Wifi device not active after changing channel

I have an Archer C6v2 with OpenWRT 19.07.7 which was working fine for a few weeks. Yesterday I altered the channel for the 5Ghz (I think I set it to 150).
After this, the radio device was disabled and now reads Generic 802.11bg instead of the name of the chipset.

Here is the beginnin of my wireless config:
I noticed some options are missing from my 'radio0' device when compared to those of 'radio1'

config wifi-device 'radio0'
        option type 'mac80211'
        option path 'pci0000:00/0000:00:00.0'
        option country 'BE'
        option legacy_rates '0'
        option htmode 'VHT40'

config wifi-device 'radio1'
        option type 'mac80211'
        option hwmode '11g'
        option path 'platform/ahb/18100000.wmac'
        option legacy_rates '0'
        option noscan '1'
        option htmode 'HT20'
        option country 'BE'
        option channel '1'

In the log I read these entries:

Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.info kernel: [   12.091907] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: pci irq legacy oper_irq_mode 1 irq_mode 0 reset_mode 0
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.warn kernel: [   12.320917] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA9888/hw2.0/firmware-6.bin failed with error -2
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.warn kernel: [   12.332022] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: Falling back to user helper
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.err kernel: [   12.694259] firmware ath10k!QCA9888!hw2.0!firmware-6.bin: firmware_loading_store: map pages failed
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.info kernel: [   13.520729] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: qca9888 hw2.0 target 0x01000000 chip_id 0x00000000 sub 0000:0000
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.info kernel: [   13.530299] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: kconfig debug 0 debugfs 1 tracing 0 dfs 1 testmode 1
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.info kernel: [   13.551365] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: firmware ver 10.4-3.9.0.2-00024 api 5 features no-p2p,mfp,peer-flow-ctrl,allows-mesh-bcast,no-ps crc32 98c840a5
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.err kernel: [   13.882192] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: failed to fetch board data for bus=pci,bmi-chip-id=0,bmi-board-id=20 from ath10k/QCA9888/hw2.0/board-2.bin
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.warn kernel: [   13.895902] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA9888/hw2.0/board.bin failed with error -2
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.warn kernel: [   13.906544] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: Falling back to user helper
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.err kernel: [   13.998757] firmware ath10k!QCA9888!hw2.0!board.bin: firmware_loading_store: map pages failed
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.err kernel: [   14.007766] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: failed to fetch board-2.bin or board.bin from ath10k/QCA9888/hw2.0
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.err kernel: [   14.017497] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: failed to fetch board file: -11
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.err kernel: [   14.024256] ath10k_pci 0000:00:00.0: could not probe fw (-11)
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.debug kernel: [   14.105485] ath: EEPROM regdomain: 0x0
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.debug kernel: [   14.105493] ath: EEPROM indicates default country code should be used
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.debug kernel: [   14.105496] ath: doing EEPROM country->regdmn map search
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.debug kernel: [   14.105509] ath: country maps to regdmn code: 0x3a
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.debug kernel: [   14.105514] ath: Country alpha2 being used: US
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.debug kernel: [   14.105517] ath: Regpair used: 0x3a
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.debug kernel: [   14.118244] ieee80211 phy1: Selected rate control algorithm 'minstrel_ht'
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 kern.info kernel: [   14.119786] ieee80211 phy1: Atheros AR9561 Rev:0 mem=0xb8100000, irq=2
Sun Jul 25 10:21:41 2021 user.info kernel: [   14.172238] kmodloader: done loading kernel modules from /etc/modules.d/*
Sun Jul 25 10:21:44 2021 user.notice : Added device handler type: 8021ad
Sun Jul 25 10:21:44 2021 user.notice : Added device handler type: 8021q
Sun Jul 25 10:21:44 2021 user.notice : Added device handler type: macvlan
Sun Jul 25 10:21:44 2021 user.notice : Added device handler type: veth
Sun Jul 25 10:21:44 2021 user.notice : Added device handler type: bridge
Sun Jul 25 10:21:44 2021 user.notice : Added device handler type: Network device
Sun Jul 25 10:21:44 2021 user.notice : Added device handler type: tunnel
Sun Jul 25 10:21:44 2021 daemon.notice procd: /etc/init.d/network: 'radio0' is disabled
Sun Jul 25 10:21:44 2021 daemon.notice procd: /etc/init.d/network: 'radio0' is disabled

What can I do to bring 5Ghz up again?

you can regenerate configuration with:

rm -f /etc/config/wireless
wifi config

Source: https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wifi/basic#regenerate_configuration

I've tried but then my 5Ghz wifi radio is completely gone:

config wifi-device 'radio0'   
        option type 'mac80211'
        option channel '11'   
        option hwmode '11g'
        option path 'platform/ahb/18100000.wmac'
        option htmode 'HT20'
        option disabled '1'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio0'
        option device 'radio0'
        option network 'lan'
        option mode 'ap'
        option ssid 'OpenWrt'
        option encryption 'none'

I think I've solved it. I made a backup of my config & flashed the firmware again - overwriting the current settings. After this, my 5Ghz radio was working again. I restored my settings and then I switched the firmware for my QCA9888 chip as proposed in this topic (initially I had problems with my 2.4Ghz radio). After reboot I got the same problem.
I reflashed the firmware & restored settings but this time I didn't alter the firmware & now everything (also the 2.4Ghz) seems to be working fine. Let's hope this remains the case.

After second thought, I don't think switching firmware for my QCA9888 chip would really make any difference for my 2.4Ghz, as this chipset only handles 5Ghz if I'm not mistaken?

kr

Wouter

That's cool.

There is no such channel. I wonder if that crashed the driver? Either way it works now. Good job.

OK thanks for clarifying this - I did receive this error again right after flashing it again so indeed it not real error.

I meant it was somewhere in the 150's, could be 151, 153...

Either way, I was a bit too optimistic yesterday. After some time of use the problems with my 2.4Ghz wifi started to pop up again (random disconnects - SSID disapearing...).

I guess my initial problem appeared because I didn't restart the 5Ghz after installing the new firmware, which did happen now after changing the channel.

So that has been solved, but still looking to get my 2.4Ghz stable. I cannot find another firmware for the QCA9563 present in my Archer C6 at first sight, is that correct.
Also, are there additional steps necessary to activate the new firmware after installing it?

The C6v2 EU/RU is a 8/128MB device and supports 19.07.7
The C6v2 US is 16/128MB and is on snapshot.

You are saying you are on 19.07.7 = you have the EU/RU device which is 8/128MB.

I don't know if that device has enough NAND memory to handle bigger more comprehensive packages. Check the status-->overview page in LuCI to see how much free memory you have. These upgrades don't use very much memory so if you have 1-2MB left you should be okay.

  • I like to upgrade wpad-basic to wpad or wpad-openssl
  • same for dnsmasq to dnsmasq-full

Also you could try different wifi drivers. Type "ath10k" at the "system-->software-->filter" prompt and update it to see all the different packages.

I tried to do a quick search on the C6 to see if the "kmod-ath10k-ct-smallbuffers" would help but didn't see anything. That could be worth a try.

Similarly you could try the ct version of the other drivers or vice versa.

If none of that works and barring any other tips then offhand I would say maybe something on the device itself is flaking out - perhaps the radio or the NAND flash.

Since the log output is complaining so much about ath10k (-2 errors notwithstanding) I would try swapping in different drivers after upgrading wpad and dnsmasq. Or vice versa. Or just one or the other.

HTH

Thanks for your advice.

I have the EU version indeed which is an 8/128MB device which has now 2MB free.

This weekend I'll try your suggestion and play with some other drivers and report back if it made an difference.

Kr

Wouter

Hi,
I've thinkered with my wifi radio but haven't found a real solution, my 2.4Ghz radio keeps disconnecting from time to time.

This is what I've tried:

  • Installed wpad instead of wpad-basic (I've skipped dnsmasq-full as this is a dump AP so this isn't in use I guess)

  • Using different ath10k drivers like ath10k-firmware-qca9887 ath10k-firmware-qca9888-ct-htt ath10k-firmware-qca988x ath10k-firmware-qca988x-ct ... and accompanying kmod drivers (I also tried the kmod-ath10k-ct-smallbuffers drivers). This doesn't make any difference. The strange thing is that when I reboot my AP, my 5Ghz won't work (the same problem as in my first post; Generic 802.11bg instead of my chipset name and device disabled message).
    What is even more strange is that when I re-install the original drivers ( ath10k-firmware-qca9888-ct & kmod-ath10k-ct and after rebooting the AP again my radio still isn't working. The only thing I can do to make it work again is to re-flash OpenWRT to it.

  • I also flashed OpenWRT 21.02 RC3 to it. The first thing I've noticed is that under wireless my 2.4Ghz radio had it's chipset name next to it (in 19.07 it's just named `Generic 802.11bgn'). But when connecting to it, it actually performs worse after only some minutes I get disconnected for a minute (in 19.07 this only happens 2-3 times an hour).

So for now I don't have much options I guess. Maybe waiting for a stable release of 21.02 and see what is what? For now, it's not a huge deal as 90% of my devices has 5Ghz wifi and so don't get this problem, but it would be nice to have flawless 2.4Ghz as well :slight_smile:

thanks for your help

You can use cron to reboot the router daily or watchcat.

HTH

Only skim read this, but...

Ar you selecting an allowed channel? 151, etc is not valid for BE is it? See https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wifi/wifi_countrycode, https://www.lairdconnect.com/support/faqs/what-channels-are-supported-both-24-ghz-and-5ghz-band-most-countries, etc.

1 Like

could be that you experience this:

You can use cron to reboot the router daily or watchcat.

@16F84
I don't see how this can help my case as rebooting the AP after installing other firmware seems to brake the 5Ghz radio?

Ar you selecting an allowed channel? 151, etc is not valid for BE is it?

@IanC
You could be right, at the time I didn't pay much attention to the regulations I just wanted to test this, but as it turns out it seems my 2.4Ghz radio does have some issues, not my 5Ghz.

could be that you experience this:

@Pico
Thanks for the advice, I'll read this link you have posted.

Just to clarify, IIRC if I select 2.4GHz channel 13 but not GB then the radio doesn't come up. So not just a "nicety" of getting them aligned.

There are additionally more subtle reasons as well, clients take their own regulatory settings from the environment - a mis-configured AP can create quite some havoc in your immediate neighbourhood (forcing clients into a restricted emergency mode); aside from the legal implications of using restricted frequencies or disturbing military- and civilian weather radars.