[gentoo-user] Wifi issues with 6.1.66 kernel and rtl8723bu driver

[Alexis Praga]

Hi,

After a recent update to the latest kernel, I'm having troubles with a custom wifi driver [1], packaged using latest git into GURU.
The laptop does recognize and connect to my wifi (that is, my iphone). But I cannot access internet and NetworkManager cannot be restarted or stopped (I have to force-shutdown the computer).
It may come from wpa_supplicant.

Reverting the kernel to previous version (6.1.60) fixes the issue.

Does anyone have any idea about this issue ? Googling only hints at issues with 6.6.66.
Also, how can I keep on using 6.1.60 ? I've kept the old kernel around but not sure how to downgrade (and if that's the best strategy).

Thanks,

Alexis




[1] https://github.com/lwfinger/rtl8723bu

[Michael]

Post by Alexis Praga
Hi,
After a recent update to the latest kernel, I'm having troubles with a
custom wifi driver [1], packaged using latest git into GURU. The laptop
does recognize and connect to my wifi (that is, my iphone). But I cannot
access internet and NetworkManager cannot be restarted or stopped (I have
to force-shutdown the computer). It may come from wpa_supplicant.

Which of these methods do you use to manage your network connection?

https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Network_management#Comparison_of_network_managers

The wpa_supplicant mechanism is used by the client to authenticate with the
wireless AP irrespective of the method you use to control the rest of the
network stack.

Post by Alexis Praga
Reverting the kernel to previous version (6.1.60) fixes the issue.

How do the network drivers differ between the two kernel configurations?

Have you changed anything else in your configuration?

Do you run the rtl8723bu in AP mode too?

Have you blacklisted the wireless driver rtl8xxxu mentioned in the GIT page?

Post by Alexis Praga
Does anyone have any idea about this issue ? Googling only hints at issues
with 6.6.66. Also, how can I keep on using 6.1.60 ? I've kept the old
kernel around but not sure how to downgrade (and if that's the best
strategy).

As long as you've kept the kernel image and initrd (if you're using one) then
you can carry on booting with it, while trying out later kernels. Also keep
your working kernel .config file to be able to run 'make oldconfig' with newer
kernels and to also to be able to compare differences between kernel releases.

Post by Alexis Praga
Thanks,
Alexis
[1] https://github.com/lwfinger/rtl8723bu

[Nikos Chantziaras]

Post by Alexis Praga
Hi,
After a recent update to the latest kernel, I'm having troubles with a custom wifi driver [1], packaged using latest git into GURU.
The laptop does recognize and connect to my wifi (that is, my iphone). But I cannot access internet and NetworkManager cannot be restarted or stopped (I have to force-shutdown the computer).
It may come from wpa_supplicant.
Reverting the kernel to previous version (6.1.60) fixes the issue.

6.1.67 was an emergency release to fix one single issue related to wifi:

https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v6.x/ChangeLog-6.1.67

[Alexis Praga]

Thank you both for replying quickly.

Michael, the driver does not seem to differ and nothing has changed in my configuration. rtl8723bu is not, to my knowledge, run in AP mode. I have blacklisted rtl8xxu. Also, I use NetworkManager.

Nikos, thanks for the link ! Updating to 6.1.67 solved my issue.
The update seems to have been made very recently, so thanks to the gentoo dev too.

Best,

Post by Nikos Chantziaras

Post by Alexis Praga
Hi,
After a recent update to the latest kernel, I'm having troubles with a custom wifi driver [1], packaged using latest git into GURU.
The laptop does recognize and connect to my wifi (that is, my iphone). But I cannot access internet and NetworkManager cannot be restarted or stopped (I have to force-shutdown the computer).
It may come from wpa_supplicant.
Reverting the kernel to previous version (6.1.60) fixes the issue.

https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v6.x/ChangeLog-6.1.67