Re: [PATCH wireless-next] wifi: rtw88: usb: do not log transfers lost to a mode switch
From: Bitterblue Smith
Date: Wed Aug 12 2026 - 13:03:59 EST
On 12/08/2026 15:28, Mehmet Fide wrote:
> An RTL8822BU or RTL8822CU is asked to come back as a USB 3 device by
> rtw_usb_switch_mode_new(), added in commit 315c23a64e99 ("wifi: rtw88:
> usb: Support USB 3 with RTL8822CU/RTL8822BU"). The chip powers off its
> MAC and leaves the bus while the last control transfers of that sequence
> are still in flight, so they complete with -EPROTO and the driver reports
> them as errors:
>
> rtw_8822bu 1-1:1.0: Firmware version 27.2.0, H2C version 13
> rtw_8822bu 1-1:1.0: write register 0xc4 failed with -71
> usb 1-1: USB disconnect, device number 2
> usbcore: registered new interface driver rtw_8822bu
> rtw_8822bu 1-1:1.0: Firmware version 27.2.0, H2C version 13
>
> Register 0xc4 is REG_PAD_CTRL2 and the access losing the race is the
> rtw_write32_set() that ends the switch sequence, a few milliseconds before
> the disconnect. Which transfer gets caught varies from boot to boot: 0xc4
> is in the "always on" section, so every write to it is followed by a second
> one from rtw_usb_reg_sec(), and sometimes that is the one that fails:
>
> rtw_8822bu 1-1:1.0: rtw_usb_reg_sec: reg 0x4e0, usb write 1 fail, status: -71
>
> Nothing is wrong here. The device re-enumerates, probes again and registers
> normally, which is why rtw_usb_probe() already treats a non-zero return
> from rtw_usb_switch_mode() as "Not a fail". On a USB 2 only port the
> switch can never succeed, so the message returns on every boot and
> everyone using such a port has to work out that it is harmless.
>
> Mark the window in which the chip is expected to leave the bus and skip the
> error reports for transfers that fall into it. The flag is never cleared
> because the switch always ends in a re-probe with a fresh struct rtw_usb.
>
> Tested with an RTL8822BU (0x7392:0xb822) on a USB 2 root port of a TI AM62,
> where the message appears exactly once per boot. With the patch both lines
> are gone while the disconnect, the re-enumeration and the second firmware
> load are unchanged. The tested build was 6.12.103 carrying the same change;
> the hunks differ only in context.
>
> Signed-off-by: Mehmet Fide <mehmet.fide@xxxxxxxxx>
I guess this is one way to do it.
I was going to do this the same way I did for rtw89, along with some
other changes, like retry control messages up to 10 times and do both
reads and writes from a single function. But I got busy with life stuff
and haven't started.
By the way, RTL8812AU and RTL8814AU (handled by rtw_usb_switch_mode_old())
have the same problem.
Your patch looks funny. Please generate patches using "git format-patch",
and use the rtw-next branch from https://github.com/pkshih/rtw.
> ---
> --- a/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw88/usb.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw88/usb.c
> @@ -64,7 +64,7 @@
> RTW_USB_CMD_REQ, RTW_USB_CMD_WRITE,
> t_reg, 0, data, t_len, 500);
>
> - if (status != t_len && status != -ENODEV)
> + if (status != t_len && status != -ENODEV && !rtwusb->switching_mode)
> rtw_err(rtwdev, "%s: reg 0x%x, usb write %u fail, status: %d\n",
> __func__, t_reg, t_len, status);
> }
> @@ -90,7 +90,7 @@
> ret = usb_control_msg(udev, usb_rcvctrlpipe(udev, 0),
> RTW_USB_CMD_REQ, RTW_USB_CMD_READ, addr,
> RTW_USB_VENQT_CMD_IDX, data, len, 1000);
> - if (ret < 0 && ret != -ENODEV && count++ < 4)
> + if (ret < 0 && ret != -ENODEV && !rtwusb->switching_mode && count++ < 4)
> rtw_err(rtwdev, "read register 0x%x failed with %d\n",
> addr, ret);
>
> @@ -140,7 +140,7 @@
> ret = usb_control_msg(udev, usb_sndctrlpipe(udev, 0),
> RTW_USB_CMD_REQ, RTW_USB_CMD_WRITE,
> addr, 0, data, len, 500);
> - if (ret < 0 && ret != -ENODEV && count++ < 4)
> + if (ret < 0 && ret != -ENODEV && !rtwusb->switching_mode && count++ < 4)
> rtw_err(rtwdev, "write register 0x%x failed with %d\n",
> addr, ret);
>
> @@ -1111,6 +1111,7 @@
>
> static int rtw_usb_switch_mode_new(struct rtw_dev *rtwdev)
> {
> + struct rtw_usb *rtwusb = rtw_get_usb_priv(rtwdev);
> enum usb_device_speed cur_speed;
> u8 id = rtwdev->chip->id;
> bool can_switch;
> @@ -1151,6 +1152,11 @@
> rtw_write32(rtwdev, REG_PAD_CTRL2, pad_ctrl2);
> rtw_write8(rtwdev, REG_PAD_CTRL2 + 1, 4);
>
> + /* From here the chip powers off its MAC and re-enumerates, so it can
> + * leave the bus while a control transfer is still in flight.
> + */
> + rtwusb->switching_mode = true;
> +
> rtw_write16_set(rtwdev, REG_SYS_PW_CTRL, BIT_APFM_OFFMAC);
> usleep_range(1000, 1001);
> rtw_write32_set(rtwdev, REG_PAD_CTRL2, BIT_NO_PDN_CHIPOFF_V1);
> --- a/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw88/usb.h
> +++ b/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw88/usb.h
> @@ -85,6 +85,9 @@
> struct sk_buff_head rx_free_queue;
> struct work_struct rx_work;
> struct work_struct rx_urb_work;
> +
> + /* the chip is re-enumerating, control transfers are expected to fail */
> + bool switching_mode;
> };
>
> static inline struct rtw_usb_tx_data *rtw_usb_get_tx_data(struct sk_buff *skb)