Comment 0 for bug 1939937

Hello, I use Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS.

The kernel was recently updated to 5.11

5.11.0-25-generic #27~20.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Tue Jul 13 17:41:23 UTC 2021 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Since then the ath10k_core driver for my QCA9984 card is broken and only loads ~3 firmware versions from the 3.9.0.2 branch

https://github.com/kvalo/ath10k-firmware/tree/master/QCA9984/hw1.0/3.9.0.2

The firmware versions 70 / 86 / 91 are functional (but these firmware versions are already 2 years old)

Responsible for this is the defective patch "ath10k: add target IRAM recovery feature support"

https://git.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-kernel/ubuntu/+source/linux/+git/focal/commit/?h=hwe-5.11&id=9af7c32ceca85da27867dd863697d2aafc80a3f8

If I understand the patch correctly then the driver tries to load firmware with the feature "iram recovery" into the memory of the host (for recvovery purposes).

If this fails, the firmware is discarded and the network controller remains unusable.

Of course, this is not a desirable behavior for optional firmware features.

dmesg:

[ 3.074952] ath: loading out-of-tree module taints kernel.
[ 3.090522] ath: module verification failed: signature and/or required key missing - tainting kernel
[ 3.110879] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: pci irq msi oper_irq_mode 2 irq_mode 0 reset_mode 0
[ 3.178741] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: pci irq msi oper_irq_mode 2 irq_mode 0 reset_mode 0
[ 3.229944] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: qca9984/qca9994 hw1.0 target 0x01000000 chip_id 0x00000000 sub 168c:cafe
[ 3.229948] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: kconfig debug 0 debugfs 1 tracing 1 dfs 0 testmode 0
[ 3.230274] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: firmware ver 10.4-3.9.0.2-00149 api 5 features no-p2p,mfp,peer-flow-ctrl,btcoex-param,allows-mesh-bcast,no-ps,peer-fixed-rate,iram-recovery crc32 5f41acd7
[ 3.291329] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qca9984/qca9994 hw1.0 target 0x01000000 chip_id 0x00000000 sub 168c:cafe
[ 3.291333] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: kconfig debug 0 debugfs 1 tracing 1 dfs 0 testmode 0
[ 3.291678] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: firmware ver 10.4-3.9.0.2-00149 api 5 features no-p2p,mfp,peer-flow-ctrl,btcoex-param,allows-mesh-bcast,no-ps,peer-fixed-rate,iram-recovery crc32 5f41acd7
[ 4.463156] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: board_file api 2 bmi_id 0:1 crc32 85498734
[ 4.520649] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: board_file api 2 bmi_id 0:2 crc32 85498734
[ 7.047910] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: failed to copy target iram contents: -12
[ 7.103260] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: could not init core (-12)
[ 7.103267] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: could not probe fw (-12)
[ 7.108570] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: failed to copy target iram contents: -12
[ 7.163247] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: could not init core (-12)
[ 7.163268] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: could not probe fw (-12)

In the ath10k mailing list I found a second patch which makes it possible to load the latest firmware on the card again.

https://<email address hidden>/msg13655.html

I have tested the patch and it works.

dmesg:

[18245.610112] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: pci irq msi oper_irq_mode 2 irq_mode 0 reset_mode 0
[18245.674800] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: pci irq msi oper_irq_mode 2 irq_mode 0 reset_mode 0
[18245.731606] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: qca9984/qca9994 hw1.0 target 0x01000000 chip_id 0x00000000 sub 168c:cafe
[18245.731620] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: kconfig debug 0 debugfs 1 tracing 1 dfs 0 testmode 0
[18245.733172] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: firmware ver 10.4-3.9.0.2-00152 api 5 features no-p2p,mfp,peer-flow-ctrl,btcoex-param,allows-mesh-bcast,no-ps,peer-fixed-rate,iram-recovery crc32 723f9771
[18245.790380] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qca9984/qca9994 hw1.0 target 0x01000000 chip_id 0x00000000 sub 168c:cafe
[18245.790383] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: kconfig debug 0 debugfs 1 tracing 1 dfs 0 testmode 0
[18245.790703] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: firmware ver 10.4-3.9.0.2-00152 api 5 features no-p2p,mfp,peer-flow-ctrl,btcoex-param,allows-mesh-bcast,no-ps,peer-fixed-rate,iram-recovery crc32 723f9771
[18246.963760] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: board_file api 2 bmi_id 0:1 crc32 85498734
[18247.019699] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: board_file api 2 bmi_id 0:2 crc32 85498734
[18249.514054] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: No hardware memory
[18249.514057] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: failed to copy target iram contents: -12
[18249.570423] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: No hardware memory
[18249.570426] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: failed to copy target iram contents: -12
[18249.620637] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: htt-ver 2.2 wmi-op 6 htt-op 4 cal otp max-sta 512 raw 0 hwcrypto 1
[18249.678035] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: htt-ver 2.2 wmi-op 6 htt-op 4 cal otp max-sta 512 raw 0 hwcrypto 1

Please include this patch in Ubuntu so that we can load current firmware versions on our QCA9984 cards again.

additional reference:

https://lists.infradead.org/pipermail/ath10k/2021-May/012626.html

best regards