wi0 unreliable on FreeBSD 6.0

[Kevin Oberman]

> Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2006 22:32:08 +0100
> From: Fabian Keil <freebsd-listen at fabiankeil.de>
> Sender: owner-freebsd-stable at freebsd.org
> 
> --Sig_AqweD8UpFkAMKdu7HuVUvkl
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> 
> Since the update from RELENG_5 to RELENG_6 a few days ago I have
> trouble with the wireless network.
> 
> This card worked fine with FreeBSD 5.4:  
> 
> wi0: <T-Sinus 130card> at port 0x4000-0x403f irq 11 function 0 config 1
> on pccard0
> wi0: using RF:PRISM2.5 MAC:ISL3873
> wi0: Intersil Firmware: Primary (1.0.4), Station (1.2.0)
> 
> But only works with very low traffic on FreeBSD 6.0.
> I can use it to check my emails and to flood ping for a while:
> 
> --- 192.168.0.1 ping statistics ---
> 58577 packets transmitted, 57031 packets received, 2% packet loss
> round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 2.934/700.012/1169.922/327.406 ms
> 
> But as soon as I open firefox, which then tries to get some RSS feeds,
> I loose the connection. If I have firefox already open I can sometimes
> get the first half of a small web page, but only sometimes.
> 
> The ifconfig wi0 output is then shortened to:
> 
> wi0: flags=8807<UP,BROADCAST,DEBUG,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
>         inet 192.168.0.51 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.0.255
>         inet6 fe80::230:f1ff:fe66:d97e%wi0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x3 
>         ether 00:30:f1:66:d9:7e
> 
> instead of
> 
> wi0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
>         inet 192.168.0.51 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.0.255
>         inet6 fe80::230:f1ff:fe66:d97e%wi0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x3 
>         ether 00:30:f1:66:d9:7e
>         media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect (DS/2Mbps)
>         status: associated
>         ssid ec60bfg3b4 channel 11 bssid 00:14:6c:1b:62:a8
>         stationname "FreeBSD WaveLAN/IEEE node"
>         authmode OPEN privacy MIXED deftxkey 1 wepkey 1:104-bit
> txpowmax 100
> 
> After "ifconfig wi0 debug" dmesg says:
> 
> wi0: timeout in wi_cmd 0x0002; event status 0x8008
> wi0: timeout in wi_cmd 0x0000; event status 0x8008
> wi0: wi_cmd: busy bit won't clear.
> wi0: init failed
> wi0: failed to allocate 2372 bytes on NIC
> wi0: tx buffer allocation failed (error 12)
> wi0: interface not running
> wi0: link state changed to DOWN
> 
> If I unload if_wi and wlan_wep, remove the card, put it in again
> and reload if_wi and wlan_wep, I can reconfigure the card and
> ping some more.
> 
> I use wlan and wlan_wep as modules, my setup works fine
> with an Atheros-based card.
> 
> I noticed the mails that wi0 is regarded as old technology and
> therefore will not be enhanced to support WPA in the next time,
> but it should still work as reliable as on 5.4, right?

I have had some issues with dhclient and wi since OpenBSD's dhclient
replaced the ISC version, but nothing like what you are reporting.

I notice that your firmware is pretty old. I am running Primary (1.1.1),
Station (1.7.4) and don't seem to be having any serious problems. I'd
suggest updating and see if that fixes things.
-- 
R. Kevin Oberman, Network Engineer
Energy Sciences Network (ESnet)
Ernest O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)
E-mail: oberman at es.net			Phone: +1 510 486-8634