netdev - Re: linux-2..6.33-rc7 and b43

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Date:	Sun, 14 Feb 2010 22:53:22 +0100
From:	Gábor Stefanik <netrolller.3d@...il.com>
To:	Thomas Backlund <tmb@...driva.org>
Cc:	Larry Finger <Larry.Finger@...inger.net>,
	"linux-wireless@...r.kernel.org" <linux-wireless@...r.kernel.org>,
	"netdev@...r.kernel.org" <netdev@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: linux-2..6.33-rc7 and b43

2010/2/14 Thomas Backlund <tmb@...driva.org>:
> Gábor Stefanik skrev 14.2.2010 20:59:
>>
>> On Sun, Feb 14, 2010 at 7:44 PM, Thomas Backlund<tmb@...driva.org>  wrote:
>>>
>>> Larry Finger skrev 14.2.2010 18:36:
>>>>
>>>> On 02/14/2010 03:53 AM, Thomas Backlund wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi,
>>>>> (please cc me on replies)
>>>>>
>>>>> We have a user that tried out b43, but got this in the logs:
>>>>>
>>>>> --- cut ---
>>>>> 65858:Feb  9 22:05:16 elmo kernel: b43-phy2 ERROR: This device does not
>>>>> support DMA on your system. Please use PIO instead. 65859:Feb  9
>>>>> 22:05:16 elmo kernel: b43-phy2 ERROR: CONFIG_B43_FORCE_PIO must
>>>>> be set in your kernel configuration.
>>>>> 65860:Feb  9 22:05:16 elmo kernel: b43-phy2 debug: Adding Interface
>>>>> type
>>>>> 2
>>>>> 65861:Feb  9 22:05:16 elmo kernel: b43-phy2 ERROR: Fatal DMA error:
>>>>> 0x00000400, 0x00000000, 0x00000000, 0x00000000, 0x00000000, 0x00000000
>>>>>
>>>>> 65862:Feb  9 22:05:16 elmo kernel: b43-phy2 ERROR: This device does not
>>>>> support DMA on your system. Please use PIO instead.
>>>>> 65863:Feb  9 22:05:16 elmo kernel: b43-phy2 ERROR: CONFIG_B43_FORCE_PIO
>>>>> must be set in your kernel configuration.
>>>>> --- cut ---
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> But reading the Kconfig help, it states:
>>>>> --- cut ---
>>>>> config B43_FORCE_PIO
>>>>>         bool "Force usage of PIO instead of DMA"
>>>>>         depends on B43&&    B43_DEBUG
>>>>>         ---help---
>>>>>           This will disable DMA and always enable PIO instead.
>>>>>
>>>>>           Say N!
>>>>>           This is only for debugging the PIO engine code. You do
>>>>>           _NOT_ want to enable this.
>>>>> --- cut ---
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> So,
>>>>> wich one is it ?
>>>>>
>>>>> Do I belive the dmesg output, or the Kconfig ?
>>>>>
>>>>> Note,
>>>>> the b43 works for the user if he enable the CONFIG_B43_FORCE_PIO.
>>>>>
>>>>> But I'm thinking of this problem from a distro point of view.
>>>>> Will it break for others if I enable it ?
>>>>
>>>>>  From a distro point of view, you would not want to set FORCE_PIO as
>>>>> the
>>>>
>>>> performance penalty would be very large.
>>>>
>>>
>>> As I suspected.
>>> Thanks for confirming it.
>>>
>>>> You do not give the specific details on the problem system; however, it
>>>> is
>>>> probably a BCM4312 802.11 b/g device with PCI ID 14e4:4315 being used
>>>> with
>>>> an
>>>> Atom processor in a netbook. We have no fix.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Sorry about the missing info...
>>> I asked a few times from the user, and got no reponse until today a few
>>> hours after your response...
>>>
>>> It is indeed a BCM4312 802.11 b/g device with PCI ID 14e4:4315 on a Dell
>>> laptop with a Intel ICH9M series chipset and a Intel Core(TM)2 Duo CPU
>>> T7250
>>> @ 2.00GHz.
>>
>> Weird... that's not an Intel Atom, but a Core 2 Duo, standard-voltage.
>> Mind posting any more details on this system?
>>
>
> It's a Dell Latitude E5500, Bios A13.
>
> It's a 64bit kernel/userspace.
>
> The b43 firmware is: 478.104
>
> lspci -vvvnnn states:
>  0c:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g
> [14e4:4315] (rev 01)
>         Subsystem: Dell Wireless 1397 WLAN Mini-Card [1028:000c]
>         Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr-
> Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B- DisINTx-
>         Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort-
> <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
>         Latency: 0, Cache Line Size: 64 bytes
>         Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 17
>         Region 0: Memory at f69fc000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
>         Capabilities: <access denied>
>         Kernel driver in use: b43-pci-bridge
>         Kernel modules: wl, ssb
>
>
> Anything else you need ?
>
> --
> Thomas
>

Looks like the trigger is not Intel Atom, but PhoenixBIOS after all -
a quick analysis of bios v. A15 for this machine shows it to be a
highly cloaked/rebranded PhoenixBIOS.

Core 2 T7250 is a regular Merom/Santa Rosa CPU, almost the same as my
T7100 (only the clock multiplier is different), and is not a ULV CPU,
the trigger we previously suspected.

PhoenixBIOS (and its rebrands) appears to be the common trigger.

-- 
Vista: [V]iruses, [I]ntruders, [S]pyware, [T]rojans and [A]dware. :-)
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