8086:08b1 (rev 73) [Dell Vostro 5470] WiFi keeps dropping

[Zoltan Palagyi]

Wifi only works if I'm within 2-3 m from the router.

Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation Wireless 7260 [8086:08b1] (rev 73)
 Subsystem: Intel Corporation Wireless-N 7260 [8086:4462]

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: linux-image-3.13.0-30-generic 3.13.0-30.54
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-30.54-generic 3.13.11.2
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-30-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.2
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: zoltan 1528 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC1: zoltan 1528 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Sat Jun 28 20:20:25 2014
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=37e4a4dd-23aa-4f64-9819-ad9ac81ce00a
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-05-17 (42 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140417)
MachineType: Dell Inc. Vostro 5470
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-3.13.0-30-generic root=UUID=4113e76e-862f-4e4e-88c5-ccb82732ef5a ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.13.0-30-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.13.0-30-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.127.4
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 12/06/2013
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A05
dmi.board.name: 0G5M5F
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.board.version: A00
dmi.chassis.type: 8
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: 0.1
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA05:bd12/06/2013:svnDellInc.:pnVostro5470:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0G5M5F:rvrA00:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvr0.1:
dmi.product.name: Vostro 5470
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This change was made by a bot.

[Zoltan Palagyi (palagyi)]

Hi Christopher, thanks for your help. I updated the BIOS, and the bug remained the same. The output of sudo dmidecode -s bios-version && sudo dmidecode -s bios-release-date is now:
A09
05/05/2014

Zoltan

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Zoltan Palagyi, could you please test the latest upstream kernel available from the very top line at the top of the page (not the daily folder) following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds ? It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please comment on which kernel version specifically you tested. If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tags:
kernel-fixed-upstream
kernel-fixed-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

where VERSION-NUMBER is the version number of the kernel you tested. For example:
kernel-fixed-upstream-3.16-rc3

This can be done by clicking on the yellow circle with a black pencil icon next to the word Tags located at the bottom of the bug description. As well, please remove the tag:
needs-upstream-testing

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the following tags:
kernel-bug-exists-upstream
kernel-bug-exists-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

As well, please remove the tag:
needs-upstream-testing

Once testing of the upstream kernel is complete, please mark this bug's Status as Confirmed. Please let us know your results. Thank you for your understanding.

[Zoltan Palagyi (palagyi)]

Tested upstream kernel ... the bug is still there.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Zoltan Palagyi, could you please provide the missing information from https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LinuxWireless ?

[Zoltan Palagyi (palagyi)]

Hi Christopher, generally I don't give up easily, but now I have to. I'm not an expert. I already spent many hours on this "project", and it would take me days to go through all the steps you metioned above. That's just unreasonable. Thanks for your help anyway.

[Seth Forshee (sforshee)]

Zoltan: We recently incorporated some fixes into 14.04 to fix some disconnection issues seen with Intel 7260 wireless. Could you ensure that your system is fully up to date, reboot (making sure that you boot into the official trusty 3.13 kernel and not any newer kernel which you installed for testing), and let me know whether or not you're still having problems? If you are then we can continue trying to debug your issue. Thanks!

[Zoltan Palagyi (palagyi)]

Hi Seth! How do I know I received your fixes? (I ran sudo apt-get update. uname -r output is: 3.13.0-32-generic.) Do you need other information? Please note, that prior to submitting my bug report, I tried to fix my bug following comment #51 ("Download the ucode file for the 3.13 kernel here: ....) at https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1305305 but that did not work for me.
Thanks! Zoltan

[Seth Forshee (sforshee)]

That kernel should have the fix. You should also check the firmware version by running "dmesg | grep 'iwlwifi.*firmware'". This should show version 22.24.8.0. You don't need to download any ucode files.

To start I just need to know whether you still have issues with that kernel when using the firmware version I specified. If not, we're done! Otherwise we can do additional debugging.

[Zoltan Palagyi (palagyi)]

 I seem to have the right firmware version, dmesg output is: [ 2.415591] iwlwifi 0000:08:00.0: loaded firmware version 22.24.8.0 op_mode iwlmvm. Unfortunately I still have the bug.

[Seth Forshee (sforshee)]

Zoltan: can you collect some more data for me? Please download http://people.canonical.com/~sforshee/wifi-debug, then open a terminal and make it file executable ("chmod u+x wifi-debug" in the directory where you downloaded the file). Run "sudo apt-get install iw trace-cmd tcpdump" to install some needed tools, then run "./wifi-debug -t -p". This will start collecting data. Leave it running until you experience wireless problems, then press Enter to stop collecting data (this collects a lot of data, so if this problem takes a long time to happen you may want to periodically stop and restart wifi-debug as long as the connection is stable as well).

Once the script finishes you should have a file named wifi-debug-files.tar.gz. Please give me this file either via email or by uploading it to some kind of online storage and providing me a link. I don't suggest attaching it to this bug report.

Please note that this script will log your network activity and the activity of other wireless clients on the same channel (though traffic from other clients will be encrypted if connected to a protected network), so anything you do on the wireless connection while it's running will be captured. I won't be looking at the actual data sent over the network, and anything sent over a secure SSL connection will still be encrypted, but you may want to restrict your activity while the script is running to avoid having any personal or confidential information captured. If you aren't comfortable with having network activity logged you can omit the -p option to wifi-debug. In that case only mildly private information such as network addresses will be collected, but that will also limit what I'm able to do to help you.

Thanks!

[Zoltan Palagyi (palagyi)]

Hi Seth, I sent you the data link in email. Thanks, Zoltan

[Seth Forshee (sforshee)]

This looks similar to other issues we're seeing with this card, where the firmware reports beacon loss which ultimately leads to disconnection. Here's a couple of things to try while I dig deeper into the data.

First, install the kernel from http://people.canonical.com/~sforshee/lp1349572/linux-3.13.0-32.57+lp1349572/ and see if this improves your situation at all. Let me know your results.

Second, try the kernel at http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.16-utopic/ (you should only need the linux-image-3.16.0-031600-generic_3.16.0-031600.201408031935_amd64.deb package). Please also let me know whether or not this kernel works any better.

Thanks!

[Zoltan Palagyi (palagyi)]

Hi Seth! Sorry for the delay. None of the above kernels work better!

[Seth Forshee (sforshee)]

Zoltan: I got another patch from Intel for 7260 wireless issues. Please give this build a try and see if it helps. Thanks!

http://people.canonical.com/~sforshee/iwl-ltr/trusty/

[Zoltan Palagyi (palagyi)]

Hi Seth! Thanks. In the meantime I got an update - I have 3.13.0-38-generic now, and the bug is still there. Is the patch included in this kernel, or should I still give your version a try?

[Seth Forshee (sforshee)]

Zoltan: No, that patch hasn't been merged yet. Here's a more up-to-date build you can try which includes that patch though.

http://people.canonical.com/~sforshee/iwlwifi/trusty/

[Zoltan Palagyi (palagyi)]

Hi Seth! I still have the bug, but I'm not sure I did the installation right: I downloaded the ...image..., and the ...image-extra.. files from the link you sent in your previous comment, installed them as usual, but I still had one single entry in the grub menu for 3.13.0-38-generic. Is that OK?

[Seth Forshee (sforshee)]

Zoltan: Run 'uname -a'. If you're running the test kernel you should see iwlwifi201410162240 in the version string. If you don't see this string then you didn't get it installed properly. Installing both the linux-image*.deb and linux-image-extra*.deb files is the right thing to do though.

[Zoltan Palagyi (palagyi)]

Hi Seth! I do have it installed, and unfortunately I still have the bug.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for linux (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Zoltan Palagyi, if you test the latest kernel 3.19-rc2 does this change anything?

[Zoltan Palagyi (palagyi)]

Hi Christopher, I tested the above kernel - didn't change anything.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Zoltan Palagyi, did this problem not occur in a release prior to Trusty?

[Zoltan Palagyi (palagyi)]

Hi Christopher! That's a good point! I bought this machine (new) last April. It came with Ubuntu (probably 12.04 ... see this link http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/hardware/201307-14038/ ), but I asked the seller to replace the original hard drive with SSD, so the machine had no operating system (and I don't have the original hard drive). I installed Trusty on it.
I suppose it should not have had the bug with the Ubuntu version it was originally shipped with ... so that would be a good idea to check, but I don't know how to do that. Can I just boot into an old kernel like I do with upstream kernels? Would that make sense? Can I find out what precise kernel version this product was originally shipped with? Thanks! Zoltán

[Zoltan Palagyi (palagyi)]

Hi! I don't have any wifi in the live environment! LAN works.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Zoltan Palagyi, could you please advise on the router manufacturer, specific model, and current firmware version?

[Seth Forshee (sforshee)]

On Thu, Jan 08, 2015 at 10:06:54PM -0000, Zoltan Palagyi wrote:
> Hi! I don't have any wifi in the live environment! LAN works.

I'm pretty sure that hardware wasn't supported in the original 12.04
kernel, so that's not really surprising.

[Zoltan Palagyi (palagyi)]

OK, thanks! I guess we are waiting for Intel to help us out. The router I'm using now is D-Link DWR-921with firmware V1.00(PL), but I have had the same issue with many other (public) routers.
I'm sorry, I know this is not the place to ask, but - as a temporary solution - could you suggest a nano size USB wifi adapter that just works under 14.04 without any workarounds like ndiswrapper?

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Zoltan Palagyi, just to clarify, is this a revision A or B router?

As well, could you please advise on which wireless type are you using (802.11n, 802.11g)?

If you are using 802.11n, if you restrict your router to 802.11g only, reduce the beacon interval to 50, and ensure the router TX power is 100%, would this allow you to move farther away than 2-3m?

[Seth Forshee (sforshee)]

Zoltan: Have you updated in the last week and tested to see how things work? We've released some driver and firmware updates recently that have included a number of bug fixes.

[Zoltan Palagyi (palagyi)]

Hi Seth and Christopher! The big news is that wifi became "usable" after I did the update - thanks a lot!!! - but it still doesn't seem to work like it should - see below. I also tried the router settings - see below.

Prior to the update I could barely connect to the router, and download very small web pages at best.
Now I can download a relatively large (about 10 Mb) news site in about 10-15 s, and I'm also able to run speedtest (www.speedtest.net) with download speeds 1.6-3.1 Mbit/s and upload speeds 4.1-5.8 Mbit/s. It's strange that download speed is smaller than upload speed. Also, upload speeds are stable during the upload, download speeds have occasional high jumps up, and then gradually decrease to a relatively slow level.
To compare: if I use my phone as a wifi adapter (share wifi via usb) I get 18Mbit/s download and 6Mbit/s upload. So there is definitely something wrong with my laptop's download speed.
Finally, If I go close to the router, about 2-3 meters, (and use the laptop's own wifi), then download is 24 Mbit/s and upload is 6 Mbit/s.

My router is revision A1, and if I set it to b/g mixed (I don't have g only), beacon=50, then I get about 0.5 Mbit/s download and 3.5 Mbit/s upload speeds, download speeds seem more stable, and interestingly, the above news site loads a lot faster (2-3s) - I tried this many times.

[OrDuek (orduek)]

Updating to Kernel 3.19 (under Ubuntu 14.04) solves all wifi problems in Dell Vostro 5470, Intel 7260.

[Zoltan Palagyi (palagyi)]

Hi! That kernel asks for iwlwifi-7260-12.ucode. I found that file here: http://www.fishprogs.info/puppy/firmware/
Am I supposed to use that? I have tried it, it seems to load and work, but not better than the previous version.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Zoltan Palagyi, just to clarify, the following is not a reliable source location for intel firmware http://www.fishprogs.info/puppy/firmware/ .

Instead, one would want to use the source location at https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/iwlwifi#firmware .

[Zoltan Palagyi (palagyi)]

Hi! The second link does not have the iwlwifi-7260-12.ucode file. Without that installed, I got the following message in /var/log/syslog:
Mar 6 18:48:07 Dell kernel: [ 3.448905] iwlwifi 0000:08:00.0: Direct firmware load for iwlwifi-7260-12.ucode failed with error -2
Mar 6 18:48:07 Dell kernel: [ 3.448917] Request for unknown module key 'Magrathea: Glacier signing key: 007271576a09d86ef244371b0633e47abb75b89d' err -11
Mar 6 18:48:07 Dell kernel: [ 3.449744] iwlwifi 0000:08:00.0: Direct firmware load for iwlwifi-7260-11.ucode failed with error -2
Mar 6 18:48:07 Dell kernel: [ 3.455385] iwlwifi 0000:08:00.0: loaded firmware version 23.11.10.0 op_mode iwlmvm

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for linux (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]