offer 6.20.155.1 build in trusty

Bug #1289857 reported by Nico Schlömer
18
This bug affects 2 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
bcmwl (Ubuntu)
Invalid
Medium
Unassigned

Bug Description

As opposed to open-source software, proprietary software has the USP that newer versions are not always better. This seems to be the case for the 6.30.223.141 driver which offers considerably worse performance for many users than its predecessor 6.20.155.1. This assumption is based on the reactions <https://plus.google.com/+NickGroenen/posts/HF828QcPK6k> to instructions for a "forthport" of 6.20.155.1 to saucy <https://zoni.nl/posts/2013/11/09/fixing-the-broadcom-bcm4331-wireless-drivers-on-ubuntu-1310/>.

Please continue to provide older BCM packages in the tree to make it easier for users to switch.

Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

Changed in bcmwl (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Nico Schlömer, thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please execute the following command, as it will automatically gather debugging information, in a terminal:
apport-collect 1289857
When reporting bugs in the future please use apport by using 'ubuntu-bug' and the name of the package affected. You can learn more about this functionality at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs.

Changed in bcmwl (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Incomplete
summary: - offer 6.20.155.1 build on saucy, trusty, ...
+ offer 6.20.155.1 build in trusty
Revision history for this message
Nico Schlömer (nschloe) wrote :

@penalvch In the context of this bug report, your comment doesn't make much sense to me. I assume it was automatically generated.

Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Nico Schlömer, the context of this report is vague, too general, and is not clear if you actually have hardware affected by this issue. If you want whatever issue you may be having addressed (not someone else on some other forum, with some other hardware) then you would want to do as previously requested of you in https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/bcmwl/+bug/1289857/comments/2 .

Revision history for this message
Nico Schlömer (nschloe) wrote :

@penalvch I do have the affected hardware. The suggested command opens a window saying "No additional information collected.".

Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Nico Schlömer, could you please execute the following in a terminal and post the results here:
lspci -vvnn | grep -A 11 Network
lsb_release -rd
uname -a
apt-cache policy bcmwl-kernel-source

Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Please also execute and post:
sudo dmidecode -s bios-version
sudo dmidecode -s bios-release-date
sudo dmidecode -s baseboard-product-name
sudo dmidecode -s baseboard-manufacturer

Revision history for this message
Nico Schlömer (nschloe) wrote :

```
$ lspci -vvnn | grep -A 11 Network
03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4331 802.11a/b/g/n [14e4:4331] (rev 02)
 Subsystem: Apple Inc. AirPort Extreme [106b:00d6]
 Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
 Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
 Latency: 0, Cache Line Size: 256 bytes
 Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 17
 Region 0: Memory at a0600000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
 Capabilities: <access denied>
 Kernel driver in use: wl

04:00.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]: LSI Corporation FW643 [TrueFire] PCIe 1394b Controller [11c1:5901] (rev 08) (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
 Subsystem: LSI Corporation FW643 [TrueFire] PCIe 1394b Controller [11c1:5900]
```
```
$ lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 14.10
Release: 14.10
```
```
uname -a
Linux fuji 3.16.0-23-generic #31-Ubuntu SMP Tue Oct 21 17:56:17 UTC 2014 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
```
```
apt-cache policy bcmwl-kernel-source
bcmwl-kernel-source:
  Installed: 6.30.223.248+bdcom-0ubuntu1
  Candidate: 6.30.223.248+bdcom-0ubuntu1
  Package pin: (not found)
  Version table:
 *** 6.30.223.248+bdcom-0ubuntu1 1001
        500 http://ubuntu.mirror.tudos.de/ubuntu/ utopic/restricted amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
```
```
$ sudo dmidecode -s bios-version
   MBP81.88Z.0047.B27.1201241646
```
```
$ sudo dmidecode -s bios-release-date
01/24/12
```
```
$ sudo dmidecode -s baseboard-product-name
Mac-94245B3640C91C81
```
```
$ sudo dmidecode -s baseboard-manufacturer
Apple Inc.
```

Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Nico Schlömer, thank you for providing the requested information.

Could you please provide specific detail of what about your wireless experience in Trusty isn't working out for you?

Saying "it's not working" "it's slow" is not enough information. What is required is specific metrics, scenarios, etc.

As well, does using Utopic change anything for you in this issue?

Changed in bcmwl (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → Medium
Revision history for this message
Nico Schlömer (nschloe) wrote :

> Saying "it's not working" "it's slow" is not enough information.

The problem here is that we are dealing with with closed-source software, so I cannot point to a place in the code that should be implemented differently. I'm also not capable of running production tests for counting the kernel oopses per day, or whatever metric the quality of a driver is measured by. All I can say is that wl oopses more frequently now than it did before.

My perception is that the old driver used to work better than Broadcom's newer release, and the same seems to be true for many other people; see the links in the OP. This is why I opened this bug.

I realize that this isn't much for you to work with. In particular, I don't expect anyone to track down the bug. This is why I suggest to not immediately discard old drivers on the arrival of a newer version.

> As well, does using Utopic change anything for you in this issue?

The new driver still accounts for about one wifi outage per hour here. One OFF-ON on WiFi switch brings it back on.

Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Nico Schlömer:
>"The problem here is that we are dealing with with closed-source software, so I cannot point to a place in the code that should be implemented differently."

Nobody expects you to point to code for closed source software, that isn't the focus of this report, nor a requirement to get his bug triaged.

>"I'm also not capable of running production tests for counting the kernel oopses per day, or whatever metric the quality of a driver is measured by."

Well, without some sort of number of oopses per time interval, the release(s) this happened in, and a stack trace from your logs, this bug report is useless for the purposes of dealing with your issue. If you aren't willing or capable of providing the information requested, please feel free to toggle the Status Invalid.

>" All I can say is that wl oopses more frequently now than it did before."

Remaining detailed and specific:
1) How many times per time interval did it oops in which release(s) exactly?
2) Could you please provide a stack trace from your logs?
2) What release was the earliest release you have tested with your hardware?

>"My perception is that the old driver used to work better than Broadcom's newer release,"

Vague perceptions are unhelpful, and doesn't have a place here on Launchpad, a development platform.

>"and the same seems to be true for many other people; see the links in the OP. This is why I opened this bug."

Again, what someone else claimed with some other hardware on some forum, and linking to some trash URL is useless for the purpose of triaging your problem.

>"I realize that this isn't much for you to work with. In particular, I don't expect anyone to track down the bug. This is why I suggest to not immediately discard old drivers on the arrival of a newer version."

Speculation, suggestions, subjective comments, etc. are simply unhelpful here.

>"The new driver still accounts for about one wifi outage per hour here. One OFF-ON on WiFi switch brings it back on."

So when the WiFi goes out in Utopic, is there anything in your logs capturing a crash of some sort?

Revision history for this message
Nico Schlömer (nschloe) wrote :

> So when the WiFi goes out in Utopic, is there anything in your logs capturing a crash of some sort?

Yup. I've opened a new bug about one issue at <https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/bcmwl/+bug/1387199>.

(This thread wasn't intended for technical details of individual `wl` bugs, but rather for a discussion of having older driver versions in the tree.)

Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Nico Schlömer, Launchpad bug reports are the wrong venue for such a wide-scoped discussion. Please re-direct your inquiry to the Ubuntu developer mailing lists -> http://community.ubuntu.com/contribute/support/mailinglists/ .

Despite this, as you have a bug report open to address a specific issue, this report is considered closed.

Thank you for your understanding.

Helpful bug reporting tips:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs

Changed in bcmwl (Ubuntu):
status: Incomplete → Invalid
Revision history for this message
Nico Schlömer (nschloe) wrote :

> this report is considered closed.

My intention is to open a discussion about providing more than one binary package for closed-source drivers, but you have made quite clear that this is not wanted here. I regret this decision.

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