ath11k: QCA6390 support on Linux

ath11k: QCA6390 support on Linux

[Kalle Valo]

Hi,

some of the Dell XPS 15 9500 models have QCA6390 Wi-Fi 6 device. ath11k
will be the driver to support QCA6390 and the plan is that Linux v5.10
(most likely released end of December) will be the first release to
support it.

But as everything is not ready yet I recommend people to test
ath11k-qca6390-bringup branch, and specifically tag
ath11k-qca6390-bringup-202008181507. Below are instructions how to
install kernel and firmware.

Do note that this is still experimental, there will be bugs but at least
it should be possible to connect to an AP and have connectivity.

Please send all questions, comments and bug reports to
ath11k@lists.infradead.org list. I do not have time to reply to private
email. I have Bcced people who have contacted me privately.

Kalle

# clone kernel
git clone -b ath11k-qca6390-bringup-202008181507 https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/kvalo/ath.git

# Tag ath11k-qca6390-bringup-202008181507 uses v5.9-rc1 as the baseline
# which has a regression in nvme subsystem, so this nvme patch might be
# needed as well:
# http://git.infradead.org/nvme.git/commitdiff/286155561ecd13b6c85a78eaf2880d3baea03b9e

# clone firmware
git clone https://github.com/kvalo/ath11k-firmware.git

# Ensure below options are selected in the kernel
cd ath
make menuconfig
--> Select Device drivers
	--> Network device support
		--> Wireless LAN
			--> Enable as below
				<M> Qualcomm Technologies 11ax chipset support
				<M>       Atheros ath11k PCI support
				[*]       QCA ath11k debugging
				[*]       QCA ath11k debugfs support
				[*]       ath11k tracing support
				[*]     QCA ath11k spectral scan support

# Build and install the kernel and kernel modules

# Install firmware
cd ../ath11k-firmware
sudo mkdir -p /lib/firmware/ath11k/QCA6390/hw2.0/
sudo cp QCA6390/hw2.0/WLAN.HST.1.0.1-01740-QCAHSTSWPLZ_V2_TO_X86-1/*.bin /lib/firmware/ath11k/QCA6390/hw2.0/
sudo cp QCA6390/hw2.0/WLAN.HST.1.0.1-01740-QCAHSTSWPLZ_V2_TO_X86-1/bdwlan.e04 /lib/firmware/ath11k/QCA6390/hw2.0/board.bin

-- 
https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/developers/documentation/submittingpatches

Re: ath11k: QCA6390 support on Linux

[Kalle Valo]

Kalle Valo <kvalo@codeaurora.org> writes:

> some of the Dell XPS 15 9500 models have QCA6390 Wi-Fi 6 device. ath11k
> will be the driver to support QCA6390 and the plan is that Linux v5.10
> (most likely released end of December) will be the first release to
> support it.
>
> But as everything is not ready yet I recommend people to test
> ath11k-qca6390-bringup branch, and specifically tag
> ath11k-qca6390-bringup-202008181507. Below are instructions how to
> install kernel and firmware.
>
> Do note that this is still experimental, there will be bugs but at least
> it should be possible to connect to an AP and have connectivity.
>
> Please send all questions, comments and bug reports to
> ath11k@lists.infradead.org list. I do not have time to reply to private
> email. I have Bcced people who have contacted me privately.

Some updates:

* QCA6390 support is now in v5.10-rc2

* pull request to linux-firmware sent, not yet pulled

* board-2.bin should be now used instead of board.bin

* there was some reorganisation in ath11k-firmware

Here are updated instructions on how to test ath11k:

# clone kernel
git clone -b v5.10-rc2 git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git

# clone firmware
git clone https://github.com/kvalo/ath11k-firmware.git

# Ensure below options are selected in the kernel
cd linux
make menuconfig
--> Select Device drivers
	--> Network device support
		--> Wireless LAN
			--> Enable as below
				<M> Qualcomm Technologies 11ax chipset support
				<M>       Atheros ath11k PCI support
				[*]       QCA ath11k debugging
				[*]       QCA ath11k debugfs support
				[*]       ath11k tracing support
				[*]     QCA ath11k spectral scan support

# Build and install the kernel and kernel modules

# Install firmware
cd ../ath11k-firmware
sudo mkdir -p /lib/firmware/ath11k/QCA6390/hw2.0/
sudo cp QCA6390/hw2.0/1.0.1/WLAN.HST.1.0.1-01740-QCAHSTSWPLZ_V2_TO_X86-1/*.bin /lib/firmware/ath11k/QCA6390/hw2.0/
sudo cp QCA6390/hw2.0/board-2.bin /lib/firmware/ath11k/QCA6390/hw2.0/

-- 
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https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/developers/documentation/submittingpatches