Intel miniPCI-e WiFi cards not working

WLAN adapter and miniPCI-express slot
nbpf
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2013 1:06 pm

Re: Intel miniPCI-e WiFi cards not working

Post by nbpf »

opencompany wrote:The new BIOS with WiFi fix has been released for fit-PC3 (v. SBCFP3_2.1.0.333_14)
http://www.fit-pc.com/wiki/index.php/Fi ... IOS_Update
Thanks for the update. I have received a new fit-PC3 on Monday 10.02.14 from CompuLab (thanks again to all people involved in processing my RMA for their ready and competent support !). The BIOS is

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root@fitpc3:/var/log# sudo dmidecode -s bios-version
SBC_2.1.0.333_14 X64
my OS is

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root@fitpc3:/var/log# uname -a
Linux fitpc3 3.2.0-4-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 3.2.54-2 x86_64 GNU/Linux
the network card is

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root@fitpc3:/var/log# lspci | grep -i network
05:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Advanced-N 6235 (rev 24)
The system works very nicely and the network connection is fast and reliable. There is, however, an annoying problem: every day (2 since the fit-PC3 is up and running) and short before midnight the network connection gets disabled:

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root@fitpc3:/var/log# grep "disable radio" messages 
Feb 11 23:57:11 fitpc3 kernel: [ 7149.120675] iwlwifi 0000:05:00.0: RF_KILL bit toggled to disable radio.
root@fitpc3:/var/log# grep "disable radio" messages.1 
Feb 10 23:57:00 fitpc3 kernel: [12071.847421] iwlwifi 0000:05:00.0: RF_KILL bit toggled to disable radio.
During the day the network connection is perfectly reliable. I have a laptop with the same OS and the same iwlwifi drivers (but with an Advanced-N 6205 network card) and the network connection is stable over weeks.

Any idea how to fix this problem ?

opencompany
Posts: 100
Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2009 10:41 am

Re: Intel miniPCI-e WiFi cards not working

Post by opencompany »

Unfortunately I have no idea :(
Kind Regards,
Kevin Peter Gade

CompuLab Nordic A/S (www.compulabnordic.dk)
Danish distributor of fit-PC and other products from CompuLab since 2008.

nbpf
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2013 1:06 pm

Re: Intel miniPCI-e WiFi cards not working

Post by nbpf »

opencompany wrote:Unfortunately I have no idea :(
Right, I was just wandering if bluetooth could be responsible for the RF_KILL. I used to disable bluetooth via BIOS but I have noticed that in the new BIOS there is no option for disabling bluetooth ... I'll try loading the iwlwifi module with bt_coex_active=N and report.

nbpf
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2013 1:06 pm

Re: Intel miniPCI-e WiFi cards not working

Post by nbpf »

nbpf wrote:I'll try loading the iwlwifi module with bt_coex_active=N and report.
Right, it seems (just one test passed so far) that loading the iwlwifi module with bt_coex_active=N prevents the RF_KILL and network disconnection. Unfortunately, this also significantly degrades wireless bandwidth, particularly in the 2,4GHz band.

I have opened an issue on the Debian User Forum (http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=111656), hopefully there is a better way to solve the problem.

opencompany
Posts: 100
Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2009 10:41 am

Re: Intel miniPCI-e WiFi cards not working

Post by opencompany »

@nbpf
Thanks for sharing.
We are using this card a lot but haven't experienced or noticed this issue. However it is good to know in case we will. We are using SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 btw.
Kind Regards,
Kevin Peter Gade

CompuLab Nordic A/S (www.compulabnordic.dk)
Danish distributor of fit-PC and other products from CompuLab since 2008.

nbpf
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2013 1:06 pm

Re: Intel miniPCI-e WiFi cards not working

Post by nbpf »

Problem solved ! Comparing the output of "rfkill list" on the fit-PC3 and on my laptop suggested that no bluetooth interface was active.

"lsmod | grep btusb" confirmed that the bluetooth modules were not loaded. At this point I realized that I had a "/etc/modprobe.d/tuning-blacklist.conf" with the single entry

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blacklist btusb
from a previous (Realtek network controller) configuration ! After removing the entry the bluetooth modules loaded fine and there have been no RF_KILL around 23:57 for the past two days (and transfer rates have further improved). The lesson learned is:
  • * iwlwifi loaded with default options, btusb blacklisted => RF_KILL problem
    * iwlwifi loaded with bt_coex_active=N, btusb blacklisted => no RF_KILL problem but significant performance degradation
    * iwlwifi loaded with default options, btusb loaded => no RF_KILL problem, no performance degradation

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