Marvell 88W8797 wifi (module mwifiex) does not work on Surface Pro

[wilk]

I've been running Ubuntu 14.10 on a Microsoft Surface Pro. After some initial problems (see https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1165938) (fixed by kernel updates I guess) the wifi was working fine. Since the upgrade to 15.04 the problems are back: I can connect to a wifi network, the connection is working for a few seconds but drops right after. I attached the relevant entries in dmes.log.

I tried installing the marvell firmware from git://git.marvell.com/mwifiex-firmware.git, that didn't change anything. I also tried the mainline kernel from http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.1-rc1-vivid/: the connection is again working for a few seconds but the whole system hangs afterwards.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 15.04
Package: linux-image-3.19.0-15-generic 3.19.0-15.15
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.19.0-15.15-generic 3.19.3
Uname: Linux 3.19.0-15-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.17.2-0ubuntu1
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: wilk 1792 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Tue Apr 28 10:57:42 2015
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=adb12a68-9928-4181-b4e2-487010d3c501
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-02-19 (432 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 13.10 "Saucy Salamander" - Release amd64 (20131016.1)
MachineType: Microsoft Corporation Surface with Windows 8 Pro
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.19.0-15-generic.efi.signed root=UUID=919f00b8-5010-46e1-b2f9-c129e17d5312 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.19.0-15-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.19.0-15-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.143
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to vivid on 2015-04-27 (0 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 01/08/2013
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 1.00.0250
dmi.board.asset.tag: 0
dmi.board.name: Surface with Windows 8 Pro
dmi.board.vendor: Microsoft Corporation
dmi.board.version: 1
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: 0
dmi.chassis.type: 17
dmi.chassis.vendor: Microsoft Corporation
dmi.chassis.version: 1
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr1.00.0250:bd01/08/2013:svnMicrosoftCorporation:pnSurfacewithWindows8Pro:pvr1:rvnMicrosoftCorporation:rnSurfacewithWindows8Pro:rvr1:cvnMicrosoftCorporation:ct17:cvr1:
dmi.product.name: Surface with Windows 8 Pro
dmi.product.version: 1
dmi.sys.vendor: Microsoft Corporation

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This change was made by a bot.

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

This issue appears to be an upstream bug, since you tested the latest upstream kernel. Would it be possible for you to open an upstream bug report[0]? That will allow the upstream Developers to examine the issue, and may provide a quicker resolution to the bug.

Please follow the instructions on the wiki page[0]. The first step is to email the appropriate mailing list. If no response is received, then a bug may be opened on bugzilla.kernel.org.

Once this bug is reported upstream, please add the tag: 'kernel-bug-reported-upstream'.

[0] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Upstream/kernel

[Dirk Schmidtke (dirkschmidtke)]

Can confirm this bug on a Surface Pro 2 with the same Marvel wifi chip (1286:2044) after installing Xubuntu Vivid (clean install, no upgrade).

For me, the wireless connection will be established, but as soon as I start a browser to use it, the system freezes immediately, so there is nothing in syslog.

The Marvel wifi chip worked in Ubuntu 14.10 after downloading latest firmware from Marvel's git and putting it into /lib/firmware/mrvl/.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

wilk, as per http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/install-update-activate/pro-update-history an update to your computer's buggy and outdated BIOS is available (v1.7.50). If you update to this following https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BIOSUpdate does it change anything?

If it doesn't, could you please both specify what happened, and provide the output of the following terminal command:
sudo dmidecode -s bios-version && sudo dmidecode -s bios-release-date

For more on BIOS updates and linux, please see https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs#Bug_reporting_etiquette .

Please note your current BIOS is already in the Bug Description, so posting this on the old BIOS would not be helpful. As well, you don't have to create a new bug report.

Once the BIOS is updated, and the information above is provided, then please mark this report Status Confirmed.

Thank you for your understanding.

[wilk (j-cubizolles)]

@penalvch: I'm not sure I can upgrade the BIOS, I only have Ubuntu installed on the machine and all the instructions I found rely on running some Asus application in Windows.

[Dirk Schmidtke (dirkschmidtke)]

@penalvch: I am on the latest BIOS/EFI firmware with my Surface Pro 2 and have got the same problem:

sudo dmidecode -s bios-version && sudo dmidecode -s bios-release-date
2.05.0150
11/27/2014

In order to use Marvell Wifi, I installed the mainline kernel 3.16. Booting the old kernel makes wifi work again.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Dirk Schmidtke, it will help immensely if you filed a new report via a terminal:
ubuntu-bug linux

Please feel free to subscribe me to it.

[Dirk Schmidtke (dirkschmidtke)]

Christopher, thanks for your prompt reply. However, I don't see why I should file a new bug as this would be a duplicate of this one.

[Tom (vsboost)]

I can confirm this on my surface pro 2, can not install 15.04 while connected to wifi need to complete installation not connected, after install when connecting to wifi and browsing web or even a ping command will hang the system.

using external wifi card works no problem.

[Tom (vsboost)]

forgot to add

Bios version: 2.05.0250
Release Date: 04/10/2015

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Tom, just to clarify, the issue you are facing is not scoped to this report. If you would like your issue address, it will help tremendously if you filed a new report via a terminal:
ubuntu-bug linux

Please feel free to subscribe me to it.

[Tom (vsboost)]

Thanks Christopher, i have submitted a new report and subscribed you to it, also attached a screen shot of when the crash happened.

[James (jamesianburns)]

Hi, this might be a beginner's question, but is there a way I can track the results of Tom's submitted report? I am having the same issue and can't find a solution through google. Thanks.

[José Amílcar Ferreira Casimiro (jose-a-casimiro)]

Any new results? Same prob here SP1 pro and ubuntu 15.04. Thx

[kenokabe (kenokabe)]

https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=69661

[Tom (vsboost)]

Just installed 4.3-rc2-unstable and wifi works now.

[José Amílcar Ferreira Casimiro (jose-a-casimiro)]

Hello Tom,

I've installed Linux Mint 64-bit 17.2 Rafaela on Surface Pro 1 and works
fine.

Thanks

On 22 September 2015 at 09:56, Tom <email address hidden> wrote:

> Just installed 4.3-rc2-unstable and wifi works now.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1449438
>
> Title:
> Marvell 88W8797 wifi (module mwifiex) does not work on Surface Pro
>
> Status in linux package in Ubuntu:
> Incomplete
>
> Bug description:
> I've been running Ubuntu 14.10 on a Microsoft Surface Pro. After some
> initial problems (see
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1165938) (fixed
> by kernel updates I guess) the wifi was working fine. Since the
> upgrade to 15.04 the problems are back: I can connect to a wifi
> network, the connection is working for a few seconds but drops right
> after. I attached the relevant entries in dmes.log.
>
> I tried installing the marvell firmware from git://git.marvell.com
> /mwifiex-firmware.git, that didn't change anything. I also tried the
> mainline kernel from http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-
> ppa/mainline/v4.1-rc1-vivid/: the connection is again working for a
> few seconds but the whole system hangs afterwards.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 15.04
> Package: linux-image-3.19.0-15-generic 3.19.0-15.15
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.19.0-15.15-generic 3.19.3
> Uname: Linux 3.19.0-15-generic x86_64
> ApportVersion: 2.17.2-0ubuntu1
> Architecture: amd64
> AudioDevicesInUse:
> USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
> /dev/snd/controlC0: wilk 1792 F.... pulseaudio
> CurrentDesktop: Unity
> Date: Tue Apr 28 10:57:42 2015
> HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=adb12a68-9928-4181-b4e2-487010d3c501
> InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-02-19 (432 days ago)
> InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 13.10 "Saucy Salamander" - Release amd64
> (20131016.1)
> MachineType: Microsoft Corporation Surface with Windows 8 Pro
> ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
> ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.19.0-15-generic.efi.signed
> root=UUID=919f00b8-5010-46e1-b2f9-c129e17d5312 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
> RelatedPackageVersions:
> linux-restricted-modules-3.19.0-15-generic N/A
> linux-backports-modules-3.19.0-15-generic N/A
> linux-firmware 1.143
> SourcePackage: linux
> UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to vivid on 2015-04-27 (0 days ago)
> dmi.bios.date: 01/08/2013
> dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
> dmi.bios.version: 1.00.0250
> dmi.board.asset.tag: 0
> dmi.board.name: Surface with Windows 8 Pro
> dmi.board.vendor: Microsoft Corporation
> dmi.board.version: 1
> dmi.chassis.asset.tag: 0
> dmi.chassis.type: 17
> dmi.chassis.vendor: Microsoft Corporation
> dmi.chassis.version: 1
> dmi.modalias:
> dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr1.00.0250:bd01/08/2013:svnMicrosoftCorporation:pnSurfacewithWindows8Pro:pvr1:rvnMicrosoftCorporation:rnSurfacewithWindows8Pro:rvr1:cvnMicrosoftCorporation:ct17:cvr1:
> dmi.product.name: Surface with Windows 8 Pro
> dmi.product.version: 1
> dmi.sys.vendor: Microsoft Corporation
>
> To manag...

[++LB (dj-lb)]

using a Surface Pro 1,
I have tested with Linux Mint 64-bit 17.2 Rafaela as well, Cinnamon and Xfce variants, with no lock ups or odd behavior, other than bluetooth and my mouse seemed to lose touch after the mouse slept, but could be a mouse issue(razer orochi 2013).

the system did lock up and require hard power off during wifi and bluetooth usage on 14.04, Ubuntu and Xubuntu, 64-bit.

[Dirk Schmidtke (dirkschmidtke)]

Install the recently released stable Kernel 4.3 from Ubuntu mainline kernel repository, that solved wlan for me. However, Bluetooth has issues now with stereo playback. A2DP is selectable, but playback remains mono. I am still investigating whether this is another marvell issue (since the marvell card on the Surface Pro is a combined WLAN and Bluetooth device).

[wilk (j-cubizolles)]

Dirk Schmidtke <email address hidden> writes:

> Install the recently released stable Kernel 4.3 from Ubuntu mainline
> kernel repository, that solved wlan for me.

Same thing here, except there is a bug preventing WPA authentication
from working. WPA2 works though, and I've had confirmation from one on
the developpers upstream that they're working on a fix soon to be
released.

Julien.

[Dirk Schmidtke (dirkschmidtke)]

@wilk: Could you do me the favor and try to connect to a Bluetooth headphone or speaker using the profile A2DP sink? Do you get stereo or just mono like me? Odd thing is, on the Ubuntu live CD, bluetooth stereo works. As soon as I install Ubuntu from the very same live CD, it doesn't.

[wilk (j-cubizolles)]

@Dirk I can try with the bluetooth system in my car, that's TV only one I have. This a2dp sink you're talking about, where do I set it up ?

[Dirk Schmidtke (dirkschmidtke)]

@wilk: After pairing with the car BT, go to settings > sound. You should see the bluetooth adapter as a sound device. Select it if it's not selected. Now you should be able to choose a profile. For me, one is a monophone profile for phone calls (HSP/HFP), the other one is a Hi-Fi profile (A2DP sink), which should be stereo. I can choose it, but it gives me no stereo playback, and if I go into sound settings again, the profile is reset to HSP/HFP.

Thanks for your trouble ...

[David Hennerström (david-hennerstrom)]

Hi,
I recently bought a used Surface Pro 1 and installed Ubuntu 15.10 on it (uses kernel 4.2.0). Already during install it locked up totally two times before I tried without connecting to the wireless network. After install everything seemed to work fine, I was even able to run apt-get update, but when I started up a browser the computer froze up again. Using the USB wifi I normally have on my Raspberry Pi I started looking for a solution and even installed linux-crashdump to attempt to debug it. However, once I got the crashkernel working so I would be able to debug I realized that it was not a real kernel crash but something else that made the computer unresponsive. To limit the amount of things active I logged in through the console (ctrl+alt+F1) and used wget to generate network traffic. The computer immediately went unresponsive, but there was no kernel oops. After a while some error messages started appearing:

NMI watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#1 stuck for 23s! [thermalId:608]
NMI watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#1 stuck for 22s! [thermalId:608]
NMI watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#1 stuck for 22s! [thermalId:608]
INFO: task systemd:1 blocked for more than 120 seconds.
      Tainted: G W L 4.2.0-18-generic #22-Ubuntu
"echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message.
INFO: task systemd-journal:252 blocked for more than 120 seconds.
      Tainted: G W L 4.2.0-18-generic #22-Ubuntu
"echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message.
INFO: task sd-resolve:469 blocked for more than 120 seconds.
      Tainted: G W L 4.2.0-18-generic #22-Ubuntu
"echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message.
INFO: task (tmpfiles).1453 blocked for more than 120 seconds.
      Tainted: G W L 4.2.0-18-generic #22-Ubuntu
"echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message.
NMI watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#1 stuck for 22s! [thermalId:608]

(Transcribed from a photo of the screen...)

Following advice from this thread I installed the 4.3 mainline kernel, and now everything seems to be working. I am getting a lot of "usb 1-3: data: -ENOSR is returned" messages in the kernel log, but as far as I can tell they do not affect performance. Playing sound through a Creative D100 bluetooth speaker also works, with the A2DP sink mode active and stereo output.

From looking at the code there are quite a few changes to the mwifiex driver between 4.2.0 and 4.3.0, it does not seem meaningful to port them back just to make 15.10 work with the default kernel.

Hope that helps,
David

[penalvch (penalvch)]

David Hennerström, it will help immensely if you filed a new report via a terminal:
ubuntu-bug linux

If that doesn't work, please use https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+filebug .

Please feel free to subscribe me to it.

[PaulSchulz (paulschulz)]

I am still seeing this issue (or a similar one) with 19.04.

My syslog looks similar to that shown in the following discussion: https://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-wireless/msg151492.html

(To progress, I'm looking at the following - https://askubuntu.com/questions/515407/how-recipe-to-build-only-one-kernel-module )

[penalvch (penalvch)]

PaulSchulz, it will help immensely if you use Ubuntu with the computer the problem is reproducible with and file a new report via a terminal to provide necessary debugging logs:
ubuntu-bug linux

Please feel free to subscribe me to it.

[PaulSchulz (paulschulz)]

Thanks. Done.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1828168

On Wed, 8 May 2019 at 13:24, Christopher M. Penalver <
<email address hidden>> wrote:

> PaulSchulz, it will help immensely if you use Ubuntu with the computer the
> problem is reproducible with and file a new report via a terminal to
> provide necessary debugging logs:
> ubuntu-bug linux
>
> Please feel free to subscribe me to it.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1449438
>
> Title:
> Marvell 88W8797 wifi (module mwifiex) does not work on Surface Pro
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1449438/+subscriptions
>