ath9k AR922X loses connection

[nixus_maximus]

Binary package hint: linux-image-2.6.32-24-generic

I recently bought an Atheros based wifi card. Generally the connection works and uses the ath9k module. But in case I transfer larger amounts of data, the connections stops working (although iwconfig reports no changes, the connections seems to be stable) and no data are transferred any more. I switched of nm-applet and configured /networking/interfaces, but this did not change anything. Only using the windows driver with ndiswrapper solved the problem, however this does not support the 802.11n-speed.

lspci reports:
04:05.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR922X Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)

I am using an up-to-date Ubuntu Lucid 32 bit system.

I have read similar bug reports surrounding atheros n-chipsets, but most of the problems were only temporary interuptions of the connection (mine is persistent). Using the linux-wireless-backports did not solve the problem either.

[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

Hi nixus_maximus,

Please be sure to confirm this issue exists with the latest development release of Ubuntu. ISO CD images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily/current/ . If the issue remains, please 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 622265

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.]

[nixus_maximus (schemonek)]

I can confirm that the problem is completely gone under Maverick!
Kind regards,
Simon

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for linux (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[Sami Pietila (sampie)]

This problem has reappeared in ubuntu natty. I have "Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR922X Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)", and it stops working just as described in original bug description.

[Pascal Schmolck (piccolino81)]

This problem has reappeared in Ubuntu Natty (beta1+updates). I have "Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR922X Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)", and it stops working just as described in original bug description. Surfing the web seems to be okay. But when using rsync or transmission and the connection breaks down within seconds.

[Christoph Korn (c-korn)]

Can confirm the issue.

Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR922X Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)

I cannot even ping my router: Destination Host Unreachable

I also already tried the nohwcrypt=1 option, without success.

This bug makes every network communication impossible rendering my PC useless.

The bug does not occur on my notebook where I am currently writing from.
It has an Intel network chipset:
Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 4965 AG or AGN [Kedron] Network Connection (rev 61)

[Drew (drew-slacker)]

Yes can also confirm this issue has reappeared in 11.04 final. I stayed away from the betas but got caught up in it anyway. My AR922X card was fine under both 10.04 and 10.10.. but now it will as described above just randomly drop out. ifconfig and the notification in X still says the connection is active but no traffic will flow unless the connection is manually dropped and restarted.

[Philipp Franck (philipp-franck)]

Not quite the same, but with the same Network - Controller. Sometimes I have no access to the internet altogether, but even when I can load some data, the connection speed is very slow and often aborts. While with the same computer but with Windows 7, there is no such problem.

[Bullfrog (bullfrog)]

I've been seeing this behavior since I changed my old wifi G card with a DWA-547.
When moving big amount of data suddenly it stops passing any info on wifi but apparently the system doesn't realize it (nothing on dmesg and wifi is still seen as "up and connected"). To "unstuck" it, I can either wait (sometimes doesn't work) or force a reconnect (I'm using network manager).
Happening on Ubuntu 10.10, kernel 2.6.35-28-generic (from repositories). Was happening in the past also with 10.04.
Haven't tried 11.

On the other side I've a router TP Link WL841ND, not experiencing any issues with other devices (Windows, Android and so on).

[Jason Workman (cybrsqrl75)]

Dlink DWA-552 with AR922x chip set and ath9k module on Lucid 64 bit with possible work around.

Coming here after bug#562674. I originally thought this was something with Nautilus but I managed to narrow down that my problem is with this card and driver and roughly fits the description of this bug.

I have the same problems as the original post but I only noticed a problem after trying to write large amounts of data to remote hosts, such as SMB shares on my NAT. On SMB, the connection at least gives me a timed out error. On other transfers like large file writes via ftp it just hangs indefinitely, like the OS forgot it was doing something. I can surf the net and download large files without issue, I have no need for large file uploads to the general internet so I can't comment on those. I tried everything in the original post including ndiswrapper, which is not really an option on Lucid 64, since the official drivers that are 64 bit do not work.
The same problems existed testing with the LiveCD of 11.04. I did not try 10.10.

While doing large writes with iftop running, I can watch as the connection drastically slows for no apparent reason. Sometimes it will pick back up and other times it will just die all together. The network manager and iwconfig do not show anything unusual when this happens. There are no errors reported in any of the logs showing that the computer was even aware of a problem. While poking around(for a few weeks), I hit on a work around.

The card seems to set the bit rate to 0 kb/s when it sets power management to on. The bit rate is messed up until I turn power management off. After that there are no time outs, but it is still not negotiating a good bit rate so I forced it to use a bit rate that I set for it.
I made my solution stick by doing the following:

Edited /etc/rc.local to include a line
 " iwconfig wlan# power off" where # is your device number,
Then I set my bit rate with "iwconfig wlan# rate $M" where $ is your target bit rate in whole numbers.
The lines should look something like "iwconfig wlan1 rate 54M"
The time outs stopped happening after this and the drastic shifts in bit rates seems to have been reduced.
I tried using the auto flag for my bit rate, but it didn't seem to work reliably.

The only problem I have now is my connection is slower than it should be, possibly related to the same thing causing the drop outs in the first place. I can only seem to get this N card to do G speeds.

I hope this helps someone figure out what is going on. If anyone figures out why my rate is limited , please send me a message or point me to a different bug rather than clog up this bug report.
(I have N cards and and an N router. This is the only card that negotiates this slow of a rate)

[Steven Chan (keelin-chan)]

tp link 851 with AR922x chip set and ath9k module on 11.04 very slow. went back to 10.04 LTS and network speeds is now normal (fast)

[Joachim R. (jro)]

I had the same problem and it seems to be gone after installing compat-wireless (linux-backports-modules-cw-2.6.39-2.6.38-10-generic). I need to test a little bit more to be sure this bug is gone for good.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

nixus_maximus, this bug report is being closed due to your last comment regarding this being fixed with an update. For future reference you can manage the status of your own bugs by clicking on the current status in the yellow line and then choosing a new status in the revealed drop down box. You can learn more about bug statuses at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Status. Thank you again for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please submit any future bugs you may find.