Broadcom STA/wl driver causes random kernel panics
Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
linux-restricted-modules (Ubuntu) |
Fix Released
|
High
|
Tim Gardner | ||
Hardy |
Fix Released
|
High
|
Stefan Bader | ||
Intrepid |
Fix Released
|
High
|
Stefan Bader | ||
Jaunty |
Fix Released
|
High
|
Tim Gardner |
Bug Description
SRU justification:
Impact: The current broadcom driver (wl.ko) seems to have several issues during operation. Reported have been random crashes between 5 a day to only 1 every 4 days.
Fix: The latest driver from broadcom had positive feedback on Jaunty and has been released there. This is the backport of that driver for intrepid.
The same code is intended to get ported to Hardy LRM. This would sync up the Hardy codebase with the Intrepid and Jaunty layout. So this would yield bug fixes and ease maintenance.
Changes are local to wl.ko only.
Testcase: Generic usage will sometimes cause panics.
---
The new wl driver(Broadcom STA) randomly causes my Dell Inspiron E1505 to experience kernel panics. I haven't been able to get a picture of the kernel panic though. The kernel panic happens randomly, sometimes even during bootup.
The reason why I know its from the wl driver is because, I was using the b43 driver back on hardy. When the new broadcom driver was released, I manually compiled it and installed it. The driver kept randomly causing kernel panics on my system. When I blacklisted the driver and reverted back to b43, no more kernel panics. I wiped my disk down and installed intrepid and set my system to use the new wl driver again. The kernel panics started all over again. When I changed to the b43 driver, the kernel panics disappeared.
The system can sometimes run for 4/5 days before experiencing a kernel panic and at other times, I can get about 5 kernel panics in a day. I googled around and found a few people on both the ubuntu and debian forums having the same problem with different systems and different broadcom cards but same driver.
description: | updated |
Changed in linux-restricted-modules: | |
status: | New → Confirmed |
Changed in linux-restricted-modules: | |
status: | Fix Committed → Fix Released |
Changed in linux-restricted-modules: | |
status: | Fix Released → Confirmed |
status: | Fix Released → Confirmed |
Changed in linux-restricted-modules: | |
assignee: | nobody → timg-tpi |
importance: | Undecided → High |
Changed in linux-restricted-modules (Ubuntu Jaunty): | |
milestone: | none → ubuntu-9.04 |
status: | Confirmed → Fix Committed |
Changed in linux-restricted-modules: | |
status: | Fix Committed → Fix Released |
Changed in linux-restricted-modules (Ubuntu Jaunty): | |
status: | Fix Released → Confirmed |
Changed in linux-restricted-modules (Ubuntu Jaunty): | |
status: | Confirmed → Fix Released |
Changed in linux-restricted-modules (Ubuntu Jaunty): | |
status: | Fix Released → Confirmed |
Changed in linux-restricted-modules (Ubuntu Jaunty): | |
status: | Confirmed → Fix Committed |
Changed in linux-restricted-modules (Ubuntu Jaunty): | |
status: | Fix Committed → Fix Released |
Changed in linux-restricted-modules (Ubuntu Hardy): | |
assignee: | timg-tpi → stefan-bader-canonical |
Changed in linux-restricted-modules (Ubuntu Intrepid): | |
assignee: | timg-tpi → stefan-bader-canonical |
Changed in linux-restricted-modules (Ubuntu Hardy): | |
status: | Fix Committed → In Progress |
Changed in linux-restricted-modules (Ubuntu Intrepid): | |
status: | Confirmed → In Progress |
tags: |
added: verification-done removed: verification-needed |
tags: | added: raring |
Same thing also happens to me in ubuntu hardy on my dell inspiron 1420 using the bcm4311 chipset. The computer just froze and the caps lock light was flashing intermittently. This problem did not start until I updated the b43 driver to the new broadcom STA driver.