I'm running an Archer c7 v2 and having issues with my 5Ghz radio on 19.0.7.2.
I've seen that people recommend uninstalling the ct version of the radio firmware, and installing the classic.
It seems as though no matter what I do, if I uninstall the ct firmware, and then install the classic (kmods as well obviously) through the package manager, I end up with a dead 5Ghz radio.
My method is:
Uninstall ath10k-firmware-qca988x-ct
Uninstall kmod-ath10k-ct
Install ath10k-firmware-qca988x
Install kmod-ath10k
reboot
Should I be doing something different?
Should I overwrite packages when that option comes up?
I believe I have tried rebooting between install and uninstall, but am trying that again now anyway.
Thanks for your help. Sorry in advance if this is silly.
The firmware packages only provide two single files for /lib/firmware/, in your case:
# opkg files ath10k-firmware-qca988x-ct
Package ath10k-firmware-qca988x-ct (2019-10-03-d622d160-1) is installed on root and has the following files:
./lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA988X/hw2.0/board.bin
./lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA988X/hw2.0/ct-firmware-2.bin
/lib/firmware/ath10k/pre-cal-pci-*.bin is extracted from ART during firstboot and shouldn't (need to) be touched afterwards.
I have the same problem with an Archer C6 v2 following the advice to change the 5GHz firmware from "ct" to non-ct. I did the same as OP and ended up with the same result (non-functioning 5GHz driver). I had to reflash the firmware to restore it because by that time there wasn't enough free flash memory left to do anything through the web interface (the C6 has only 8MB flash) and I don't know how to free up memory through the console.
The only reply here suggests that the firmware package just copies the bin files but doesn't change any config entries? Should I just replace the existing "ct" bin files with those from the non-ct package using the same filename?
Yes the firmware package is only a bin file. At bootup, the ath10k driver will look in the firmware directory and load it into the chip. The ct and non ct bin files have the same name-- only one can be installed at a time. Non-ct firmware should be run with the non-ct kmod and vise versa.
On small flash you can use attendedsysupgrade to prepare and install a new ROM with the default ct removed and replaced with non-ct. First remove the ct packages and run auc. This will free up space, though of course 5 GHz will not work in the meantime. Then install the non-ct and if desired run auc again to cram the non-ct into the ROM.
Thanks for the reply. But that means it should be as "simple" as the OP said, i.e. just remove the 2 "ct" packages and install the 2 non-ct versions, right? I have a "whopping" 1.2MB of free storage, which is enough to do it once through the web interface (the non-ct replacement needs around 700kB) without making a custom ROM, so it's not a storage issue and there aren't any installation errors. The 5GHz radio on an Archer C6 v2 just doesn't work with the non-ct firmware, I tried the QCA9888 version (the 9888-ct was is preinstalled) as well as QCA988X, each time after a clean ROM flash, with the same results.
I had the same problems you described: inconsistent 5GHz, then I removed the -ct versions of the package, installed the non -ct alternatives and after a reboot, my 5GHz was not working anymore.
The 2,4GHz on radio1 works fine, but radio0 is listed as Generic 802.11 device and I cannot link a wireless network to it. I tried rm -f /etc/config/wireless + wifi config + reboot, but the only thing that brought back the real default config was reflashing the router.
Reverting the changes I did to the packages didn't help either.