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Andrea Lazzarotto
Asked: 2017-05-25 12:28:22 +0800 CST

How do I get the ath9k_htc driver to stop logging like hell?

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I am running Xubuntu 16.04 on an old desktop PC, with this kernel:

$ uname -a
Linux casa-desktop 4.4.0-79-generic #100-Ubuntu SMP Wed May 17 19:58:14 UTC 2017 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Even before upgrading, it started to run a bit slower and I though it was because of the old hardware. Then I noticed that the systemd-journald service was constantly using the CPU at about 10%. The boot partition would fill up quickly because of gigabytes of stuff in /var/log/.

Running sudo journalctl shows an infinite repetition of this:

mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel: ------------[ cut here ]------------
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel: WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 71 at /build/linux-As38az/linux-4.4.0/drivers/usb/core/urb.c:449 usb_submit_urb.part.6+0x142/0x560()
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel: usb 2-1: BOGUS urb xfer, pipe 1 != type 3
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel: Modules linked in: btrfs xor raid6_pq ufs qnx4 hfsplus hfs minix ntfs msdos jfs xfs libcrc32c ath9k_htc drbg ansi_cprng ctr ccm binfmt_misc arc4 ath9k_common ath9k_hw ath mac80211 cfg80211 nvidia(POE) coretemp kvm_intel kvm irqbypass snd_hda_codec_realtek snd_hda_codec_generic snd_hda_intel snd_hda_codec snd_hda_core snd_hwdep snd_mpu401_uart drm input_leds serio_raw snd_pcm ns558 shpchp lpc_ich asus_atk0110 snd_seq_midi snd_seq_midi_event snd_rawmidi snd_seq snd_seq_device snd_timer snd 8250_fintek soundcore gameport mac_hid parport_pc ppdev lp parport autofs4 hid_generic usbhid hid pata_it821x skge pata_acpi sky2 floppy fjes [last unloaded: ath9k_htc]
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel: CPU: 0 PID: 71 Comm: kworker/u4:3 Tainted: P        W  OE   4.4.0-79-generic #100-Ubuntu
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel: Hardware name: System manufacturer System Product Name/P5LD2, BIOS 1401     08/24/2006
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel: Workqueue: phy1 ath9k_htc_ani_work [ath9k_htc]
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  0000000000000286 00000000924d4ef3 ffff8800b538fb50 ffffffff813f94d3
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  ffff8800b538fb98 ffffffff81d51bc0 ffff8800b538fb88 ffffffff81081322
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  ffff8800ba607e40 0000000000000002 ffff8800b53a7000 0000000000000001
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel: Call Trace:
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  [<ffffffff813f94d3>] dump_stack+0x63/0x90
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  [<ffffffff81081322>] warn_slowpath_common+0x82/0xc0
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  [<ffffffff810813bc>] warn_slowpath_fmt+0x5c/0x80
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  [<ffffffff81626872>] usb_submit_urb.part.6+0x142/0x560
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  [<ffffffff81626cf2>] usb_submit_urb+0x62/0x70
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  [<ffffffffc037cd8b>] hif_usb_send+0xeb/0x340 [ath9k_htc]
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  [<ffffffffc037b058>] htc_issue_send.constprop.2+0x58/0x70 [ath9k_htc]
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  [<ffffffffc037b428>] htc_send_epid+0x18/0x20 [ath9k_htc]
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  [<ffffffffc037e1f1>] ath9k_wmi_cmd+0x111/0x1a0 [ath9k_htc]
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  [<ffffffffc0383cd0>] ath9k_regwrite+0x70/0x100 [ath9k_htc]
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  [<ffffffffc022bbeb>] ath_hw_cycle_counters_update+0xab/0x130 [ath]
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  [<ffffffffc02de9d9>] ath9k_hw_ani_monitor+0x29/0x1c0 [ath9k_hw]
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  [<ffffffffc0382b6d>] ath9k_htc_ani_work+0xcd/0x1a0 [ath9k_htc]
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  [<ffffffff8109a585>] process_one_work+0x165/0x480
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  [<ffffffff8109a8eb>] worker_thread+0x4b/0x4c0
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  [<ffffffff8109a8a0>] ? process_one_work+0x480/0x480
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  [<ffffffff810a0c25>] kthread+0xe5/0x100
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  [<ffffffff810a0b40>] ? kthread_create_on_node+0x1e0/0x1e0
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  [<ffffffff81840e0f>] ret_from_fork+0x3f/0x70
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel:  [<ffffffff810a0b40>] ? kthread_create_on_node+0x1e0/0x1e0
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel: ---[ end trace 67672e07ef748fe4 ]---
mag 23 21:04:39 casa-desktop kernel: ------------[ cut here ]------------

This is caused by a TP-Link TL-WN722N USB wireless adapter:

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0cf3:9271 Atheros Communications, Inc. AR9271 802.11n

Here's the linux-firmware version I have:

$ sudo dpkg -s linux-firmware | grep -i version
Version: 1.157.10

Here is the output of lsusb -vv: https://paste.ubuntu.com/24679177/

The weird thing is... the wireless connection works and I can surf the web smoothly. However this behavior is slowing down the machine and constantly filling the partition with logs.

How can I fix this problem? As a temporary workaround I am using a spare wireless adapter with a different chipset, but I would like to keep it for other uses in the future.

networking

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Note that your firmware version is 1.157. I suggest that you update the firmware to the latest, 1.164. From the terminal:

    wget http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/main/l/linux-firmware/linux-firmware_1.164_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i linux-firmware*.deb

    As has been suggested, I also recommend that you install a recent kernel version not from proposed.

    Reboot and check the log again.

    Through our chatroom discussion, I suggested that it was, perhaps an issue in the settings in the computer's BIOS. I recommended that you try resetting the BIOS to defaults and you reported that the problem has been corrected. Thanks for reporting back as I am certain that quite a few searchers will find the solution and benefit from your report.

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