Kernel panic with TP-Link Archer C7 V1 and LEDE in general

For Developers
1

Hello,

I am not sure if I am right here. I got my Archer C7 V1.1 today and wanted to install the latest LEDE Version. After doing this I got kernel panic at the startup and and endless loop. After running the Failsafe Mode.

The Terminal looks like this.

[   11.290061] Status: 1100fc03<9>KERNEL EXL IE <\r><\n>
[   11.294331] Cause : 0080001c (ExcCode 07)<\r><\n>
[   11.298397] PrId  : 00019750 (MIPS 74Kc)<\r><\n>
[   11.302372] Modules linked in: ath10k_pci(+) ath10k_core ath mac80211 cfg80211 compat ledtrig_usbport ip6t_REJECT nf_reject_ipv6 nf_log_ipv6 nf_log_common ip6table_mangle ip6table_filter ip6_tables x_tables ehci_platform ehci_hcd gpio_button_hotplug usbcore nls_base usb_common<\r><\n>
[   11.327397] Process kmodloader (pid: 503, threadinfo=87434000, task=87d79e30, tls=77975d48)<\r><\n>
[   11.335855] Stack : 87434000 87435b60 00000000 87fe37cc 1100fc03 00000196 2a840000 87669460<\r><\n>
<9>  00000000 87fe3744 80370040 87fe3518 87669460 87669460 87669460 87669460<\r><\n>
<9>  87fe64bc 87fe649c 87fe0000 87cec068 87fe5b78 87fe39ac 87cec000 801fc624<\r><\n>
<9>  8757d280 87fe2c64 803e00c8 00000001 87669460 87fe3b74 87669460 800aa470<\r><\n>
<9>  00000040 8754bf68 00000000 87669460 87669460 87fe0000 87669460 00000000<\r><\n>
<9>  ...<\r><\n>
[   11.372182] Call Trace:[<87fe37cc>] 0x87fe37cc [ath10k_pci@87fe0000+0x6dd0]<\r><\n>
[   11.379257] [<87fe3744>] 0x87fe3744 [ath10k_pci@87fe0000+0x6dd0]<\r><\n>
[   11.385345] [<87fe3518>] 0x87fe3518 [ath10k_pci@87fe0000+0x6dd0]<\r><\n>
[   11.391438] [<87fe0000>] 0x87fe0000 [ath10k_pci@87fe0000+0x6dd0]<\r><\n>
[   11.397534] [<87fe39ac>] 0x87fe39ac [ath10k_pci@87fe0000+0x6dd0]<\r><\n>
[   11.403620] [<801fc624>] 0x801fc624<\r><\n>
[   11.407160] [<87fe2c64>] 0x87fe2c64 [ath10k_pci@87fe0000+0x6dd0]<\r><\n>
[   11.413251] [<87fe3b74>] 0x87fe3b74 [ath10k_pci@87fe0000+0x6dd0]<\r><\n>
[   11.419336] [<800aa470>] 0x800aa470<\r><\n>
[   11.422877] [<8754bf68>] 0x8754bf68 [ath10k_core@87540000+0x3c2b0]<\r><\n>
[   11.429144] [<87fe0000>] 0x87fe0000 [ath10k_pci@87fe0000+0x6dd0]<\r><\n>
[   11.435234] [<87fe4314>] 0x87fe4314 [ath10k_pci@87fe0000+0x6dd0]<\r><\n>
[   11.441319] [<801fbbbc>] 0x801fbbbc<\r><\n>
[   11.444859] [<801d9194>] 0x801d9194<\r><\n>
[   11.448393] [<801ff6d4>] 0x801ff6d4<\r><\n>
[   11.451934] [<801ffcf4>] 0x801ffcf4<\r><\n>
[   11.455469] [<800e604c>] 0x800e604c<\r><\n>
[   11.459009] [<801ffed0>] 0x801ffed0<\r><\n>
[   11.462543] [<801fe11c>] 0x801fe11c<\r><\n>
[   11.466082] [<801ffe54>] 0x801ffe54<\r><\n>
[   11.469618] [<801fe1d8>] 0x801fe1d8<\r><\n>
[   11.473158] [<8035e4bc>] 0x8035e4bc<\r><\n>
[   11.476697] [<87fe7000>] 0x87fe7000 [ath10k_pci@87fe0000+0x6dd0]<\r><\n>
[   11.482783] [<801fdfac>] 0x801fdfac<\r><\n>
[   11.486324] [<801ff404>] 0x801ff404<\r><\n>
[   11.489858] [<8009baa0>] 0x8009baa0<\r><\n>
[   11.493403] [<87fe7000>] 0x87fe7000 [ath10k_pci@87fe0000+0x6dd0]<\r><\n>
[   11.499495] [<802005e8>] 0x802005e8<\r><\n>
[   11.503039] [<87fe7000>] 0x87fe7000 [ath10k_pci@87fe0000+0x6dd0]<\r><\n>
[   11.509133] [<87fe702c>] 0x87fe702c [ath10k_pci@87fe0000+0x6dd0]<\r><\n>
[   11.515222] [<80069c7c>] 0x80069c7c<\r><\n>
[   11.518758] [<800a1d24>] 0x800a1d24<\r><\n>
[   11.522295] [<80092ab8>] 0x80092ab8<\r><\n>
[   11.525835] [<800909d8>] 0x800909d8<\r><\n>
[   11.529373] [<800904c8>] 0x800904c8<\r><\n>
[   11.532912] [<800c3558>] 0x800c3558<\r><\n>
[   11.536447] [<800f98fc>] 0x800f98fc<\r><\n>
[   11.539986] [<800c4a08>] 0x800c4a08<\r><\n>
[   11.543522] [<800c2bfc>] 0x800c2bfc<\r><\n>
[   11.547062] [<800f9e08>] 0x800f9e08<\r><\n>
[   11.550597] [<800f2e3c>] 0x800f2e3c<\r><\n>
[   11.554135] [<800c4c04>] 0x800c4c04<\r><\n>
[   11.557673] [<800c4ca0>] 0x800c4ca0<\r><\n>
[   11.561213] [<80062c6c>] 0x80062c6c<\r><\n>
[   11.564751] <\r><\n>
[   11.566257] <\r><\n>
Code: 8e243b84  0c071ef2  00902021 <00408021> 92223e45  10400004  02001021  0dff86ed  02202021 <\r><\n>
[   11.576412] ---[ end trace c37ab57ac6f397bd ]---<\r><\n>
[   11.582679] Fatal exception: panic in 5 seconds<\r><\n>
[   16.593411] Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception<\r><\n>
[   16.599724] Rebooting in 1 seconds..<\r><\n>

I checked every LEDE version and none of them is working. With the last OPENWRT Image and the Stock Firmware everything is fine. Can anybody tell me what could be wrong?

2

If you can, use imagebuilder to remove kmod-ath10k.

Strictly speaking it should just fail with a not supported message.

3

Mhm... I never build from the sources. What ist kmod-ath10k?

4

That's the driver for the 5ghz wireless. It is not compatible with the C7v1. Some hardware ABI issue. If you feel adventurous, you could open the router and replace the 5ghz card to a working one (it's miniPCIe).

ImageBuilder is a tool to modify the image not compile it.

5

Ah. OK. What miniPCIe card is compatible? First thing I've done was to open the router and replacing the internal 2,4 GHz antennas with RP-SMA connectors and pinout the serial interface. The router looks a little funny with six antennas, but works quiet well.

Could you perhaps shortly explain how to use the image builder in my case? I have seen the page on LEDE Project, but how can I find out what packages are used in the standard distribution? Or is there any chance that there is soon a driver wich is compatible?

6

What happened with the v1 IIRC was tp link put a 5ghz minipcie card in there which Qualcomm soon after disowned and killed support for. So they came out with the v2 which has a slightly updated card(not much) which works and will continue to work for the foreseeable future.

As far as which WiFi card to get... cheapest option would be to buy a laptop WiFi card with a full size minipcie adapter. Atheros preferably. Could also look around for the QCA9880, which is what the v2 has. There's also the mt7612e for people who care about wireless freedom but I've not had much success with that.

As far as the Image Builder goes, there's a nice section on the Documentation page: https://lede-project.org/docs/user-guide/imagebuilder . I don't use it myself as I build my own images.