Scheduled Maintenance: We are aware of an issue with Google, AOL, and Yahoo services as email providers which are blocking new registrations. We are trying to fix the issue and we have several internal and external support tickets in process to resolve the issue. Please see: viewtopic.php?t=158230

 

 

 

atheros wi-fi + intel VGA on corei5 postinstallation issue

Need help with peripherals or devices?
Post Reply
Message
Author
pansonic
Posts: 4
Joined: 2017-02-20 23:12

atheros wi-fi + intel VGA on corei5 postinstallation issue

#1 Post by pansonic »

Premise
Hello debian people,
this is my first post, so let's do some presentation: I'm a web developer but not a total geek. After more then 10 working life took me from writing articles for the web to building websites. I'd like make debian my main working platform, I think you clearly bet why. Alongside servers machines, some time ago I had a nice experience when debian (+ LXDE) give a new birth to an old compaq Presario from the year 2002 AD.
As I told you, I'm not a geek, but I don't have too much fear of terminal: it barks sometimes, but it never bitten.
Oh, as you can read I'm not a native English speaker, sorry for mistakes here and there :oops:

Technical Stuff

In a Human Readable terms, after an installation of debian 8.7.1 amd64 from official iso I noticed two main issues: wi-fi card and brightness/contrast/color control. I tried to solve by myself reading lots of documentation, winning some battles but loosing the war. I understand that could be related to non-free firmware, maybe involving kernel. So I tried again with a unofficial debian 8.7.1 release netinst with non-free firmware. Unfortunately the firmware I probably need it's not included.

to be more specific on the version in use
[ 0.000000] Linux version 3.16.0-4-amd64 (debian-kernel@lists.debian.org) (gcc version 4.8.4 (Debian 4.8.4-1) ) #1 SMP Debian 3.16.39-1 (2016-12-30)
[ 0.000000] Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.16.0-4-amd64 root=UUID=b0c67866-0465-4ef3-b903-28a68b62aef7 ro quiet
In my first attempt I tried to install the ath10k firmware, cause I sorted out that could fit the wi-fi card. For those who can understand this (not me) I runned a very verbose lspci:
02:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros Device 0042 (rev 30)
Subsystem: Lenovo Device 4035
Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
Latency: 0
Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 11
Region 0: Memory at d1000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2M]
Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3
Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1- D2- AuxCurrent=375mA PME(D0+,D1-,D2-,D3hot+,D3cold+)
Status: D0 NoSoftRst- PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-
Capabilities: [50] MSI: Enable- Count=1/8 Maskable+ 64bit-
Address: 00000000 Data: 0000
Masking: 00000000 Pending: 00000000
Capabilities: [70] Express (v2) Endpoint, MSI 00
DevCap: MaxPayload 256 bytes, PhantFunc 0, Latency L0s unlimited, L1 <64us
ExtTag- AttnBtn- AttnInd- PwrInd- RBE+ FLReset-
DevCtl: Report errors: Correctable- Non-Fatal- Fatal- Unsupported-
RlxdOrd+ ExtTag- PhantFunc- AuxPwr- NoSnoop-
MaxPayload 256 bytes, MaxReadReq 512 bytes
DevSta: CorrErr+ UncorrErr- FatalErr- UnsuppReq+ AuxPwr+ TransPend-
LnkCap: Port #0, Speed 2.5GT/s, Width x1, ASPM L0s L1, Exit Latency L0s <4us, L1 <64us
ClockPM+ Surprise- LLActRep- BwNot-
LnkCtl: ASPM L0s L1 Enabled; RCB 64 bytes Disabled- CommClk+
ExtSynch- ClockPM+ AutWidDis- BWInt- AutBWInt-
LnkSta: Speed 2.5GT/s, Width x1, TrErr- Train- SlotClk+ DLActive- BWMgmt- ABWMgmt-
DevCap2: Completion Timeout: Not Supported, TimeoutDis+, LTR+, OBFF Via message
DevCtl2: Completion Timeout: 50us to 50ms, TimeoutDis-, LTR+, OBFF Disabled
LnkCtl2: Target Link Speed: 2.5GT/s, EnterCompliance- SpeedDis-
Transmit Margin: Normal Operating Range, EnterModifiedCompliance- ComplianceSOS-
Compliance De-emphasis: -6dB
LnkSta2: Current De-emphasis Level: -6dB, EqualizationComplete-, EqualizationPhase1-
EqualizationPhase2-, EqualizationPhase3-, LinkEqualizationRequest-
Capabilities: [100 v2] Advanced Error Reporting
UESta: DLP- SDES- TLP- FCP- CmpltTO- CmpltAbrt- UnxCmplt- RxOF- MalfTLP- ECRC- UnsupReq- ACSViol-
UEMsk: DLP- SDES- TLP- FCP- CmpltTO- CmpltAbrt- UnxCmplt- RxOF- MalfTLP- ECRC- UnsupReq- ACSViol-
UESvrt: DLP+ SDES+ TLP- FCP+ CmpltTO- CmpltAbrt- UnxCmplt- RxOF+ MalfTLP+ ECRC- UnsupReq- ACSViol-
CESta: RxErr- BadTLP- BadDLLP- Rollover- Timeout- NonFatalErr+
CEMsk: RxErr- BadTLP- BadDLLP- Rollover- Timeout- NonFatalErr+
AERCap: First Error Pointer: 00, GenCap- CGenEn- ChkCap- ChkEn-
Capabilities: [148 v1] Virtual Channel
Caps: LPEVC=0 RefClk=100ns PATEntryBits=1
Arb: Fixed- WRR32- WRR64- WRR128-
Ctrl: ArbSelect=Fixed
Status: InProgress-
VC0: Caps: PATOffset=00 MaxTimeSlots=1 RejSnoopTrans-
Arb: Fixed- WRR32- WRR64- WRR128- TWRR128- WRR256-
Ctrl: Enable+ ID=0 ArbSelect=Fixed TC/VC=ff
Status: NegoPending- InProgress-
Capabilities: [168 v1] Device Serial Number 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
Capabilities: [178 v1] Latency Tolerance Reporting
Max snoop latency: 3145728ns
Max no snoop latency: 3145728ns
Capabilities: [180 v1] L1 PM Substates
L1SubCap: PCI-PM_L1.2+ PCI-PM_L1.1+ ASPM_L1.2+ ASPM_L1.1+ L1_PM_Substates+
PortCommonModeRestoreTime=50us PortTPowerOnTime=10us
The rebirth of the compaq (see premise) came useful because at the time I bought a wi-fi usb adapter ready for linux, which I'm using instead of the built-in.
After installing the ath10k firmware from https://github.com/kvalo/ath10k-firmware by the "make" method, the system recognized the wi-fi card, but it was unstable, had waving signal and above all I noticed that the notebook never shoot down or stuck on reboot.

I tried a backport, but didn't solved.
I tried to update the kernel to solve the shootdown problem, but maybe I messed something and can't even boot.

I don't know if I should post another thread: let me know better guidelines to adjust the title (make it more useful for other users) and split the post. Anyway I think it's firmware-related but I can't find documentation that fits my case, or maybe I'm missing something.
I have problem with brightness control (this screen is hurting my eyes and wasting energy). The folder /sys/class/backlight is empty. I read it is a common issue. Hope this information will help you to drive me to the right point.
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Device 1916 (rev 07) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
Subsystem: Lenovo Device 3802
Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
Latency: 0
Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 11
Region 0: Memory at d0000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
Region 2: Memory at c0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
Region 4: I/O ports at e000
Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled]
Capabilities: [40] Vendor Specific Information: Len=0c <?>
Capabilities: [70] Express (v2) Root Complex Integrated Endpoint, MSI 00
DevCap: MaxPayload 128 bytes, PhantFunc 0
ExtTag- RBE+
DevCtl: Report errors: Correctable- Non-Fatal- Fatal- Unsupported-
RlxdOrd- ExtTag- PhantFunc- AuxPwr- NoSnoop-
MaxPayload 128 bytes, MaxReadReq 128 bytes
DevSta: CorrErr- UncorrErr- FatalErr- UnsuppReq- AuxPwr- TransPend-
DevCap2: Completion Timeout: Not Supported, TimeoutDis-, LTR-, OBFF Not Supported
DevCtl2: Completion Timeout: 50us to 50ms, TimeoutDis-, LTR-, OBFF Disabled
Capabilities: [ac] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit-
Address: 00000000 Data: 0000
Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 2
Flags: PMEClk- DSI+ D1- D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
Status: D0 NoSoftRst- PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-
Capabilities: [100 v1] #1b
Capabilities: [200 v1] Address Translation Service (ATS)
ATSCap: Invalidate Queue Depth: 00
ATSCtl: Enable-, Smallest Translation Unit: 00
Capabilities: [300 v1] #13


I know thees are common questions, but I'm not sure all the answer cover my case, and above all I fear to made a mess again, so I faced that I need help.
I can provide more information if needed, like posting dmesg.

Thank you, and sorry for being long.

User avatar
stevepusser
Posts: 12930
Joined: 2009-10-06 05:53
Has thanked: 41 times
Been thanked: 71 times

Re: atheros wi-fi + intel VGA on corei5 postinstallation iss

#2 Post by stevepusser »

You have a 6th generation Intel Skylake machine circa 2016, and those pesky kernel developers back in 2014 didn't add support for unknown future hardware for some reason. :lol:

Have you tried this how-to? http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=131611

You'll also need to add firmware-atheros from jessie-backports to that list for the wifi with the newer kernel.
MX Linux packager and developer

pansonic
Posts: 4
Joined: 2017-02-20 23:12

Re: atheros wi-fi + intel VGA on corei5 postinstallation iss

#3 Post by pansonic »

lol, :D

Edit 1: thank you for your reply stevepusser, I read it only after doing the steps I described below, but I appreciate your help

Upgrading the kernel was one step I made, but for sure I made something wrong and got heavy problems on booting.

Anyway I just upgraded to debian stretch then to the kernel 4.9.0-1

I removed unnecessary software by apt-get autoremove after upgrading.

I can control brightness now, which is a good sign, and I can use the wi-fi, even if it remain unstable and less powerful then its potential. On booting a message inform that ath10K failed to load. Checking for the dmesg I saw there are several firmware with similar errors.

Edit 2: it seems that some firmware failed to load but could be found directly. How should I handle this and other errors?

Many thanks in advance.

Code: Select all

sudo dmesg | egrep -i "firmware|fw"
[    0.401046] ACPI: [Firmware Bug]: BIOS _OSI(Linux) query ignored
[    1.713299] psmouse serio1: elantech: assuming hardware version 4 (with firmware version 0x594f03)
[   11.433844] [drm] GuC firmware load skipped
[   11.444136] i915 0000:00:02.0: firmware: failed to load i915/skl_dmc_ver1_26.bin (-2)
[   11.444148] i915 0000:00:02.0: Direct firmware load for i915/skl_dmc_ver1_26.bin failed with error -2
[   11.444153] i915 0000:00:02.0: Failed to load DMC firmware [https://01.org/linuxgraphics/intel-linux-graphics-firmwares], disabling runtime power management.
[   11.778305] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware: failed to load ath10k/pre-cal-pci-0000:02:00.0.bin (-2)
[   11.778308] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/pre-cal-pci-0000:02:00.0.bin failed with error -2
[   11.778335] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware: failed to load ath10k/cal-pci-0000:02:00.0.bin (-2)
[   11.778337] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/cal-pci-0000:02:00.0.bin failed with error -2
[   12.175351] bluetooth hci0: firmware: failed to load qca/rampatch_usb_00000300.bin (-2)
[   12.175354] bluetooth hci0: Direct firmware load for qca/rampatch_usb_00000300.bin failed with error -2
[   12.749355] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware ath10k/QCA9377/hw1.0/firmware-5.bin
[   12.750723] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware ver WLAN.TF.1.0-00267-1 api 5 features ignore-otp crc32 79cea2c7
[   13.962606] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware ath10k/QCA9377/hw1.0/board-2.bin
[   22.061339] r8169 0000:03:00.0: firmware: failed to load rtl_nic/rtl8168h-2.fw (-2)
[   22.061454] r8169 0000:03:00.0: Direct firmware load for rtl_nic/rtl8168h-2.fw failed with error -2
[   22.061461] r8169 0000:03:00.0 eth0: unable to load firmware patch rtl_nic/rtl8168h-2.fw (-2)

User avatar
stevepusser
Posts: 12930
Joined: 2009-10-06 05:53
Has thanked: 41 times
Been thanked: 71 times

Re: atheros wi-fi + intel VGA on corei5 postinstallation iss

#4 Post by stevepusser »

Skylake graphics also need firmware-misc-nonfree...will check on the Atheros firmware.
MX Linux packager and developer

pansonic
Posts: 4
Joined: 2017-02-20 23:12

Re: atheros wi-fi + intel VGA on corei5 postinstallation iss

#5 Post by pansonic »

stevepusser wrote:Skylake graphics also need firmware-misc-nonfree...will check on the Atheros firmware.
Installing firmware-misc-nonfree fixed the graphic card, thank you! I will check for other firmware missing (ath10k, bluetooth and ethernet). anyway moving forward to an optimal installation. I just had bad luck that stretch wasn't released as stable yet and I decided to install jessie from official iso :)

integrated Wi-fi is working and have better speed then before even if it says can't load atheros firmware.
May this be related to my attempt to install ath10k from github when I was with kernel 3.16/jessie?

Edit:
I searched in packages and installed firmware-atheros-20161130-2, r8168-dkms-8.043.02-1 (for ethernet).
Now dmesg reported:

Code: Select all

sudo dmesg | egrep -i "firmware|fw"
[    0.400380] ACPI: [Firmware Bug]: BIOS _OSI(Linux) query ignored
[    1.735996] psmouse serio1: elantech: assuming hardware version 4 (with firmware version 0x594f03)
[   11.401799] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware: failed to load ath10k/pre-cal-pci-0000:02:00.0.bin (-2)
[   11.401901] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/pre-cal-pci-0000:02:00.0.bin failed with error -2
[   11.401925] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware: failed to load ath10k/cal-pci-0000:02:00.0.bin (-2)
[   11.402018] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/cal-pci-0000:02:00.0.bin failed with error -2
[   11.847448] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware ath10k/QCA9377/hw1.0/firmware-5.bin
[   11.848817] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware ver WLAN.TF.1.0-00267-1 api 5 features ignore-otp crc32 79cea2c7
[   12.008278] bluetooth hci0: firmware: direct-loading firmware qca/rampatch_usb_00000300.bin
[   12.008293] Bluetooth: hci0: QCA: patch rome 0x300 build 0x3e8, firmware rome 0x300 build 0x111
[   12.108226] [drm] GuC firmware load skipped
[   12.244077] bluetooth hci0: firmware: direct-loading firmware qca/nvm_usb_00000300.bin
[   12.315396] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware ath10k/QCA9377/hw1.0/board-2.bin
[   12.572999] i915 0000:00:02.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware i915/skl_dmc_ver1_26.bin

User avatar
stevepusser
Posts: 12930
Joined: 2009-10-06 05:53
Has thanked: 41 times
Been thanked: 71 times

Re: atheros wi-fi + intel VGA on corei5 postinstallation iss

#6 Post by stevepusser »

My machine has similar Skylake graphics and Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 802.11ac wifi--apparently we don't get the firmware dmesg messages with the 4.8 kernel, but I get the same messages as you do with the 4.9 kernel, so it must have added those. Nevertheless, I can't see any difference in the video or wifi performance if I boot to either the 4.8 or 4.9 Liquorix kernels we (MX packaging team) backport to a Jessie base. Debian should have had bug reports on this by now, so we can hope an update to the firmware packages is in the works to get rid of the messages. Sometime another distro such as Siduction updates the firmware on their own--I'll take a look at what they added to their custom update here: http://packages.siduction.org/fixes/poo ... e-nonfree/

Though the Debian "-2" update makes it still seen as higher now...

The "modinfo <module>" command as root will tell what firmware the driver is looking for for a specific device, such as mine:

Code: Select all

# modinfo ath10k_pci
filename:       /lib/modules/4.9.0-11.1-liquorix-amd64/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/ath10k_pci.ko
firmware:       ath10k/QCA9377/hw1.0/board.bin
firmware:       ath10k/QCA9377/hw1.0/firmware-5.bin
Which firmware-atheros includes---I am starting to think that the missing firmware has to do with the Bluetooth part of the device.
MX Linux packager and developer

pansonic
Posts: 4
Joined: 2017-02-20 23:12

Re: atheros wi-fi + intel VGA on corei5 postinstallation iss

#7 Post by pansonic »

I noticed critically slow connection (not just slow loading pages which may involve graphics, but also downloading packages from terminal) with kernel 3.16+atheros firmware installed by github kvalo. Don't think it was due to connection because switching to the usb adapter increased performance. Anyway we know there are many factors related to the net, also possible errors I made during installation/configuration.
Now I'm using the integrated wi-fi card with good performance.

modinfo for ath10k_pci give me (posting the complete result):

Code: Select all

modinfo ath10k_pci
filename:       /lib/modules/4.9.0-1-amd64/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/ath10k_pci.ko
firmware:       ath10k/QCA9377/hw1.0/board.bin
firmware:       ath10k/QCA9377/hw1.0/firmware-5.bin
firmware:       ath10k/QCA6174/hw3.0/board-2.bin
firmware:       ath10k/QCA6174/hw3.0/board.bin
firmware:       ath10k/QCA6174/hw3.0/firmware-5.bin
firmware:       ath10k/QCA6174/hw3.0/firmware-4.bin
firmware:       ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/board-2.bin
firmware:       ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/board.bin
firmware:       ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/firmware-5.bin
firmware:       ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/firmware-4.bin
firmware:       ath10k/QCA9887/hw1.0/board-2.bin
firmware:       ath10k/QCA9887/hw1.0/board.bin
firmware:       ath10k/QCA9887/hw1.0/firmware-5.bin
firmware:       ath10k/QCA988X/hw2.0/board-2.bin
firmware:       ath10k/QCA988X/hw2.0/board.bin
firmware:       ath10k/QCA988X/hw2.0/firmware-5.bin
firmware:       ath10k/QCA988X/hw2.0/firmware-4.bin
firmware:       ath10k/QCA988X/hw2.0/firmware-3.bin
firmware:       ath10k/QCA988X/hw2.0/firmware-2.bin
license:        Dual BSD/GPL
description:    Driver support for Qualcomm Atheros 802.11ac WLAN PCIe/AHB devices
author:         Qualcomm Atheros
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000050sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000042sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000046sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000056sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000040sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd0000003Esv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000041sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v0000168Cd0000003Csv*sd*bc*sc*i*
depends:        ath10k_core
intree:         Y
vermagic:       4.9.0-1-amd64 SMP mod_unload modversions 
signat:         PKCS#7
signer:         
sig_key:        
sig_hashalgo:   md4
parm:           irq_mode:0: auto, 1: legacy, 2: msi (default: 0) (uint)
parm:           reset_mode:0: auto, 1: warm only (default: 0) (uint)
Besides that, you may be right thinking about a bluetooth issue. I didn't had the chance to test the bluetooth in jessie (notebook is new and came as freedos, not switching from other OS) I just saw the bluetooth icon on the top bar in gnome and assumed that it was recognized. The error came after the distro+kernel upgrade, so I can only say that I noticed it after that.

I run a dmesg for bluetooth.

Code: Select all

dmesg | grep -i blue
[   10.411058] Bluetooth: Core ver 2.22
[   10.411076] Bluetooth: HCI device and connection manager initialized
[   10.411080] Bluetooth: HCI socket layer initialized
[   10.411082] Bluetooth: L2CAP socket layer initialized
[   10.411089] Bluetooth: SCO socket layer initialized
[   10.606482] Bluetooth: HCI UART driver ver 2.3
[   10.606485] Bluetooth: HCI UART protocol H4 registered
[   10.606487] Bluetooth: HCI UART protocol BCSP registered
[   10.606488] Bluetooth: HCI UART protocol LL registered
[   10.606490] Bluetooth: HCI UART protocol ATH3K registered
[   10.606491] Bluetooth: HCI UART protocol Three-wire (H5) registered
[   10.606538] Bluetooth: HCI UART protocol Intel registered
[   10.606566] Bluetooth: HCI UART protocol Broadcom registered
[   10.606568] Bluetooth: HCI UART protocol QCA registered
[   10.606569] Bluetooth: HCI UART protocol AG6XX registered
[   10.606570] Bluetooth: HCI UART protocol Marvell registered
[   12.008278] bluetooth hci0: firmware: direct-loading firmware qca/rampatch_usb_00000300.bin
[   12.008288] Bluetooth: hci0: using rampatch file: qca/rampatch_usb_00000300.bin
[   12.008293] Bluetooth: hci0: QCA: patch rome 0x300 build 0x3e8, firmware rome 0x300 build 0x111
[   12.244077] bluetooth hci0: firmware: direct-loading firmware qca/nvm_usb_00000300.bin
[   12.244084] Bluetooth: hci0: using NVM file: qca/nvm_usb_00000300.bin
[   19.654551] Bluetooth: BNEP (Ethernet Emulation) ver 1.3
[   19.654554] Bluetooth: BNEP filters: protocol multicast
[   19.654561] Bluetooth: BNEP socket layer initialized
[   39.159033] Bluetooth: RFCOMM TTY layer initialized
[   39.159040] Bluetooth: RFCOMM socket layer initialized
[   39.159047] Bluetooth: RFCOMM ver 1.11
Thank you for your time and hard work.
Hope this will be helpful for other.

Post Reply