Changing from Minstrel to PID

Changing from Minstrel to PID

[Martín Ernesto Barreyro]

Hello, I have a rtl8187 wireless card and I've allways have problems
with the rate control using minstrel. So everytime my kernel updates
(recently it went from 2.30 to 2.31) i have to recompile mi kernel
setting pid as my default rate control algorithm.

Is there a way to change that without compiling the kernel?


-- 
Martín Ernesto Barreyro <barreyromartin@gmail.com>
Analista Universitario en Redes de Datos.

Re: Changing from Minstrel to PID

[John W. Linville]

On Fri, Nov 06, 2009 at 06:29:16PM -0300, Martín Ernesto Barreyro wrote:
> Hello, I have a rtl8187 wireless card and I've allways have problems
> with the rate control using minstrel. So everytime my kernel updates
> (recently it went from 2.30 to 2.31) i have to recompile mi kernel
> setting pid as my default rate control algorithm.
> 
> Is there a way to change that without compiling the kernel?

No, but I wish there were...patches?  Anyone?

John
-- 
John W. Linville		Someday the world will need a hero, and you
linville@tuxdriver.com			might be all we have.  Be ready.

Re: Changing from Minstrel to PID

[Martín Ernesto Barreyro]

El vie, 06-11-2009 a las 16:48 -0500, John W. Linville escribió:
> On Fri, Nov 06, 2009 at 06:29:16PM -0300, Martín Ernesto Barreyro wrote:
> > Hello, I have a rtl8187 wireless card and I've allways have problems
> > with the rate control using minstrel. So everytime my kernel updates
> > (recently it went from 2.30 to 2.31) i have to recompile mi kernel
> > setting pid as my default rate control algorithm.
> > 
> > Is there a way to change that without compiling the kernel?
> 
> No, but I wish there were...patches?  Anyone?

Sorry for my ignorance, but how could I send a parameter to a module or
use a configuration file? could be with sysctl?


-- 
Martín Ernesto Barreyro <barreyromartin@gmail.com>
Analista Universitario en Redes de Datos.

Re: Changing from Minstrel to PID

[Bob Copeland]

On Fri, Nov 6, 2009 at 5:13 PM, Martín Ernesto Barreyro
<barreyromartin@gmail.com> wrote:
>> No, but I wish there were...patches?  Anyone?
>
> Sorry for my ignorance, but how could I send a parameter to a module or
> use a configuration file? could be with sysctl?

You do have to compile them both, but once you do, if you
have debugfs mounted, you can do:

echo 'pid' > /debug/ieee80211/phy0/rc/name

to switch to pid.

-- 
Bob Copeland %% www.bobcopeland.com

Re: Changing from Minstrel to PID

[Martín Ernesto Barreyro]

El vie, 06-11-2009 a las 17:24 -0500, Bob Copeland escribió:
> On Fri, Nov 6, 2009 at 5:13 PM, Martín Ernesto Barreyro
> <barreyromartin@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> No, but I wish there were...patches?  Anyone?
> >
> > Sorry for my ignorance, but how could I send a parameter to a module or
> > use a configuration file? could be with sysctl?
> 
> You do have to compile them both, but once you do, if you
> have debugfs mounted, you can do:
> 
> echo 'pid' > /debug/ieee80211/phy0/rc/name
> 
> to switch to pid.
> 
Humm, if thats the only way, its better to recompile and forget about
it.

It would be nice if a could change some file in /etc and never care for
kernel upgrades.
I don't know much about kernel developing, i'm just wondering

Something better than adding echo 'pid' > /debug/ieee80211/phy0/rc/name
to rc.local

-- 
Martín Ernesto Barreyro <barreyromartin@gmail.com>
Analista Universitario en Redes de Datos.

Re: Changing from Minstrel to PID

[John W. Linville]

On Fri, Nov 06, 2009 at 05:24:47PM -0500, Bob Copeland wrote:
> On Fri, Nov 6, 2009 at 5:13 PM, Martín Ernesto Barreyro
> <barreyromartin@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> No, but I wish there were...patches?  Anyone?
> >
> > Sorry for my ignorance, but how could I send a parameter to a module or
> > use a configuration file? could be with sysctl?
> 
> You do have to compile them both, but once you do, if you
> have debugfs mounted, you can do:
> 
> echo 'pid' > /debug/ieee80211/phy0/rc/name
> 
> to switch to pid.

Does that work?  I thought that was only informational (and readonly)?

John
-- 
John W. Linville		Someday the world will need a hero, and you
linville@tuxdriver.com			might be all we have.  Be ready.

Re: Changing from Minstrel to PID

[Bob Copeland]

On Sat, Nov 07, 2009 at 08:43:30AM -0500, John W. Linville wrote:
> > echo 'pid' > /debug/ieee80211/phy0/rc/name
> > 
> > to switch to pid.
> 
> Does that work?  I thought that was only informational (and readonly)?

Oh, yes, you are right.  I was thinking of the ieee80211_default_rc_algo
modparam for mac80211.

-- 
Bob Copeland %% www.bobcopeland.com

Re: Changing from Minstrel to PID

[Martín Ernesto Barreyro]

El vie, 06-11-2009 a las 16:48 -0500, John W. Linville escribió:
> On Fri, Nov 06, 2009 at 06:29:16PM -0300, Martín Ernesto Barreyro wrote:
> > Hello, I have a rtl8187 wireless card and I've allways have problems
> > with the rate control using minstrel. So everytime my kernel updates
> > (recently it went from 2.30 to 2.31) i have to recompile mi kernel
> > setting pid as my default rate control algorithm.
> > 
> > Is there a way to change that without compiling the kernel?
> 
> No, but I wish there were...patches?  Anyone?
> 
> John

I've been searching and it seems that it could be added something like
modprobe mac80211 rc='pid'

Would it be a good idea?


-- 
Martín Ernesto Barreyro <barreyromartin@gmail.com>
Analista Universitario en Redes de Datos.

Re: Changing from Minstrel to PID

[Hin-Tak Leung]

On Fri, Nov 6, 2009 at 11:01 PM, Martín Ernesto Barreyro
<barreyromartin@gmail.com> wrote:
> El vie, 06-11-2009 a las 16:48 -0500, John W. Linville escribió:
>> On Fri, Nov 06, 2009 at 06:29:16PM -0300, Martín Ernesto Barreyro wrote:
>> > Hello, I have a rtl8187 wireless card and I've allways have problems
>> > with the rate control using minstrel. So everytime my kernel updates
>> > (recently it went from 2.30 to 2.31) i have to recompile mi kernel
>> > setting pid as my default rate control algorithm.
>> >
>> > Is there a way to change that without compiling the kernel?
>>
>> No, but I wish there were...patches?  Anyone?
>>
>> John
>
> I've been searching and it seems that it could be added something like
> modprobe mac80211 rc='pid'
>
> Would it be a good idea?

That's a reasonable approach, and it isn't too difficult either -
somebody motivated enough could do a patch...

Hmm, I think I have a question and a suggestion here: what is it you
have problem with minstrel ? I don't care which one but both works
well enough here. Maybe you need that sorted instead.

The other thing is, you can probably patch compat-wireless to do
something similiar or at least experiment with it, as long as your
kernel is configured with most of them as modules. Switching
compat-wireless is quite easy, and particularly with the
'driver-select rtl818x' option you just rebuild about 6 kernel modules
instead of the usual 50+, which makes it quite quick and painless.

Re: Changing from Minstrel to PID

[Hin-Tak Leung]

On Sun, Nov 8, 2009 at 9:39 PM, Martín Ernesto Barreyro
<barreyromartin@gmail.com> wrote:

>  I don't know, I'll post the minstrel statistics, maybe it'll help you.Some
> months ago the rate control wasn't working at all, and Larry took care of
> it. Since that both algorithms started working, the count of retrys was
> missing at that time.
> Both algorithms started working, but minstrel sometimes works for while but
> then goes to the max rate, in my case 54mbps if i a don't change it to other
> with iwconfig, e.g iwconfig wlan0 rate 11M auto

I am sure somebody with more experience with tuning mistrel can give
you some help...

>> The other thing is, you can probably patch compat-wireless to do
>> something similiar or at least experiment with it, as long as your
>> kernel is configured with most of them as modules. Switching
>> compat-wireless is quite easy, and particularly with the
>> 'driver-select rtl818x' option you just rebuild about 6 kernel modules
>> instead of the usual 50+, which makes it quite quick and painless.
>
>
> You are saying that i could give it a try for adding the option that i was
> asking for?
> Iill give it a shot but i don't know how many time will it take me

Yes, compat-wlreless is useful for trying out small patches. Adding a
module parameter isn't too much trouble, i think - and there are
plenty of examples (many kernel module do parameters).

Re: Changing from Minstrel to PID

[Martín Ernesto Barreyro]

El dom, 08-11-2009 a las 23:38 +0000, Hin-Tak Leung escribió:
> On Sun, Nov 8, 2009 at 9:39 PM, Martín Ernesto Barreyro
> <barreyromartin@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> >  I don't know, I'll post the minstrel statistics, maybe it'll help you.Some
> > months ago the rate control wasn't working at all, and Larry took care of
> > it. Since that both algorithms started working, the count of retrys was
> > missing at that time.
> > Both algorithms started working, but minstrel sometimes works for while but
> > then goes to the max rate, in my case 54mbps if i a don't change it to other
> > with iwconfig, e.g iwconfig wlan0 rate 11M auto
> 
> I am sure somebody with more experience with tuning mistrel can give
> you some help...
> 
> >> The other thing is, you can probably patch compat-wireless to do
> >> something similiar or at least experiment with it, as long as your
> >> kernel is configured with most of them as modules. Switching
> >> compat-wireless is quite easy, and particularly with the
> >> 'driver-select rtl818x' option you just rebuild about 6 kernel modules
> >> instead of the usual 50+, which makes it quite quick and painless.
> >
> >
> > You are saying that i could give it a try for adding the option that i was
> > asking for?
> > Iill give it a shot but i don't know how many time will it take me
> 
> Yes, compat-wlreless is useful for trying out small patches. Adding a
> module parameter isn't too much trouble, i think - and there are
> plenty of examples (many kernel module do parameters).

I've my 2.31 kernel running (from archlinux repositories) and
compat-wireless 2009-11-06 and now not even with pid i get it working
good. It goes to the max rate available.

>From the distance that I'm from the AP i have to limit the rate to
11Mbps

I'll compile wireless testing and i'll post the statistics, or if
someone tell the information they need to debug it i'll post it.

-- 
Martín Ernesto Barreyro <barreyromartin@gmail.com>
Analista Universitario en Redes de Datos.

Re: Changing from Minstrel to PID

[John W. Linville]

On Fri, Nov 06, 2009 at 08:01:33PM -0300, Martín Ernesto Barreyro wrote:
> El vie, 06-11-2009 a las 16:48 -0500, John W. Linville escribió:
> > On Fri, Nov 06, 2009 at 06:29:16PM -0300, Martín Ernesto Barreyro wrote:
> > > Hello, I have a rtl8187 wireless card and I've allways have problems
> > > with the rate control using minstrel. So everytime my kernel updates
> > > (recently it went from 2.30 to 2.31) i have to recompile mi kernel
> > > setting pid as my default rate control algorithm.
> > > 
> > > Is there a way to change that without compiling the kernel?
> > 
> > No, but I wish there were...patches?  Anyone?
> > 
> > John
> 
> I've been searching and it seems that it could be added something like
> modprobe mac80211 rc='pid'
> 
> Would it be a good idea?

Well if you are happy with a module option, we already have
ieee80211_default_rc_algo.

John
-- 
John W. Linville		Someday the world will need a hero, and you
linville@tuxdriver.com			might be all we have.  Be ready.

Re: Changing from Minstrel to PID

[Martín Ernesto Barreyro]

2009/11/7 John W. Linville <linville@tuxdriver.com>:
> On Fri, Nov 06, 2009 at 08:01:33PM -0300, Martín Ernesto Barreyro wrote:
>> El vie, 06-11-2009 a las 16:48 -0500, John W. Linville escribió:
>> > On Fri, Nov 06, 2009 at 06:29:16PM -0300, Martín Ernesto Barreyro wrote:
>> > > Hello, I have a rtl8187 wireless card and I've allways have problems
>> > > with the rate control using minstrel. So everytime my kernel updates
>> > > (recently it went from 2.30 to 2.31) i have to recompile mi kernel
>> > > setting pid as my default rate control algorithm.
>> > >
>> > > Is there a way to change that without compiling the kernel?
>> >
>> > No, but I wish there were...patches?  Anyone?
>> >
>> > John
>>
>> I've been searching and it seems that it could be added something like
>> modprobe mac80211 rc='pid'
>>
>> Would it be a good idea?
>
> Well if you are happy with a module option, we already have
> ieee80211_default_rc_algo.
>
> John
> --
> John W. Linville                Someday the world will need a hero, and you
> linville@tuxdriver.com                  might be all we have.  Be ready.
>

Yes I'm happy, I'll try it.
Is there any other way that it can be approached?

Re: Changing from Minstrel to PID

[Hin-Tak Leung]

On Mon, Nov 9, 2009 at 12:11 PM, Martín Ernesto Barreyro
<barreyromartin@gmail.com> wrote:
> 2009/11/7 John W. Linville <linville@tuxdriver.com>:
>> On Fri, Nov 06, 2009 at 08:01:33PM -0300, Martín Ernesto Barreyro wrote:
>>> El vie, 06-11-2009 a las 16:48 -0500, John W. Linville escribió:
>>> > On Fri, Nov 06, 2009 at 06:29:16PM -0300, Martín Ernesto Barreyro wrote:
>>> > > Hello, I have a rtl8187 wireless card and I've allways have problems
>>> > > with the rate control using minstrel. So everytime my kernel updates
>>> > > (recently it went from 2.30 to 2.31) i have to recompile mi kernel
>>> > > setting pid as my default rate control algorithm.
>>> > >
>>> > > Is there a way to change that without compiling the kernel?
>>> >
>>> > No, but I wish there were...patches?  Anyone?
>>> >
>>> > John
>>>
>>> I've been searching and it seems that it could be added something like
>>> modprobe mac80211 rc='pid'
>>>
>>> Would it be a good idea?
>>
>> Well if you are happy with a module option, we already have
>> ieee80211_default_rc_algo.
>>
>> John
>> --
>> John W. Linville                Someday the world will need a hero, and you
>> linville@tuxdriver.com                  might be all we have.  Be ready.
>>
>
> Yes I'm happy, I'll try it.
> Is there any other way that it can be approached?
> --
> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-wireless" in
> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
>

I suppose echo something into the /proc file system as john suggested
in an earlier post would be even better than a module option. That's a
bit more difficult to module option (module option is pretty much the
blunt hammer and you can replace any behavior with any other bahavor
with it,  I think) as it makes the algorithm switch-able at run-time,
and that might be a little more tricky as one has to probably stop a
few things and restart a few things in the kernel... and I don't mean
debugfs, although since it is already in debugfs it might be easier
just to move that code out to general use.