iwl4965 - wireless event too big (366) and 2.6.27-2 regression

[Christophe Dumez]

Binary package hint: linux-source-2.6.24

I have just bought a new router (TP-LINK WR841N : 802.11n) as well as the following PCI wifi card:
Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 4965 AG or AGN Network Connection (rev 61)

On Hardy, when connecting to the router, I get the following dmesg output:
[ 59.289559] wlan0: Initial auth_alg=0
[ 59.289573] wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:1d:0f:33:7e:ec
[ 59.291635] wlan0: RX authentication from 00:1d:0f:33:7e:ec (alg=0 transaction=2 status=0)
[ 59.291646] wlan0: authenticated
[ 59.291650] wlan0: associate with AP 00:1d:0f:33:7e:ec
[ 59.295204] wlan0: RX AssocResp from 00:1d:0f:33:7e:ec (capab=0x431 status=0 aid=1)
[ 59.295215] wlan0: associated
[ 59.295298] wlan0 (WE) : Wireless Event too big (366)
[ 59.295396] wlan0: WMM queue=2 aci=0 acm=0 aifs=3 cWmin=15 cWmax=1023 burst=0
[ 59.295404] wlan0: WMM queue=3 aci=1 acm=0 aifs=7 cWmin=15 cWmax=1023 burst=0
[ 59.295411] wlan0: WMM queue=1 aci=2 acm=0 aifs=2 cWmin=7 cWmax=15 burst=30
[ 59.295417] wlan0: WMM queue=0 aci=3 acm=0 aifs=2 cWmin=3 cWmax=7 burst=15
[ 59.299838] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
[ 59.563057] padlock: VIA PadLock not detected.
[ 67.330460] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present

The association is successful and the connection works but the "Wireless Event too big (366)" error worries me a little. Also, It only connects at 54Mbps (against 130Mbps on Windows Vista with same settings and hardware):
wlan0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"chris" Nickname:""
          Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 00:1D:0F:33:7E:EC
          Bit Rate=54 Mb/s Tx-Power=27 dBm
          Retry min limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr=2346 B
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=100/100 Signal level=-48 dBm Noise level=-96 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

Note that I have also tried intrepid twice:
- with 2.6.26 kernel, no change at all except that my Wifi LED is working and crashes from time to time (all LEDs ON). Same speed: 54Mbps
- with new 2.6.27 kernel, a little change: The wifi LED is working and crashes from time to time (all LEDs ON). The speed is not stable and it moves between 34Mpbs and 60 Mbps.

With all kernels, I get the wireless too big event. I will happy to provide more information if necessary.

[Christophe Dumez (hydr0g3n)]

I have just tried intrepid alpha5 live CD and I have sad news. I'm no longer able to connect to my router.

In fact, it looks like the association is successful but there is no DHCP. So I tried to use a static IP but it does not matter, If I do so I'm not even able to ping other machines on my network.

I'm joining logs and information.

$ uname -a
Linux ubuntu 2.6.27-2-generic #1 SMP Thu Aug 28 17:20:02 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

$iwconfig (when trying to get an IP, before network manager gives up and disconnects):
$ iwconfig wlan0
wlan0 IEEE 802.11abgn ESSID:"chris"
          Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 00:1D:0F:33:7E:EC
          Bit Rate=54 Mb/s Tx-Power=15 dBm
          Retry min limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr=2352 B
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=100/100 Signal level:-50 dBm Noise level=-90 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

It displays abgn but it is still 54Mbps and wifi connection is not even working.

[Christophe Dumez (hydr0g3n)]

And here is the last log.

Note: I'm using WPA2 encryption. I don't know if this is linked at all.

Remininder, on Hardy, I'm able to use my wifi connection, although with the following problems:
- No Wifi LED
- wireless event too big (366) error
- Only 802.11g wifi instead of 802.11n

[Christophe Dumez (hydr0g3n)]

I have just tried Intrepid alpha6 LiveCD:

My wireless is still not working. I have tried with 2 different routers, one using WPA2 encryption, and the other is an hotspot, without any encryption. None worked. Look like we can rule out encryption as a problem.

Apparently, authentication is successful but dhclient cannot get an IP and fails. Apparently, latest kernel does not like my intel 4965agn.

kernels 2.6.24 and 2.6.26 are working fine (although I was getting wireless event too big messages anyway).

[Christophe Dumez (hydr0g3n)]

Could this be due to this error in my daemon.log ?
Sep 19 21:37:35 ubuntu modprobe: WARNING: Error inserting padlock_aes (/lib/modules/2.6.27-3-generic/kernel/drivers/crypto/padlock-aes.ko): No such device

[Christophe Dumez (hydr0g3n)]

apparently not:
Sep 19 21:51:38 chris-laptop-xps modprobe: WARNING: Error inserting padlock_aes (/lib/modules/2.6.24-19-generic/kernel/drivers/crypto/padlock-aes.ko): No such device

I have the same error message on Hardy and it does not seem to affect my wireless connection.

[Christophe Dumez (hydr0g3n)]

Here is daemon.log on alpha6.

ESSIDS:
  "Chris" - WPA2
then
  "Neuf WiFi" - No encryption

[Cornel Grecu (jgrecu)]

I concur with my fellow in pain :)

alpha5 and yet still present in alpha6, there is something wrong with iw4965. It connects to AP but it's not getting any ip by dhcp.

[Cornel Grecu (jgrecu)]

it may be a problem with the driver itself since there is a diference between hardy and Intrepid, in hardy is the driver is iw4965 and in intrepid the driver is iwlagn. i've got the same problem with kernel 2.6.27 and another distro, i will not name it here.

[Christophe Dumez (hydr0g3n)]

Yes, I reported it upstream and it is confirmed. Please try to disable WMM feature on your router and see if it works.

It worked for me. What's your AP model ?

[Cornel Grecu (jgrecu)]

Linksys WRT350N, I can't find any reference to WMM in settings...

[Christophe Dumez (hydr0g3n)]

Amorak, I forwarded upstream, you should subscribe to this bug:

http://www.intellinuxwireless.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=1761

Too bad you can't disable WMM.

[Cornel Grecu (jgrecu)]

so, let me understand, if I find that setting and disable it, it will connect in N mode or just A,B,G?

[Christophe Dumez (hydr0g3n)]

If i understood correctly. Disabling WMM does not prevent from using the router in N mode. Apparently, it is not possible reach N speed with the driver in 2.6.27 kernel anyway. They told me it will be fixed in 2.6.28.

[Cornel Grecu (jgrecu)]

thanks I'll test it later at home, again.

[Cornel Grecu (jgrecu)]

Yay!! It realy works after finding WMM setting and disable it. :) steady 54Mb/s connection and throughput about 2.49MB/s :)

Thank you for your help Christophe.

[Dylan Hunter (dylan-dylanhunter)]

As of yesterday's Intrepid updates, I now also have this problem, (was working fine before, and I've been on Intrepid FT since Alpha 3) though I could reach my router, (a Netgear WNR834B v2). Disabling WMM fixes me up, though in dmesg, where the "Wireless Event too big" error was, (i.e. right after the association) I now have:

[ 100.957881] wlan0: associated
[ 110.570926] Status code returned 0xc000005e NT_STATUS_NO_LOGON_SERVERS
[ 110.570944] CIFS VFS: Send error in SessSetup = -5
[ 110.701258] CIFS VFS: cifs_mount failed w/return code = -5

Don't know how / if the CIFS mount error's related or not, (would seem strange for WMM to affect a cifs mount) but if not, that cifs_mount failure is also a new regression from yesterday. On the upside, with the cifs mount not working, is literally the first time my laptop's restarted cleanly, (i.e. without having to force-shutdown by holding down the power button for >5 secs) for as long as I can remember, (i.e. months & months - bug for shutdown order between wlan0 and cifs umount filed separately, and a long time ago... :( ).

Dylan

[John Turek (john-turek)]

I am having the same issue

[ 145.780102] wlan0: No ProbeResp from current AP 00:1c:df:7e:91:15 - assume out of range
[ 148.050694] wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:1c:df:7e:91:15
[ 148.052473] wlan0: authenticated
[ 148.052485] wlan0: associate with AP 00:1c:df:7e:91:15
[ 148.072454] wlan0: RX ReassocResp from 00:1c:df:7e:91:15 (capab=0x401 status=0 aid=1)
[ 148.072464] wlan0: associated
[ 148.072560] wlan0 (WE) : Wireless Event too big (338)
[ 151.164790] ppdev0: registered pardevice
[ 151.212515] ppdev0: unregistered pardevice
[ 151.356249] ppdev0: registered pardevice
[ 151.404078] ppdev0: unregistered pardevice
[ 151.651213] ppdev0: registered pardevice
[ 151.696314] ppdev0: unregistered pardevice
[ 451.322193] wlan0: disassociated
[ 452.320117] wlan0: associate with AP 00:1c:df:7e:91:15
[ 452.521105] wlan0: associate with AP 00:1c:df:7e:91:15
[ 452.721109] wlan0: associate with AP 00:1c:df:7e:91:15
[ 452.920088] wlan0: association with AP 00:1c:df:7e:91:15 timed out
[ 456.279381] wlan0: deauthenticated
[ 456.283690] wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:1c:df:7e:91:15
[ 456.293243] wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:1c:df:7e:91:15
[ 456.293268] wlan0: authenticated
[ 456.293275] wlan0: associate with AP 00:1c:df:7e:91:15
[ 456.300875] wlan0: RX ReassocResp from 00:1c:df:7e:91:15 (capab=0x401 status=0 aid=1)
[ 456.300885] wlan0: associated
[ 456.300971] wlan0 (WE) : Wireless Event too big (338)
[ 754.588779] wlan0: disassociated
[ 755.585112] wlan0: associate with AP 00:1c:df:7e:91:15
[ 755.789991] wlan0: associate with AP 00:1c:df:7e:91:15
[ 755.989116] wlan0: associate with AP 00:1c:df:7e:91:15
[ 756.188087] wlan0: association with AP 00:1c:df:7e:91:15 timed out
[ 759.493029] wlan0: deauthenticated
[ 759.496948] wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:1c:df:7e:91:15
[ 759.498784] wlan0: authenticated
[ 759.498796] wlan0: associate with AP 00:1c:df:7e:91:15
[ 759.502577] wlan0: RX ReassocResp from 00:1c:df:7e:91:15 (capab=0x401 status=0 aid=1)
[ 759.502590] wlan0: associated
[ 759.502677] wlan0 (WE) : Wireless Event too big (338)

[zyrorl (zyrorl)]

I too have this issue, and it also was solved by turning off WMM extensions on my router. Unfortunately however i won't be able to do this on just any network, as i don't have control over every network i connect to.

here's the pastebin for the syslog in hardy where it works: http://paste.ubuntu.com/56587/
and here is the pastebin for intrepid where it does not:http://paste.ubuntu.com/56580/

[zyrorl (zyrorl)]

i should add the followingto my above post... if i do set my ip manually it will connect regardless of the fact that wmm is enabled or not...

[databubble (phil-linttell)]

On the Linksys 300N, WMM is called "Wireless QoS". It can be fond under "Applications & Gaming -> QoS -> Wireless QoS". It is enabled by default.

I have been getting the sale "Wireless Event too big". Disabling Wireless QoS on my Linksys 300N seemed to get rid of the message... but perversely my system now seems even more inclined to freeze when starting the network (particularly if I disable N on the router as well.)

Using a D-Link DWA-522 PCI interface card, with ath9k driver on kubuntu 8.10 beta + all updates.

[legodude (legodude)]

I also receive a similar bug when attempting to associate with my access point. I can associate and use my wifi only approx 1/4 tries. When it connects, it works as it is supposed to. But I have to sit and keep telling it to keep trying until finally it will connect. Here is a set of dmesg output:

[ 257.285553] wlan0 (WE) : Wireless Event too big (366)
[ 257.293608] wlan0: disassociating by local choice (reason=3)
[ 282.315841] wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:0c:e6:69:5c:01
[ 282.319990] wlan0: authenticated
[ 282.320014] wlan0: associate with AP 00:0c:e6:69:5c:01
[ 282.322290] wlan0: RX AssocResp from 00:0c:e6:69:5c:01 (capab=0x421 status=0 aid=2)
[ 282.322304] wlan0: associated
[ 282.322394] wlan0 (WE) : Wireless Event too big (366)

I assume the second line is when I have to reselect my home network after it tries to hop on another network.

[databubble (phil-linttell)]

I now have my DWA-552 PCI card working reliably using the ath9k driver and 802.11n. Performance seems quite good. I´m using WPA, and kubuntu 8.10 rc1 (2.6.27-7-generic) with all updates.

There were two issues:

1) I had to turn off WMM (Wireless QoS) on my router, otherwise I would get disconnected repeatedly. With that turned off, I can associate fine.

2) My system was freezing after starting wireless. Sometimes immediately...sometimes I could work for an hour. (My processor is an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+, with motherboard Asus M3N78-VM.) If I disable the second CPU core (kernel boot parameter "maxcpus=1") then wireless works reliably. This issue is being investigated in:
http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=11527

[ 371.039900] wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:18:39:6f:60:02
[ 371.044778] wlan0: authenticated
[ 371.044788] wlan0: associate with AP 00:18:39:6f:60:02
[ 371.047834] wlan0: RX AssocResp from 00:18:39:6f:60:02 (capab=0x411 status=0aid=2)
[ 371.047838] wlan0: associated
[ 371.055952] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
[ 381.696523] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present

[uuklanger (uuklanger)]

Databubble, I took a look at my accesspoint but do no thave WMM turned on. The one thing I found that was suggested on a different post was to turn on broadcasting. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/259157 referenced. I tried this and it works. My wireless fires up automatically now. Two issues though

1) why did this work in 8.04?
2) why am I only connecting at < 12Mbp

I would prefer not having to broadcast my wireless.

[databubble (phil-linttell)]

uuklanger, yes I have broadcast enabled.... I'd noticed elsewhere that this was recommended for 8.10, and while I was trying to diagnose my issue I turned on broadcast and left it that way. I think I saw a different bug report related to this.

All I can say is that the new NetworkManager (and if you're using Atheros chipset, the new ath9k driver) seems to have be a bit challenging.

I'm reasonably stable now, albeit with a single core enabled. The ath9k driver reports 1MBps, but this is incorrect. If you examine your syslog, you may see periodic roaming events.... there's some bug reports related to this. About every 30 minutes I get a half-dozen "roamed to (none)" and back again, which makes wireless streaming a bit difficult.

I expect the broadcast issue will be fixed in due course and you'll be able to hide your AP again.

[B. Nossum (bnossum)]

I seem to have the same issue? My new Lenovo x61 will freeze after some minutes, max 2 hours. It can freeze even without any user activity, but seems more prone to freezing doing "light web browsing". The freeze is complete, blinking Caps Lock, (no possibility to go to a virtual terminal, no mouse movement, no nothing) and usually no sense in dmesg. This time, however, it ends with "[ 50.476925] wlan0 (WE) : Wireless Event too big (320)". In the cases where I work without any wireless, I have not frozen up yet.

uname -a gives:
Linux Bertram 2.6.27-7-generic #1 SMP Tue Nov 4 19:33:06 UTC 2008 x86_64 GNU/Linux

[databubble (phil-linttell)]

B. Nossum, are you able to turn of Wiress Multi-Media (WMM) / Wireless Quality of Service (Wireless QoS) on your router? This should get rid of thee Wireless Event too big message.

If you still experience freeze-ups, you might want to try booting with the second CPU core disables (kernel boot parameter maxcpus=1). I'd be very interested to know if the freezing is resolved by disabling the second core.

[B. Nossum (bnossum)]

databubble, thanks for the suggestions. Will try them out the forthcoming weekend, a tad busy the next few days.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Per a decision made by the Ubuntu Kernel Team, bugs will longer be assigned to the ubuntu-kernel-team in Launchpad as part of the bug triage process. The ubuntu-kernel-team is being unassigned from this bug report. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeamBugPolicies for more information. Thanks.

[savril (avrils)]

I was having the same problem with an Intel 4965 (HP 8510w) and an AP (Linksys WRT 350N) with a WPA2/PSK2 AES key.
It shows "Wireless Event too big" errors in /var/log/syslog.

I have monitored packets sent and received to/from the DHCP server (which was separated from the AP). DHCP request is sent by the client and received by the server but the answer is never received by the client (but is sent by the server). That is kind of strange, I would except that no packets could go through.

It was solved by disabling WMM Support on the AP.

[Christophe Dumez (hydr0g3n)]

Disabling WMM is a workaround. You could also use TKIP instead of AES. According to my tests (would be interesting if you could test too), using WPA/TKIP or WPA2/TKIP works (with WMM enabled).

see http://www.intellinuxwireless.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=1761 for more information. Feel free to post there too. At least it would confirm the problem.

[mvdberg112 (sp1471)]

This Linux system has also the "event too big message"

[344969.732039] wlan0: No ProbeResp from current AP 00:0c:e6:fe:02:02 - assume out of range
[344972.965475] wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:0c:e6:fe:02:02
[344973.146432] wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:0c:e6:fe:02:02
[344973.344028] wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:0c:e6:fe:02:02
[344973.490484] wlan0: authenticated
[344973.490497] wlan0: associate with AP 00:0c:e6:fe:02:02
[344973.496606] wlan0: deauthenticated
[344974.496030] wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:0c:e6:fe:02:02
[344974.619355] wlan0: authenticated
[344974.619369] wlan0: associate with AP 00:0c:e6:fe:02:02
[344974.622374] wlan0: RX ReassocResp from 00:0c:e6:fe:02:02 (capab=0x1 status=0 aid=2)
[344974.622383] wlan0: associated
[344974.622429] wlan0 (WE) : Wireless Event too big (294)
[345889.764040] wlan0: No ProbeResp from current AP 00:0c:e6:fe:02:02 - assume out of range
[345893.005372] wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:0c:e6:fe:02:02
[345893.189332] wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:0c:e6:fe:02:02
[345893.190724] wlan0: authenticated
[345893.190734] wlan0: associate with AP 00:0c:e6:fe:02:02
[345893.193084] wlan0: RX ReassocResp from 00:0c:e6:fe:02:02 (capab=0x1 status=0 aid=2)
[345893.193092] wlan0: associated
[345893.193141] wlan0 (WE) : Wireless Event too big (314)

(1) Ubuntu Intrepid 8.10
(2) wireless USB: Netgear WG111v2
(3) driver rtl8187 (automatically included in the upgrade Intrepid and loaded automatically)

What I understand from the whole thread that it is possible to make the message go away under particular conditions, but nobody explains what the message really means. In which case would the kernel say "event too big"? Does any developer know that? Is there a way that we can see the "too big" message? For example, with a test kernel.

[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

This bug report was marked as Triaged a while ago but has not had any updated comments for quite some time. Please let us know if this issue remains in the current Ubuntu release, http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download . If the issue remains, click on the current status under the Status column and change the status back to "New". Thanks.

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[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This bug was filed against a series that is no longer supported and so is being marked as Won't Fix. If this issue still exists in a supported series, please file a new bug.

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