Re: [PATCH 1/4] rtlwifi: rtl8723ae: Take the FW LPS mode handling out

[Larry Finger]

On 1/5/19 5:31 AM, Bernd Edlinger wrote:
> On 1/5/19 3:44 AM, Larry Finger wrote:
> > On 1/4/19 6:48 AM, Bernd Edlinger wrote:
> > > This appears to trigger a firmware bug and causes severe
> > > problems with rtl8723ae PCI devices.
> > >
> > > When the power save mode is activated for longer periods
> > > of time the firmware stops to receive any packets.
> > >
> > > This problem was exposed by commit 873ffe154ae0 ("rtlwifi:
> > > Fix logic error in enter/exit power-save mode").
> > >
> > > Previously the power save mode was only active rarely and
> > > only for a short time so that the problem was not noticeable.
> > >
> > > Signed-off-by: Bernd Edlinger <bernd.edlinger@xxxxxxxxxx>
> > > ---
> >
> > While the Realtek firmware group has a chance to look for a bug, I would like you to perform a couple of tests on the original code.
> >
> > The driver has three module parameters that affect power save. The 'modinfo rtl8723ae' command lists them as
> >
> > parm:ÂÂ ips:Set to 0 to not use link power save (default 1) (bool)
> > parm:ÂÂ swlps:Set to 1 to use SW control power save (default 0) (bool)
> > parm:ÂÂ fwlps:Set to 1 to use FW control power save (default 1) (bool)
> >
> > If you were to load rtl8723ae with 'ips=0', does it still fail?
> > If you were to load the driver with 'swlps=1 fwlps=0', does it still fail?
>
> this does not work:
>
> modprobe rtl8723ae debug_mask=0xFFFFFFFF debug_level=5 ips=0
>
> tail -f /var/log/syslog|grep "AP off"
> Jan  5 11:42:06 w-ed kernel: [ 7267.229713] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 2 s
> Jan  5 11:42:08 w-ed kernel: [ 7269.276761] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 4 s
> Jan  5 11:42:10 w-ed kernel: [ 7271.323758] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 6 s
> Jan  5 11:42:12 w-ed kernel: [ 7273.370759] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 8 s
> Jan  5 11:42:14 w-ed kernel: [ 7275.417753] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 10 s
> Jan  5 11:42:14 w-ed kernel: [ 7275.417754] rtlwifi: AP off, try to reconnect now
> Jan  5 11:42:28 w-ed kernel: [ 7289.746676] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 2 s
> Jan  5 11:42:40 w-ed kernel: [ 7302.028327] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 2 s
> Jan  5 11:42:43 w-ed kernel: [ 7304.075327] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 4 s
> Jan  5 11:42:45 w-ed kernel: [ 7306.122330] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 6 s
> Jan  5 11:42:47 w-ed kernel: [ 7308.169292] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 8 s
> Jan  5 11:42:49 w-ed kernel: [ 7310.216236] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 10 s
> Jan  5 11:42:49 w-ed kernel: [ 7310.216238] rtlwifi: AP off, try to reconnect now
> Jan  5 11:43:05 w-ed kernel: [ 7326.592222] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 2 s
> Jan  5 11:43:07 w-ed kernel: [ 7328.639076] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 4 s
> Jan  5 11:43:09 w-ed kernel: [ 7330.686220] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 6 s
> Jan  5 11:43:11 w-ed kernel: [ 7332.733078] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 8 s
> Jan  5 11:43:13 w-ed kernel: [ 7334.779988] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 10 s
> Jan  5 11:43:13 w-ed kernel: [ 7334.779989] rtlwifi: AP off, try to reconnect now
> Jan  5 11:43:28 w-ed kernel: [ 7349.108839] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 2 s
> Jan  5 11:43:30 w-ed kernel: [ 7351.155837] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 4 s
> Jan  5 11:43:32 w-ed kernel: [ 7353.202838] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 6 s
> Jan  5 11:43:42 w-ed kernel: [ 7363.437779] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 2 s
> Jan  5 11:43:46 w-ed kernel: [ 7367.531622] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 2 s
> Jan  5 11:43:48 w-ed kernel: [ 7369.578597] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 4 s
> Jan  5 11:43:50 w-ed kernel: [ 7371.625694] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 6 s
> Jan  5 11:43:52 w-ed kernel: [ 7373.672691] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 8 s
> Jan  5 11:43:54 w-ed kernel: [ 7375.719690] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 10 s
> Jan  5 11:43:54 w-ed kernel: [ 7375.719691] rtlwifi: AP off, try to reconnect now
> Jan  5 11:44:09 w-ed kernel: [ 7390.048406] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 2 s
> Jan  5 11:44:11 w-ed kernel: [ 7392.095678] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 4 s
> Jan  5 11:44:13 w-ed kernel: [ 7394.142349] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 6 s
> Jan  5 11:44:15 w-ed kernel: [ 7396.189352] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 8 s
> Jan  5 11:44:17 w-ed kernel: [ 7398.236352] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 10 s
> Jan  5 11:44:17 w-ed kernel: [ 7398.236353] rtlwifi: AP off, try to reconnect now
> Jan  5 11:44:31 w-ed kernel: [ 7412.565079] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 2 s
> Jan  5 11:44:33 w-ed kernel: [ 7414.612167] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 4 s
> Jan  5 11:44:35 w-ed kernel: [ 7416.659101] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 6 s
> Jan  5 11:44:37 w-ed kernel: [ 7418.706035] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 8 s
> Jan  5 11:44:39 w-ed kernel: [ 7420.753100] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 10 s
> Jan  5 11:44:39 w-ed kernel: [ 7420.753101] rtlwifi: AP off, try to reconnect now
> Jan  5 11:44:54 w-ed kernel: [ 7435.081860] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 2 s
> Jan  5 11:44:56 w-ed kernel: [ 7437.128857] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 4 s
> Jan  5 11:45:08 w-ed kernel: [ 7449.410653] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 2 s
> Jan  5 11:45:10 w-ed kernel: [ 7451.457650] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 4 s
> Jan  5 11:45:12 w-ed kernel: [ 7453.504647] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 6 s
> Jan  5 11:45:14 w-ed kernel: [ 7455.551607] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 8 s
> Jan  5 11:45:16 w-ed kernel: [ 7457.598645] rtlwifi: :<0> AP off for 10 s
> Jan  5 11:45:16 w-ed kernel: [ 7457.598646] rtlwifi: AP off, try to reconnect now
>
>
> but this works:
>
> modprobe rtl8723ae debug_mask=0xFFFFFFFF debug_level=5 swlps=1 fwlps=0

Yes, I think that is a better thing to do now. If and when Realtek finds a 
firmware bug, and when the new firmware is readily available, then there will 
not be a lot of code to reinstall.

Thanks for testing,

Larry