linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH] rtl8xxxu: Fix wifi low signal strength issue of RTL8723BU

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Message-ID: <89dbfb9d-a31a-9ecb-66bd-42ac0fc49e70@gmail.com>
Date:   Wed, 3 Jul 2019 08:59:19 -0400
From:   Jes Sorensen <jes.sorensen@...il.com>
To:     Daniel Drake <drake@...lessm.com>
Cc:     Chris Chiu <chiu@...lessm.com>, Kalle Valo <kvalo@...eaurora.org>,
        David Miller <davem@...emloft.net>,
        linux-wireless <linux-wireless@...r.kernel.org>,
        netdev <netdev@...r.kernel.org>,
        Linux Kernel <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
        Linux Upstreaming Team <linux@...lessm.com>,
        Larry Finger <Larry.Finger@...inger.net>
Subject: Re: [PATCH] rtl8xxxu: Fix wifi low signal strength issue of RTL8723BU

On 7/3/19 3:42 AM, Daniel Drake wrote:
> On Tue, Jul 2, 2019 at 8:42 PM Jes Sorensen <jes.sorensen@...il.com> wrote:
>> We definitely don't want to bring over the vendor code, since it's a
>> pile of spaghetti, but we probably need to get something sorted. This
>> went down the drain when the bluetooth driver was added without taking
>> it into account - long after this driver was merged.
> 
> Yeah, I didn't mean bring over quite so literally.. Chris is studying
> it and figuring out the neatest way to reimplement the required bits.
> 
> As for the relationship with bluetooth.. actually the bug that Chris
> is working on here is that the rtl8xxxu wifi signal is totally
> unusable *until* the bluetooth driver is loaded.

So this is not my experience at all from when I wrote the code. The
8723bu dongle I used for it came up just fine.

> Once the bluetooth driver is loaded, at the point of bluetooth
> firmware upload, the rtl8xxxu signal magiaclly strength becomes good.
> I think this is consistent with other rtl8xxxu problem reports that we
> saw lying around, although they had not been diagnosed in so much
> detail.

See this is the very opposite of what I have experienced. The bluetooth
driver ruins the signal when it's loaded with my dongle.

> The rtl8723bu vendor driver does not suffer this problem, it works
> fine with or without the bluetooth driver in place.

My point is this seems to be very dongle dependent :( We have to be
careful not breaking it for some users while fixing it for others.

Cheers,
Jes