I'm having an ongoing problem with my wi-fi connection on a Dell Precision laptop running Mint 20 - the connection drops intermittently. Usually this happens when waking from sleep but sometimes it will happen in the middle of an open session.

This is the entry in the system log: ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: Could not init core: -110

I've tried a few different things including updating the driver and changing the wifi.powersave setting.

The next thing I'd like to try is going back to an older version of the driver but not sure how to do this.

In /lib/firmware/ath10k//QCA6174 there are 2 directories: hw2.1 and hw3.0.

In hw2.1 are the following files:
board-2.bin board.bin firmware-5.bin

In hw3.0:
board-2.bin board.bin firmware-4.bin firmware-6.bin firmware-6.bin.bak

My questions are: Why are there 2 directories? Which of the 2 directories does the system look in to load the driver? How can I revert to an earlier version?

Thanks.

I wouldn't worry about firmware files. the card knows what it wants, the kernel serves it up,leave it alone.

To check quality try this: You will get a list like this: You can see my own place has a quality of 70/70, but I'm seeing signals as low as -95dB or 15/70 on their previous card, using the ath9 module.

If your card lacks sensitivity, you simply won't see levels that low. Look also at positioning your card, or box to see if you can improve things. A thing as small as turning the wifi aerial90º can have a huge effect.

2 members found this post helpful.

@business_kid Thanks for your response. I ran the command you suggested and quality came in at 70/70.

Someone else suggested copying the firmware-5.bin file in directory hw2.1 to hw3.0, which I did. His reasoning was to make the firmware support linear. I also have a wi-fi router lying around so I may hook that up to see if it makes a difference.

In researching all this I discovered other people have the same problem on different computers and different distros. There doesn't appear to be a clear-cut solution. Some suggested installing an earlier kernel but I really don't want to deal with that. The problem doesn't happen all the time so if adding the firmware-5.bin and using a router doesn't solve the problem I may just live with it.

As you will gather, I have had my share of wars with wifi! So you get good at this.

There is absolutely no real reason for a 70/70 connection to drop out. The one thing I can think of is that your wifi channel may be overcrowded. Let me roll up another iuwlist line for you. People are inclined to set their routers on 'Automatic' and everybody lands on channel 1. I think there's 12 or 13 2.4 Ghz channels, and received wisdom is that you should be on channels 1, 6, or 11 as you need 2 or 3 channels left and right of you to avoid congestion.

With that commnand, you're going to get Channel, Quality & ESSID in that order. See if you can find a clear spot in the channels and move there. If you can go to 5Ghz, it's much less crowded, but doesn't go through obstacles like the 2.4 Ghz transmission does.

See if that helps.

EDIT: If you can't find your way around the router, try ringing your isp.

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Ok. Here's the results of the last command (BTW, that's a pretty cool command). My modem has the ESSIDs "IZZI-4DB8" and "IZZI-4DB8-5G"

I logged into my modem and I see a place to change the channels for both 2.5 and 5 GHz but they're not enabled. In fact, I'm very limited as to what settings I can change. I'm in Mexico and unfortunately my Spanish is not good enough to have a conversation with tech support. I think they don't want their customers changing certain settings. However, if I hook up the router I have (it's a Netgear Nighthawk AC1900), according to the manual it looks like I can change the channel settings.

Channel:11
Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11)
Quality=70/70 Signal level=-36 dBm
ESSID:"IZZI-4DB8"
Channel:8
Frequency:2.447 GHz (Channel 8)
Quality=24/70 Signal level=-86 dBm
ESSID:"ClubTotalplay_WiFi_2.4G"
Channel:10
Frequency:2.457 GHz (Channel 10)
Quality=23/70 Signal level=-87 dBm
ESSID:"INFINITUM1827"
Channel:11
Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11)
Quality=22/70 Signal level=-88 dBm
ESSID:"Alonso"
Channel:11
Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11)
Quality=22/70 Signal level=-88 dBm
ESSID:"INFINITUM8439"
Channel:1
Frequency:2.412 GHz (Channel 1)
Quality=32/70 Signal level=-78 dBm
ESSID:"JMRG"
Channel:3
Frequency:2.422 GHz (Channel 3)
Quality=27/70 Signal level=-83 dBm
ESSID:"INFINITUMjse3"
Channel:6
Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
Quality=43/70 Signal level=-67 dBm
ESSID:"IZZI-8367"
Channel:6
Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
Quality=26/70 Signal level=-84 dBm
ESSID:"\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00"
Channel:8
Frequency:2.447 GHz (Channel 8)
Quality=22/70 Signal level=-88 dBm
ESSID:"Totalplay-7FA5"
Channel:40
Frequency:5.2 GHz (Channel 40)
Quality=28/70 Signal level=-82 dBm
ESSID:"Alonso_5G"
Channel:153
Quality=56/70 Signal level=-54 dBm
ESSID:"DIRECT-4q-FireTV_4f38"
Channel:153
Quality=67/70 Signal level=-43 dBm
ESSID:"IZZI-4DB8-5G"

UPDATE: Since I can't edit the setting on my modem, I decided to set up my wi-fi router and now have my computer on a 5G connection on channel 161. We'll see if this solves the problem.

thanks very much for your input.

You can often find a manual for the modem online.

You can often find a manual for the modem online. If you're seeing a channel @-88 dBm, that sensitive enough. Try the 5G - it's much less hassle.

I've done a lot of searching but so far unable to find manual for my modem. Not sure why. It may be they were made specifically for certain non-US markets. There are some settings I can change, but many I can't. I'm guessing I would need a super-admin or advanced login to change settings.

As an aside, apparently there are a bunch of modems out there with defective Intel chipsets, causing a variety of problems. I have one of those on the list. In case you're not familiar with this issue, here's some info: https://lookgadgets.com/articles/int...a-modems-list/

I read about it affecting downloads, not causing dropouts.

I really don't know about your issue. I can verify your wifi should not be dropping your connection at all, and that there's no problem at your end. Whether it's the isp, the line, or whatever, you've done pretty much all you can.

How does it perform on 5G?

So far so good on 5G. But the problem is sporadic. Sometimes I'll go weeks without the problem. Then suddenly it could happen 2-3 times per week or even multiple times in a day. It has crossed my mind that it could also be the ISP or the line.

Thanks again for your help.

Sounds almost like the wifi card is heating up but you say 5g is OK.

Since I use 4g phone as a router on my linux laptop while camping.

I know wireless chip should be ok to pick up phone 4g. I am guessing the same is for you using 5g connection.

I just give my phone permission and it gives me a wifi security pass code for my linux connection.
Which then shows in my network manager I use. I don't use Mint Linux.

Interesting setup you have going with the phone, although I don't understand how that would work.

It's also occurred to me that the wi-fi card may be defective. 5G is okay for now but as I mentioned, the problem does not show up consistently. I would consider replacing the card but for $140 I'm not willing to take the chance. Also, if the card does heat up it's possible something else on the main board may be causing the problem.

FWIW, I occasionally still use Mint-19.3, but that's Ubuntu to all intents & purposes with a few 'go-faster' stripes in X. You're effectively on Ubuntu.

check bios for power management features and disable them. check desktop power management features. bet it has a timer going off telling system to power down devices like networking.

may have to enable hidden menu's not enabled by default.

I'll look into this. Thanks.