Re: kern/44060: iwn wireless works for awhile, then fails

[David Holland <dholland-bugs%netbsd.org@localhost>]

The following reply was made to PR kern/44060; it has been noted by GNATS.

From: David Holland <dholland-bugs%netbsd.org@localhost>
To: gnats-bugs%netbsd.org@localhost
Cc: 
Subject: Re: kern/44060: iwn wireless works for awhile, then fails
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2010 17:29:40 +0000

 (this whole conversation was not cc'd to gnats-bugs)
 
    ------
 
 From: Donald Allen <donaldcallen%gmail.com@localhost>
 To: kern-bug-people%netbsd.org@localhost, gnats-admin%netbsd.org@localhost,
        netbsd-bugs%netbsd.org@localhost, donaldcallen%gmail.com@localhost
 Subject: Re: kern/44060: iwn wireless works for awhile, then fails
 Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 07:33:22 -0500
 
 I have experimented with various values of iwn_debug and while I am able to
 reproduce this problem reliably, I am not seeing anything in the debugging
 output that is noticeably different when the wireless is working vs. not
 working.
 
 I have also tried diff'ing the netbsd driver and the openbsd driver (which
 does not exhibit this problem), which, as I've observed, have common
 ancestry, but the differences are extensive enough that the crucial
 difference is not obvious to me, especially since I don't understand the
 code or the hardware.
 
 I really think that the best way to debug this is for someone who knows the
 iwn driver to get in touch with me so that we can arrange a session together
 where I supply the problem and fingers and (s)he supplies the knowledge.
 Either that or someone who understands this driver needs to reproduce the
 problem herself.
 
 
 
 From: Christos Zoulas <christos%zoulas.com@localhost>
 To: Donald Allen <donaldcallen%gmail.com@localhost>, 
kern-bug-people%netbsd.org@localhost,
        gnats-admin%netbsd.org@localhost, netbsd-bugs%netbsd.org@localhost
 Subject: Re: kern/44060: iwn wireless works for awhile, then fails
 Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 14:59:51 -0500
 
 On Nov 13,  7:33am, donaldcallen%gmail.com@localhost (Donald Allen) wrote:
 -- Subject: Re: kern/44060: iwn wireless works for awhile, then fails
 
 | I really think that the best way to debug this is for someone who knows the
 | iwn driver to get in touch with me so that we can arrange a session together
 | where I supply the problem and fingers and (s)he supplies the knowledge.
 | Either that or someone who understands this driver needs to reproduce the
 | problem herself.
 
 Can you try booting a current kernel and see if that fixes the driver?
 If you set COMPAT_50 in the kernel, it should work. There have been
 extensive changes to if_iwn since netbsd-5 and while the changes can
 be backported, it would be nice to know if backporting will fix the
 problem.
 
 christos
 
 
 
 From: Donald Allen <donaldcallen%gmail.com@localhost>
 To: Christos Zoulas <christos%zoulas.com@localhost>
 Cc: kern-bug-people%netbsd.org@localhost, gnats-admin%netbsd.org@localhost,
        netbsd-bugs%netbsd.org@localhost, sverre%viewmark.com@localhost
 Subject: Re: kern/44060: iwn wireless works for awhile, then fails
 Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 15:18:40 -0500
 
 On Sat, Nov 13, 2010 at 2:59 PM, Christos Zoulas 
<christos%zoulas.com@localhost> wrote:
 >
 > On Nov 13, ?7:33am, donaldcallen%gmail.com@localhost (Donald Allen) wrote:
 > -- Subject: Re: kern/44060: iwn wireless works for awhile, then fails
 >
 > | I really think that the best way to debug this is for someone who knows the
 > | iwn driver to get in touch with me so that we can arrange a session 
 > together
 > | where I supply the problem and fingers and (s)he supplies the knowledge.
 > | Either that or someone who understands this driver needs to reproduce the
 > | problem herself.
 >
 > Can you try booting a current kernel and see if that fixes the driver?
 > If you set COMPAT_50 in the kernel, it should work. There have been
 > extensive changes to if_iwn since netbsd-5 and while the changes can
 > be backported, it would be nice to know if backporting will fix the
 > problem.
 
 I received a message earlier today from Sverre Froyen, who suggested
 the same thing. I diff'ed the 5.1 and 'current' versions of if_iwn.c
 and clearly major changes have occurred. I will take your (and
 Sverre's) advice and install 'current'. I  will let you know how that
 version of the driver performs on my machine.
 
 /Don
 
 
 > christos
 >
 
 
 
 From: Christos Zoulas <christos%zoulas.com@localhost>
 To: Donald Allen <donaldcallen%gmail.com@localhost>
 Cc: kern-bug-people%netbsd.org@localhost, gnats-admin%netbsd.org@localhost,
        netbsd-bugs%netbsd.org@localhost, sverre%viewmark.com@localhost
 Subject: Re: kern/44060: iwn wireless works for awhile, then fails
 Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 15:22:16 -0500
 
 On Nov 13,  3:18pm, donaldcallen%gmail.com@localhost (Donald Allen) wrote:
 -- Subject: Re: kern/44060: iwn wireless works for awhile, then fails
 
 | I received a message earlier today from Sverre Froyen, who suggested
 | the same thing. I diff'ed the 5.1 and 'current' versions of if_iwn.c
 | and clearly major changes have occurred. I will take your (and
 | Sverre's) advice and install 'current'. I  will let you know how that
 | version of the driver performs on my machine.
 
 Yes, Sverre and I have worked porting this driver from OpenBSD. Sverre
 actually got it working after I had been stuck on a bug for months. In
 fact I am typing through it right now, and it is working very well.
 
 christos
 
 
 
 
 From: Donald Allen <donaldcallen%gmail.com@localhost>
 To: Christos Zoulas <christos%zoulas.com@localhost>
 Cc: kern-bug-people%netbsd.org@localhost, gnats-admin%netbsd.org@localhost,
        netbsd-bugs%netbsd.org@localhost, sverre%viewmark.com@localhost
 Subject: Re: kern/44060: iwn wireless works for awhile, then fails
 Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 15:29:11 -0500
 
 On Sat, Nov 13, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Christos Zoulas 
<christos%zoulas.com@localhost> wrote:
 > On Nov 13, ?3:18pm, donaldcallen%gmail.com@localhost (Donald Allen) wrote:
 > -- Subject: Re: kern/44060: iwn wireless works for awhile, then fails
 >
 > | I received a message earlier today from Sverre Froyen, who suggested
 > | the same thing. I diff'ed the 5.1 and 'current' versions of if_iwn.c
 > | and clearly major changes have occurred. I will take your (and
 > | Sverre's) advice and install 'current'. I ?will let you know how that
 > | version of the driver performs on my machine.
 >
 > Yes, Sverre and I have worked porting this driver from OpenBSD. Sverre
 > actually got it working after I had been stuck on a bug for months. In
 > fact I am typing through it right now, and it is working very well.
 
 Additional incentive to be a wild and crazy guy and run 'current'.
 
 /Don
 
 >
 > christos
 >
 
 
 
 From: Donald Allen <donaldcallen%gmail.com@localhost>
 To: Christos Zoulas <christos%zoulas.com@localhost>
 Cc: kern-bug-people%netbsd.org@localhost, gnats-admin%netbsd.org@localhost,
        netbsd-bugs%netbsd.org@localhost, sverre%viewmark.com@localhost
 Subject: Re: kern/44060: iwn wireless works for awhile, then fails
 Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2010 23:00:57 -0500
 
 On Sat, Nov 13, 2010 at 3:29 PM, Donald Allen 
<donaldcallen%gmail.com@localhost> wrote:
 > On Sat, Nov 13, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Christos Zoulas 
 > <christos%zoulas.com@localhost> wrote:
 >> On Nov 13, ?3:18pm, donaldcallen%gmail.com@localhost (Donald Allen) wrote:
 >> -- Subject: Re: kern/44060: iwn wireless works for awhile, then fails
 >>
 >> | I received a message earlier today from Sverre Froyen, who suggested
 >> | the same thing. I diff'ed the 5.1 and 'current' versions of if_iwn.c
 >> | and clearly major changes have occurred. I will take your (and
 >> | Sverre's) advice and install 'current'. I ?will let you know how that
 >> | version of the driver performs on my machine.
 >>
 >> Yes, Sverre and I have worked porting this driver from OpenBSD. Sverre
 >> actually got it working after I had been stuck on a bug for months. In
 >> fact I am typing through it right now, and it is working very well.
 >
 > Additional incentive to be a wild and crazy guy and run 'current'.
 
 After a couple of abortive attempts to get the current kernel running
 (I tried the GENERIC binary, which panicked, leaving behind slightly
 broken file-systems, and tried building from source, which complained
 about my version of config being too old), I thought some more about
 this. If what is in current now is a port of the OpenBSD driver, then
 we know it works on my machine, because I ran OpenBSD on this hardware
 for a time. And it works for you (Christos) in NetBSD current. So I
 don't think it's a good use of my time to try to prove that something
 works that is already known to work.
 
 And I have a Plan B for running 5.1 on this machine: an Atheros-based
 PCMCIA wireless card, which works well.
 
 /Don
 
 >
 > /Don
 >
 >>
 >> christos
 >>
 >
 
 
 
 From: Christos Zoulas <christos%zoulas.com@localhost>
 To: Donald Allen <donaldcallen%gmail.com@localhost>
 Cc: kern-bug-people%netbsd.org@localhost, gnats-admin%netbsd.org@localhost,
        netbsd-bugs%netbsd.org@localhost, sverre%viewmark.com@localhost
 Subject: Re: kern/44060: iwn wireless works for awhile, then fails
 Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2010 08:21:33 -0500
 
 On Nov 18, 11:00pm, donaldcallen%gmail.com@localhost (Donald Allen) wrote:
 -- Subject: Re: kern/44060: iwn wireless works for awhile, then fails
 
 | After a couple of abortive attempts to get the current kernel running
 | (I tried the GENERIC binary, which panicked, leaving behind slightly
 
 Do you remember how it panicked?
 
 | broken file-systems, and tried building from source, which complained
 | about my version of config being too old), I thought some more about
 
 Yes, you just have to build and install a current version of config.
 
 | this. If what is in current now is a port of the OpenBSD driver, then
 | we know it works on my machine, because I ran OpenBSD on this hardware
 | for a time. And it works for you (Christos) in NetBSD current. So I
 | don't think it's a good use of my time to try to prove that something
 | works that is already known to work.
 
 Yes, that's true.
  
 | And I have a Plan B for running 5.1 on this machine: an Atheros-based
 | PCMCIA wireless card, which works well.
 
 Ok, then. I guess we are set for now. Not to happy about the way we are
 set though.
 
 christos
 
 
 
 
 From: Donald Allen <donaldcallen%gmail.com@localhost>
 To: Christos Zoulas <christos%zoulas.com@localhost>
 Cc: kern-bug-people%netbsd.org@localhost, gnats-admin%netbsd.org@localhost,
        netbsd-bugs%netbsd.org@localhost, sverre%viewmark.com@localhost
 Subject: Re: kern/44060: iwn wireless works for awhile, then fails
 Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2010 08:36:51 -0500
 
 On Fri, Nov 19, 2010 at 8:21 AM, Christos Zoulas 
<christos%zoulas.com@localhost> wrote:
 > On Nov 18, 11:00pm, donaldcallen%gmail.com@localhost (Donald Allen) wrote:
 > -- Subject: Re: kern/44060: iwn wireless works for awhile, then fails
 >
 > | After a couple of abortive attempts to get the current kernel running
 > | (I tried the GENERIC binary, which panicked, leaving behind slightly
 >
 > Do you remember how it panicked?
 
 No, I stupidly didn't make a note of it. If you really want me to,
 I'll try to re-create it. Let me know.
 
 >
 > | broken file-systems, and tried building from source, which complained
 > | about my version of config being too old), I thought some more about
 >
 > Yes, you just have to build and install a current version of config.
 >
 > | this. If what is in current now is a port of the OpenBSD driver, then
 > | we know it works on my machine, because I ran OpenBSD on this hardware
 > | for a time. And it works for you (Christos) in NetBSD current. So I
 > | don't think it's a good use of my time to try to prove that something
 > | works that is already known to work.
 >
 > Yes, that's true.
 >
 > | And I have a Plan B for running 5.1 on this machine: an Atheros-based
 > | PCMCIA wireless card, which works well.
 >
 > Ok, then. I guess we are set for now. Not to happy about the way we are
 > set though.
 
 In what sense? I don't want you to be unhappy :-) If you disagree with
 my conclusion to not pursue this further, let's talk about it. Or just
 unhappy that the 5.1 version doesn't work?
 
 /Don
 >
 > christos
 >
 
 
 
 From: Christos Zoulas <christos%zoulas.com@localhost>
 To: Donald Allen <donaldcallen%gmail.com@localhost>
 Cc: kern-bug-people%netbsd.org@localhost, gnats-admin%netbsd.org@localhost,
        netbsd-bugs%netbsd.org@localhost, sverre%viewmark.com@localhost
 Subject: Re: kern/44060: iwn wireless works for awhile, then fails
 Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2010 09:35:58 -0500
 
 On Nov 19,  8:36am, donaldcallen%gmail.com@localhost (Donald Allen) wrote:
 -- Subject: Re: kern/44060: iwn wireless works for awhile, then fails
 
 | On Fri, Nov 19, 2010 at 8:21 AM, Christos Zoulas 
<christos%zoulas.com@localhost> wrote:
 | > On Nov 18, 11:00pm, donaldcallen%gmail.com@localhost (Donald Allen) wrote:
 | > -- Subject: Re: kern/44060: iwn wireless works for awhile, then fails
 | >
 | > | After a couple of abortive attempts to get the current kernel running
 | > | (I tried the GENERIC binary, which panicked, leaving behind slightly
 | >
 | > Do you remember how it panicked?
 | 
 | No, I stupidly didn't make a note of it. If you really want me to,
 | I'll try to re-create it. Let me know.
 
 Sure, if it is not too hard.
 
 | > Ok, then. I guess we are set for now. Not to happy about the way we are
 | > set though.
 | 
 | In what sense? I don't want you to be unhappy :-) If you disagree with
 | my conclusion to not pursue this further, let's talk about it. Or just
 | unhappy that the 5.1 version doesn't work?
 
 No, I am fine you not pursuing it further as long as you are happy too :-)
 
 christos