330-fix_reassoc_after_ack_failure.patch causes silent failures

[tusker@…]

Hi,

I have just tried to use latest trunk, which uses the 330-fix_reassoc_after_ack_failure.patch. With this patch enabled, wifi connectivity drops silently, without any error message in logread.

Running 'wifi' resumes connectivity for a few minutes.

Reverting out just that patch, resumes normal behaviour.

Cheers,

Damien

[nbd]

That's very odd. My tests show exactly the opposite. Without the patch, wifi can get stuck without reconnecting (AP considers the Client disassociated, Client thinks it's still connected), whereas with the patch the Client gets notified when it's no longer considered associated to the AP.

[nbd]

Please show me the contents of the following files when it breaks:

/sys/kernel/debug/ieee80211/phy0/ath9k/xmit
/sys/kernel/debug/ieee80211/phy0/ath9k/reset

[nbd]

Also, please increase the debug level of hostapd and show me its logs

[tusker@…]

Hi nbd,

That actually makes sense to me. I only applied this new version on the client, rather than on the AP, so because the AP never sent the client that message, then the client would get stuck. Perhaps we need to leave the logic on the client the same, and only apply this logic for the AP side of things ?

I will test again with the patch on both the client and the AP.

Cheers,

Damien

[nbd]

The code that this patch modifies is not even called on the client side, so I think it's probably an error in your test setup.

[tusker@…]

Hi,

Tested again with both client and AP with that patch included, so far so good, with no silent failures.

I am running the client in sta+client bridge, so perhaps that is why the AP code is being used for my test setup.

Could this potentially cause interoperability issues with other routers running other firmwares ?

I would be happy to retest any combination you think would be valuable. How do I set the debug level in hostap without restarting it? (ie, the AP is in a hard to reach location, and only accessible via wifi)

Cheers,

Damien

[nbd]

I don't think this patch caused silent connection drop issues in any way. Simply bridging a client mode interface does not magically make it use AP related code. It also doesn't cause any interop issues with other equipment, this is purely standard compliant stuff.