Re: R8169: Network lockups in 4.18.{8,9,10} (and 4.19 dev)

From: Chris Clayton
Date: Wed Oct 10 2018 - 18:49:41 EST


OK, right kernel/module used this time. Please see findings below.

On 10/10/2018 01:24, Maciej S. Szmigiero wrote:
> On 09.10.2018 22:36, Heiner Kallweit wrote:
>> On 09.10.2018 16:40, Chris Clayton wrote:
>>> Thanks to Maciej and Heiner for their replies.
>>>
>>> On 09/10/2018 13:32, Maciej S. Szmigiero wrote:
>>>> On 07.10.2018 21:36, Chris Clayton wrote:
>>>>> Hi again,
>>>>>
>>>>> I didn't think there was anything in 4.19-rc7 to fix this regression, but tried it anyway. I can confirm that the
>>>>> regression is still present and my network still fails when, after a resume from suspend (to ram or disk), I open my
>>>>> browser or my mail client. In both those cases the failure is almost immediate - e.g. my home page doesn't get displayed
>>>>> in the browser. Pinging one of my ISPs name servers doesn't fail quite so quickly but the reported time increases from
>>>>> 14-15ms to more than 1000ms.
>>>>
>>>> You can try comparing chip registers (ethtool -d eth0) in the working
>>>> state (before a suspend) and in the broken state (after a resume).
>>>> Maybe there will be some obvious in the difference.
>>>>
>>>> The same goes for the PCI configuration (lspci -d :8168 -vv).
>>>>
>>> Maciej suggested comparing the output from lspci -vv for the ethernet device. They are identical.
>>>
>>> Both Maciej and Heiner suggested comparing the output from "ethtool -d" pre and post suspend. Again, they are identical.
>>> Heiner specifically suggested looking at the RxConfig. The value of that is 0x0002870e both pre and post suspend.
>>>
>> Hmm, this is very weird, especially taking into account that in your original
>> report you state that removing the call to rtl_init_rxcfg() from rtl_hw_start()
>> fixes the issue. rtl_init_rxcfg() deals with the RxConfig register only and
>> register values seem to be the same before and after resume. So how can the
>> chip behave differently?
>> So far my best guess is that some chip quirk causes it to accept writes to
>> register RxConfig, but to misinterpret or ignore the written value.
>> So far your report is the only one (affecting RTL8411), but we don't know
>> whether other chip versions are affected too.
>
> Also, it is interesting that even if one removes a call to
> rtl_init_rxcfg() from rtl_hw_start() the RxConfig register will still get
> written to moments later by rtl_set_rx_mode().
>
> The only chip accesses in the meantime seems to be a write to TxConfig by
> rtl_set_tx_config_registers() and then a read of RxConfig plus two writes
> to MAR0 earlier in rtl_set_rx_mode().
>
> My proposals are:
> 1) Try swapping "rtl_init_rxcfg(tp);" and "rtl_set_tx_config_registers(tp);"
> in rtl_hw_start().
> Maybe the chip does not like sometimes that RxConfig is written before
> TxConfig.
>

This change made no difference. Networking still dies if I open a browser or leave ping running long enough.

> 2) Check the original value of RxConfig (after a resume) before
> rtl_init_rxcfg() overwrites it (compile tested only):
> --- r8169.c.ori
> +++ r8169.c
> @@ -5155,6 +5155,9 @@
> /* Initially a 10 us delay. Turned it into a PCI commit. - FR */
> RTL_R8(tp, IntrMask);
> RTL_W8(tp, ChipCmd, CmdTxEnb | CmdRxEnb);
> +
> + pr_notice("RxConfig before init was %.8x\n",
> + (unsigned int)RTL_R32(tp, RxConfig));
> rtl_init_rxcfg(tp);
> rtl_set_tx_config_registers(tp);
>
>
> This should be the value that you got when you removed the call to
> rtl_init_rxcfg() for testing.
> Now, knowing the "right" value you can experiment with what rtl_init_rxcfg()
> writes (under the "default:" label for your NIC model).
>

This might be more interesting. Through a combination of viewing the output from pr_notice() and the output from
"ethtool -d", I can see RxConfig with the following values

During boot: 0x00028700
Before suspend: 0x0002870e
During resume: 0x00024000
Post resume: 0x0002870e

As I did with 4.18.10 early on in the process, I removed the call to rtl_init_rxcfg() from rtl_hw_start() and rebuilt,
installed and rebooted. Now I see the following values:

During boot: 0x00028700
Before suspend: 0x0002870e
During resume: 0x00024000
Post resume: 0x0002400e

As with 4.18.10, networking now appears to be stable after the resume. Starting a browser results in my homepage being
displayed and I've spent a few minutes surfing with no interruptions. Similarly, ping runs without stopping. I simply
don't know enough to know what might now be enabled or disabled by this change in value, but hopefully it will provide a
clue to someone as to what is going on.

Chris

> Hope this helps,
> Maciej
>