Intel 7265D wifi firmware crashes on a Lenovo x1 carbon (3rd generation)

[[e-mail]]

The stock firmware for this device /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-7265D-16.ucode is crashing.

Downloading the latest firmware (/lib/firmware/iwlwifi-7265D-21.ucode) isn't supported by the existing iwlwifi driver, and so the driver likely needs to be upgraded (or downgraded as well (https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/iwlwifi/backport-iwlwifi.git/?h=release/LinuxCore18).

I can also confirm that wifi *did* work successfully on 15.10 before upgrading to 16.04, although the kernel module required frequent restarts due to this bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/xenial/+source/linux/+bug/1570595

A detailed message about the firmware crash is located in the attachment from dmesg output.

Thanks.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
Package: linux-image-4.4.0-21-generic 4.4.0-21.37
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-21.37-generic 4.4.6
Uname: Linux 4.4.0-21-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/pcmC1D0p: mrhines 2419 F...m pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC1: mrhines 2419 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC0: mrhines 2419 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: KDE
Date: Tue May 3 16:50:50 2016
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=1ac1f16c-161d-45c7-83b9-cecbbfdeee42
InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-01-05 (119 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 15.10 "Wily Werewolf" - Release amd64 (20151021)
MachineType: LENOVO 20BSCTO1WW
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-4.4.0-21-generic.efi.signed root=/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-root ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-4.4.0-21-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-4.4.0-21-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.157
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to xenial on 2016-04-21 (12 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 08/13/2015
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: N14ET32W (1.10 )
dmi.board.asset.tag: Not Available
dmi.board.name: 20BSCTO1WW
dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.board.version: SDK0J40709 WIN
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.chassis.version: None
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvrN14ET32W(1.10):bd08/13/2015:svnLENOVO:pn20BSCTO1WW:pvrThinkPadX1Carbon3rd:rvnLENOVO:rn20BSCTO1WW:rvrSDK0J40709WIN:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrNone:
dmi.product.name: 20BSCTO1WW
dmi.product.version: ThinkPad X1 Carbon 3rd
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO

[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 v4.6 kernel[0].

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'.

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/v4.6-rc6-wily/

[[e-mail] (hinesmr)]

Sure, it takes about a day for my laptop to hit the error. Will respond as soon as possible.

Heads up: The bug does appear to have been fixed in the latest version of the iwlwifi module from master and latest firmware ----- I upgraded the 4.4 kernel to the latest version of the modules and signed them and latest firmware (-21) and my wifi hasn't crashed yet.

[[e-mail] (hinesmr)]

I tried to test 4.6, but that version is even *more* unstable than 4.4 ---- the connection drops out consistently every couple minutes or so.

Also, that version still uses the old firmware, so the driver hasn't yet been upgraded to master of the authors:

[[e-mail] (hinesmr)]

I confirmed this *again* in a much easier way, by using the RF-toggle switch to cycle the wifi manually on the laptop.

On 4.6, this makes the firmware crash (same error as above).

With the upgraded iwlwifi module and upgraded firmware, the error goes away.

[[e-mail] (hinesmr)]

More information: It turns out that upgrading to the latest firmware and driver *still* does not solve the problem, so, not even the upstream version of the driver itself is aware of this issue.

[[e-mail] (hinesmr)]

I'm sorry, I take that last comment back ---- upstream is still working. I was just using the wrong kernel (4.6).

Upstream driver/firmware on 4.4 is still running OK.

[[e-mail] (hinesmr)]

OK, after 3 days, even the most recent firmware still has this bug: /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-7265D-21.ucode

I'm switching back to the 15.10 firmware which did NOT have this bug and we'll see if it still crashes: /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-7265D-12.ucode

[[e-mail] (hinesmr)]

I posted the firmware bug here on their github page: https://github.com/OpenELEC/iwlwifi-firmware/issues/6

[[e-mail] (hinesmr)]

Alright, a BIOS upgrade didn't help. Still crashes.

More or less it consistently fails after a day or two, but I have noticed that if I use the wifi continuously for a long work-day, and never allow it to sleep or never switch to ethernet, the wifi stays running.

So, the crashes do seem tied to powercycling the radio ----- either via sleeping a few times throughout the day or by powering off the radio and switching to ethernet. It can sometimes take multiple days of powercycling the radio before it crashes ---- on the other hand, if I have a lot of meetings one day and I cycle it frequently, then it crashes within in a few hours.

If I avoid powercycling, the wifi (generally) seems to stay on. This seems to indicate that there's some "buildup" of state in the firmware that only happens after enough cycles to cause the firmware to either not be keeping track of the actual state of the device or some kind of memory corruption that only happens after enough cycling within the firmware.

[[e-mail] (hinesmr)]

mrhines@mahler:~$ sudo dmidecode -s bios-version && sudo dmidecode -s bios-release-date
N14ET35W (1.13 )
04/07/2016

[penalvch (penalvch)]

<email address hidden>, would the firmware found via https://www-ssl.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking/000005511.html provide better results than iwlwifi-7265D-21.ucode?

This will help determine the earliest version of the firmware where this issue started to occur.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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