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WL1271 Multirole issues after upgrade of kernel to 4.19

Working on a software upgrade on a fielded product. 

The system is moving from Linux 3.14 to 4.19 (FSLC) using the mainline ti drivers. 

We had multirole working in 3.14 but in 4.19 it does not seem to work. 

In multirole, the AP broadcasts SSID but no devices can associate.  Running hostapd, even with -ddd produces no output when a device attempts to associate.  Looking at kernel logs at level 7 also produces no output.

SR firmware in AP or Station mode works fine in 4.19, just multirole seems to have an issue.

The same device will connect to the AP in the current 3.14 system in multirole mode without issue.

I'm running the ol_R5.SP9.01 firmware and hostapd from https://git.ti.com/cgit/wl12xx/ti-utils/ and https://git.ti.com/cgit/wl12xx/hostap/  I reverted back to the old example from https://web.archive.org/web/20190218081253/http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/OMAP_Wireless_Connectivity_NLCP_Multi_Role_Configuration   but that produces the same result.

Any guidance on where to look for answers?  I know this is an older product but we have legacy hardware that can't be upgraded.

  • Hi ,

    As you know ,  WL12xx is an old SoC succeeded by WiLink8 . We haven't done any WL12xx software or maintenance releases in a long time. It's difficult for us to comment on this issue since we haven't tested it on k4.19. hostapd with -ddd option should typically output verbose logging  . I believe the best way to troubleshoot this is to compare the logs b/w working and non-working setup and check why hostpad is unable to interact with AP interface

    Best

    Saurabh

  • Hi Saurabh,

    Thanks for the feedback.  I've tried a couple combinations and it I believe it is the kernel driver or kernel configuration as I kept everything else I could identical.  I've now run identical firmware and wpa_supplicant/hostapd versions on both kernel versions with different results.

    On the 3.14 Kernel image, I've run the R5.SP3 firmware as well as the R5.SP9 firmware, wpa_supplicant, and hostapd

    On the 4.19 Kernel image, I've also run the R5.SP3 firmware as well as the R5.SP9 firmware, wpa_supplicant, and hostapd.

    On 3.14 it works fine per MultiRole example in the link in my original post

    On the 4.19, it does not work.

    On 4.19, if I run wpa_supplicant alone it works.  I ran each step in the MultiRole example in the link in my 1st post.  It seems to be the step of bringing up the wlan1 interface (ifconfig wlan1 up) that causes the wpa_supplicant mode to stop working. This is the step that causes the MR firmware to load.  

    Attached are file compares of the hostapd and wpa_supplicant output in 3.14 and 4.19.  These are both with firmware, wpa_supplicant, and hostapd at R5.SP9. Left column is the output of the 3.14 kernel, right is the 4.19.  On wpa_supplicant I see it start reporting device or resource busy.  On hostapd, I simply get no additional output when a client tries to associate with the AP.  I see some differences leading up to these points, but I'm not sure if they are significant.  Does anything looks suspicious to you?

    Thanks again for your feedback and any guidance you can provide.

  • Hi Jim ,

    We are not able to comment much on this since we haven't ported wl127x solution to k4.19 ourselves.

    I see in supplicant logs that DUT couldn't find  suitable network . I can't say if scan is returning any results. I am assuming names of STA and AP interfaces are same b/w both kernels.

    Best

    Saurabh

  • Hi Saurabh,

    Okay understood.  I can confirm the STA an AP are the same, and running scan/scan_results returns no entries on the 4.19 kernel when in MR mode.  I see also wpa_supplicant starts reporting "Scan trigger failed" ret -16 Device or resource busy" at the bottom of the log output after wlan1 is brought up.  Thanks for the feedback -Jim

  • Jim ,

    Thanks for the update. I checked to confirm that you are using the latest wl127x firmware.  Other kernel modules also get updated when you update the kernel version - cfg80211, mac80211 etc.

    Best of luck with your project

    Saurabh