Atheros AR9271 not working on 11.10 and 12.04

[Yitzchak Gale]

My TP-LINK TL-WN722N USB wireless adapter was working with Ubuntu 11.04. I upgraded to 11.10 and then to 12.04; the device does not work with either of those Ubuntu releases.

As seen in the attached lsusb, this is an Atheros AR9271 device, with vendor code 0CF3 and device code 9271.

The output of dmesg | grep ath is:

[ 15.018584] usb 3-2: ath9k_htc: Firmware htc_9271.fw requested
[ 15.018617] usbcore: registered new interface driver ath9k_htc
[ 15.809466] usb 3-2: ath9k_htc: Transferred FW: htc_9271.fw, size: 51272
[ 15.818943] usb 3-2: ath9k_htc: Unable to allocate URBs
[ 15.818999] usb 3-2: ath9k_htc: USB layer deinitialized

So as expected, no wlan device shows up in ifconfig. That also means that this obviously is not an rfkill issue (though I did try that anyway, just so that I can say that I did).

I verified (via sha1 and exact file size) that the firmware file /lib/firmware/htc_9271.fw is indeed the latest available from kernel.org. That firmware file has not changed for quite a while.

I downloaded the latest available version of compat-drivers, currently 2012-12-04, and recompiled the relevant kernel modules. Still the same behavior, even after reboot.

I verified in the source code of the ath9k_htc driver that the vendor and device code for this device are listed as a supported device.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: linux-image-3.2.0-34-generic 3.2.0-34.53
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-34.53-generic 3.2.33
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-34-generic x86_64
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.24.
ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu15
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: abba 2142 F.... pulseaudio
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'PCH'/'HDA Intel PCH at 0xfe520000 irq 53'
   Mixer name : 'Intel CougarPoint HDMI'
   Components : 'HDA:10ec0892,80862002,00100302 HDA:80862805,80862805,00100000'
   Controls : 47
   Simple ctrls : 21
Date: Tue Dec 11 10:14:27 2012
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=9af172f6-8886-46b2-8181-a25bcfe45484
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Beta amd64 (20110330)
IwConfig:
 lo no wireless extensions.

 eth0 no wireless extensions.
MarkForUpload: True
ProcFB: 0 VESA VGA
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-34-generic root=UUID=626be3ad-4ff0-4d46-b545-8c7705b9676e ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.2.0-34-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.2.0-34-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.79.1
RfKill:

SourcePackage: linux
StagingDrivers: mei
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to precise on 2012-12-09 (1 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 11/15/2010
dmi.bios.vendor: Intel Corp.
dmi.bios.version: BLH6710H.86A.0076.2010.1115.1959
dmi.board.asset.tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: DH67BL
dmi.board.vendor: Intel Corporation
dmi.board.version: AAG10189-204
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnIntelCorp.:bvrBLH6710H.86A.0076.2010.1115.1959:bd11/15/2010:svn:pn:pvr:rvnIntelCorporation:rnDH67BL:rvrAAG10189-204:cvn:ct3:cvr:

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This change was made by a bot.

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

Would it be possible for you to test the latest upstream kernel? Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Please test the latest v3.7 kernel[0] (Not a kernel in the daily directory) and install both the linux-image and linux-image-extra .deb packages.

If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tag 'kernel-fixed-upstream'.

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the tag: 'kernel-bug-exists-upstream'.

If you are unable to test the mainline kernel, for example it will not boot, please add the tag: 'kernel-unable-to-test-upstream'.
Once testing of the upstream kernel is complete, please mark this bug as "Confirmed".

Thanks in advance.

[0] http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.7-rc8-raring/

[Yitzchak Gale (gale-sefer)]

OK, it's fixed upstream. I added the tag.

Now... this is a work machine, so it really does need to be on a supported LTS release. It especially makes me nervous that I'm now running precise on a raring kernel.

Is there any way to backport this, or am I OK staying on this kernel?

Thanks!

[Yitzchak Gale (gale-sefer)]

There are no virtualbox modules with this mainline kernel.

It is a hard requirement for this machine that it both connect to the network and run virtualbox. Is there any way to get a kernel that supports both the network adapter and virtualbox at this time? This is urgent for me. Thanks for your help!

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Yitzchak Gale, as per https://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&ProductFamily=Desktop+Boards&ProductLine=Intel®+6+Series+Chipset+Boards&ProductProduct=Intel®+Desktop+Board+DH67BL an update is available for your BIOS (0160). If you update to this, does it change anything?

If not, could you please both specify what happened, and provide the output of the following terminal command:
sudo dmidecode -s bios-version && sudo dmidecode -s bios-release-date

Thank you for your understanding.

[Yitzchak Gale (gale-sefer)]

Thanks for your note.

As I reported earlier, the problem was fixed upstream.
The upstream fix is now in Quantal, so I am using stock
Quantal and everything is good.

Is there anything I can do to help?

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Yitzchak Gale, this bug report is being closed due to your last comment https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1088809/comments/7 regarding this being fixed with an update. For future reference you can manage the status of your own bugs by clicking on the current status in the yellow line and then choosing a new status in the revealed drop down box. You can learn more about bug statuses at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Status. Thank you again for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please submit any future bugs you may find.