hardy alpha 6 rt61 wireless kernel panic

[Arnold Meijster]

Hi,

I installed the Alpha 5 and Alpha 6 release of Ubtuntu Hardy.
Using Alpha 5 I had several random freezes and the only thing I
could do was to hard reboot. After update to alpha 6 I had the same
trouble. At first I suspected the video driver so I tried working
for a while in text mode. That revealed the actual problem. It had
nothing to do with the video driver, but everything with the wireless
driver for the RT61 card (found in many laptops, like my packard bell
easynote). The kernel crashed with a stack dump, which I could not
save since I get a complete kernel panic. I wrote down the panic on
paper, so don't flame me if I made a mistake transcribing:

ieee80211_tx_status_irqsafe +0x12/0x120[mac 8021]
SS:ESP 0068:c0419ea0
Kernel panic-not syncing: Fatal exception in interrupt

I now work without the rt61 and use an usb wireless (based on zd1211)
and that works fine.

[Gabriel de Perthuis (g2p)]

I have this panic pretty often when there is wifi traffic.

[55139.617854] BUG: unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 00000014
[55139.617916] printing eip: d0bb1c72 *pdpt = 0000000004238001 *pde = 0000000000000000
[55139.617990] Oops: 0002 [#1] SMP
[55139.618029] Modules linked in: netconsole configfs aes_i586 geode_aes aes_generic nls_iso8859_1 nls_cp437 vfat fat loop ip6table_filter iptable_raw ipt_ULOG ipt_TTL ipt_ttl ipt_TOS ipt_tos ipt_SAME ipt_REJECT ipt_REDIRECT ipt_recent ipt_owner ipt_NETMAP ipt_MASQUERADE ipt_LOG ipt_iprange ipt_ECN ipt_ecn ipt_CLUSTERIP ipt_ah ipt_addrtype nf_nat_tftp nf_nat_snmp_basic nf_nat_sip nf_nat_pptp nf_nat_proto_gre nf_nat_irc nf_nat_h323 nf_nat_ftp nf_nat_amanda ts_kmp nf_conntrack_amanda nf_conntrack_tftp nf_conntrack_sip nf_conntrack_proto_sctp nf_conntrack_pptp nf_conntrack_proto_gre nf_conntrack_netlink nf_conntrack_netbios_ns nf_conntrack_irc nf_conntrack_h323 nf_conntrack_ftp xt_tcpmss xt_pkttype xt_physdev xt_NFQUEUE xt_NFLOG xt_multiport xt_MARK xt_mark xt_mac xt_limit xt_length xt_helper xt_hashlimit ip6_tables xt_dccp xt_conntrack snd_pcm_oss snd_mixer_oss snd_pcm async_memcpy async_tx xor
rt61pci_interrupt+0x13f/0x220 [rt61pci]
[55139.620871] [<c016da50>] handle_IRQ_event+0x30/0x60
[55139.620938] [<c016f3ec>] handle_level_irq+0x7c/0xf0
[55139.620999] [<c010a93b>] do_IRQ+0x3b/0x70
[55139.621075] [<c0108dff>] common_interrupt+0x23/0x28
[55139.621181] [<c0136c30>] __do_softirq+0x60/0x110
[55139.621268] [<c0136d35>] do_softirq+0x55/0x60
[55139.621310] [<c013701d>] irq_exit+0x6d/0x80
[55139.621345] [<c010a940>] do_IRQ+0x40/0x70
common_interrupt+0x23/0x28
[55139.621548] [<c01d7070>] write_sysrq_trigger+0x0/0x30
[55139.621622] [<c033041d>] _spin_unlock_irqrestore+0xd/0x20
[55139.621675] [<c01d709b>] write_sysrq_trigger+0x2b/0x30
[55139.621804] [<c01d09f3>] proc_reg_write+0x63/0xa0
[55139.621876] [<c01d0990>] proc_reg_write+0x0/0xa0
[55139.621919] [<c019acc9>] vfs_write+0xb9/0x170
[55139.621991] [<c019b3f1>] sys_write+0x41/0x70
[55139.622059] [<c010839a>] sysenter_past_esp+0x6b/0xa1
[55139.622189] =======================
[55139.622216] Code: fe 0f 0b eb fe 8d 74 26 00 0f 0b eb fe 8d b6 00 [55139.623044] Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception in interrupt

uname -a
Linux tefal 2.6.24-12-server #1 SMP Wed Mar 12 23:34:17 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

modinfo rt61pci filename: /lib/modules/2.6.24-12-server/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rt2x00/rt61pci.ko
license: GPL
firmware: rt2661.bin
firmware: rt2561s.bin
firmware: rt2561.bin
description: Ralink RT61 PCI & PCMCIA Wireless LAN driver.
version: 2.0.10
author: http://rt2x00.serialmonkey.com
srcversion: D71C36F67F7A0F8B005A78F
alias: pci:v00001814d00000401sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00001814d00000302sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00001814d00000301sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
depends: rt2x00lib,rt2x00pci,mac80211,eeprom_93cx6
vermagic: 2.6.24-12-server SMP mod_unload 686

Here is how I get panic messages;
My box is a router, and it is connected to the desktop via wired ethernet.
# On the router - substitute the IP of the desktop
sudo mod...

[discord (colin.williams)]

i installed hardy beta on my friends core2 desktop with wmp54g 4.1 pci card. rt61pci module is causing system to crash...

[Gabriel de Perthuis (g2p)]

It is fixed upstream, I am running 464535a375cc7b28cc739bfed95adbcc5e5f2ee6 from the wireless-testing git tree. This is slightly more recent than the soon to be released 2.6.25 kernel. I'll try to see if 2.6.25 it has the bug, otherwise the fix will be in 2.6.26.

I do not think this has a chance to be fixed in hardy, since it will stick to a 2.6.24 kernel.
Unless someone writes a patch to 2.6.24 that, while not really fixing the issue, at least prevents the crash. This thread explains the bug: http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.linux.kernel.wireless.general/12948 .

It is not that easy either to get 2.6.25 working, since make-kpkg doesn't work with that recent kernel - http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=446879 .
The only way to have wifi not crashing right now is to compile your kernel yourself.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Hi Gabriel,

Thanks for testing upstream and reporting back here. It's definitely a big help and much appreciated. Unfortunately as you commented, we're currently in Beta freeze for Hardy and the kernel is pretty much frozen right now unless there are any major showstoppers. Assuming the fixes in the wireless-testing branch get merged upstream in a timely fashion, they should be available in Hardy+1 (The Intrepid Ibex 8.10). Thanks.

[Martin (martin-zdila)]

hello

i have the same problem in hardy heron release version :-(

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Hi everyone,

Could you test a few things . . .

1) Try installing the linux-backports-modules package as it pulled in serialmonkey version 2.1.5 rt2x00 driver updates.
2) If that doesn't work, how about testing the Intrepid Ibex 8.10 kernel which is currently being pulled together. It is currently available in the following PPA:

https://edge.launchpad.net/~kernel-ppa/+archive

If you are not familiar with how to install packages from a PPA basically do the following:

Create the file /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kernel-ppa.list to include the following two lines:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kernel-ppa/ubuntu hardy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/kernel-ppa/ubuntu hardy main

Then run the command:

sudo apt-get update

You should then be able to install the linux-image-2.6.25 kernel package. Please let us know your results. Thanks!

[Bruce McIntyre (bruskiza)]

Hi Leann,

You linux-backports-modules package did the trick.

Additionally, I had to download and install the RaLink firmware from their site and had to extract it to /lib/firmware, but once that was done, my wireless card started working again.

I am using the non-alpha version of Hardy, 8.10 proper.

Thanks

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Bruce, thanks for testing and the feedback. Arnold, since you are the original bug reporter, care to comment if linux-backports-modules works for you? Thanks.

[Arnold Meijster (a-meijster)]

Hi Leann (and others),

I am really sorry, but I gave up on this. It was really driving me nuts, and so I decided
to buy some other wireless card (one from intel). This one works fine.

I really don't want to risk that everything breaks down again switching back to the rt61.
I use this laptop for teaching purposes (I lecture at university with this laptop) and cannot risk
any crashes at the moment (I am teaching two courses int the current semester).

Sorry, and regards,

  Arnold

[joe57005 (joe57005)]

I've been having precisely the same problem, with the same rt61 chipset. I followed Leann's advice and installed
linux-backports-modules-2.6.24-16-generic vie synaptic, and it seems to have done the trick! no more freezes or flashing caps lock!
Thank you all! I only wish i found this earlier!

[bashar29 (bashar29)]

Hi
Same here, the linux-backports-modules-2.6.24-17-generic installation via synaptic save me. The card worked immediately after that upgrade ; no more freeze since 2 weeks, before that the kernel panic occured after less than 5 mins of web activity.

NB : My wifi card is a linksys with the rt61 chipset. Im using the amd64 desktop 8.04 install.

Thanks for the job.

[Steve Blamey (fedorus-deactivatedaccount)]

I followed the advice here and it stopped the kernel panic on my system (Dell D610 Laptop/Edimax PCMCIA card with rt61 chipset). I now have a stable wireless connection all day without having to suffer kernel panics or, in 7.10, having to unload/reload the kernel module.

Great work.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the testing and the feedback. It seems linux-backports-modules fixed the issue so I'll go ahead and mark this "Fix Released". Arnold, sorry we didn't get this fix to you earlier :( However, please continue to report any future bugs that you may find. We really do appreciate it. Thanks.

[JaddJadd (triplezone3-gmail-deactivatedaccount)]

I have the same card and installing linux-backport-modules from the proposed repository did not stop the freezing. Should I file a new bug report?

[Alasdair (stochata)]

Ditto. Just came here to post same.

[Glitch (jghaanstra)]

Still having random freezes with the rt61 even after installing the linux-backports-modules. This network chip (rt61) has been giving me a hard time ever since I switched to Ubuntu, support is just terrible.

Same question as JaddJadd, should I open a new bug report for this. I'm a bit of a newb so may not be the best man for the job of trouble shooting. I'm also a bit scared to install the Intrepid Ibex 8.10 kernel as a solution though as this is a production machine, but then again it cant get much worse then this can it.

[Alasdair (stochata)]

Glitch, if you don't want to install a new kernel, you can install ndiswrapper and the Windows drivers. Given I will upgrade the kernel at some point in the future any way, this seemed like a good stopgap workaround for now. I set up, working fine for me. Probably easiest through the graphical front end -- install ndisgtk using synaptic and it should pull in the required dependencies. See documentation here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/Driver/Ndiswrapper

[Steve Blamey (fedorus-deactivatedaccount)]

Since my initial thumbs-up for the fix in backports, I have found two small issues. First, after booting from cold the wireless network does not always get connected and I have to unload and reload the rt61pci module. Also, after resuming the wireless network never reconnects and I have unload/reload the module.

Second, the activity indicator light on my card stays on even when there is no network traffic.

Those issues aside, and once I have a connection, I have had no more kernel panics and the connection remains 100% stable. Its a shame that others are still getting panics, perhaps there are some differences in the rt61 hardware that we are all running, e.g. some PCMCIA, PCI others integrated in laptops, and the issues arise there?

[Glitch (jghaanstra)]

Thanx for the suggestion Alasdair. I have tried to get it to work with ndiswrapper. Installing the Windows driver went fine but it keeps telling me there is an alternative driver present on 'ndiswrapper -l' even after blacklisting and unloading rt61pci.

After that I tried to install the Intrepid Ibex 8.10 kernel by following the instructions in this bug report. Didnt work, after the 'apt-get update' nothing happened and nothing changed.

I've completely had it with Ubuntu and this network card.

[JaddJadd (triplezone3-gmail-deactivatedaccount)]

Don't give up completely Glitch, rt61 did work on Ubuntu 7.10 with Wicd network manager. That's what I'm using now.

[Alasdair (stochata)]

I know the frustration, Glitch! Just to check: you should have the following lines in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist in order to prevent the serialmonkey drivers from loading:
blacklist rt61pci
blacklist rt2x00lib
blacklist rt2x00pci

[Glitch (jghaanstra)]

Same here JaddJadd, had it working with wicd under 7.10, which is a really nice network manager. And yes, I had those lines blacklisted Alasdair but it didnt seem to matter. I have chosen a different approach at least till 8.10 comes out. I still had a USB Wifi dongle laying around (Speedtouch 121g), had this working within 10 minutes with ndiswrapper and although I didnt have much time to test it but as far as I can tell at this moment this gives me (or actually my girlfriend since it's her laptop) a rock steady connection. Thanx for the support however ...

[Cuppa-Chino (hamcatcher)]

I also get the freezes, with or without backports

[Blido (inseyn)]

No permanent fix for this ? For me it was impossible to use hardy. And I'm not new to linux. Newcomers wouldn't like these constant freezes. I know I don't. And with the fix I use I can't get my ati-card working.

Is it anyone who knows if that will be the case during the whole hardy-time?

[Joachim R. (jro)]

Rpport proposed by launchpad. Don't know if it is appropriate

[iponeverything (cookema)]

also posted this relation to #90243

I have a level one wpc-301 v4 that is affected by rt61pci lockup issue in hardy using 2.6.24-19-generic and version 2.0.10 of the rt61pci module. I slapped on linux-backports-modules which seemed to resolve the issue with the hard lockups, but activity light on the card stayed lit regardless of activity -- I used this for two days before going to 2.6.27

I have now installed linux-image-generic_2.6.27-4.6_i386, and so far all seems good, as it has not locked up yet and problem with activity light is gone. rt61pci version is 2.1.8 in this kernel package.

[scott (s-varley)]

MY system was unstable with 2.6.24-19-generic. Now I installed the linux-image-generic_2.6.27-4.6_i386, system stable but no wireless networks available.

[iponeverything (cookema)]

What I am now seeing with linux-image-generic_2.6.27-4.6 -- works well -- except:

resume from suspend has problems --- a process called event/0 goes bonkers, cpu load pegs and the system becomes unusable as keyboard input no longer works. Sometimes removing the card will snap event/0 out it, sometimes not.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Per a decision made by the Ubuntu Kernel Team, bugs will longer be assigned to the ubuntu-kernel-team in Launchpad as part of the bug triage process. The ubuntu-kernel-team is being unassigned from this bug report. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeamBugPolicies for more information. Thanks.