RT2500 card drops rate to 1M

[Ralf Hildebrandt]

Binary package hint: linux-image-2.6.27-4-generic

02:09.0 Network controller: RaLink RT2500 802.11g Cardbus/mini-PCI (rev 01)
        Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Device 6833
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV+ VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B- DisINTx-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=slow >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
        Latency: 64, Cache Line Size: 64 bytes
        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 22
        Region 0: Memory at fbffc000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8K]
        Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1- D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-
        Kernel driver in use: rt2500pci
        Kernel modules: rt2500pci

This card, when used with:

% iwconfig wlan0 rate 54M auto

will never stay at 54M, but instead will immediately drop to 1M and stay there.
Setting the rate using:

% iwconfig wlan0 rate 54M

locks the card at 54M, which is fine.

linux-image-2.6.27-4-generic 2.6.27-4.6

[gpothier (gpothier)]

Probably the same as Bug #190515

[kernel-janitor (kernel-janitor)]

Hi Ralf,

This bug was reported a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue? Can you try with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO CD images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/karmic .

If it remains an issue, could you run the following command from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal). It will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report.

apport-collect -p linux 276050

Also, if you could test the latest upstream kernel available that would be great. It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please remove the 'needs-upstream-testing' tag. This can be done by clicking on the yellow pencil icon next to the tag located at the bottom of the bug description and deleting the 'needs-upstream-testing' text. Please let us know your results.

Thanks in advance.

[This is an automated message. Apologies if it has reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[Bernard Decock (decockbernard)]

I can confirm this problem (wl-167g usb-adapter which uses rt2500usb -> rt2500 driver) on ubuntu 9.04

iwconfig
 returns : wlan0 Bit Rate=1 Mb/s Tx-Power=20 dBm

where iwlist wlan0 bitrate
 returns
          wlan0 unknown bit-rate information.

          Current Bit Rate=54 Mb/s

iwconfig <-> iwlist ????

Network is unstable and is incredibly slow (takes sometimes about 10 seconds before a ping to my router is returned)

I thought that sudo iwconfig wlan0 rate 54M hepled, but after rebooting and issuing this command again, the network
was unstable and slow again (The network was stable with ubuntu's (7.10 .. 8.10)

[Dustin Calhoun (dustin-calhoun)]

A way to work around the bit rate issue is to edit rc.local

/etc/rc.local

iwconfig wlan0 rate 54M
iwconfig wlan0 rate fixed

exit 0

This is no solution for the poor connectivity however.

[Stéphane B. (baiget-stephane)]

This work around doesn't work anymore with Karmic.
The connection is very slow.

[Ernst (ernst-blaauw)]

I still have this issue on Karmic. Any progress on this bug report? Can I help to solve the problem?

[bbharat (bbharat)]

AplayDevices:
 **** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
 card 0: I82801BAICH2 [Intel 82801BA-ICH2], device 0: Intel ICH [Intel 82801BA-ICH2]
   Subdevices: 1/1
   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
Architecture: i386
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: ramakrishnan 1343 F.... pulseaudio
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'I82801BAICH2'/'Intel 82801BA-ICH2 with AD1885 at irq 17'
   Mixer name : 'Analog Devices AD1885'
   Components : 'AC97a:41445360'
   Controls : 38
   Simple ctrls : 27
Card1.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:1 'UART'/'MPU-401 UART at 0x330, irq 10'
   Mixer name : ''
   Components : ''
   Controls : 0
   Simple ctrls : 0
Card1.Amixer.values:

CheckboxSubmission: 0c09b7df12f4e8ec694c7deb76b4caff
CheckboxSystem: 6ce041aeed0a2c17b3343b66d157175d
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=33b5d811-6c89-4009-9008-cd2845fcc051
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" - Release i386 (20091028.5)
Lsusb:
 Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
 Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
MachineType: HP Pavilion 04 D7210U-ABA 7905
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Package: linux (not installed)
ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-15-generic root=UUID=6ead100b-e2ed-4bbd-9f9d-758628d0dd72 ro quiet splash
ProcEnviron:
 SHELL=/bin/bash
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-15.50-generic
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-backports-modules-2.6.31-15-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.25
RfKill:
 0: phy0: Wireless LAN
  Soft blocked: no
  Hard blocked: no
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-15-generic i686
UserGroups: adm admin audio cdrom dialout lpadmin netdev plugdev sambashare video
dmi.bios.date: 08/28/2001
dmi.bios.vendor: Award Software, Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 3.05
dmi.board.name: P4B-LA
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
dmi.board.version: REV 1.xx
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: N/A
dmi.chassis.type: 6
dmi.chassis.vendor: Hewlett-Packard
dmi.chassis.version: 1.00
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAwardSoftware,Inc.:bvr3.05:bd08/28/2001:svnHPPavilion04:pnD7210U-ABA7905:pvr30000RE101AMAZO:rvnASUSTeKComputerINC.:rnP4B-LA:rvrREV1.xx:cvnHewlett-Packard:ct6:cvr1.00:
dmi.product.name: D7210U-ABA 7905
dmi.product.version: 30000RE101AMAZO
dmi.sys.vendor: HP Pavilion 04

[Jeremy Wilkins (wjeremy)]

This bug affects more than just the rt2500 cards. My Realtek 8185 card is also affected in exactly the same way using the r8180 driver on Karmic. I can force the rate up, but it automatically drops to 1M on its own.

[Jeremy Wilkins (wjeremy)]

The workaround I used is to add a script in the /etc/network/if-up.d folder which forces the interface to raise its wireless rate to 54M. This seems to work quite well. If you want to use this script you will have to customize it to match your wireless card name. mine was wlan0 and most people use this I think.

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This bug was filed against a series that is no longer supported and so is being marked as Won't Fix. If this issue still exists in a supported series, please file a new bug.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.