ath5k driver causes Ubuntu to freeze

[Tomas Cassidy]

Binary package hint: linux-image-2.6.26-5-generic

/proc/version_signature: Ubuntu 2.6.26-5.17-generic
uname -a: Linux htpc 2.6.26-5-generic #1 SMP Fri Aug 15 13:54:58 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux
lsb_release -rd:
Description: Ubuntu intrepid (development branch)
Release: 8.10

The ath5k wireless driver is causing Ubuntu to freeze, which I am guessing is a kernel problem. It doesnt always happen straight away after startup, so I usually have some time to fiddle with drivers/settings before anything bad happens. I have tested this by unloading the ath5k driver (sudo modprobe -r ath5k) and then reloading it again (sudo modprobe ath5k) at which point Ubuntu immediately freezes. This was tested by loading the driver from both the GUI environment and Virtual Console #1 (ctrl+alt+f1). I believe this is a very high-level bug for Ubuntu since the ath5k driver is being shipped as default for a lot of Atheros wireless cards. If this can't be fixed by the time intrepid is released, then the old madwifi driver will have to be re-included.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Hi Tomas,

I don't suppose you'd be able to salvage a dmesg output from you system after you experience this freeze. I'm just interested in what sort of error messages, if any, might be shown.

Additionally, the Ubuntu kernel team is planning to move the Intrepid kernel to 2.6.27. It would be great if you could verify if this still exists against the 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel once it is available in the archives. Thanks.

[Tomas Cassidy (tomas-cassidy)]

When the freeze happens it locks up the whole system, including all virtual consoles so there is no way for me to get a copy of the dmesg output. Do any of the dmesg logs get held after rebooting the system, or is there any way to capture the output of the dmesg command into a logfile (something similar to "tail -f /var/log/dmesg > dmesg.log")? Is there any timeframe of when the 2.6.27 kernel will be in the archives?

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Hi Tomas,

The kernel team just uploaded 2.6.27 to the archives. You should be able to test by installing 'linux-image-2.6.27-1-generic' . Regarding logs maintained across reboots you'll likely want to take a peek at /var/logs/kern.log.0 etc. Also note, that we're going to put out a call for testing the 2.6.27 kernel in the next day or two. Your bug report here will likely get automatically spammed so I apologize in advance. Thanks.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

The Ubuntu Kernel Team is planning to move to the 2.6.27 kernel for the upcoming Intrepid Ibex 8.10 release. As a result, the kernel team would appreciate it if you could please test this newer 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel. There are one of two ways you should be able to test:

1) If you are comfortable installing packages on your own, the linux-image-2.6.27-* package is currently available for you to install and test.

--or--

2) The upcoming Alpha5 for Intrepid Ibex 8.10 will contain this newer 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel. Alpha5 is set to be released Thursday Sept 4. Please watch http://www.ubuntu.com/testing for Alpha5 to be announced. You should then be able to test via a LiveCD.

Please let us know immediately if this newer 2.6.27 kernel resolves the bug reported here or if the issue remains. More importantly, please open a new bug report for each new bug/regression introduced by the 2.6.27 kernel and tag the bug report with 'linux-2.6.27'. Also, please specifically note if the issue does or does not appear in the 2.6.26 kernel. Thanks again, we really appreicate your help and feedback.

[Tomas Cassidy (tomas-cassidy)]

This issue appears to have been resolved with the upgrade to 2.6.27. The ath5k now identifies the wireless card as ath0 when it used to identify as wlan0 with 2.6.26.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Thanks for the update. Marking this "Fix Released" for Intrepid. If you see any regressions with this prior to Intrepid's final release please reopen this report by setting the status back to "New". Thanks.

[Rich (rincebrain)]

I still have this problem.

I have hardlocks from the ath5k driver using 2.6.27-5-generic. Sometimes it's a soft lockup, and the card "only" stops working...and other times, the card hardlocks my machine, and no output is salvageable. SysRq does not function, and /var/log/syslog noted nothing.

Tragically, this laptop has no serial port with which to dump debug information when this occurs. Any other thoughts on how to salvage the information?

[Daniel Nylander (yeager)]

I can confirm this bug. For me it's just a hard freeze, occurs after a couple of hours, up to a day.

Linux fatbastard 2.6.27-5-generic #1 SMP Fri Oct 3 00:36:38 UTC 2008 x86_64 GNU/Linux
ath5k phy0: Atheros AR2424 chip found (MAC: 0xa2, PHY: 0x61)

[Rich (rincebrain)]

Ah, I neglected to include my uname and chip.
Linux eris 2.6.27-5-generic #1 SMP Fri Oct 3 00:36:38 UTC 2008 x86_64 GNU/Linux
ath5k phy0: Atheros AR5424 chip found (MAC: 0xa3, PHY: 0x61)

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

For those of you still experiencing issues, can you try installing the linux-backports-modules package and see if that helps? Thanks.

[Tomas Cassidy (tomas-cassidy)]

I just noticed a problem with my earlier post. While I noticed that the ath5k module was loaded, it was loaded alongside the ath_pci module. The working internet connection was actually using the ath_pci module. After removing the linux-restricted-modules packages, NetworkManager tries to connect with ath5k and fails. I haven't yet noticed any crashing/freezing with ath5k yet (linux-backports-modules version).

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Marking this Fix Released with the linux-backports-modules-intrepid package. Thanks.