Lenovo QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter [168c:0042] Subsystem [17aa:4035]: Broken firmware, no 802.11n support

[Reimar Döffinger]

/lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA9377/hw1.0/firmware_6.bin
Results in no support for 5GHz bands at all, speed limited to about 25 MBit/s
/lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA9377/hw1.0/firmware_5.bin
Seems to support 5GHz bands, but speed is still stuck at about 25 MBit/s

Downloading and installing as firmware_5.bin (and deleting firmware_6.bin):
https://github.com/kvalo/ath10k-firmware/blob/master/QCA9377/hw1.0/CNSS.TF.1.0/firmware-5.bin_CNSS.TF.1.0-00267-QCATFSWPZ-1?raw=true
speed easily reaches 250MBit/s

Firmware tip found on https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxmint/comments/fjkg4x/qualcomm_atheros_qca9377_5ghz_issue/

Router in use is Synology MR2200ac

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.04
Package: linux-firmware 1.187 [modified: lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA9377/hw1.0/firmware-5.bin]
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.4.0-21.25-generic 5.4.27
Uname: Linux 5.4.0-21-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu26
Architecture: amd64
CasperMD5CheckResult: skip
CurrentDesktop: KDE
Date: Fri Apr 10 21:07:20 2020
Dependencies:

InstallationDate: Installed on 2017-05-28 (1048 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 17.04 "Zesty Zapus" - Release amd64 (20170412)
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: linux-firmware
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to focal on 2020-04-04 (6 days ago)
---
ProblemType: Bug
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu50.3
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: reimar 1653 F.... pulseaudio
                      reimar 1659 F.... pipewire-media-
 /dev/snd/seq: reimar 1652 F.... pipewire
CasperMD5CheckResult: skip
Dependencies:

DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.10
InstallationDate: Installed on 2017-05-28 (1337 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 17.04 "Zesty Zapus" - Release amd64 (20170412)
MachineType: LENOVO 80MX
Package: linux-firmware 1.190.3
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=
 TERM=xterm-256color
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=C.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcFB: 0 i915drmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-5.8.0-40-generic root=UUID=6f186662-358a-46e3-8b78-e4fcb06f7401 ro rootflags=subvol=@ quiet splash vt.handoff=7
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.8.0-40.45-generic 5.8.18
PulseList: Error: command ['pacmd', 'list'] failed with exit code 1: No PulseAudio daemon running, or not running as session daemon.
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-5.8.0-40-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-5.8.0-40-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.190.3
StagingDrivers: ashmem_linux
Tags: groovy staging
Uname: Linux 5.8.0-40-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to groovy on 2020-10-07 (109 days ago)
UserGroups: N/A
_MarkForUpload: True
dmi.bios.date: 06/29/2018
dmi.bios.release: 2.43
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: DCCN43WW(V2.12)
dmi.board.asset.tag: NO Asset Tag
dmi.board.name: Lenovo E31-80
dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.board.version: SDK0J40700 WIN
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: NO Asset Tag
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.chassis.version: Lenovo E31-80
dmi.ec.firmware.release: 2.43
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvrDCCN43WW(V2.12):bd06/29/2018:br2.43:efr2.43:svnLENOVO:pn80MX:pvrLenovoE31-80:rvnLENOVO:rnLenovoE31-80:rvrSDK0J40700WIN:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrLenovoE31-80:
dmi.product.family: IDEAPAD
dmi.product.name: 80MX
dmi.product.sku: LENOVO_MT_80MX_BU_idea_FM_Lenovo E31-80
dmi.product.version: Lenovo E31-80
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[You-Sheng Yang (vicamo)]

Long time ago but if someone can comment some more information about the affected hardware, it will be very helpful.

For the reporter, please run:

  $ sudo ln -s source_linux.py /usr/share/apport/package-hooks/source_linux-firmware.py
  $ sudo apport-collect 1872128

For others:

  $ for id in $(lspci|grep 'Network controller' | awk '{print $1}'); do sudo lspci -vvnn -s $id; done

[Reimar Döffinger (reimar-doeffinger)]

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[Reimar Döffinger (reimar-doeffinger)]

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[Reimar Döffinger (reimar-doeffinger)]

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[Reimar Döffinger (reimar-doeffinger)]

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[Reimar Döffinger (reimar-doeffinger)]

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[Reimar Döffinger (reimar-doeffinger)]

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[Reimar Döffinger (reimar-doeffinger)]

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[Reimar Döffinger (reimar-doeffinger)]

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[Reimar Döffinger (reimar-doeffinger)]

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[Reimar Döffinger (reimar-doeffinger)]

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[Reimar Döffinger (reimar-doeffinger)]

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[Reimar Döffinger (reimar-doeffinger)]

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[Reimar Döffinger (reimar-doeffinger)]

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[Reimar Döffinger (reimar-doeffinger)]

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[Reimar Döffinger (reimar-doeffinger)]

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[Reimar Döffinger (reimar-doeffinger)]

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[Reimar Döffinger (reimar-doeffinger)]

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[Reimar Döffinger (reimar-doeffinger)]

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[Reimar Döffinger (reimar-doeffinger)]

The ln command errored out because the symlink was already there and pointing to the right file.
I hope that means you got the right info despite that command not working.
I can also confirm that the issue still exists.
Also I am a software developer, so if there's any more advanced "magic" that would help you, feel free to ask and see if I'll manage to do it :)

[You-Sheng Yang (vicamo)]

@Reimar, thanks. Yes, I need the PCIID information so that I can try to find some affected model and have a test/report to ODM. I'm not sure how QC manage their firmware API version, but rollback to API-5 while API-6 is available doesn't seem a right solution but a hacky (and yet working) trick.

[Reimar Döffinger (reimar-doeffinger)]

From the summary change it seem you found the PCIID already, but just in case:
lspci:
02:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter (rev 30)
lspci -n:
02:00.0 0280: 168c:0042 (rev 30)

The only other possibly interesting info I saw to identify the hardware is a chip_id in the dmesg:
[ 5.314975] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: qca9377 hw1.0 target 0x05020000 chip_id 0x003820ff sub 17aa:4035