System hangs w/ unknown bcm43xx wireless, kernel issue

[Paul Kehle]

Hi. So I have been testing Ubuntu/Kubuntu 6.10 since knot-1. I've noticed that using the 'native' driver support for the bcm43xx chip (ie: not the ndiswrapper method) seems to be causing the system to lock. My system is a Compaq Presario R3050US. I am using the latest version of the windows .sys driver that I can find (from the Compaq/HP website). If I leave the system unattended for a while, eventually the processor will start running at high speed, indication the locked condition. I tried to ssh into the laptop, but I get no response on that port.

I wondered if this might be related to the screensaver or some other running app, so I checked some logs. Looking at /var/log/messages, I noticed entries that had large gaps in time between when I had to do the hard reboot vs. the last command, which happened to be the PCI interrupt for the bcm card being disabled.

Here is one example:

Oct 3 22:20:47 taurus gconfd (paul-7633): Resolved address "xml:readonly:/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.defaults" to a read-only configuration source at position 2
Oct 3 22:20:47 taurus gconfd (paul-7633): Resolved address "xml:readonly:/var/lib/gconf/debian.defaults" to a read-only configuration source at position 3
Oct 3 22:20:47 taurus gconfd (paul-7633): Resolved address "xml:readonly:/var/lib/gconf/defaults" to a read-only configuration source at position 4
Oct 3 22:26:47 taurus gconfd (paul-7633): GConf server is not in use, shutting down.
Oct 3 22:26:47 taurus gconfd (paul-7633): Exiting
Oct 3 22:27:14 taurus kernel: [17181607.492000] printk: 2 messages suppressed.
Oct 3 22:27:19 taurus kernel: [17181612.500000] printk: 4 messages suppressed.
Oct 3 22:27:52 taurus kernel: [17181645.116000] printk: 4 messages suppressed.
Oct 3 22:29:21 taurus kernel: [17181734.528000] printk: 3 messages suppressed.
Oct 3 22:29:40 taurus kernel: [17181752.600000] printk: 2 messages suppressed.
Oct 3 22:29:46 taurus kernel: [17181758.604000] printk: 2 messages suppressed.
Oct 3 22:29:50 taurus kernel: [17181762.612000] printk: 3 messages suppressed.
Oct 3 22:30:23 taurus kernel: [17181796.452000] printk: 3 messages suppressed.
..... (a whole lot more of these messages)
Oct 4 00:17:50 taurus kernel: [17188242.676000] NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth1: transmit timed out
Oct 4 00:17:50 taurus kernel: [17188242.676000] ACPI: PCI interrupt for device 0000:02:02.0 disabled
Oct 4 00:17:50 taurus kernel: [17188242.676000] ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:02:02.0[A] -> GSI 18 (level,
 low) -> IRQ 201
Oct 4 00:17:50 taurus kernel: [17188242.684000] bcm43xx: Controller restarted
Oct 4 00:35:35 taurus syslogd 1.4.1#18ubuntu5: restart.
Oct 4 00:35:35 taurus kernel: Inspecting /boot/System.map-2.6.17-10-generic
Oct 4 00:35:35 taurus kernel: Loaded 22821 symbols from /boot/System.map-2.6.17-10-generic.
Oct 4 00:35:35 taurus kernel: Symbols match kernel version 2.6.17.
Oct 4 00:35:35 taurus kernel: No module symbols loaded - kernel modules not enabled.
Oct 4 00:35:35 taurus kernel: [17179569.184000] Linux version 2.6.17-10-generic (root@rothera) (gcc version 4.1.2 20060928 (prerelease) (Ubuntu 4.1.1-13ubuntu4)) #2 SMP Mon Oct 2 13:48:24 UTC 2006 (Ubuntu 2.6.17-10.26-generic)
...

Here is another example:
Oct 4 02:38:51 taurus kernel: [17186999.900000] input: Microsoft Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse® 1.00 as /class/input/input5
Oct 4 02:38:51 taurus kernel: [17186999.900000] input: USB HID v1.11 Mouse [Microsoft Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse® 1.00] on usb-0000:02:07.1-1
Oct 4 03:01:58 taurus -- MARK --
Oct 4 03:21:58 taurus -- MARK --
Oct 4 03:41:58 taurus -- MARK --
Oct 4 04:01:59 taurus -- MARK --
Oct 4 04:21:59 taurus -- MARK --
Oct 4 04:41:59 taurus -- MARK --
Oct 4 05:01:59 taurus -- MARK --
Oct 4 05:21:59 taurus -- MARK --
Oct 4 05:41:59 taurus -- MARK --
Oct 4 06:02:00 taurus -- MARK --
Oct 4 06:22:00 taurus -- MARK --
Oct 4 06:42:00 taurus -- MARK --
Oct 4 06:44:00 taurus kernel: [17201707.984000] NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth1: transmit timed out
Oct 4 06:44:00 taurus kernel: [17201707.984000] ACPI: PCI interrupt for device 0000:02:02.0 disabled
Oct 4 06:44:00 taurus kernel: [17201707.984000] ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:02:02.0[A] -> GSI 18 (level, low) -> IRQ 201
Oct 4 06:44:00 taurus kernel: [17201707.992000] bcm43xx: Controller restarted
Oct 4 07:45:48 taurus syslogd 1.4.1#18ubuntu5: restart.
Oct 4 07:45:48 taurus kernel: Inspecting /boot/System.map-2.6.17-10-386
Oct 4 07:45:49 taurus kernel: Loaded 22421 symbols from /boot/System.map-2.6.17-10-386.
Oct 4 07:45:49 taurus kernel: Symbols match kernel version 2.6.17.
Oct 4 07:45:49 taurus kernel: No module symbols loaded - kernel modules not enabled.
Oct 4 07:45:49 taurus kernel: [17179569.184000] Linux version 2.6.17-10-386 (root@rothera) (gcc version 4.1.2 20060928 (prerelease) (Ubuntu 4.1.1-13ubuntu4)) #2 Mon Oct 2 13:44:45 UTC 2006 (Ubuntu 2.6.17-10.26-386)
....

So it looks like possible unloading the module is causing some sort of kernel problem (not really a panic). Maybe the issue has to do with NETDEV WATCHDOG timing out. I'm not sure since I'm not an expert. However, I never had the same behaviour with 6.06. I do plan however to load kubuntu 6.06.1 on another hard drive today to test a similar setup.

Thanks, Paul

[Caroline Ford (secretlondon)]

Unknown >linux-source-2.6.17

[Michael R. Head (burner)]

Should be fixed in the 2.6.17-10.27 kernel.

[Paul Kehle (pgkehle)]

It looks like the new kernel has fixed that issue. But I have also run into the issue where the keyboard input seems to no longer work. It just so happens this occurs when the screensaver asks for a password. I should try to disable the screensaver password feature and get more information. Next time it happens I'll post in on that other thread.

This bug, however, can be marked as duplicate.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

The 18 month support period for Edgy Eft 6.10 has reached its end of life. As a result, we are closing the linux-source-2.6.17 Edgy Eft kernel task. However, development has already began for the upcoming Intrepid Ibex 8.10 release. It would be helpful if you could test the upcoming release and verify if this is still an issue - http://www.ubuntu.com/testing . If the issue still exists, please update this report by changing the Status of the "linux" task from "Incomplete" to "New". We appreciate your patience and understanding as we make this transition. Thanks!