotr Kaczorek]

We're using miniPCI WiFi cards in our mini-PC's:
00:02.0 Network controller: Intersil Corporation ISL3886 [Prism 
Javelin/Prism Xbow] (rev 01)

OS is Debian Lenny with 'custom' kernel (3.2.24 from kernel.org).

The WiFi cards usually work without problems except that from time to 
time they don't start during the boot up process. Here's what I found in 
logs:
Nov  7 05:12:24 hostname kernel: [   21.323335] ieee80211 phy0: FW rev 
2.13.25.0 - Softmac protocol 5.9
Nov  7 05:12:24 hostname kernel: [   21.323435] ieee80211 phy0: 
cryptographic accelerator WEP:YES, TKIP:YES, CCMP:YES
Nov  7 05:12:24 hostname kernel: [   22.567542] ieee80211 phy0: Cannot 
boot firmware!
Nov  7 05:12:24 hostname kernel: [   22.567843] p54pci: probe of 
0000:00:02.0 failed with error -110

Anybody got an idea why firmware might not have loaded (and did without 
any changes after next reboot 24hrs later)?
Is this a hardware problem with WiFi card (we had few that didn't work 
at all 'out of the box')? Maybe a problem with 'hard disk' (we are using 
Compact Flash cards)?

regards,
Piotr Kaczorek

Re: p54pci randomly fails to load on boot

[Christian Lamparter]

On Thursday, November 08, 2012 01:24:11 PM Piotr Kaczorek wrote:
> We're using miniPCI WiFi cards in our mini-PC's:
> 00:02.0 Network controller: Intersil Corporation ISL3886 [Prism 
> Javelin/Prism Xbow] (rev 01)
> 
> OS is Debian Lenny with 'custom' kernel (3.2.24 from kernel.org).
> 
> The WiFi cards usually work without problems except that from time to 
> time they don't start during the boot up process. Here's what I found in 
> logs:
> Nov  7 05:12:24 hostname kernel: [   21.323335] ieee80211 phy0: FW rev 
> 2.13.25.0 - Softmac protocol 5.9
> Nov  7 05:12:24 hostname kernel: [   21.323435] ieee80211 phy0: 
> cryptographic accelerator WEP:YES, TKIP:YES, CCMP:YES
> Nov  7 05:12:24 hostname kernel: [   22.567542] ieee80211 phy0: Cannot 
> boot firmware!
> Nov  7 05:12:24 hostname kernel: [   22.567843] p54pci: probe of 
> 0000:00:02.0 failed with error -110
> 
> Anybody got an idea why firmware might not have loaded (and did without 
> any changes after next reboot 24hrs later)?
-110 is TIMEDOUT and the firmware simply failed to respond "in time". You could
try to increase the timeout [see attached patch] or give the firmware a second
chance.

> Is this a hardware problem with WiFi card (we had few that didn't work 
> at all 'out of the box')? Maybe a problem with 'hard disk' (we are using 
> Compact Flash cards)?
No, I don't think that your harddisk replacement (compact flash cards) would 
cause such a problem. If you can, try the patch and clean up the dust
(connectors and on the card itself - at least this works for my pcmcia cards).

About the cards which "refused" to work: Do you know if these were even
recognized by the system [lspci -vvnn]?

BTW: What happens if you try to reload the module after it failed the first time?
Does it suddenly work? Or do you have to do a warm/cold reboot/restart to get it
working again?

Regards,
	Chr
---
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/p54/p54pci.c b/drivers/net/wireless/p54/p54pci.c
index b439079..e7a403d 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/p54/p54pci.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/p54/p54pci.c
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ static int p54p_upload_firmware(struct ieee80211_hw *dev)
 	udelay(10);
 
 	/* wait for the firmware to boot properly */
-	mdelay(100);
+	mdelay(200);
 
 	return 0;
 }