Is it possible to brick the wireless card (QCA988X) irreversibly?

[silentcreek]

Hi folks,

I'm having a weird issue with my TP-Link Archer C7 v2 which I use as a access point. This weekend, I noticed that the 5GHz radio was down. dmesg showed the firmware crashed and a reboot didn't help, so I figured maybe it's an issue with that specific build (built from master r9393, ar71xx) and ran a new build from current master. That new image, again, failed to initialize the 5GHz radio. But what really struck me is the fact that even when I go back to using images that I absolutely know for sure worked fine for weeks (built in December), these fail to initialize the 5GHz radio.

Long story short: I have tried about ten different images now in various configurations (ar71xx/ath79, upstream ath10k driver+firmware as well as ath10k-ct driver+firmware, fresh builds/old builds that used to work). I tried turning the device off and on again, rebooting, etc. It just won't work.

This is what the dmesg shows:

[   10.865997] PCI: Enabling device 0000:01:00.0 (0000 -> 0002)
[   10.871937] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: pci irq legacy oper_irq_mode 1 irq_mode 0 reset_mode 0
[   11.153553] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/pre-cal-pci-0000:01:00.0.bin failed with error -2
[   11.164436] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Falling back to user helper
[   11.323169] firmware ath10k!pre-cal-pci-0000:01:00.0.bin: firmware_loading_store: map pages failed
[   11.433046] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA988X/hw2.0/firmware-6.bin failed with error -2
[   11.443929] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Falling back to user helper
[   11.525552] firmware ath10k!QCA988X!hw2.0!firmware-6.bin: firmware_loading_store: map pages failed
[   11.710502] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: qca988x hw2.0 target 0x4100016c chip_id 0x043202ff sub 0000:0000
[   11.719862] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: kconfig debug 0 debugfs 1 tracing 0 dfs 1 testmode 1
[   11.732932] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: firmware ver 10.2.4-1.0-00041 api 5 features no-p2p,raw-mode,mfp,allows-mesh-bcast crc32 f43fa422
[   11.777959] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA988X/hw2.0/board-2.bin failed with error -2
[   11.788566] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Falling back to user helper
[   11.846186] firmware ath10k!QCA988X!hw2.0!board-2.bin: firmware_loading_store: map pages failed
[   11.855439] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: board_file api 1 bmi_id N/A crc32 bebc7c08
[   12.930145] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: firmware crashed! (guid n/a)
[   12.936347] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: qca988x hw2.0 target 0x4100016c chip_id 0x043202ff sub 0000:0000
[   12.945711] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: kconfig debug 0 debugfs 1 tracing 0 dfs 1 testmode 1
[   12.958751] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: firmware ver 10.2.4-1.0-00041 api 5 features no-p2p,raw-mode,mfp,allows-mesh-bcast crc32 f43fa422
[   12.971064] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: board_file api 1 bmi_id N/A crc32 bebc7c08
[   12.978482] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: htt-ver 0.0 wmi-op 5 htt-op 2 cal file max-sta 128 raw 0 hwcrypto 1
[   12.990139] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: firmware register dump:
[   12.995888] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [00]: 0x4100016C 0x00000000 0x00988490 0x00000000
[   13.003929] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [04]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.011961] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [08]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.019993] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [12]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.028024] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [16]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00988490
[   13.036056] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [20]: 0x00000000 0x00401930 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.044090] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [24]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.052123] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [28]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.060156] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [32]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.068186] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [36]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.076219] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [40]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.084252] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [44]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.092287] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [48]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.100320] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [52]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.108349] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [56]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.116379] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Copy Engine register dump:
[   13.122398] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [00]: 0x00057400   6   6   7   6
[   13.128937] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [01]: 0x00057800   5   5   4   5
[   13.135483] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [02]: 0x00057c00   0   0  63   0
[   13.142030] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [03]: 0x00058000   0   0   0   0
[   13.148571] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [04]: 0x00058400   0   0   0   0
[   13.155116] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [05]: 0x00058800   0   0   0   0
[   13.161664] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [06]: 0x00058c00   0   0   0   0
[   13.168204] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [07]: 0x00059000   0   0   0   0
[   13.959999] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: failed to receive control response completion, polling..
[   14.999992] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: ctl_resp never came in (-145)
[   15.006261] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: failed to connect to HTC: -145
[   15.141239] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: could not init core (-145)
[   15.147349] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: could not probe fw (-145)
[   15.153324] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: cannot restart a device that hasn't been started

This happens on a build from December that used to work just fine before.

Is it possible to somehow corrupt or break the wireless module during operation so it cannot be "revived"? What is odd to me is the fact that the card is recognized but the firmware initialization somehow seems to fail. Btw. this log is from an image using the upstream ath10k driver and firmware. On an image with the ath10k-ct driver and firmware the last 6 lines are basically the same, but the firmware crash doesn't seem to happen, at least there is no register dump.

Does anybody have a clue what might be going on here?

Thanks,

Timo

[slh]

Is it possible to somehow corrupt or break the wireless module during operation so it cannot be "revived"?

In theory, yes - in practice not that easily, unless you damage (overwrite) the ART partition.

[psyborg]

does it start with oem firmware?

[silentcreek]

Is it possible to somehow corrupt or break the wireless module during operation so it cannot be "revived"?

In theory, yes - in practice not that easily, unless you damage (overwrite) the ART partition.

Well, I don't write to the flash manually or so. I only ever use sysupgrade to flash new images once in a while. So, I guess that should be ok. Is there a way to check for corruption of the ART partition?

[silentcreek]

does it start with oem firmware?

I have yet to test this. But it'll have to wait until I get some replacement wifi hardware. I was planning on buying new wireless cards for my main router in the near future anyway, so I decided to do that just now. When it has arrived and is operational, I can do some more testing with my current device without interrupting the wifi service at home for too long.

[jeff]

If you’ve flashed a “release” image without preserving settings (after, of course backing them up somewhere safe) and it still misbehaves, that’s not a good sign. Checking that the daughter card is well seated might be worth a shot.

I’m dreading replacing my five Archer C7v2 units as they’ve been basically 100% reliable over the years.

[pepe2k]

This is what the dmesg shows:

Please, show us full dmesg.

[silentcreek]

So, my new wireless chips for my main router arrived and are set up, so I can finally do more testing with the Archer C7 without interrupting the wireless service at home.

So, here is the full dmesg of a new ar71xx build with the non-ct athk10 driver and firmware:

[    0.000000] Linux version 4.14.105 (builder@1eb567cd374c) (gcc version 7.4.0 (OpenWrt GCC 7.4.0 r9556-c5394ec7e0)) #0 Sat Mar 9 15:31:22 2019
[    0.000000] MyLoader: sysp=2008a593, boardp=004f2f0d, parts=e80ee408
[    0.000000] bootconsole [early0] enabled
[    0.000000] CPU0 revision is: 00019750 (MIPS 74Kc)
[    0.000000] SoC: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9558 ver 1 rev 0
[    0.000000] Determined physical RAM map:
[    0.000000]  memory: 08000000 @ 00000000 (usable)
[    0.000000] Initrd not found or empty - disabling initrd
[    0.000000] Primary instruction cache 64kB, VIPT, 4-way, linesize 32 bytes.
[    0.000000] Primary data cache 32kB, 4-way, VIPT, cache aliases, linesize 32 bytes
[    0.000000] Zone ranges:
[    0.000000]   Normal   [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x0000000007ffffff]
[    0.000000] Movable zone start for each node
[    0.000000] Early memory node ranges
[    0.000000]   node   0: [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x0000000007ffffff]
[    0.000000] Initmem setup node 0 [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x0000000007ffffff]
[    0.000000] On node 0 totalpages: 32768
[    0.000000] free_area_init_node: node 0, pgdat 804a44b0, node_mem_map 81000020
[    0.000000]   Normal zone: 256 pages used for memmap
[    0.000000]   Normal zone: 0 pages reserved
[    0.000000]   Normal zone: 32768 pages, LIFO batch:7
[    0.000000] random: get_random_bytes called from start_kernel+0x8c/0x470 with crng_init=0
[    0.000000] pcpu-alloc: s0 r0 d32768 u32768 alloc=1*32768
[    0.000000] pcpu-alloc: [0] 0 
[    0.000000] Built 1 zonelists, mobility grouping on.  Total pages: 32512
[    0.000000] Kernel command line:  board=ARCHER-C7-V2  console=ttyS0,115200 rootfstype=squashfs noinitrd
[    0.000000] PID hash table entries: 512 (order: -1, 2048 bytes)
[    0.000000] Dentry cache hash table entries: 16384 (order: 4, 65536 bytes)
[    0.000000] Inode-cache hash table entries: 8192 (order: 3, 32768 bytes)
[    0.000000] Writing ErrCtl register=00000000
[    0.000000] Readback ErrCtl register=00000000
[    0.000000] Memory: 124624K/131072K available (3364K kernel code, 172K rwdata, 836K rodata, 292K init, 200K bss, 6448K reserved, 0K cma-reserved)
[    0.000000] SLUB: HWalign=32, Order=0-3, MinObjects=0, CPUs=1, Nodes=1
[    0.000000] NR_IRQS: 51
[    0.000000] Clocks: CPU:720.000MHz, DDR:600.000MHz, AHB:200.000MHz, Ref:40.000MHz
[    0.000000] clocksource: MIPS: mask: 0xffffffff max_cycles: 0xffffffff, max_idle_ns: 5309056796 ns
[    0.000007] sched_clock: 32 bits at 360MHz, resolution 2ns, wraps every 5965232126ns
[    0.008288] Calibrating delay loop... 358.80 BogoMIPS (lpj=1794048)
[    0.074984] pid_max: default: 32768 minimum: 301
[    0.080074] Mount-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
[    0.087113] Mountpoint-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
[    0.096378] clocksource: jiffies: mask: 0xffffffff max_cycles: 0xffffffff, max_idle_ns: 19112604462750000 ns
[    0.106869] futex hash table entries: 256 (order: -1, 3072 bytes)
[    0.113688] NET: Registered protocol family 16
[    0.119501] MIPS: machine is TP-LINK Archer C7
[    0.127297] ar724x-pci ar724x-pci.0: PCIe link is down
[    0.132798] registering PCI controller with io_map_base unset
[    0.139027] registering PCI controller with io_map_base unset
[    0.637220] PCI host bridge to bus 0000:00
[    0.641584] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [mem 0x10000000-0x11ffffff]
[    0.648931] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [io  0x0000]
[    0.654857] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [??? 0x00000000 flags 0x0]
[    0.662082] pci_bus 0000:00: No busn resource found for root bus, will use [bus 00-ff]
[    0.670518] pci_bus 0000:00: busn_res: [bus 00-ff] end is updated to 00
[    0.670618] PCI host bridge to bus 0000:01
[    0.674995] pci_bus 0000:01: root bus resource [mem 0x12000000-0x13ffffff]
[    0.682307] pci_bus 0000:01: root bus resource [io  0x0001]
[    0.688238] pci_bus 0000:01: root bus resource [??? 0x00000000 flags 0x0]
[    0.695453] pci_bus 0000:01: No busn resource found for root bus, will use [bus 01-ff]
[    0.703909] pci 0000:01:00.0: [168c:003c] type 00 class 0x028000
[    0.703964] pci 0000:01:00.0: reg 0x10: [mem 0x00000000-0x001fffff 64bit]
[    0.704018] pci 0000:01:00.0: reg 0x30: [mem 0x00000000-0x0000ffff pref]
[    0.704092] pci 0000:01:00.0: supports D1 D2
[    0.704262] pci_bus 0000:01: busn_res: [bus 01-ff] end is updated to 01
[    0.704287] pci 0000:01:00.0: BAR 0: assigned [mem 0x12000000-0x121fffff 64bit]
[    0.712079] pci 0000:01:00.0: BAR 6: assigned [mem 0x12200000-0x1220ffff pref]
[    0.720265] clocksource: Switched to clocksource MIPS
[    0.726445] NET: Registered protocol family 2
[    0.731738] TCP established hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
[    0.739155] TCP bind hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
[    0.745961] TCP: Hash tables configured (established 1024 bind 1024)
[    0.752837] UDP hash table entries: 256 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
[    0.759059] UDP-Lite hash table entries: 256 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
[    0.765977] NET: Registered protocol family 1
[    0.770672] PCI: CLS 0 bytes, default 32
[    0.774663] Crashlog allocated RAM at address 0x3f00000
[    0.781299] workingset: timestamp_bits=30 max_order=15 bucket_order=0
[    0.792172] squashfs: version 4.0 (2009/01/31) Phillip Lougher
[    0.798375] jffs2: version 2.2 (NAND) (SUMMARY) (LZMA) (RTIME) (CMODE_PRIORITY) (c) 2001-2006 Red Hat, Inc.
[    0.816334] io scheduler noop registered
[    0.820544] io scheduler deadline registered (default)
[    0.826226] Serial: 8250/16550 driver, 1 ports, IRQ sharing disabled
[    0.833317] console [ttyS0] disabled
[    0.857184] serial8250.0: ttyS0 at MMIO 0x18020000 (irq = 11, base_baud = 2500000) is a 16550A
[    0.866365] console [ttyS0] enabled
[    0.873785] bootconsole [early0] disabled
[    0.885470] m25p80 spi0.0: found w25q128, expected m25p80
[    0.901715] m25p80 spi0.0: w25q128 (16384 Kbytes)
[    0.906940] 5 tp-link partitions found on MTD device spi0.0
[    0.912623] Creating 5 MTD partitions on "spi0.0":
[    0.917483] 0x000000000000-0x000000020000 : "u-boot"
[    0.923851] 0x000000020000-0x0000001894f0 : "kernel"
[    0.929974] 0x0000001894f0-0x000000ff0000 : "rootfs"
[    0.935667] mtd: device 2 (rootfs) set to be root filesystem
[    0.941486] 1 squashfs-split partitions found on MTD device rootfs
[    0.947758] 0x0000003b0000-0x000000ff0000 : "rootfs_data"
[    0.955275] 0x000000ff0000-0x000001000000 : "art"
[    0.961179] 0x000000020000-0x000000ff0000 : "firmware"
[    0.968768] libphy: Fixed MDIO Bus: probed
[    0.986574] switch0: Atheros AR8327 rev. 4 switch registered on ag71xx-mdio.0
[    1.681093] libphy: ag71xx_mdio: probed
[    2.311787] ag71xx ag71xx.0: connected to PHY at ag71xx-mdio.0:00 [uid=004dd034, driver=Atheros AR8216/AR8236/AR8316]
[    2.323033] eth0: Atheros AG71xx at 0xb9000000, irq 4, mode:RGMII
[    2.600261] random: fast init done
[    2.951799] eth1: Atheros AG71xx at 0xba000000, irq 5, mode:SGMII
[    2.959050] NET: Registered protocol family 17
[    2.965609] 8021q: 802.1Q VLAN Support v1.8
[    2.976897] VFS: Mounted root (squashfs filesystem) readonly on device 31:2.
[    2.985143] Freeing unused kernel memory: 292K
[    2.989647] This architecture does not have kernel memory protection.
[    3.568958] init: Console is alive
[    3.572638] init: - watchdog -
[    4.535313] kmodloader: loading kernel modules from /etc/modules-boot.d/*
[    4.661869] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbfs
[    4.667524] usbcore: registered new interface driver hub
[    4.673018] usbcore: registered new device driver usb
[    4.682544] ehci_hcd: USB 2.0 'Enhanced' Host Controller (EHCI) Driver
[    4.690495] ehci-platform: EHCI generic platform driver
[    4.695872] ehci-platform ehci-platform.0: EHCI Host Controller
[    4.701935] ehci-platform ehci-platform.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
[    4.712207] ehci-platform ehci-platform.0: TX-TX IDP fix enabled
[    4.718308] ehci-platform ehci-platform.0: irq 48, io mem 0x1b000000
[    4.750298] ehci-platform ehci-platform.0: USB 2.0 started, EHCI 1.00
[    4.757483] hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
[    4.761591] hub 1-0:1.0: 1 port detected
[    4.765957] ehci-platform ehci-platform.1: EHCI Host Controller
[    4.772038] ehci-platform ehci-platform.1: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 2
[    4.782328] ehci-platform ehci-platform.1: TX-TX IDP fix enabled
[    4.788435] ehci-platform ehci-platform.1: irq 49, io mem 0x1b400000
[    4.820306] ehci-platform ehci-platform.1: USB 2.0 started, EHCI 1.00
[    4.827482] hub 2-0:1.0: USB hub found
[    4.831605] hub 2-0:1.0: 1 port detected
[    4.836408] kmodloader: done loading kernel modules from /etc/modules-boot.d/*
[    4.854112] init: - preinit -
[    5.873473] eth1: link up (1000Mbps/Full duplex)
[    5.910702] random: procd: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[    9.129506] jffs2_scan_eraseblock(): End of filesystem marker found at 0x10000
[    9.136877] jffs2_build_filesystem(): unlocking the mtd device... 
[    9.136919] done.
[    9.145150] jffs2_build_filesystem(): erasing all blocks after the end marker... 
[   46.239201] done.
[   46.248781] jffs2: notice: (430) jffs2_build_xattr_subsystem: complete building xattr subsystem, 0 of xdatum (0 unchecked, 0 orphan) and 0 of xref (0 dead, 0 orphan) found.
[   46.265653] mount_root: overlay filesystem has not been fully initialized yet
[   46.279409] mount_root: switching to jffs2 overlay
[   46.293982] overlayfs: upper fs does not support tmpfile.
[   46.577447] urandom-seed: Seed file not found (/etc/urandom.seed)
[   46.673890] eth1: link down
[   46.686048] procd: - early -
[   46.689051] procd: - watchdog -
[   47.284816] procd: - watchdog -
[   47.288233] procd: - ubus -
[   47.341559] random: ubusd: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[   47.348369] random: ubusd: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[   47.354934] random: ubusd: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[   47.362105] procd: - init -
[   47.686499] kmodloader: loading kernel modules from /etc/modules.d/*
[   47.695908] Loading modules backported from Linux version v4.19.23-0-g67d52fae61c1
[   47.703637] Backport generated by backports.git v4.19.23-1-0-g480a925a
[   47.882210] pci 0000:01:00.0: using irq 41 for pin 1
[   47.888394] PCI: Enabling device 0000:01:00.0 (0000 -> 0002)
[   47.896441] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: pci irq legacy oper_irq_mode 1 irq_mode 0 reset_mode 0
[   48.173567] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/pre-cal-pci-0000:01:00.0.bin failed with error -2
[   48.184445] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Falling back to user helper
[   48.298654] firmware ath10k!pre-cal-pci-0000:01:00.0.bin: firmware_loading_store: map pages failed
[   48.308008] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/cal-pci-0000:01:00.0.bin failed with error -2
[   48.318528] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Falling back to user helper
[   54.921609] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA988X/hw2.0/firmware-6.bin failed with error -2
[   54.932496] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Falling back to user helper
[   55.029378] firmware ath10k!QCA988X!hw2.0!firmware-6.bin: firmware_loading_store: map pages failed
[   55.043271] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: qca988x hw2.0 target 0x4100016c chip_id 0x043202ff sub 0000:0000
[   55.052664] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: kconfig debug 0 debugfs 1 tracing 0 dfs 1 testmode 1
[   55.065704] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: firmware ver 10.2.4-1.0-00041 api 5 features no-p2p,raw-mode,mfp,allows-mesh-bcast crc32 f43fa422
[   55.163156] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA988X/hw2.0/board-2.bin failed with error -2
[   55.173784] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Falling back to user helper
[   55.253225] firmware ath10k!QCA988X!hw2.0!board-2.bin: firmware_loading_store: map pages failed
[   55.272252] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: board_file api 1 bmi_id N/A crc32 bebc7c08
[   56.361630] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: firmware crashed! (guid n/a)
[   56.367830] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: qca988x hw2.0 target 0x4100016c chip_id 0x043202ff sub 0000:0000
[   56.377197] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: kconfig debug 0 debugfs 1 tracing 0 dfs 1 testmode 1
[   56.390235] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: firmware ver 10.2.4-1.0-00041 api 5 features no-p2p,raw-mode,mfp,allows-mesh-bcast crc32 f43fa422
[   56.402548] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: board_file api 1 bmi_id N/A crc32 bebc7c08
[   56.409966] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: htt-ver 0.0 wmi-op 5 htt-op 2 cal file max-sta 128 raw 0 hwcrypto 1
[   56.421625] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: firmware register dump:
[   56.427371] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [00]: 0x4100016C 0x00000000 0x00988490 0x00000000
[   56.435414] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [04]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   56.443452] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [08]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   56.451489] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [12]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   56.459517] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [16]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00988490
[   56.467549] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [20]: 0x00000000 0x00401930 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   56.475582] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [24]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   56.483615] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [28]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   56.491651] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [32]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   56.499680] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [36]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   56.507711] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [40]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   56.515745] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [44]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   56.523778] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [48]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   56.531814] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [52]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   56.539843] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [56]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   56.547872] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Copy Engine register dump:
[   56.553890] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [00]: 0x00057400   6   6   7   6
[   56.560440] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [01]: 0x00057800   5   5   4   5
[   56.566978] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [02]: 0x00057c00   0   0  63   0
[   56.573523] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [03]: 0x00058000   0   0   0   0
[   56.580063] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [04]: 0x00058400   0   0   0   0
[   56.586609] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [05]: 0x00058800   0   0   0   0
[   56.593154] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [06]: 0x00058c00   0   0   0   0
[   56.599697] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [07]: 0x00059000   0   0   0   0
[   57.400277] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: failed to receive control response completion, polling..
[   58.440269] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: ctl_resp never came in (-145)
[   58.446538] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: failed to connect to HTC: -145
[   58.581519] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: could not init core (-145)
[   58.587652] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: could not probe fw (-145)
[   58.593628] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: cannot restart a device that hasn't been started
[   58.630044] ath: EEPROM regdomain: 0x0
[   58.630051] ath: EEPROM indicates default country code should be used
[   58.630054] ath: doing EEPROM country->regdmn map search
[   58.630066] ath: country maps to regdmn code: 0x3a
[   58.630071] ath: Country alpha2 being used: US
[   58.630074] ath: Regpair used: 0x3a
[   58.647498] ieee80211 phy1: Selected rate control algorithm 'minstrel_ht'
[   58.648892] ieee80211 phy1: Atheros AR9550 Rev:0 mem=0xb8100000, irq=47
[   58.734304] kmodloader: done loading kernel modules from /etc/modules.d/*
[   59.206250] urandom_read: 4 callbacks suppressed
[   59.206257] random: jshn: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[   59.469267] random: jshn: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[   62.588889] random: crng init done
[   66.286982] eth1: link up (1000Mbps/Full duplex)
[   66.302610] br-guest: port 1(eth1.113) entered blocking state
[   66.308450] br-guest: port 1(eth1.113) entered disabled state
[   66.314530] device eth1.113 entered promiscuous mode
[   66.319568] device eth1 entered promiscuous mode
[   66.347295] br-guest: port 1(eth1.113) entered blocking state
[   66.353172] br-guest: port 1(eth1.113) entered forwarding state
[   66.405080] br-wifi: port 1(eth0.22) entered blocking state
[   66.410782] br-wifi: port 1(eth0.22) entered disabled state
[   66.416647] device eth0.22 entered promiscuous mode
[   66.421633] device eth0 entered promiscuous mode
[   67.401748] eth0: link up (1000Mbps/Full duplex)
[   67.407313] br-wifi: port 1(eth0.22) entered blocking state
[   67.413013] br-wifi: port 1(eth0.22) entered forwarding state

I will also test an official release image with a full configuration reset later.

[silentcreek]

Ok, so I installed the official 18.06.2 image now without preserving settings, but the firmware still crashes... Ouch!

Here's the full dmesg:

[    0.000000] Linux version 4.9.152 (buildbot@builds-03.infra.lede-project.org) (gcc version 7.3.0 (OpenWrt GCC 7.3.0 r7549-217219e) ) #0 Mon Jan 28 08:54:32 2019
[    0.000000] MyLoader: sysp=2008a593, boardp=004f2f0d, parts=e80ee408
[    0.000000] bootconsole [early0] enabled
[    0.000000] CPU0 revision is: 00019750 (MIPS 74Kc)
[    0.000000] SoC: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9558 ver 1 rev 0
[    0.000000] Determined physical RAM map:
[    0.000000]  memory: 08000000 @ 00000000 (usable)
[    0.000000] Initrd not found or empty - disabling initrd
[    0.000000] Primary instruction cache 64kB, VIPT, 4-way, linesize 32 bytes.
[    0.000000] Primary data cache 32kB, 4-way, VIPT, cache aliases, linesize 32 bytes
[    0.000000] Zone ranges:
[    0.000000]   Normal   [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x0000000007ffffff]
[    0.000000] Movable zone start for each node
[    0.000000] Early memory node ranges
[    0.000000]   node   0: [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x0000000007ffffff]
[    0.000000] Initmem setup node 0 [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x0000000007ffffff]
[    0.000000] On node 0 totalpages: 32768
[    0.000000] free_area_init_node: node 0, pgdat 8044a204, node_mem_map 81000020
[    0.000000]   Normal zone: 256 pages used for memmap
[    0.000000]   Normal zone: 0 pages reserved
[    0.000000]   Normal zone: 32768 pages, LIFO batch:7
[    0.000000] pcpu-alloc: s0 r0 d32768 u32768 alloc=1*32768
[    0.000000] pcpu-alloc: [0] 0 
[    0.000000] Built 1 zonelists in Zone order, mobility grouping on.  Total pages: 32512
[    0.000000] Kernel command line:  board=ARCHER-C7-V2  console=ttyS0,115200 rootfstype=squashfs noinitrd
[    0.000000] PID hash table entries: 512 (order: -1, 2048 bytes)
[    0.000000] Dentry cache hash table entries: 16384 (order: 4, 65536 bytes)
[    0.000000] Inode-cache hash table entries: 8192 (order: 3, 32768 bytes)
[    0.000000] Writing ErrCtl register=00000000
[    0.000000] Readback ErrCtl register=00000000
[    0.000000] Memory: 125004K/131072K available (3388K kernel code, 175K rwdata, 448K rodata, 268K init, 211K bss, 6068K reserved, 0K cma-reserved)
[    0.000000] SLUB: HWalign=32, Order=0-3, MinObjects=0, CPUs=1, Nodes=1
[    0.000000] NR_IRQS:51
[    0.000000] Clocks: CPU:720.000MHz, DDR:600.000MHz, AHB:200.000MHz, Ref:40.000MHz
[    0.000000] clocksource: MIPS: mask: 0xffffffff max_cycles: 0xffffffff, max_idle_ns: 5309056796 ns
[    0.000008] sched_clock: 32 bits at 360MHz, resolution 2ns, wraps every 5965232126ns
[    0.008295] Calibrating delay loop... 358.80 BogoMIPS (lpj=1794048)
[    0.071187] pid_max: default: 32768 minimum: 301
[    0.076186] Mount-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
[    0.083231] Mountpoint-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
[    0.092881] clocksource: jiffies: mask: 0xffffffff max_cycles: 0xffffffff, max_idle_ns: 19112604462750000 ns
[    0.103376] futex hash table entries: 256 (order: -1, 3072 bytes)
[    0.110856] NET: Registered protocol family 16
[    0.116775] MIPS: machine is TP-LINK Archer C7
[    0.124592] ar724x-pci ar724x-pci.0: PCIe link is down
[    0.130093] registering PCI controller with io_map_base unset
[    0.136305] registering PCI controller with io_map_base unset
[    0.623001] Can't analyze schedule() prologue at 803ab684
[    0.637864] PCI host bridge to bus 0000:00
[    0.642230] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [mem 0x10000000-0x11ffffff]
[    0.649576] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [io  0x0000]
[    0.655504] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [??? 0x00000000 flags 0x0]
[    0.662727] pci_bus 0000:00: No busn resource found for root bus, will use [bus 00-ff]
[    0.671164] pci_bus 0000:00: busn_res: [bus 00-ff] end is updated to 00
[    0.671265] PCI host bridge to bus 0000:01
[    0.675644] pci_bus 0000:01: root bus resource [mem 0x12000000-0x13ffffff]
[    0.682954] pci_bus 0000:01: root bus resource [io  0x0001]
[    0.688884] pci_bus 0000:01: root bus resource [??? 0x00000000 flags 0x0]
[    0.696100] pci_bus 0000:01: No busn resource found for root bus, will use [bus 01-ff]
[    0.704554] pci 0000:01:00.0: [168c:003c] type 00 class 0x028000
[    0.704592] pci 0000:01:00.0: reg 0x10: [mem 0x00000000-0x001fffff 64bit]
[    0.704641] pci 0000:01:00.0: reg 0x30: [mem 0x00000000-0x0000ffff pref]
[    0.704708] pci 0000:01:00.0: supports D1 D2
[    0.704875] pci_bus 0000:01: busn_res: [bus 01-ff] end is updated to 01
[    0.704897] pci 0000:01:00.0: BAR 0: assigned [mem 0x12000000-0x121fffff 64bit]
[    0.712692] pci 0000:01:00.0: BAR 6: assigned [mem 0x12200000-0x1220ffff pref]
[    0.720398] pci 0000:01:00.0: using irq 41 for pin 1
[    0.728374] clocksource: Switched to clocksource MIPS
[    0.734636] NET: Registered protocol family 2
[    0.740043] TCP established hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
[    0.747464] TCP bind hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
[    0.754270] TCP: Hash tables configured (established 1024 bind 1024)
[    0.761112] UDP hash table entries: 256 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
[    0.767336] UDP-Lite hash table entries: 256 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
[    0.774239] NET: Registered protocol family 1
[    0.778939] PCI: CLS 0 bytes, default 32
[    0.781161] Crashlog allocated RAM at address 0x3f00000
[    0.787598] workingset: timestamp_bits=30 max_order=15 bucket_order=0
[    0.800206] squashfs: version 4.0 (2009/01/31) Phillip Lougher
[    0.806406] jffs2: version 2.2 (NAND) (SUMMARY) (LZMA) (RTIME) (CMODE_PRIORITY) (c) 2001-2006 Red Hat, Inc.
[    0.824341] io scheduler noop registered
[    0.828551] io scheduler deadline registered (default)
[    0.834363] Serial: 8250/16550 driver, 16 ports, IRQ sharing enabled
[    0.843333] console [ttyS0] disabled
[    0.867202] serial8250.0: ttyS0 at MMIO 0x18020000 (irq = 11, base_baud = 2500000) is a 16550A
[    0.876388] console [ttyS0] enabled
[    0.883806] bootconsole [early0] disabled
[    0.897153] m25p80 spi0.0: found w25q128, expected m25p80
[    0.913286] m25p80 spi0.0: w25q128 (16384 Kbytes)
[    0.918549] 5 tp-link partitions found on MTD device spi0.0
[    0.924197] Creating 5 MTD partitions on "spi0.0":
[    0.929085] 0x000000000000-0x000000020000 : "u-boot"
[    0.935626] 0x000000020000-0x0000001703cc : "kernel"
[    0.942308] 0x0000001703cc-0x000000ff0000 : "rootfs"
[    0.948647] mtd: device 2 (rootfs) set to be root filesystem
[    0.954426] 1 squashfs-split partitions found on MTD device rootfs
[    0.960724] 0x000000400000-0x000000ff0000 : "rootfs_data"
[    0.967914] 0x000000ff0000-0x000001000000 : "art"
[    0.974367] 0x000000020000-0x000000ff0000 : "firmware"
[    0.982047] libphy: Fixed MDIO Bus: probed
[    0.999208] switch0: Atheros AR8327 rev. 4 switch registered on ag71xx-mdio.0
[    1.697329] libphy: ag71xx_mdio: probed
[    2.329879] ag71xx ag71xx.0: connected to PHY at ag71xx-mdio.0:00 [uid=004dd034, driver=Atheros AR8216/AR8236/AR8316]
[    2.341232] eth0: Atheros AG71xx at 0xb9000000, irq 4, mode:RGMII
[    2.608369] random: fast init done
[    2.969999] eth1: Atheros AG71xx at 0xba000000, irq 5, mode:SGMII
[    2.977939] NET: Registered protocol family 10
[    2.985877] NET: Registered protocol family 17
[    2.990475] bridge: filtering via arp/ip/ip6tables is no longer available by default. Update your scripts to load br_netfilter if you need this.
[    3.003720] 8021q: 802.1Q VLAN Support v1.8
[    3.009357] hctosys: unable to open rtc device (rtc0)
[    3.020422] VFS: Mounted root (squashfs filesystem) readonly on device 31:2.
[    3.028581] Freeing unused kernel memory: 268K
[    3.033089] This architecture does not have kernel memory protection.
[    3.726442] init: Console is alive
[    3.730113] init: - watchdog -
[    4.778452] kmodloader: loading kernel modules from /etc/modules-boot.d/*
[    4.836591] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbfs
[    4.842284] usbcore: registered new interface driver hub
[    4.847738] usbcore: registered new device driver usb
[    4.857182] ehci_hcd: USB 2.0 'Enhanced' Host Controller (EHCI) Driver
[    4.865080] ehci-platform: EHCI generic platform driver
[    4.870494] ehci-platform ehci-platform.0: EHCI Host Controller
[    4.876532] ehci-platform ehci-platform.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
[    4.886814] ehci-platform ehci-platform.0: TX-TX IDP fix enabled
[    4.892951] ehci-platform ehci-platform.0: irq 48, io mem 0x1b000000
[    4.928406] ehci-platform ehci-platform.0: USB 2.0 started, EHCI 1.00
[    4.935653] hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
[    4.939763] hub 1-0:1.0: 1 port detected
[    4.944043] ehci-platform ehci-platform.1: EHCI Host Controller
[    4.950117] ehci-platform ehci-platform.1: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 2
[    4.960409] ehci-platform ehci-platform.1: TX-TX IDP fix enabled
[    4.966518] ehci-platform ehci-platform.1: irq 49, io mem 0x1b400000
[    4.998395] ehci-platform ehci-platform.1: USB 2.0 started, EHCI 1.00
[    5.005648] hub 2-0:1.0: USB hub found
[    5.009749] hub 2-0:1.0: 1 port detected
[    5.014374] kmodloader: done loading kernel modules from /etc/modules-boot.d/*
[    5.032087] init: - preinit -
[    6.161163] eth1: link up (1000Mbps/Full duplex)
[    6.184722] random: procd: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[    9.415009] mount_root: jffs2 not ready yet, using temporary tmpfs overlay
[    9.442346] urandom-seed: Seed file not found (/etc/urandom.seed)
[    9.579237] eth1: link down
[    9.591773] procd: - early -
[    9.594775] procd: - watchdog -
[   10.199801] procd: - watchdog -
[   10.203207] procd: - ubus -
[   10.328624] random: ubusd: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[   10.358222] random: ubusd: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[   10.365070] random: ubusd: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[   10.372312] procd: - init -
[   10.699961] kmodloader: loading kernel modules from /etc/modules.d/*
[   10.731509] ip6_tables: (C) 2000-2006 Netfilter Core Team
[   10.746889] Loading modules backported from Linux version wt-2017-11-01-0-gfe248fc2c180
[   10.755049] Backport generated by backports.git v4.14-rc2-1-31-g86cf0e5d
[   10.764306] ip_tables: (C) 2000-2006 Netfilter Core Team
[   10.776548] nf_conntrack version 0.5.0 (2048 buckets, 8192 max)
[   10.824860] xt_time: kernel timezone is -0000
[   10.993248] PPP generic driver version 2.4.2
[   10.999588] NET: Registered protocol family 24
[   11.022325] PCI: Enabling device 0000:01:00.0 (0000 -> 0002)
[   11.028241] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: pci irq legacy oper_irq_mode 1 irq_mode 0 reset_mode 0
[   11.301673] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/pre-cal-pci-0000:01:00.0.bin failed with error -2
[   11.312558] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Falling back to user helper
[   11.488972] firmware ath10k!pre-cal-pci-0000:01:00.0.bin: firmware_loading_store: map pages failed
[   11.498272] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/cal-pci-0000:01:00.0.bin failed with error -2
[   11.508805] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Falling back to user helper
[   11.704569] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA988X/hw2.0/firmware-6.bin failed with error -2
[   11.715456] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Falling back to user helper
[   11.808547] firmware ath10k!QCA988X!hw2.0!firmware-6.bin: firmware_loading_store: map pages failed
[   11.821954] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: qca988x hw2.0 target 0x4100016c chip_id 0x043202ff sub 0000:0000
[   11.831337] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: kconfig debug 0 debugfs 1 tracing 0 dfs 1 testmode 1
[   11.844384] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: firmware ver 10.2.4-1.0-00037 api 5 features no-p2p,raw-mode,mfp,allows-mesh-bcast crc32 a4a52adb
[   11.938805] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA988X/hw2.0/board-2.bin failed with error -2
[   11.949424] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Falling back to user helper
[   12.023257] firmware ath10k!QCA988X!hw2.0!board-2.bin: firmware_loading_store: map pages failed
[   12.053838] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: board_file api 1 bmi_id N/A crc32 bebc7c08
[   13.144513] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: firmware crashed! (guid 41f831c6-9670-4f1b-9ca7-106c960d2ff6)
[   13.153639] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: qca988x hw2.0 target 0x4100016c chip_id 0x043202ff sub 0000:0000
[   13.162995] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: kconfig debug 0 debugfs 1 tracing 0 dfs 1 testmode 1
[   13.176046] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: firmware ver 10.2.4-1.0-00037 api 5 features no-p2p,raw-mode,mfp,allows-mesh-bcast crc32 a4a52adb
[   13.188360] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: board_file api 1 bmi_id N/A crc32 bebc7c08
[   13.195780] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: htt-ver 0.0 wmi-op 5 htt-op 2 cal file max-sta 128 raw 0 hwcrypto 1
[   13.207420] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: firmware register dump:
[   13.213178] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [00]: 0x4100016C 0x00000000 0x00988490 0x00000000
[   13.221216] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [04]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.229258] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [08]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.237285] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [12]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.245319] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [16]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00988490
[   13.253353] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [20]: 0x00000000 0x00401930 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.261387] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [24]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.269421] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [28]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.277449] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [32]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.285491] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [36]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.293525] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [40]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.301559] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [44]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.309593] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [48]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.317621] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [52]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.325653] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [56]: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
[   13.333685] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Copy Engine register dump:
[   13.339704] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [00]: 0x00057400   5   5   6   5
[   13.346243] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [01]: 0x00057800   5   5   4   5
[   13.352790] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [02]: 0x00057c00   0   0  63   0
[   13.359341] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [03]: 0x00058000   0   0   0   0
[   13.365876] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [04]: 0x00058400   0   0   0   0
[   13.372423] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [05]: 0x00058800   0   0   0   0
[   13.378967] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [06]: 0x00058c00   0   0   0   0
[   13.385509] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [07]: 0x00059000   0   0   0   0
[   14.218385] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: failed to receive control response completion, polling..
[   15.258383] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: ctl_resp never came in (-145)
[   15.264655] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: failed to connect to HTC: -145
[   15.399608] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: could not init core (-145)
[   15.405746] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: could not probe fw (-145)
[   15.411729] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: cannot restart a device that hasn't been started
[   15.453140] ath: EEPROM regdomain: 0x0
[   15.453147] ath: EEPROM indicates default country code should be used
[   15.453150] ath: doing EEPROM country->regdmn map search
[   15.453162] ath: country maps to regdmn code: 0x3a
[   15.453167] ath: Country alpha2 being used: US
[   15.453170] ath: Regpair used: 0x3a
[   15.469157] ieee80211 phy1: Selected rate control algorithm 'minstrel_ht'
[   15.472280] ieee80211 phy1: Atheros AR9550 Rev:0 mem=0xb8100000, irq=47
[   15.557047] kmodloader: done loading kernel modules from /etc/modules.d/*
[   16.817644] urandom_read: 5 callbacks suppressed
[   16.817650] random: jshn: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[   29.369526] jffs2_scan_eraseblock(): End of filesystem marker found at 0x0
[   29.376527] jffs2_build_filesystem(): unlocking the mtd device... 
[   29.416365] done.
[   29.418332] jffs2_build_filesystem(): erasing all blocks after the end marker... 
[   29.812770] eth1: link up (1000Mbps/Full duplex)
[   29.817531] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth1: link is not ready
[   29.870589] br-lan: port 1(eth1.1) entered blocking state
[   29.876078] br-lan: port 1(eth1.1) entered disabled state
[   29.881931] device eth1.1 entered promiscuous mode
[   29.886807] device eth1 entered promiscuous mode
[   29.988495] br-lan: port 1(eth1.1) entered blocking state
[   29.993980] br-lan: port 1(eth1.1) entered forwarding state
[   29.999797] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): br-lan: link is not ready
[   30.087717] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
[   30.133954] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0.2: link is not ready
[   30.858414] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth1: link becomes ready
[   30.865153] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): br-lan: link becomes ready
[   31.099816] eth0: link up (1000Mbps/Full duplex)
[   31.181782] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth0: link becomes ready
[   31.216598] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth0.2: link becomes ready
[   74.472658] done.
[   74.474643] jffs2: notice: (1292) jffs2_build_xattr_subsystem: complete building xattr subsystem, 0 of xdatum (0 unchecked, 0 orphan) and 0 of xref (0 dead, 0 orphan) found.
[  129.638409] random: crng init done

Since you also own the Archer C7 v2, maybe you know this: Is it safe to go back to the TP-Link vendor firmware and can I flash OpenWrt again after doing so? I think I read once that newer TP-Link firmwares check the signatures of firmware images and may not allow you to install OpenWrt. Obviously, I don't like to lock myself out and be stuck with the vendor firmware if I flash that just for testing...

Next on my list is to open up the device to see if the miniPCIe module has somehow loosened...

[jeff]

TFTP should be independent of OEM checks, if any. I haven’t run OEM in years, so I don’t know what’s in it. The one concern I would have is if it replaces the boot loader.

If you have a DMM or `scope, check the supply rails. It’s a long shot, but the caps aren’t the best and power-supply sag is a possibility.

[silentcreek]

So, quick status update. I flashed the vendor firmware according to the debricking/reverting instructions on the wiki to see if the 5GHz radio would come up there - but after flashing the device is dead, I can't get an IP or connect to the device. Since I already have the new wireless hardware up and running and no serial cable at hand, I'm not in a hurry to recover the device. I'll probably have a go at it again in a few more weeks.

[psyborg]

this almost looks like a qca9880 v1 card issue, same ctl_resp and HTC connect message, only v1 has bigger amount of CE index 0 dst_wrt dumps due to incomplete workaround.

but yours is showing 63 dst_wrt on CE index 2, and i'm not sure CE2 is even used.

any luck with stock fw?

update: forced workaround and added CE dump into ath10k_pci_hif_send_complete_check routine

now i get similar output with this card

[   16.194813] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: pci hif send complete check
[   16.200896] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Copy Engine register dump:
[   16.206912] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [00]: 0x00057400   7   7   8   7
[   16.213444] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [01]: 0x00057800   6   6   5   6
[   16.219979] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [02]: 0x00057c00   0   0  63   0
[   16.226518] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [03]: 0x00058000   0   0   0   0
[   16.233050] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [04]: 0x00058400   0   0   0   0
[   16.239585] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [05]: 0x00058800   0   0 127   0
[   16.246124] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [06]: 0x00058c00   0   0   0   0
[   16.252656] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: [07]: 0x00059000   1   1   1   1
[   17.264015] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: ctl_resp never came in (-145)
[   17.270283] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: failed to connect to HTC: -145
[   17.276645] ath10k_pci 0000:01:00.0: boot hif stop

if your card really got damaged this makes me think there is no difference between v1 and v2, and to start wonder if i got brand new v1 card would it work out of the box...