I'm running a snapshot build on 4 Archer C6 v3.2 from Oct 1st (1 router, 3 access points).
All devices are working fine, but the 5Ghz radio of one of them suddenly died, and I cannot bring up the wireless interface for the 5Ghz band. The error is as follows:
Thu Oct 14 18:04:29 2021 daemon.notice hostapd: Configuration file: /var/run/hostapd-phy1.conf (phy wlan1) --> new PHY
Thu Oct 14 18:04:29 2021 daemon.err hostapd: Could not set interface wlan1 flags (UP): I/O error
Thu Oct 14 18:04:29 2021 daemon.err hostapd: nl80211: Could not set interface 'wlan1' UP
Thu Oct 14 18:04:29 2021 daemon.notice hostapd: nl80211: deinit ifname=wlan1 disabled_11b_rates=0
Thu Oct 14 18:04:29 2021 daemon.err hostapd: nl80211 driver initialization failed.
Thu Oct 14 18:04:29 2021 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan1: CTRL-EVENT-TERMINATING
Thu Oct 14 18:04:29 2021 daemon.err hostapd: hostapd_free_hapd_data: Interface wlan1 wasn't started
Thu Oct 14 18:04:29 2021 daemon.notice netifd: radio1 (26620): Command failed: Invalid argument
Thu Oct 14 18:04:29 2021 daemon.notice netifd: radio1 (26620): Device setup failed: HOSTAPD_START_FAILED
Thu Oct 14 18:04:29 2021 daemon.notice netifd: Wireless device 'radio1' set retry=0
Thu Oct 14 18:04:29 2021 daemon.crit netifd: Wireless device 'radio1' setup failed, retry=0
Thu Oct 14 18:04:30 2021 daemon.notice netifd: Wireless device 'radio1' is now down
This had already happened in another device, but I reverted back to stock firmware and then reinstalled OpenWRT and the 5Ghz started working again.
But in this another device this trick did not work. I even tried to restore the mtd "radio" partition (I had a backup) to no success.
Can I assume it is a hardware failure? I am intrigued that this is the second time this problem happened in different devices, and while installing the stock firmware fixed this issue in one device, this time this is not working.
Can OpenWRT be messing any configuration of the 5Ghz radio that is causing this failure?
Any advice is welcome. BTW, this router is 2 months old, and if I am unable to restore the 5Ghz radio I will revert the firmware back to the stock and try to initiate an RMA.