From owner-freebsd-net@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Dec 17 19:28:19 2005 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-net@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-net@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7127C16A41F for ; Sat, 17 Dec 2005 19:28:19 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from sam@errno.com) Received: from ebb.errno.com (ebb.errno.com [69.12.149.25]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C0CE043D70 for ; Sat, 17 Dec 2005 19:28:14 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from sam@errno.com) Received: from [10.0.0.200] ([10.0.0.200]) (authenticated bits=0) by ebb.errno.com (8.12.9/8.12.6) with ESMTP id jBHJSDA8024549 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NO); Sat, 17 Dec 2005 11:28:14 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from sam@errno.com) Message-ID: <43A46701.5050207@errno.com> Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2005 11:29:05 -0800 From: Sam Leffler User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0.7 (X11/20051207) X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: nielsen@memberwebs.com References: <20051216233343.8BECB70DD6F@mail.npubs.com> In-Reply-To: <20051216233343.8BECB70DD6F@mail.npubs.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: freebsd-net@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Atheros Looping: ath0: hardware error; resetting X-BeenThere: freebsd-net@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Networking and TCP/IP with FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2005 19:28:19 -0000 Nate Nielsen wrote: > I have Atheros 5213 based 802.11a cards. When switching 'media' (ie: > rates or speed) I often get the following error multiple times on my > console: > > >>ath0: hardware error; resetting >>ath0: hardware error; resetting > > > It's all fine and good when it's just a few times, but in many cases it > enters an endless loop, bringing the wireless link to it's knees. The > above line is written to the console over and over again, > > I'm running FreeBSD 6.0 on two boxes sitting next to each other. The > wireless NICs are setup real simple (in rc.conf) with: > > ifconfig_ath0="inet 10.28.2.18/30 ssid tel2 channel 52 \ > mediaopt adhoc" > > To duplicate run the following several times: > > # ifconfig ath0 media auto > # ifconfig ath0 media OFDM/6Mbps > > A work around is simply to punch the settings into rc.conf and reboot. Seems to work fine here with CURRENT; I just typed the exact commands from above. "hardware errors" are typically dma errors. If you're operating in adhoc mode the h/w is periodically sending beacons and if that tx descriptor gets setup wrong it can cause a dma error. Marking the interface down will shutdown all dma so if you're seeing these repeat try doing that. Perhaps there is a race in changing state but I just did a tight loop where I switched media and saw nothing bad happen. I can try 6.0 later. FWIW 5213 is kinda nebulous; the only true info are the mac+phy revs from dmesg|grep ath. Sam