Iwlwifi stopped working after a recent update

Support Network
1

Hi

I have updated my system a few days ago and since then my wifi has stopped working completely. Appreciate any advice.

inxi -N      
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168NGW [Stone Peak] driver: iwlwifi
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    driver: r8168

lshw -C network
  *-network                 
       description: Wireless interface
       product: Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168NGW [Stone Peak]
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:29:00.0
       logical name: wlan3
       version: 10
       serial: 9c:29:76:c1:cf:32
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlwifi driverversion=6.1.44-1-MANJARO firmware=29.198743027.0 3168-29.ucode ip=192.168.1.184 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
       resources: irq:81 memory:fc600000-fc601fff
  *-network
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:2a:00.0
       logical name: enp42s0
       version: 15
       serial: 2c:f0:5d:8c:97:fa
       size: 1Gbit/s
       capacity: 1Gbit/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix vpd bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8168 driverversion=8.050.03-NAPI duplex=full ip=192.168.1.94 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=1Gbit/s
       resources: irq:82 ioport:f000(size=256) memory:fc504000-fc504fff memory:fc500000-fc503fff

inxi -Fazy                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

System:
  Kernel: 6.1.44-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 13.2.1
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1-x86_64
    root=UUID=41842a12-6b2a-4b25-b1af-237f1d287cf0 rw quiet apparmor=1
    security=apparmor udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.27.7 tk: Qt v: 5.15.10 wm: kwin_x11 dm: SDDM
    Distro: Manjaro Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: Micro-Star model: B550M PRO-VDH WIFI (MS-7C95) v: 1.0
    serial: <filter> UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: 2.A0 date: 03/16/2022
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X socket: AM4 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3+
    gen: 4 level: v3 note: check built: 2022 process: TSMC n6 (7nm)
    family: 0x19 (25) model-id: 0x21 (33) stepping: 0 microcode: 0xA201016
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 6 tpc: 2 threads: 12 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 384 KiB desc: d-6x32 KiB; i-6x32 KiB L2: 3 MiB desc: 6x512 KiB L3: 32 MiB
    desc: 1x32 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 3125 high: 3700 min/max: 2200/4650 boost: enabled
    base/boost: 3700/4650 scaling: driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: schedutil
    volts: 1.1 V ext-clock: 100 MHz cores: 1: 3700 2: 3700 3: 2200 4: 2200
    5: 3700 6: 2200 7: 3700 8: 2200 9: 2800 10: 3700 11: 3700 12: 3700
    bogomips: 88844
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow mitigation: safe RET, no microcode
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW,
    STIBP: always-on, RSB filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GP108 [GeForce GT 1030] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nvidia
    v: 535.98 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 535.xx+
    status: current (as of 2023-07) arch: Pascal code: GP10x process: TSMC 16nm
    built: 2016-21 pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 4 bus-ID: 2b:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:1d01 class-ID: 0300
  Display: server: X.Org v: 21.1.8 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
    loaded: nvidia gpu: nvidia display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3840x1080 s-dpi: 92 s-size: 1060x301mm (41.73x11.85")
    s-diag: 1102mm (43.38")
  Monitor-1: DVI-D-0 pos: left res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 93
    size: 527x296mm (20.75x11.65") diag: 604mm (23.8") modes: N/A
  Monitor-2: HDMI-0 pos: primary,right res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 93
    size: 527x296mm (20.75x11.65") diag: 604mm (23.8") modes: N/A
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 535.98 renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GT
    1030/PCIe/SSE2 direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GP108 High Definition Audio vendor: ASUSTeK
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 4
    bus-ID: 2b:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0fb8 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: AMD Starship/Matisse HD Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 2d:00.4 chip-ID: 1022:1487 class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000 Headset
    driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid type: USB rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s
    lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 3-3:3 chip-ID: 045e:070f class-ID: 0300
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.44-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 0.3.77 status: n/a (root, process)
    with: pipewire-media-session status: active tools: pw-cli
  Server-3: PulseAudio v: 16.1 status: active (root, process) with:
    1: pulseaudio-alsa type: plugin 2: pulseaudio-jack type: module
    tools: pacat,pactl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168NGW [Stone Peak] driver: iwlwifi
    v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 29:00.0
    chip-ID: 8086:24fb class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlan3 state: up mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: r8168 v: 8.050.03-NAPI modules: r8169 pcie:
    gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: f000 bus-ID: 2a:00.0
    chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp42s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Wireless-AC 3168 Bluetooth driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-9:4 chip-ID: 8087:0aa7
    class-ID: e001
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 8 state: down bt-service: enabled,running
    rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes address: see --recommends
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.73 TiB used: 2.26 TiB (83.0%)
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Crucial model: CT1000P1SSD8
    size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s
    lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: P3CR013 temp: 35.9 C
    scheme: GPT
  SMART: yes health: PASSED on: 280d 22h cycles: 1,823
    read-units: 47,735,807 [24.4 TB] written-units: 78,660,892 [40.2 TB]
  ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Seagate model: ST2000DM008-2FR102
    family: BarraCuda 3.5 (SMR) size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B
    logical: 512 B sata: 3.1 speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: HDD rpm: 7200
    serial: <filter> fw-rev: 0001 temp: 32.0 C
  SMART: yes state: enabled health: PASSED on: 6562h+00m+15.664s cycles: 1822
    read: 4.65 TiB written: 6.02 TiB Pre-Fail: attribute: Spin_Retry_Count
    value: 100 worst: 100 threshold: 97
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 931.01 GiB size: 915.33 GiB (98.32%)
    used: 593.67 GiB (64.9%) fs: ext4 block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3
    maj-min: 259:2
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 512 MiB size: 511 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 6.8 MiB (1.3%) fs: vfat block-size: 512 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
    maj-min: 259:1
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found.
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: N/A mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 1440 fan-2: 0 fan-3: 1041 fan-4: 991 fan-5: 0
    fan-6: 0 fan-7: 0 fan-8: 0 fan-9: 0 fan-10: 0
Info:
  Processes: 334 Uptime: 3d 39m wakeups: 4 Memory: total: 32 GiB
  available: 31.27 GiB used: 9 GiB (28.8%) Init: systemd v: 253
  default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 13.2.1 clang: 15.0.7
  Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1946 libs: 498 tools: pamac,yay pm: appimage
  pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 0 Shell: Bash (su) v: 5.1.16 running-in: konsole
  inxi: 3.3.28

System log is full of these

Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: Queue 11 is active on fifo 1 and stuck for 10000 ms. SW [79, 26] HW [79, 26] FH TRB=0x0c010b05e
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: Microcode SW error detected.  Restarting 0x2000000.
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: Start IWL Error Log Dump:
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: Transport status: 0x0000004A, valid: 6
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: Loaded firmware version: 29.198743027.0 3168-29.ucode
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000084 | NMI_INTERRUPT_UNKNOWN       
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00800634 | trm_hw_status0
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000000 | trm_hw_status1
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00043D6C | branchlink2
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x0004AFA2 | interruptlink1
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x0004FDAA | interruptlink2
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000000 | data1
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000080 | data2
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x07030000 | data3
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x1BC16396 | beacon time
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0xD46A8C6A | tsf low
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x000000C4 | tsf hi
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000000 | time gp1
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x0114D288 | time gp2
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000001 | uCode revision type
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x0000001D | uCode version major
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x0BD893F3 | uCode version minor
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000220 | hw version
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00C89200 | board version
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x0B4F001C | hcmd
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0xA4022002 | isr0
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000000 | isr1
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x0000000A | isr2
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x0041A8C5 | isr3
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000000 | isr4
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x007301D2 | last cmd Id
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000000 | wait_event
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000094 | l2p_control
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00012030 | l2p_duration
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x0000000F | l2p_mhvalid
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000000 | l2p_addr_match
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000005 | lmpm_pmg_sel
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x14100601 | timestamp
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00346070 | flow_handler
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: Fseq Registers:
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000000 | FSEQ_ERROR_CODE
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000000 | FSEQ_TOP_INIT_VERSION
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000000 | FSEQ_CNVIO_INIT_VERSION
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000000 | FSEQ_OTP_VERSION
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000000 | FSEQ_TOP_CONTENT_VERSION
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000000 | FSEQ_ALIVE_TOKEN
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000000 | FSEQ_CNVI_ID
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000000 | FSEQ_CNVR_ID
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000000 | CNVI_AUX_MISC_CHIP
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000000 | CNVR_AUX_MISC_CHIP
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000000 | CNVR_SCU_SD_REGS_SD_REG_DIG_DCDC_VTRIM
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: 0x00000000 | CNVR_SCU_SD_REGS_SD_REG_ACTIVE_VDIG_MIRROR
Aug 14 21:42:11 mrr kernel: iwlwifi 0000:29:00.0: Collecting data: trigger 2 fired.
2

have a look at; [SOLVED] iwlwifi: Microcode SW error detected. Restarting 0x0. (Page 2) / Kernel & Hardware / Arch Linux Forums

3

I was going to mention the iwlmvm module.
Which is where intel wifi power management is. A separate module? yes.
It seems it is stated somewhere in that thread.
But a few things to mention - theres a lot of stuff posted there that is either old … or likely too extreme for your issue.

See this related thread:

So … if I were you I would start with the antenna option:
(not disabling modern/faster standards)

/etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf

options iwlwifi 11n_disable=8 # enable antenna aggregation

And if thats not good then also check disabling power saving:

/etc/modprobe.d/iwlmvm.conf

options iwlmvm power_scheme=1 # disable power saving, default=2

And then if it still doesnt work … you can try a few other things.

1 Like
4

Unfortunately neither of these options had any effect.

While trying the suggestions from the post linked above at some point I was able to get a stable connection but that only lasted until restart and I’m not quite sure what exactly I’ve done to achieve this.

5

I’m not sure either. If it was options in the configuration files … then it should persist across reboots.

6

I suspect it was due to the fact I reloaded the module. I have tried it a few times since later and it worked, although the speed was pretty bad.

7

So unloading and reloading the module works?
Have you reset the options and/or removed the files?
( remember a bunch of the options in the other thread are disabling modern standrds, so it means only using the slower a/b/g … 2.4 ghz and an absolute maximum of 54 mb )

Also … I guess I could mention you can pass options while loading the module;

sudo modprobe -r iwlwifi
sudo modprobe iwlwifi 11n_disable=8
8

I’d say sometimes? Not sure. And the speed is still not great (I’ve previously asked about the speed issue on this forum as well)

Oh that’s nice, I didn’t know that.

9

I found a partial workaround: disabling network stack in BIOS + setting 11n_disable=1 prevents the driver from crashing, but the speed is slow - about 20Mbit/s while it should be ~150. Oh well, better than nothing.

10

The maximum with N disabled is about 20-22-24Mbps, so it is expected. (802.11G: 54Mbps for both directions with some overhehead included)