Re: [EXT] Re: mwifiex 1.0 (16.68.10.p159) - PCIEUSB-8997 firmware is buggy

[James Cao <james.cao@nxp.com>]

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Hi Pali,

NXP doesn't have a plan to support mwifiex driver anymore. How should we handle this kind of retired project in upstream?

Thanks,
James

________________________________
From: Pali Rohár <pali@kernel.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2022 11:30 AM
To: Prashanth Ranganathan <prashanthkrishnan.ranganathan@nxp.com>
Cc: Sharvari Harisangam <sharvari.harisangam@nxp.com>; Rakesh Parmar <rakesh.parmar@nxp.com>; Cathy Luo <xiaohua.luo@nxp.com>; James Cao <james.cao@nxp.com>; Linux Firmware <linux-firmware@kernel.org>; Linux Wireless <linux-wireless@vger.kernel.org>; Gérald Kerma <gandalf@gk2.net>; Ganapathi Bhat <ganapathi017@gmail.com>; Josh Boyer <jwboyer@kernel.org>
Subject: [EXT] Re: mwifiex 1.0 (16.68.10.p159) - PCIEUSB-8997 firmware is buggy

Caution: EXT Email

Hello Prashanth!

Thank you for reply. Did you have a time to check this issue?

Gérald did a great testing which shows that version W16.68.1.p195 and
higher of pcieuart8997_combo_v4.bin firmware does not work.

On Friday 14 January 2022 17:11:18 Prashanth Ranganathan wrote:
> Hi Pali,
> Please allow me to check this and respond ASAP.
> Best,
> Prashanth
> ________________________________
> From: Pali Rohár <pali@kernel.org>
> Sent: Friday, January 14, 2022 9:00 AM
> To: Sharvari Harisangam <sharvari.harisangam@nxp.com>; Rakesh Parmar <rakesh.parmar@nxp.com>; Cathy Luo <xiaohua.luo@nxp.com>; Prashanth Ranganathan <prashanthkrishnan.ranganathan@nxp.com>; James Cao <james.cao@nxp.com>
> Cc: Linux Firmware <linux-firmware@kernel.org>; Linux Wireless <linux-wireless@vger.kernel.org>; Gérald Kerma <gandalf@gk2.net>; Ganapathi Bhat <ganapathi017@gmail.com>; Josh Boyer <jwboyer@kernel.org>
> Subject: [EXT] Re: mwifiex 1.0 (16.68.10.p159) - PCIEUSB-8997 firmware is buggy
>
> Caution: EXT Email
>
> NXP people: Sharvari, Rakesh, Cathy, Zheng: could you please look at
> this issue? It is really serous!
>
> On Monday 27 September 2021 09:47:23 Josh Boyer wrote:
> > On Sun, Sep 26, 2021 at 6:43 AM Pali Rohár <pali@kernel.org> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hello Josh, Sharvari and other from NXP!
> > >
> > > On Saturday 25 September 2021 19:23:48 Gérald Kerma wrote:
> > > > Correcting old marvell address to new nxp...
> > > >
> > > > Le 25/09/2021 à 19:19, Gérald Kerma a écrit :
> > > > > Héllo All,
> > > > >
> > > > > I made some few tests on EspressoBin-Ultra from GlobalScaleTechnologies,
> > > > > because of problem with the WiFi.
> > > > >
> > > > > I have done some quick tests on all the firmware of PCIEUSB-8997 using
> > > > > the pcieuart8997_combo_v4.bin on OpenWrt 21.02.x
> > > > >
> > > > > Here is a summary of the tests :
> > > > > - W16.68.10.p159 = KO
> > > > > - W16.68.1.p195 = KO
> > > > > - V16.68.1.p145 = OK
> > > > > - 16.68.1.p140 = OK
> > > > > - 16.68.1.p133 = OK
> > > > > - 16.68.1.p97 = OK
> > > > > - 16.68.1.p70 = KO
> > >
> > > From this user test result can be seen that last two versions of
> > > pcieusb8997_combo_v4.bin firmware file for 8997 wifi+bt card with
> > > official mainline linux kernel driver mwifiex were not properly tested
> > > internally in NXP and are causing serious issues which make 8997 card
> > > basically unusable.
> > >
> > > Sharvari and other NXP developers: Do you have some internal testing of
> > > this pcieusb8997_combo_v4.bin firmware for PCIe+USB variant of 8997
> > > wifi chips? Or are you aware of this issue and do you have in NXP some
> > > workaround for it (e.g. at driver level)? Could you please look at this
> > > serious issue and try to debug firmware and release a new version, as
> > > this is obvious fatal error in firmware itself?
> > >
> > > Josh, how you in linux-firmware repository handle such, I must say,
> > > "fatal issues"? Wait for vendor fixes or revert problematic commits? Or
> > > something else?
> >
> > We can revert if we need to, but I think it's not quite that simple.
> >
> > > Because when users starts upgrading linux-firmware packages in their
> > > downstream distributions then basically wifi cards on this 8997 chips
> > > with official mwifiex driver stops working.
> >
> > The first broken version was committed in Feb of 2019.  That's
> > approaching 3 years ago.  Given that this is binary firmware, I have
> > no idea what else may or may not be included in the updates in the
> > meantime.
> >
> > josh
>
> Josh, as Gérald wrote, current binary in linux-firmware repository is
> unusable. And there is no reply from NXP for 3 months.
>
> You are right that nobody knows what is in firmware binary, but working
> binary is at least usable than non-working binary.
>
> So I would really suggest to start reverting non-working firmware files
> if NXP does not respond in few days.
>
> Gérald, what is your opinion? Do you see other way how to make mainline
> linux driver work (again)?
>
> > > > > REF (and all details of tests) :
> > > > > https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2FNXP%2Fmwifiex-firmware%2Fissues%2F1&amp;data=04%7C01%7Cjames.cao%40nxp.com%7C09714bf302224e66a34c08d9dc4b5bb5%7C686ea1d3bc2b4c6fa92cd99c5c301635%7C0%7C0%7C637783038495772224%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&amp;sdata=3Y6a7lP%2B%2FXwPWGZARx3c99qV3ZFundY0QtfjmC1mYn4%3D&amp;reserved=0
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Broken firmware :
> > > > >
> > > > > Version |W16.68.1.p195| of |pcieusb8997_combo_v4.bin| was included into
> > > > > linux-firmware repository by this pull request:
> > > > > https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flore.kernel.org%2Fall%2FCA%2B5PVA5yQbjg3vaT7F8120B6ngLn7%2BsZC0OWt0KoUiQR9hS4FA%40mail.gmail.com%2F&amp;data=04%7C01%7Cjames.cao%40nxp.com%7C09714bf302224e66a34c08d9dc4b5bb5%7C686ea1d3bc2b4c6fa92cd99c5c301635%7C0%7C0%7C637783038495772224%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&amp;sdata=nbzs6YB%2Fyjdp9zJR1PQyZ2prUtPOjthVewIhBCwcqdg%3D&amp;reserved=0
> > > > > <https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flore.kernel.org%2Fall%2FCA%2B5PVA5yQbjg3vaT7F8120B6ngLn7%2BsZC0OWt0KoUiQR9hS4FA%40mail.gmail.com%2F&amp;data=04%7C01%7Cjames.cao%40nxp.com%7C09714bf302224e66a34c08d9dc4b5bb5%7C686ea1d3bc2b4c6fa92cd99c5c301635%7C0%7C0%7C637783038495772224%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&amp;sdata=nbzs6YB%2Fyjdp9zJR1PQyZ2prUtPOjthVewIhBCwcqdg%3D&amp;reserved=0>
> > > > >
> > > > > And latest version |W16.68.10.p159| of |pcieusb8997_combo_v4.bin| by
> > > > > this pull request:
> > > > > https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flore.kernel.org%2Flinux-firmware%2FCA%2B5PVA5on7%2BCRtEV7tThPxgucwt3W9i-tEXm4cgH-AmMB-Jrtg%40mail.gmail.com%2F&amp;data=04%7C01%7Cjames.cao%40nxp.com%7C09714bf302224e66a34c08d9dc4b5bb5%7C686ea1d3bc2b4c6fa92cd99c5c301635%7C0%7C0%7C637783038495772224%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&amp;sdata=6wktlFLItFxzOdYcgTI2Rs9x3PamVJyfWtaNJU0o0bw%3D&amp;reserved=0
> > > > > <https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flore.kernel.org%2Flinux-firmware%2FCA%2B5PVA5on7%2BCRtEV7tThPxgucwt3W9i-tEXm4cgH-AmMB-Jrtg%40mail.gmail.com%2F&amp;data=04%7C01%7Cjames.cao%40nxp.com%7C09714bf302224e66a34c08d9dc4b5bb5%7C686ea1d3bc2b4c6fa92cd99c5c301635%7C0%7C0%7C637783038495772224%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&amp;sdata=6wktlFLItFxzOdYcgTI2Rs9x3PamVJyfWtaNJU0o0bw%3D&amp;reserved=0>
> > > > >
> > > > > Olders looks to works better.
> > > > >
> > > > > In quick tests, they allow more than 1 clients at a time !
> > > > >
> > > > > I am still testing the V16.68.1.p145 and report the results after some
> > > > > longer use...
> > > > >
> > > > > Hopes it will help...
> > > > > Regards,
> > > > > Gérald Kerma
> > > > > gandalf(at)gk2(dot)net
> > > >

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