[ath9k-devel] Card AR928X very slow with new kernels

[Peter Stuge <peter@stuge.se>]

Mitch Davis wrote:
> I'd love to investigate what's happening but I have no idea where
> to start.  Is this page what I'm after:
> 
>   http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/ath9k/debug
> 
> That page tells me about all the cool things for debugging, but
> doesn't give me an idea of how to methodically go about finding the
> right info.  Any suggestions for values of debug?  Any suggestions
> for the right place to look in /sys/kernel/debug/ath9k?

I was in your situation some years ago. Unfortunately what you hope
for is nowhere to be found. :\

If you want someone knowledgeable about ath9k hardware to talk in
deep technical detail with you then you must basically first prove
yourself by studying the driver enough that you can actually fix the
problem on your own. You will unfortunately find little to no help
with loading the driver into your head, not even some simple overview
like "it's like NIC with x tx descriptors and y rx descriptors". :\
The data sheet for the hardware is not generally available. It has
leaked of course, but you are discouraged to use it unless you have
received your own copy off-list thanks to your outstanding efforts.

Atheros try to take problem reports seriously and will try to
reproduce problems in their lab. If they succeed they typically
develop fixes. I have yet to see Atheros guide any user on the list,
competent as she may be, to do remote debugging to find the key
information about the error in the local environment where the error
is reliably reproducible. I have ranted violently about this on the
list and many people hate me for that.

Obviously your problem is often not reproducible in the lab, because
it depends on factors in your RF environment, which I assume that
everyone understands. I'm not completely sure about the reasons for
this sad state of affairs, but that's the way it goes here. :\


//Peter