Ubuntu

Intel AC 8260 wifi issue - "system trys to load iwlwifi-8000C-33.ucode missing in /lib/firmware ?"

Asked by SKCheng

My Intel AC8260 WIFI had been working seamlessly since Ubuntu 16.04.3 first installation until last Nov. The wifi occasionally stops. restart network manager and ifconfig off/on don't work. I got this info before reboot:

syslog: Jan 13 17:18:00 skc-B250C wpa_supplicant[995]: wlp1s0: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-100 retry=1

lshw:
           *-generic DISABLED
                description: Wireless interface
                product: Illegal Vendor ID
                vendor: Illegal Vendor ID
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
                logical name: wlp1s0
                version: ff
                serial: a4:34:d9:6d:11:18
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 66MHz
                capabilities: bus_master vga_palette cap_list ethernet physical wireless
                configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlwifi driverversion=4.13.0-26-generic firmware=31.560484.0 latency=255 link=no maxlatency=255 mingnt=255 multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
                resources: irq:128 memory:df000000-df001fff

dmesg | grep wifi
[ 4.408487] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[ 4.412642] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: Direct firmware load for iwlwifi-8000C-33.ucode failed with error -2
[ 4.413216] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: Direct firmware load for iwlwifi-8000C-32.ucode failed with error -

After reboot, wifi works again. I got these info:

           *-network
                description: Wireless interface
                product: Wireless 8260
                vendor: Intel Corporation
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
                logical name: wlp1s0
                version: 3a
                serial: a4:34:d9:6d:11:18
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
                configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlwifi driverversion=4.13.0-26-generic firmware=31.560484.0 ip=192.168.0.144 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
                resources: irq:129 memory:df000000-df001fff

I tried modinfo and found firmware iwlwifi-8265-33.ucode & iwlwifi-8000C-33.ucode. There are no "-33.ucode" files in /lib/firmware/ . The latest ones are "-31.code" for 8265 & 8000C.

B250C:~$ modinfo iwlwifi
filename: /lib/modules/4.13.0-26-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/intel/iwlwifi/iwlwifi.ko
license: GPL
author: Copyright(c) 2003- 2015 Intel Corporation <email address hidden>
description: Intel(R) Wireless WiFi driver for Linux
firmware: iwlwifi-8265-33.ucode
firmware: iwlwifi-8000C-33.ucode
firmware: iwlwifi-9260-th-b0-jf-b0--33.ucode
firmware: iwlwifi-9260-th-a0-jf-a0--33.ucode
firmware: iwlwifi-9000-pu-a0-jf-b0--33.ucode
firmware: iwlwifi-9000-pu-a0-jf-a0--33.ucode
firmware: iwlwifi-Qu-a0-jf-b0--33.ucode
firmware: iwlwifi-Qu-a0-hr-a0--33.ucode
srcversion: 339D7D3BD0DD2A9C7FE616F

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SKCheng
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Revision history for this message
Jeremy (wa113y3s) said : 		#1

That looks like a hardware issue, you might want to shut the computer off then remove and install the wifi card to insure it has a good connection

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#2

Can you ping 8.8.8.8 OK?

Revision history for this message
SKCheng (buymeeking) said : 		#3

>Jeremy : Normally reboot/shutdown can solve the problem.
I think Intel Wifi cards are among the best supported 5Ghz AC wifi interfaces for Linux. I have another RTL8812AU usb AC5Hz which barely functions with the official driver in Ubuntu repository. I found a working driver on Github last Dec. For iwlwifi-8000c, I can find version -31 and -34 on Github. I can't find version -32 and -33 to put them in /lib/firmware. Can I modify iwlwifi.ko so that it will load iwlwifi-8000c-31.ucode?

>actionparsnip:
$ ping 8.8.8.8
PING 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=1 ttl=45 time=16.4 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=2 ttl=45 time=18.0 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3 ttl=45 time=16.3 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=4 ttl=45 time=17.2 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=5 ttl=45 time=18.1 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=6 ttl=45 time=17.1 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=7 ttl=45 time=15.8 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=8 ttl=45 time=17.7 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=9 ttl=45 time=16.4 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=10 ttl=45 time=16.5 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=11 ttl=45 time=16.9 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=12 ttl=45 time=16.3 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=13 ttl=45 time=16.6 ms
^C
--- 8.8.8.8 ping statistics ---
13 packets transmitted, 13 received, 0% packet loss, time 12018ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 15.880/16.914/18.134/0.673 ms

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#4

You could make a symbolic link so that the file gets loaded. Kinda like tricking the system. Retain the original file (copy to your home folder before you start) until you are happy

Revision history for this message
SKCheng (buymeeking) said : 		#5

About the popular RTL8812AU usb 5GhzAC wifi adaptor, I've tried may drivers on Github and the one on Ubuntu repo. Most of them only work on system startup for a few minutes then stop working. Only one driver "gord-rtl8812au-dkms_1.0-9_amd64.deb" on Github works properly. I don't know other issues such as security and system conflicts. So please check this driver and consider including it in the Ubuntu repo.

Revision history for this message
Jeremy (wa113y3s) said : 		#6

SKCheng

In terminal

sudo sed -i 's/3/2/' /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/*

Reboot and see if the rtl8812au-dkms in the repos works properly as seeing

                product: Illegal Vendor ID
                vendor: Illegal Vendor ID
In the lshw -c net results indicates some sort of issue with the PCI ports

Revision history for this message
SKCheng (buymeeking) said : 		#7

>actionparsnip: Tried "sudo ln -s /home/iwl8000C-34.ucode /lib/firmware/iwl8000C-34.ucode" and "sudo ln -s /home/iwl8000C-34.ucode /lib/firmware/iwl8000C-33.ucode". No luck. Well rebooting can still solve the problem.

>Jeremy : Tried removal of the Intel AC 8260 card, dust vacuum, alcohol cleaning of contacts then putting the card back. Also resetting the BIOS so that most peripherals are "auto". Now waiting to see if the Intel Wifi will stop working suddenly again.

I also tried the RTL8812AU driver in Ubuntu repo and "sudo sed -i 's/3/2/' /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/*. I got this error msg https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/rtl8812au/+bug/1742426 . This time the USB RTL8812AU is simply undetected even by rebooting. I checked the "software & update". The driver was shown installed. The working driver gord-rtl8812au-dkms_1.0-9_amd64.deb had never been installed in that machine.

Revision history for this message
JanCeuleers (jan-ceuleers) said : 		#8

From https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/drivers/iwlwifi :

About the monitor / sniffer mode
Our devices support monitor mode. When you have VHT APs around, you should load the iwlwifi module with
amsdu_size=3
This will put lots of pressure on the memory subsystem, but it will allow you to hear 12K long packets. You may see firmware crashes in case you didn't set that module parameter.

So might you experience firmware crashes due to the presence of long packets being transmitted (not necessarily to your machine) by nearby VHT APs?

Revision history for this message
SKCheng (buymeeking) said : 		#9

No sudden wifi stop-working for 5 days after this attempt:
"Tried removal of the Intel AC 8260 card, dust vacuum, alcohol cleaning of contacts then putting the card back. Also resetting the BIOS so that most peripherals are "auto".