Re: Hangs with NetworkManager and rtw8723_de with kernel 6.1

[Larry Finger <Larry.Finger@lwfinger.net>]

On 3/1/23 00:26, François Valenduc wrote:
> systemrescue recently switched from kernel 5.15 to kernel 6.1 and NetworkManager 
> started to hangs at startup. This seems to be linked to my wifi card 
> (RTL8723DE). I am also able to reproduce the problem under gentoo with the same 
> versions for NetworkManager and linux-firmware than those used in systemrescue 
> (1.42.2 and 20230210). Under gentoo, the problem appears with kernel 6.1.14 and 
> 6.2.1. I am able to use NetworkManager and systemrescue without problem on 
> another computer which has another wifi card.
> 
> Does anybody have a solution to this problem ?

François,

Without any log information regarding the specific hang, it will be difficult to 
debug this issue.

Have you installed the drivers from the rtw88 repo at GitHub.com? If so, they 
may be interfering with the drivers in the kernel. You can test to see if this 
is the problem by doing an edit of the command line while booting. When GRUB is 
showing the kernel you wish to boot, press "e". This should bring up a minimal 
editor. Scroll down until you find the stanza pertaining to the kernel you are 
booting. It will start with "menuentry 'xxxxx'", where the x's are replaced with 
the description of the kernel you want.

Once you find that entry, scroll down to the line that starts with "linuxefi" or 
"linux", then move to the end of that line, and add 
"rd.driver.blacklist=rtw_8723de" to blacklist the driver from GitHub, or
"rd.driver.blacklist=rtw88_8723de" to blacklist the kernel version. Once you 
have added the new info, press the F10 key yo continue the boot.

If one of those lets the computer boot, add that driver to a blacklist file in 
/usr/lib/modprobe.d/, or wherever your distro keeps the modprobe.d directory.

If neither work, then report back, and we will try to get a dump of the logs 
when the hand happens.

Larry