mjhjmtu

I set up an old PC as a router using Debian Wheezy, hostapd, dhcpd etc. It has 3 NICs and 1 WiFi PCI card (TP-Link L-WN751ND).

The problem is that AP randomly gets unreachable for the clients while hostapd is running and its interface is up. This router was working for 6 days without any problems since I set it up until yesterday. I cannot figure out why hostapd becomes unusable.

What interfaces I have exactly

eth0 is down (3Com)
eth1 gets IP from ISP DHCP (Realtek)
eth2 takes IP for my LAN over DHCPD
ppp0 - it's an ISP VPN over PPTP

Configuration

$ cat /etc/debian_version
wheezy/sid

$ uname -r
3.2.0-2-686-pae

$ dpkg -l | grep linux-image
ii linux-image-2.6-686 3.2+44 Linux for modern PCs (dummy package)
ii linux-image-3.2.0-2-686-pae 3.2.17-1 Linux 3.2 for modern PCs
ii linux-image-686-pae 3.2+44 Linux for modern PCs (meta-package)

$ hostapd -v
hostapd v1.0
User space daemon for IEEE 802.11 AP management,
IEEE 802.1X/WPA/WPA2/EAP/RADIUS Authenticator
Copyright (c) 2002-2010, Jouni Malinen <j@w1.fi> and contributors

$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82810E DC-133 (GMCH) Graphics Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:01.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82810E DC-133 (CGC) Chipset Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801AA PCI Bridge (rev 02) 00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801AA ISA Bridge (LPC) (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801AA IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801AA USB Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801AA SMBus Controller (rev 02)
01:07.0 Multimedia audio controller: Ensoniq ES1371 [AudioPCI-97] (rev 06)
01:08.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR9227 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
01:09.0 Ethernet controller: Sundance Technology Inc / IC Plus Corp IC Plus IP100A Integrated 10/100 Ethernet MAC + PHY (rev 31)
01:0a.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
01:0b.0 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3c905 100BaseTX [Boomerang]

$ ifconfig 
eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:60:97:d8:dd:ea
 inet addr:192.168.120.184 Bcast:192.168.120.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
 inet6 addr: fe80::260:97ff:fed8:ddea/64 Scope:Link
 UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
 RX packets:431713 errors:74 dropped:682 overruns:59 frame:0
 TX packets:171981 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
 collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
 RX bytes:283031893 (269.9 MiB) TX bytes:21389936 (20.3 MiB)
 Interrupt:10 Base address:0xd800


eth2 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 14:da:e9:a7:21:33
 inet addr:192.168.1.1 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
 inet6 addr: fe80::16da:e9ff:fea7:2133/64 Scope:Link
 UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
 RX packets:276872 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
 TX packets:338010 errors:1 dropped:30 overruns:0 carrier:0
 collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
 RX bytes:23357782 (22.2 MiB) TX bytes:278728804 (265.8 MiB)
 Interrupt:11 Base address:0xdc00


lo Link encap:Local Loopback
 inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
 inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
 UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
 RX packets:4 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
 TX packets:4 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
 collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
 RX bytes:436 (436.0 B) TX bytes:436 (436.0 B)


mon.wlan0 Link encap:UNSPEC HWaddr
 B0-48-7A-E3-AE-0F-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
 UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
 RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
 TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
 collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
 RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)


ppp0 Link encap:Point-to-Point Protocol
 inet addr:80.242.96.16 P-t-P:195.66.139.23 Mask:255.255.255.255
 UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:1400 Metric:1
 RX packets:225471 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
 TX packets:142471 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
 collisions:0 txqueuelen:3
 RX bytes:252918981 (241.2 MiB) TX bytes:11957326 (11.4 MiB)


wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr b0:48:7a:e3:ae:0f
 inet addr:192.168.2.1 Bcast:192.168.2.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
 inet6 addr: fe80::b248:7aff:fee3:ae0f/64 Scope:Link
 UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
 RX packets:252 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
 TX packets:420 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
 collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
 RX bytes:31491 (30.7 KiB) TX bytes:240068 (234.4 KiB)



$ iwconfig 
wlan0 IEEE 802.11bgn Mode:Master Frequency:2.437 GHz Tx-Power=13 dBm
 Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
 Power Management:on


mon.wlan0 IEEE 802.11bgn Mode:Monitor Tx-Power=13 dBm
 Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
 Power Management:on

The content of my system logs

This part of /var/log/messages has caught my attention:

May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008116] ------------[ cut here ]------------
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008167] WARNING: at /build/buildd-linux-2.6_3.2.17-1-i386-rPdRhH/linux-2.6-3.2.17/debian/build/source_i386_none/net/sched/sch_generic.c:255 dev_watchdog+0xb1/0x104()
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008181] Hardware name:
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008190] NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth2 (sundance): transmit queue 0 timed out
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008199] Modules linked in: cryptd aes_i586 aes_generic ppp_async crc_ccitt ppp_generic slhc ipt_MASQUERADE xt_TCPMSS xt_limit xt_pkttype ipt_REJECT xt_tcpudp xt_state ipt_LOG iptable_mangle iptable_nat iptable_filter nf_conntrack_irc nf_nat_ftp nf_conntrack_ftp nf_nat nf_conntrack_ipv4 nf_defrag_ipv4 nf_conntrack ip_tables x_tables 8021q garp stp loop arc4 ath9k ath9k_common ath9k_hw snd_ens1371 ath snd_ac97_codec mac80211
snd_rawmidi snd_seq_device cfg80211 snd_pcm evdev snd_page_alloc snd_timer fkill snd soundcore ac97_bus pcspkr serio_raw i2c_i801 gameport i2c_core iTCO_wdt iTCO_vendor_support rng_core shpchp parport_pc parport processor button thermal_sys ext4 crc16 jbd2 mbcache dm_mod sr_mod sd_mod cdrom crc_t10dif ata_generic ata_piix libata 8139too uhci_hcd ehci_hcd scsi_mod usbcore sb_common 3c59x 8139cp floppy sundance mii [last unloaded: scsi_wait_scan]
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008476] Pid: 1705, comm: rs:main Q:Reg Not tainted 3.2.0-2-686-pae #1
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008486] Call Trace: May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008513] [<c103845c>] ? warn_slowpath_common+0x68/0x79
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008528] [<c1231444>] ? dev_watchdog+0xb1/0x104
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008545] [<c10384d5>] ? warn_slowpath_fmt+0x29/0x2d
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008560] [<c1231444>] ? dev_watchdog+0xb1/0x104
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008613] [<c103ce5d>] ? local_bh_enable+0x2/0x2
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008641] [<c1042010>] ? run_timer_softirq+0x150/0x1f3
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008656] [<c1231393>] ? netif_tx_unlock+0x3a/0x3a
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008672] [<c103ce5d>] ? local_bh_enable+0x2/0x2
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008687] [<c103cef1>] ? __do_softirq+0x94/0x12f
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008702] [<c103ce5d>] ? local_bh_enable+0x2/0x2
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008710] <IRQ> [<c103d0e2>] ? irq_exit+0x32/0x80
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008762] [<c100cd7a>] ? o_IRQ+0x65/0x76
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008787] [<c12c5bf0>] ? common_interrupt+0x30/0x38
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008825] [<c10f1dc1>] ? __fsnotify_parent+0x80/0x87
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008844] [<c10cb955>] ? wait_on_retry_sync_kiocb+0x3c/0x3c
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008858] [<c10cb955>] ? wait_on_retry_sync_kiocb+0x3c/0x3c
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008872] [<c10cb901>] ? fsnotify_modify+0x37/0x4f
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008887] [<c10cc1c8>] ? vfs_write+0xa4/0xd4
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008901] [<c10cc367>] ? sys_write+0x3d/0x61
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008916] [<c12c565f>] ? sysenter_do_call+0x12/0x28
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008927] ---[ end trace d751668d50ee9171 ]---
May 26 03:19:01 debian kernel: [10947.008943] eth2: Transmit timed out, TxStatus 00 TxFrameId bc, resetting...

The /var/log/syslog gets piled with messages like these:

May 26 16:37:35 debian kernel: [58861.160666] ath: Could not stop RX, we could be confusing the DMA engine when we start RX up
May 26 16:37:36 debian kernel: [58861.514885] ath: DMA failed to stop in 10 ms AR_CR=0x00000024 AR_DIAG_SW=0x42000020 DMADBG_7=0x00008040
May 26 16:37:36 debian kernel: [58861.514987] ath: Could not stop RX, we could be confusing the DMA engine when we start RX up
May 26 16:37:36 debian kernel: [58861.869302] ath: DMA failed to stop in 10 ms AR_CR=0x00000024 AR_DIAG_SW=0x42000020 DMADBG_7=0x00008040
May 26 16:37:36 debian kernel: [58861.869398] ath: Could not stop RX, we could be confusing the DMA engine when we start RX up
May 26 16:37:37 debian kernel: [58862.223665] ath: DMA failed to stop in 10 ms AR_CR=0x00000024 AR_DIAG_SW=0x42000020 DMADBG_7=0x00008040
May 26 16:37:37 debian kernel: [58862.223769] ath: Could not stop RX, we could be confusing the DMA engine when we start RX up
May 26 16:37:37 debian kernel: [58862.578063] ath: DMA failed to stop in 10 ms AR_CR=0x00000024 AR_DIAG_SW=0x42000020 DMADBG_7=0x00006040
May 26 16:37:37 debian kernel: [58862.578163] ath: Could not stop RX, we could be confusing the DMA engine when we start RX up

I'm confused about the cause of this problem, but the logs make me suspect the ath9k module. So I've been Googling it by subject from my syslog and found out that it's an old commonly known bug. The workaround suggested by Google is to turn off a WiFi card's power management system:

# iwconfig wlan power off

But I tried that workaround and it doesn't work for me.

A precise answer is not possible here, because you not give all information needed.

However, it sounds for me like an interrupt issue. I solved it by ensuring that ath9k do not share an interrupt with [eux]hci_hcd, or others.

To solve an interrupt sharing problem look first at /proc/interrupts. If you see that ath9k shares an interrupt like this:

18: 272716296 IO-APIC-fasteoi ath9k, uhci_hcd:usb4

just unbind usb4

echo 4 > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/uhci_hcd/unbind

The fix is, editing

sudo vi /etc/modprobe.d/ath9k.conf

with:

options ath9k nohwcrypt=1

Then restart.

As per "How to fix Atheros AR9285 / AR9287 wireless problems in Ubuntu Natty Narwhal?"

http://www.htpcbeginner.com/how-to-fix-atheros-ar9285-ar9287-wireless-problems-in-ubuntu-1104/

I noticed that my wireless card was not working. Wireless problems
included, frequent loss or drop in connectivity and even when
connected the speed was extremely slow.