10ec:8821 [Asus X555L] RTL8821AE doesn't work after some minutes.

[hotellina]

My laptop is an ASUS X555L and I have a wireless card RTL8821AE. When WiFi connected via 802.11b to my Vodafone router:
Product type HG658c
Hardware version HG658BZV VER.A
Software version V100R001C172B227

after a few minutes it hangs and doesn't let me surf internet although it shows connected. With Windows 10 on the same laptop the WiFi works seamlessly.

I tried the following but it didn't improve the situation:
+ Disabling power management:
 iwconfig
wlp3s0 IEEE 802.11 ESSID:"internet"
          Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 20:08:ED:7A:18:A4
          Bit Rate=11 Mb/s Tx-Power=20 dBm
          Retry short limit:7 RTS thr=2347 B Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=66/70 Signal level=-44 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:17 Missed beacon:0

+ Changing WiFi to 802.11g or 802.11n. 802.11b is more stable but still has issues.
+ Changing encryption type from WPA-PSK to none.
+ Bringing the laptop in the same room as the AP with no obstructions in between.

---
ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.4
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC1: john 1630 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC0: john 1630 F.... pulseaudio
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=30b021e6-b5af-4de8-af81-71108e2d8381
InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-12-28 (0 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Release amd64 (20160719)
MachineType: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. X555LAB
Package: linux (not installed)
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_IE:en
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_IE.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-57-generic root=UUID=aa44a294-fde3-45eb-b84f-98b998f29eef ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-57.78-generic 4.4.35
PulseList:
 Error: command ['pacmd', 'list'] failed with exit code 1: Home directory not accessible: Permission denied
 No PulseAudio daemon running, or not running as session daemon.
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-4.4.0-57-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-4.4.0-57-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.157.6
Tags: xenial
Uname: Linux 4.4.0-57-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups:

_MarkForUpload: True
dmi.bios.date: 08/04/2015
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: X555LAB.503
dmi.board.asset.tag: ATN12345678901234567
dmi.board.name: X555LAB
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
dmi.board.version: 1.0
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: ATN12345678901234567
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
dmi.chassis.version: 1.0
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrX555LAB.503:bd08/04/2015:svnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:pnX555LAB:pvr1.0:rvnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:rnX555LAB:rvr1.0:cvnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:ct10:cvr1.0:
dmi.product.name: X555LAB
dmi.product.version: 1.0
dmi.sys.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem. From a terminal window please run:

apport-collect 1653012

and then change the status of the bug to 'Confirmed'.

If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change the bug status to 'Confirmed'.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

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[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

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[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

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[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

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[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

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[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

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[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

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[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

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[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

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[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

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[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

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[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

Now I upgraded my motherboard bios to version 603 and th connection does not stop completely. I can still browse the web but when I upload a big file via FTP the connection stops intermittently.

I upload the file with Filezilla and before of the Bios upgrade it used to stop intertmittently without giving any chance to browse the web with another program.

What happens after the Bios upgrade is that the upload stops in Filezilla while I am still able to use the web for other things with other programs.

It looks I don't have any problem in downloading big files from the web via http not ftp.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

hotellina, thank you for reporting this and helping make Ubuntu better. To clarify:

1) Please provide the output of the following terminal command (not perform an apport-collect):
sudo dmidecode -s bios-version && sudo dmidecode -s bios-release-date

2) Where are you FTP'ing from/to precisely? Is this reproducible on other FTP sites using a different FTP client?

[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

1) sudo dmidecode -s bios-version && sudo dmidecode -s bios-release-date
X555LAB.601
05/05/2016

2) In my house I have a Vodafone modem/router to connect to the Internet. It has a FTP jack on the back so that I can put my USB/Drive or USB memory stick in it and have a FTP inside my house for streaming, documents and so on.

Product type HG658c
Device ID F83DFF-Q8Y7NA9441501759
Hardware version HG658BZV VER.A
Software version V100R001C172B227
Batch number BC172P0.227.A2pv6F038m.d24b1

After a few seconds during an upload I get disconencted from the server for inactivity. This problem used to hang the whole internet connection in my house but not after the BIOS upgrade anymore.

After the BIOS upgrade I just get disconnected and the upload fails but I can use the connection for browsing now on other sites with Firefox for example.

I tried to upload a big file to other FTP accounts on Internet and the behavior looks the same: it disconnects me from the server after a few seconds of real upload. I tried with Filezilla, crossftp and gftp.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

hotellina:

1)
>"After a few seconds during an upload I get disconencted from the server for inactivity."

If you are still uploading a file, then you couldn't possibly be disconnected for inactivity. Are you getting an error message that says that?

2) Does your router have the latest "Software version" as per Vodafone?

3) If you turn off the FTP server inside the router GUI, and then try to FTP to other accounts on the internet, is this still reproducible?

[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

1) Yes, I am getting the error in the FTP log in Filezilla.
Starting of file copying screenshot http://hotellina.vastserve.com/005.png
Ending of the copy with error message screenshot http://hotellina.vastserve.com/006.png

Filezilla log
Status: Disconnected from server
Status: Connecting to 192.168.1.1:21...
Status: Connection established, waiting for welcome message...
Status: Logged in
Status: Retrieving directory listing...
Status: Directory listing of "/" successful
Status: Retrieving directory listing of "/usb1_1"...
Status: Calculating timezone offset of server...
Status: Timezone offset of server is 0 seconds.
Status: Directory listing of "/usb1_1" successful
Status: Retrieving directory listing of "/usb1_1/test"...
Status: Directory listing of "/usb1_1/test" successful
Status: Connecting to 192.168.1.1:21...
Status: Connection established, waiting for welcome message...
Status: Logged in
Status: Starting upload of /home/john/Downloads/Test/test.mp4
Status: Retrieving directory listing of "/usb1_1/test"...
Command: PASV
Error: Connection timed out after 20 seconds of inactivity
Error: Failed to retrieve directory listing
Status: Disconnected from server
Status: Connecting to 192.168.1.1:21...
Status: Connection established, waiting for welcome message...
Status: Logged in
Status: Retrieving directory listing of "/usb1_1/test"...
Status: Directory listing of "/usb1_1/test" successful
Command: CWD /usb1_1/test
Response: 250 OK
Command: PWD
Response: 257 "/usb1_1/test" is the current working directory.
Command: TYPE I
Response: 200 Transfer type changed to BINARY
Command: PASV
Response: 227 Entering Passive Mode (192,168,1,1,215,160)
Command: STOR test.mp4
Response: 150 BINARY data connection established.
Error: Connection timed out after 20 seconds of inactivity
Error: File transfer failed after transferring 42.2 MB in 393 seconds
Status: Disconnected from server
Status: Connecting to 192.168.1.1:21...
Status: Connection established, waiting for welcome message...
Status: Logged in
Status: Starting upload of /home/john/Downloads/Test/test.mp4
......
......
......

Similar interruptions of the upload are noted towards other FTP spaces on the Internet while uploading the same file.

2) Does your router have the latest "Software version" as per Vodafone?
According Vodafone it looks that the firmware is updated, even though they give some instructions to update the firmware only in the case the software version ends with ***211, then it needs an update. Mine ends with ***227 then it does not need an update. They are not very clear, isn't it.

I remind you that if I boot my notebook with Windows 10, the file is uploaded with success and it is also very fast in doing it, with no interruptions, so I wouldn't focus on the router.

3) After having disabled the Vodafone FTP server I went to upload a file on another server on Internet.

Screenshot http://hotellina.vastserve.com/007.png
Please see below Filezilla log showing the error message

Status: Resolving address of ftp.vastserve.com
Status: Connecting to 185.27.134.11:21...
Status: Connection established, waiting for welcome message...
Status: Initializing TLS...
Status: Verifying certi...

[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

I don't know if I have to change to Confirmed.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

hotellina, in order to allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue, at your earliest convenience, could you please test the latest upstream kernel available from http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/?C=N;O=D ? Please keep in mind the following:
1) The one to test is at the very top line at the top of the page (not the daily folder).
2) The release names are irrelevant.
3) The folder time stamps aren't indicative of when the kernel actually was released upstream.
4) Install instructions are available at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/MainlineBuilds .

If testing on your main install would be inconvenient, one may:
1) Install Ubuntu to a different partition and then test this there.
2) Backup, or clone the primary install.

If the latest kernel did not allow you to test to the issue (ex. you couldn't boot into the OS) please make a comment in your report about this, and continue to test the next most recent kernel version until you can test to the issue. Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please comment on which kernel version specifically you tested. If this issue is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tags by clicking on the yellow circle with a black pencil icon, next to the word Tags, located at the bottom of the report description:
kernel-fixed-upstream
kernel-fixed-upstream-X.Y-rcZ

Where X, and Y are the first two numbers of the kernel version, and Z is the release candidate number if it exists.

If the mainline kernel does not fix the issue, please add the following tags:
kernel-bug-exists-upstream
kernel-bug-exists-upstream-X.Y-rcZ

Please note, an error to install the kernel does not fit the criteria of kernel-bug-exists-upstream.

Also, you don't need to apport-collect further unless specifically requested to do so.

It is most helpful that after testing of the latest upstream kernel is complete, you mark this report Status Confirmed.

Lastly, to keep this issue relevant to upstream, please continue to test the latest mainline kernel as it becomes available.

Thank you for your help.

[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

I tried with the latest upstream kernel 4.10 rc2 and I still have problems with uploading the file to my FTP, same issues nothing changed.

The upload is very slow and eventually stops.

Also, I noticed how the uploaded bytes in Filezilla stops from incrementing as to indicate an intermittent issue with the connection itself.

While the upload is in progress and if at the same time I request a page from Firefox from the Internet I have to wait a lot in order to load the page.

It looks like the whole connection is screwed while uploading the file with Filezilla.
Things don't change if I change FTP server and go for an external one.

I can post a video of the issue on Youtube, I'll do that later on.

Cheers,

hotellina

[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

You can see the difference between Windows and Linux while uploading the same file.

Windows 10 on ASUS X555L https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KcRefy3yho
Linux on ASUS X555L https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFJh_qwc3qg

While on Windows the upload is very fast on Linux takes ages. This time on Linux didn't disconnect me from the server but I was just lucky.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

hotellina, could you please provide all of the missing information from https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LinuxWireless ?

[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

Also, please post in your report both the question and answer, as the presentation of the information here can change:

    What is the full computer model number (ex. HP G32-301TX Notebook PC)?*ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. X555LAB

    If you update your BIOS to the newest version following the guide here, does this change anything?
    *It did change actually after having upgraded to the newest. Before it used to freeze the internet connection while now it is just unstable.

    Regarding your wireless Access Point (AP):

        3a. What is the current AP manufacturer, full model, revision, and firmware version?*
Product type HG658c
Device ID F83DFF-Q8Y7NA9441501759
Hardware version HG658BZV VER.A
Software version V100R001C172B227
Batch number BC172P0.227.A2pv6F038m.d24b1

        3b. If you update the AP to the latest firmware does it change anything?There is no update from Vodafone.
        3c. What wireless connection type are you using (802.11ac, 802.11n 150/300, 802.11g, etc.)?*802.11b
        3d. If you switch to a different wireless type (802.11g or 802.11n if you are using 802.11g) does this change anything?*It is worse if I set the wireless to 802.11b/g/n
        3e. What channel specifically are you using when this problem is reproducible?*Tried with almost all of them, same problem. I left it set to auto in the end.
        3f. In order to understand the wireless environment your AP is working in, please provide the output of the following terminal command:

        sudo iw dev wlan0 scan | grep -i "ds parameter set"
*[john@john-X555LAB ~]$ sudo iw dev wlan0 scan | grep -i "ds parameter set"
command failed: No such device (-19)

        3g. What encryption type are you using (ex. WEP, WPA2-PSK, etc.)?WPA-PSK
        3h. If you change and remove encryption entirely does this change anything?Tried with other encryptions, iven leaving it open but no change.
        3i. Do you have QoS (Quality of Service)/WMM (Wi-Fi Multimedia) enabled?*QoS not available for this router see forum https://community.vodafone.ie/t5/Technical-Support/QOS-possible/td-p/196882 for more info.
        3j. If you disable/enable QoS/WMM does it change anything?*not possible to disable as it does not exist.
        3k. What is the current beacon interval (usually default is 100)?*There is no way of changing it
        3l. If you adjust this to 50 does it change anything?
        3m. Does your AP have a firewall enabled?*No
        3n. If you enable/disable the firewall does it change anything?*it doesn't change anything
        3o. What frequency are you using (2.4GHz, 5GHz, etc.)?*My router doesn't say anything about it.
        3p. If you change frequency does it change anything?
    Does another wireless device tested with the AP have the same problem as the hardware you initially reported with?*I have another computer desktop and there is no problem with it. Also the same laptop computer having problems if I boot it with Windows 10 it's totally fine.
    What is the distance of the wireless device from the AP?*8 meters.
    What is the number and type of obstructions between your device and the AP?* There is just a wall but plz this is n...

[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

1)I managed to find out the Radio frqquency I am using, it is 2.4 and there is no way of changing it
2)Also, disabling power management doesn't fix the problem.

[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

[john@john-X555LAB ~]$ iwconfig
wlp3s0 IEEE 802.11 ESSID:"internet"
          Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 20:08:ED:7A:18:A4
          Bit Rate=11 Mb/s Tx-Power=20 dBm
          Retry short limit:7 RTS thr=2347 B Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=66/70 Signal level=-44 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:17 Missed beacon:0

[penalvch (penalvch)]

hotellina:
>" 13a. Does disabling the firmware power management change anything? This may be done via a terminal: sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8821ae.conf options rtl8821ae ips=0 fwlps=0"

Are you noting you tested this after restarting and no change?

Also, to keep this relevant to upstream, one would want to periodically check for, and test the latest mainline kernel (now 4.10-rc3) as it is released.

Could you please advise?

[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

I wrote the response for the 13a just in a later post.

post.....
1)I managed to find out the Radio frqquency I am using, it is 2.4 and there is no way of changing it
2)Also, disabling power management doesn't fix the problem.
-----------end post

hotellina:
>" 13a. Does disabling the firmware power management change anything? This may be done via a terminal: sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8821ae.conf options rtl8821ae ips=0 fwlps=0"

Are you noting you tested this after restarting and no change?****No difference after having disabled poer management executing the one above.

Also, to keep this relevant to upstream, one would want to periodically check for, and test the latest mainline kernel (now 4.10-rc3) as it is released.

Could you please advise?*I tried rc3 as other kernel and does not fix the problem.

[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

After trying all the g/b/n modes I have to say that the most stable is the b. I have problems only if I perform an upload (in each of the three modes b/g/n) as the connection still freezes with kernel rc2 and latest kernel rc3.

[KeithG (grider-4)]

Running 4.4.0-64 in 16.04. This is definitely a flaky wireless driver. If I turn it off, and back on I cannot browse any ssids. If I suspend and resume, I cannot browse any ssids. I have recently added the options to the /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8821ae.conf file "options rtl8821ae ips=0 fwlps=0" It is improved, but can sometimes resume and not see any ssids. I am using 5ghz.

~$ iwconfig
wlp2s0 IEEE 802.11abgn ESSID:"spg3"
          Mode:Managed Frequency:5.26 GHz Access Point: 10:0D:7F:52:8A:72
          Bit Rate=15 Mb/s Tx-Power=30 dBm
          Retry short limit:7 RTS thr=2347 B Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=59/70 Signal level=-51 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:66 Missed beacon:0

Considering buying a better supported wifi a-c/bluetooth card. Maybe an intel card?

[hotellina (hotellinaweb)]

My problems ended when I changed the wireless internal card to
Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01). I bought it from Ebay. It was a kind of nightmare to open my laptop but after it paid off.

I don't have disconnections anymore and my ftp sessions work like a charm.
RTL8821AE will never work with Linux.

[James Cameron (quozl)]

This bug should close because the configuration has been disassembled, we can hardly expect hotellina to change the wireless card back to what it was just so that the bug can be solved. ;-)

However, several of the problems in this bug were fixed by upstream patches, in particular b8b8b16352cd ("rtlwifi: rtl8821ae: Fix connection lost problem") merged for 4.14-rc4.

I now have rtl8821ae working well. It was terrible for a while. What I did was

(a) test several ubuntu kernels to find which ones were affected,

(b) using git bisect, tested several custom kernels, and proved my problem began with a single commit 40b368af4b75 ("rtlwifi: Fix alignment issues"),

(c) worked with upstream to determine a likely cause; the commit wasn't widely tested,

(d) proved through testing that the BIOS can have an effect; because the rtl8821ae driver does not reset the card, but inherits the card in whatever state the BIOS left it. This can randomise problem reports.

(e) proved that a power down and reboot can have a different effect to a warm reboot; some of the wireless card device registers are unchanged on warm reboot. This can randomise problem reports.

Hope that helps.

[Seldon (enrico-pascucci)]

I'm experiencing the same issue with Xubuntu 17.10 on my Lenovo ideapad320 (dmesg output attached)
The card works quite well with a low load (chat or web navigation) but when I "stress" the connection downloading a bigger amount of data (performing a system update with apt, for example) the connection speed rapidly drops to 0. Sometimes I only need to stop the process which is downloading the files to restore the minimal functionality. Sometimes I need to disable and re-enable the wi-fi interface, but often the wi-fi controller freeze and i need to restart the system.

I made an attempt installing the kernel 4.15 rc4 from the mainline but this made the things worse.
Many times, with this kernel, the connection freezes are followed by the unrecoverable freeze of the entire system. I don't know if it could sound weird, but i experienced this issue many times and i would not write it if I was not sure.

[Seldon (enrico-pascucci)]

Some more info.
I tried the kernel 4.14.8 and nothing has changed.

By using wavemon i saw an instability of the signal. this occours when I download big files, otherwise when the interface is in idle (low data rate or nothign) the signal is stable.
I'm not experiencing issues when the interface is used for uploading files.

I made a screencast that shows the signal instability that occours as i download the ubuntu iso:
https://youtu.be/FLCT8T2ogbY
The download starts at the 5th second and the signal instability continues until the download fails.

I made many attempts, with different routers and it's always the same.

I hope this could help.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Seldon (enrico-pascucci), it will help immensely if you use the computer the problem is reproducible with, and file a new report with Ubuntu by using the default Ubuntu kernel via a terminal:
ubuntu-bug linux

Please feel free to subscribe me to it.