Wifi driver not loading (Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377)

byron.hawkins · 05-29-2022, 07:59 PM

My Acer laptop is running Oracle Linux and it has a Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 wifi adapter (built-in) with the standard kernel driver installed, but for some reason the kernel doesn't even try to load the driver. On the wifi panel of the system settings, it just says "no wifi device found". There is nothing in dmesg related to "*lan*" or "*ath*" (filtering with grep -i).

Code:

# uname -a
Linux cuivre 5.4.17-2136.307.3.5.el8uek.x86_64 #2 SMP Thu May 26 18:17:42 PDT 2022 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux 

# lspci -k
03:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter (rev 31)
        Subsystem: Lite-On Communications Inc Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter

# ls /lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA9377/hw1.0/
board-2.bin  firmware-5.bin  firmware-sdio-5.bin           notice_ath10k_firmware-6.txt       notice.txt_WLAN.TF.1.0-00267-1
board.bin    firmware-6.bin  notice_ath10k_firmware-5.txt  notice_ath10k_firmware-sdio-5.txt

There are many posts about problems using this adapter under linux, but I haven't found anything related to this specific problem. Is there a simple way to manually load the driver and see if it works, or if something is wrong there? It seems very strange that the device is simply ignored when clearly it is visible and has a driver.

teckk · 05-29-2022, 08:33 PM

Looks like that has been problematic.

That should be supported with ath10k_pci

A few threads
https://unix.stackexchange.com/quest...adapter-rev-31
https://github.com/ajaybhatia/Qualco...77-Wifi-Linux/
https://unix.stackexchange.com/quest...-wireless-card
https://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=127880

Quote:

Is there a simple way to manually load the driver and see if it works

Yes, See:

Code:

man lsmod
man modprobe

byron.hawkins · 05-30-2022, 10:53 AM

Thanks for the reply, I installed ath10k_core but it doesn't enable the wifi adapter. Is this the wrong module? There's still nothing in dmesg related to "*ath*" or "*lan*".

Code:

# modprobe -v --first-time --show-depends ath10k_core 
insmod /lib/modules/5.4.17-2136.307.3.5.el8uek.x86_64/kernel/lib/crypto/libarc4.ko.xz 
insmod /lib/modules/5.4.17-2136.307.3.5.el8uek.x86_64/kernel/net/rfkill/rfkill.ko.xz 
insmod /lib/modules/5.4.17-2136.307.3.5.el8uek.x86_64/kernel/net/wireless/cfg80211.ko.xz 
insmod /lib/modules/5.4.17-2136.307.3.5.el8uek.x86_64/kernel/net/mac80211/mac80211.ko.xz 
insmod /lib/modules/5.4.17-2136.307.3.5.el8uek.x86_64/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath.ko.xz 
insmod /lib/modules/5.4.17-2136.307.3.5.el8uek.x86_64/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/ath10k_core.ko.xz skip_otp=y

Code:

# nmcli dev wifi

Code:

# iwconfig
enp2s0f1  no wireless extensions.

virbr0    no wireless extensions.

lo        no wireless extensions.

byron.hawkins · 05-30-2022, 12:15 PM

Note that I only have ath10k_pci in an older module directory:

Code:

/usr/lib/modules/4.18.0-372.9.1.el8.x86_64/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/ath10k_pci.ko.xz

Current modules are here:

Code:

/usr/lib/modules/5.4.17-2136.307.3.5.el8uek.x86_64/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/

But only ath10k_core is available for kernel 5.4.17 in my distro. I tried to copy 1th10k_pci.ko.xz into the latest directory, but modprobe still can't find it. So I'm only able to install ath10k_core, which seems to do nothing.

teckk · 05-30-2022, 12:30 PM

ath10k_pci Oracle Linux

You're probably going to have to work on this until you figure it out.

https://tutorialmore.com/questions-238624.htm

You could contact oracle.

https://www.oracle.com/linux/technologies/
mailto:virt-docs-ext_ww_grp@oracle.com

teckk · 05-30-2022, 01:48 PM

More info

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=266280
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux...x-firmware.git

byron.hawkins · 05-30-2022, 01:58 PM

The latest drivers in the linux-firmware.git repository are exactly the same as the drivers in my distro. But installing them with modprobe doesn't have any effect:

Code:

lspci -k
03:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter (rev 31)
        Subsystem: Lite-On Communications Inc Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter

Is there some way to find out how the kernel is making decisions about what driver to use with each system device? Somehow it is choosing not to use the driver, even though the module is installed and seems to match the wifi adapter.

mrapathy · 06-06-2022, 11:40 AM

What model Acer?
Thats a pretty old but stable kernel. I have a Acer Aspire E5 E15 553-11PT
AMD apu/radeon graphics

Mine came with Qualcomm Atheros I dont know what version it was but it was half the size of other
m.2 Key E devices. It was reliable but speeds were terrible in windows and linux.

Might want to see if you have a m.2 Key E port on your motherboard. If so you can upgrade to intel device. I bought a old 7265D m.2 key E adapter made in 2014 my laptop was made in 2016/17. worked in linux and windows. Got the 7265D used for $10 including shipping. Also bought a Fenvi Intel Ax200 m.2 Key E adapter. works in windows and linux. $30 bucks including shipping. very fast stuff. the intel 7265D doesnt support mu mimo but has a fast 897mbps 5ghz connection.

Does mean someone would have to take apart the laptop and plug the Key E adapter and connect the antenna's. button it back up.

Should be video on youtube for your model laptop or series.