On 2025-03-19, Denis Carikli wrote: > On Mon, 17 Mar 2025 12:30:29 -0700 > Vagrant Cascadian <vagr...@debian.org> wrote: >> On 2025-03-16, Denis 'GNUtoo' Carikli wrote: >> > On Thu, 13 Mar 2025 00:37:09 -0700 >> > Vagrant Cascadian <vagr...@debian.org> wrote: >> >> One could not be enabled due to DEBLOBBING the wifi drivers, and >> >> the other may need a closer look. Although the second was for a >> >> platform I am not currently using, so... :) >> > What is the WiFi chip being used[1]? >> >> Heh. Hard to tell, because I am running linux-libre. :) > Using 'sudo dmesg' usually prints something with DEBLOBBED and the > driver name.
Turns out... it was not in fact DEBLOBBING issues... :) > Another option is to use lspci like that: >> # lspci -s 02:00.0 >> 02:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network >> Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01) > root@primary_laptop /home/gnutoo# lspci -s 02:00.0 -v >> 02:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network >> Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01) >> [...] >> Kernel driver in use: ath9k >> Kernel modules: ath9k Thanks! I used to know to look with lspci and whatnot, but have focused on getting hardware I know will work for so long... it simply slipped my mind! >> Looking at the card through the transparent case bottom (yes!): >> >> WLE200NX 7A >> >> A quick search says some Compex dual-band wifi, but not sure what that >> translates to in linux driver terms... >> >> The original MNT/Reform used the Atheros ath9k, if I recall correctly >> ... could possibly switch back to that too, presumably, if that has >> libre drivers. > It does. There are also ath9k compatible chips that support both > 2.4 GHz and 5GHz. If you want WiFi to work in conferences or other > very crowded environments (like a flat with a ton of people) you need a > chip which support 5GHz. Well, turns out that it was simply missing the kernel configuration for... CONFIG_ATH9K=m ... now it at least partly works and sees some access points, although there are issues that prevent associating successfully... I recall similar symptoms when using the ath9k_htc usb dongle before, and there was a workaround for it. Possibly related, reform-tools has this: https://source.mnt.re/reform/reform-tools/-/blob/main/NetworkManager/default-wifi-powersave-off.conf I suspect only one of the supported GHz frequencies is enabled in the kernel too as it sees one access point but not another (and I forget which is which, they're on the same physical machine). But at least I know this is likely to work with a bit more fiddling! >> > An option could also be to upstream as much as possible of the DTS >> > somehow (basically only send the easy dts patches) to be able to >> > more easily track what is missing upstream and so find out why this >> > or that patches are really needed. >> >> Yes, that is indeed the eventual goal and best outcome, but for the >> near future we still have to use patches > Indeed, I was just pointing in addition to shipping a patched kernel > (which is required to make the hardware work), some very > limited upstream contributions are a good idea to get reliable > information on what patches are really required because things evolve > upstream. I could prune it down for what is required for my specific mnt/reform variant(rk3588), and technically could also test the imx8mq variant, though would like to avoid physically swapping out the module frequently, or honestly, at all. But definitely not all the permutations of available hardware. > Reading or trying to remove some of the patches you currently use to > try to understand the consequences is probably still be required anyway, > but just having that done doesn't provide some easy way to test things > on more recent kernel versions. But sure, getting it down to the most minimal necessarry patches would be helpful for upstreaming... >> There is some good news on that front, too: >> >> >> https://web.git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/next/linux-next.git/tree/arch/arm64/boot/dts/rockchip/rk3588-mnt-reform2.dts?h=next-20250317 > Nice. I'm currently offline so I'll try to remember to take a look later > on. Also note that I don't have an MNT Reform but I'm very curious about > them. The curiosity is well placed, but I am biased. :) live well, vagrant
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