3-34 kernel and iwl3945: megabytes of logs in /var/log/messages

alarm9k · #1 18th March 2008, 02:48 AM

Hello. I recently updated the kernel to the latest 2.6.24.3-34. Now whenever my wireless card associates -- I get a huge amount of logs in /var/log/messages. It literally writes several megabytes in a couple of seconds.

I will try to describe the process in details.

I have a Sony Vaio SZ1HRP with Intel 3945 built-in wireless.
OS is Fedora 8 with recent updates.
Wireless driver is the stock iwl3945.
wlan0 interface is disabled on boot.
I'm not using any network automation software like Network Manager etc.

So I disable eth0.

Code:

ifconfig eth0 down

Then set up wlan0.

Code:

iwconfig wlan0 mode Ad-Hoc
ifconfig wlan0 netmask 255.255.255.0 192.168.4.6
route add -net 0.0.0.0/0 gw 192.168.4.1 dev wlan0
iwconfig wlan0 essid "lb0"

The same moment it associates with another computer (Fedora 5, Cisco wireless NIC) it starts filling logs with these:

Code:

Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel: RTNL: assertion failed at net/mac80211/sta_info.c (140)
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel: Pid: 1151, comm: iwl3945 Not tainted 2.6.24.3-34.fc8 #1
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<f898d6a7>] sta_info_destroy+0x3b/0x14c [mac80211]
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c043cfff>] wakeme_after_rcu+0x0/0x8
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<f898d869>] sta_info_flush+0xb1/0xcd [mac80211]
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<f899086e>] ieee80211_sta_join_ibss+0x4f/0x5b0 [mac80211]
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c04ff0ee>] sprintf+0x20/0x23
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c05d4613>] print_mac+0x45/0x4c
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<f8991b5b>] ieee80211_rx_bss_info+0x9a7/0x9d9 [mac80211]
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<f8991bd8>] ieee80211_rx_mgmt_beacon+0x4b/0x188 [mac80211]
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c0483df5>] add_partial_tail+0x1c/0x23
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c0484d05>] __slab_free+0x5e/0x204
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<f8995053>] ieee80211_sta_rx_queued_mgmt+0xf00/0xf0b [mac80211]
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<f899438d>] ieee80211_sta_rx_queued_mgmt+0x23a/0xf0b [mac80211]
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c046d7c1>] __alloc_pages+0x70/0x2ec
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c0483d4f>] setup_object+0x59/0x5d
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c04850f5>] __slab_alloc+0x24a/0x437
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c04971dd>] d_rehash+0x1c/0x2b
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c04ac5b8>] inotify_d_instantiate+0x4a/0x70
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c04d2520>] security_inode_alloc+0x16/0x17
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c0499351>] alloc_inode+0x12e/0x186
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c0424ddd>] update_curr+0x8e/0x115
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<f8995623>] ieee80211_sta_work+0x88/0x528 [mac80211]
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c062ad1f>] schedule+0x624/0x663
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<f899559b>] ieee80211_sta_work+0x0/0x528 [mac80211]
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c043bca1>] run_workqueue+0x7d/0x109
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c043f1eb>] prepare_to_wait+0x24/0x3f
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c043c50a>] worker_thread+0x0/0xc6
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c043c5c4>] worker_thread+0xba/0xc6
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c043f0a1>] autoremove_wake_function+0x0/0x35
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c043efd8>] kthread+0x38/0x60
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c043efa0>] kthread+0x0/0x60
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c0405e0b>] kernel_thread_helper+0x7/0x10
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  =======================
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel: RTNL: assertion failed at net/mac80211/key.c (275)
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel: Pid: 1151, comm: iwl3945 Not tainted 2.6.24.3-34.fc8 #1
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<f899d59c>] ieee80211_key_free+0x36/0xa9 [mac80211]
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<f898d6f1>] sta_info_destroy+0x85/0x14c [mac80211]
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c043cfff>] wakeme_after_rcu+0x0/0x8
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<f898d869>] sta_info_flush+0xb1/0xcd [mac80211]
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<f899086e>] ieee80211_sta_join_ibss+0x4f/0x5b0 [mac80211]
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c04ff0ee>] sprintf+0x20/0x23
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c05d4613>] print_mac+0x45/0x4c
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<f8991b5b>] ieee80211_rx_bss_info+0x9a7/0x9d9 [mac80211]
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<f8991bd8>] ieee80211_rx_mgmt_beacon+0x4b/0x188 [mac80211]
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c0483df5>] add_partial_tail+0x1c/0x23
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c0484d05>] __slab_free+0x5e/0x204
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<f8995053>] ieee80211_sta_rx_queued_mgmt+0xf00/0xf0b [mac80211]
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<f899438d>] ieee80211_sta_rx_queued_mgmt+0x23a/0xf0b [mac80211]
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c046d7c1>] __alloc_pages+0x70/0x2ec
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c0483d4f>] setup_object+0x59/0x5d
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c04850f5>] __slab_alloc+0x24a/0x437
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c04971dd>] d_rehash+0x1c/0x2b
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c04ac5b8>] inotify_d_instantiate+0x4a/0x70
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c04d2520>] security_inode_alloc+0x16/0x17
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c0499351>] alloc_inode+0x12e/0x186
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c0424ddd>] update_curr+0x8e/0x115
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<f8995623>] ieee80211_sta_work+0x88/0x528 [mac80211]
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c062ad1f>] schedule+0x624/0x663
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<f899559b>] ieee80211_sta_work+0x0/0x528 [mac80211]
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c043bca1>] run_workqueue+0x7d/0x109
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c043f1eb>] prepare_to_wait+0x24/0x3f
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c043c50a>] worker_thread+0x0/0xc6
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c043c5c4>] worker_thread+0xba/0xc6
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c043f0a1>] autoremove_wake_function+0x0/0x35
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c043efd8>] kthread+0x38/0x60
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c043efa0>] kthread+0x0/0x60
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  [<c0405e0b>] kernel_thread_helper+0x7/0x10
Mar 18 04:15:44 mb1 kernel:  =======================

...and much much more of those...

What is this and how to fight it?

Stone Dragon · #2 19th March 2008, 12:15 PM

There have been a lot changes to iwlwifi with 2.6.24. See also my thread http://forums.fedoraforum.org/forum/...d.php?t=183778
Just feel lucky, that your card is working at least ;-) the iwl3945 throws messages here too, but is working (I had to put "service network restart" in /etc/rc.local to have it working at boot-time).
But my 4965 is worse: it isn't working anymore at all, at least with wpa_supplicant...

alarm9k · #3 19th March 2008, 01:30 PM

Thanks Stone Dragon. I thought I would never get a reply on this forum. Last month I felt like talking to myself

Actually my 3945 sort of "works" with 2.6.24.3-34 too. It just writes megs of text into messages and locks up the whole system from time to time (I haven't figured out any pattern yet). So when it "works" I cannot use my laptop because the hard-drive is always _very_ busy.

With 24.3-12 it works more or less although I had to play around with it to figure out the how to please my wireless card. I have to disable eth0 before turning wlan0 on (otherwise it drops connection after a while) and I have to reload the iwl3945 module from time to time to get it working after "ifconfig wlan0 down".

Bleeding edge they say... *sigh*

P.S. Cannot say anything about 2.6.23 kernels because I just installed Fedora on my laptop and didn't test it with the older versions.

Stone Dragon · #4 26th March 2008, 11:43 AM

Yes, be glad you don't have an iwl4965, that one is not working anymore at all without networkmanager. Oh yeah, bleeding edge, I'm switching my servers to centOS, not having the latest fun stuff, but being a lot more stable with updates. I don't like surprises anymore since those servers are kind of "productive".
But anyway, I hope future F8-kernel-Releaes will behave better with my notebooks, as it's still fun to use a modern linux there :-)

Nokia · #5 26th March 2008, 12:15 PM

The bugs are supposed to be corrected in -50.fc8

Quote:

su -
yum update kernel --enablerepo=fedora-updates-testing

Stone Dragon · #6 26th March 2008, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nokia

The bugs are supposed to be corrected in -50.fc8

It's:

Code:

 --enablerepo=updates-kernel

Thanks for the hint! I've just upgraded my worst notebook (the one with iwl4965) => no luck, same problem, on network start I get:

Quote:

Error for wireless request "Set Encode" (8B2A) : SET failed on device wlan0 ; No such file or directory.

I tried to start wpa_supplicant and network manually and in turning sequence, still the same result...I must stick again to Networkmanager for now...

Nokia · #7 26th March 2008, 05:36 PM

Updates-testing actually. Sorry, my mistake.

Stone Dragon · #8 26th March 2008, 05:41 PM

Unfortunately, it was not a "yoohay it's working again through kernel-magic"-experience ;-)

alarm9k · #9 27th March 2008, 12:23 PM

This new kernel details didn't say anything about 4965 actually, only about 3945. I will give it a try later today and report.

alarm9k · #10 27th March 2008, 04:03 PM

Kernel developers might have a bad month. -50 kernel broke another one of my Fedora installations. It stops booting with some udev error message which I cannot post here at the moment (because that computer routes my home LAN and internet). That's a subject for a new thread I guess.

Stone Dragon · #11 27th March 2008, 04:35 PM

2.6.24 took a long time, so it's overloaded with changes I guess... but our work is to test it and open bugs. Anyway, it's hard to believe that none of the alpha-, beta-tester and devs have any iwl3945 and iwl4965 on their machines ;-)

Nokia · #12 27th March 2008, 04:37 PM

It looks like -58 kernel might fix something... http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/b...?buildID=43980

Stone Dragon · #13 27th March 2008, 04:42 PM

Today 50 became official, so I'll wait this time, sticking with network manager is an option (although not a nice one, if you need network at boot-time). Thanks for the advice, Nokia

cjann · #14 28th March 2008, 02:47 PM

I want say that I have maybe the same problem

my English is not so good but I try to explain my problem

the last time my wireless card (iwl3945) worked was with the kernel 2.6.24.3-12.fc8

since kernel 2.6.24.3-34.fc8 I get maybe after hours of testing a connection

and my /var/log/messages was 1,1GB big so I deleted it and doesn't used my intern wlan card

instead I used my external wlan card (rtl8187) but not with the driver which comes with the kernel because this driver doesn't support ad-hoc mode, i used the driver from this howto:
http://trac.aircrack-ng.org/ticket/378

now all was ok

after kernel update to 2.6.24.3-50.fc8 I tested my intern wlan card again and it is all the same like with the 2.6.24.3-34.fc8 kernel
at the moment my /var/log/messages is 178,8 MB big but at the time I don't used my iwl3945 card it was always less than 1MB

I added the output of dmesg there is written the same which makes my /var/log/messages so big
on the last lines you can see that the other wlan card works
(https://bugzilla.redhat.com/attachment.cgi?id=299363)

i have my terminal set to 4000 lines that's why you can't see the beginning of dmesg

I posted nearly the same text here: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=438273
but this is a differed bug

and I never used the network manager

I don't have enough time to care about this problem, i will just use my other card, maybe with some newer kernel my iwl3945 card will work again

Nokia · #15 28th March 2008, 03:06 PM

You might be interested in trying this latest kernel in Koji

http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/b...?buildID=44110