Subject: Re: Atheros client interface going down and up frequently
To: Tom Spindler <dogcow@babymeat.com>
From: None <10.50@free.fr>
List: tech-net
Date: 02/03/2006 11:57:10
Selon Tom Spindler <dogcow@babymeat.com>:

> > >Any idea?
> >
> > Wild guess: power management?
>
> My pci ath0 card has power management disabled, and has the same
> symptoms.

That's always the same "bug" that has been floating around for six months now or
so. Something somewhere is wrong. On my ath pc-card, sometimes I have those
disconnections/reconnections, sometimes nothing happens but the input errors
suddently go amok. I have written a small shell demon that pings every ten
seconds my AP, and when no response is received within a second, it resets the
interface via ifconfig down/up (kinda what ifwatch does, but on the IP level).
I thought it had to do with WEP, but the disconnections happen with or without
encryption. However, ifconfig'ing up just through "ifconfig up" does not work.
I have to give the WEP key again in order for the interface to restore
communication.

It seems to have something to do with calibration, as extending the calibration
period mitigate the problem.

I must admit some people have made a lot of efforts to pin down the bug, I have
not been of much a help. I don't even know if the diagnosis tools written for
FreeBSD have been succesfully ported.

Cheers
Vincent