Re: [EXT] Re: [PATCH v8 0/2] wifi: mwifiex: add code to support host mlme

[Rafael Beims]

On 14/02/2024 23:07, David Lin wrote:
> > From: Francesco Dolcini <francesco@xxxxxxxxxx>
> > Sent: Thursday, February 8, 2024 3:25 PM
> > To: Rafael Beims <rafael@xxxxxxxx>
> > Cc: David Lin <yu-hao.lin@xxxxxxx>; linux-wireless@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx;
> > linux-kernel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; briannorris@xxxxxxxxxxxx; kvalo@xxxxxxxxxx;
> > francesco@xxxxxxxxxx; Pete Hsieh <tsung-hsien.hsieh@xxxxxxx>
> > Subject: Re: [EXT] Re: [PATCH v8 0/2] wifi: mwifiex: add code to support host
> > mlme
> >
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> >
> > On Wed, Feb 07, 2024 at 06:30:03PM -0300, Rafael Beims wrote:
> > > On 30/01/2024 04:19, David Lin wrote:
> > > > > From: Rafael Beims <rafael@xxxxxxxx> On 22/12/2023 00:21, David
> > > > > Lin wrote:
> > > > > > This series add host based MLME support to the mwifiex driver,
> > > > > > this enables WPA3 support in both client and AP mode.
> > > > > > To enable WPA3, a firmware with corresponding V2 Key API support
> > > > > > is required.
> > > > > > The feature is currently only enabled on NXP IW416 (SD8978), and
> > > > > > it was internally validated by the NXP QA team. Other NXP Wi-Fi
> > > > > > chips supported in current mwifiex are not affected by this change.
> > ...
> >
> > > > > > David Lin (2):
> > > > > >      wifi: mwifiex: add host mlme for client mode
> > > > > >      wifi: mwifiex: add host mlme for AP mode
> > ...
> >
> > > > > I applied the two commits of this series on top of v6.7 but
> > > > > unfortunately the AP is failing to start with the patches. I get
> > > > > this output from "hostapd -d" (running on a Verdin AM62 with IW416):
> > > > >
> > > > > nl80211: kernel reports: Match already configured
> > > > > nl80211: Register frame command failed (type=176): ret=-114
> > > > > (Operation already in progress)
> > > > > nl80211: Register frame match - hexdump(len=0): [NULL]
> > > > >
> > > > > If I run the same hostapd on v6.7 without the patches, the AP is
> > > > > started with no issues.
> > > > >
> > > > > Is there anything else that should be done in order to test this?
> > > > I applied patch v8 (mbox from patch work) to Linux stable repository (tag
> > v6.7.2).
> > > > Both client and AP mode can work with and without WPA3.
> > > I went back and executed the tests again. I re-applied the pach on top
> > > of tag v6.7.2 to make sure we're seeing exactly the same thing.
> > >
> > > At first, the behavior I was seeing was exactly the same I reported before.
> > > Upon starting hostapd with our basic example configuration, it would
> > > fail to start the AP with the error:
> > >
> > > nl80211: kernel reports: Match already configured
> > > nl80211: Could not configure driver mode
> > >
> > > After some investigation of what could cause this error, I found out
> > > that it was connman that was interfering with this somehow. After
> > > killing the connman service, the AP would start correctly.
> > >
> > > I want to point out that this behavior is different from the unpatched
> > > driver. With that one we don't need to kill connman in order to start
> > > the AP with hostapd.
> > Any idea what's going on in this regard? Is such a change in behavior expected?
> >
> > Francesco
> When I tried to test v6.7.2+ (with patch v8) on NB + SDIO IW416, it needs to issue "sudo systemctl stop NetworkManager" in order to test AP mode.

The issue I reported is that the kernel with the patch is behaving 
differently when compared to the kernel without the patch. I kept all 
the test conditions the same, just replacing the kernel. It seems that 
you can reproduce this on your end using NetworkManager.

This is a change in behavior on userspace that's not currently explained.

> For i.MX + SDIO IW416, it needs to install following two files for client and AP mode to "/lib/systemd/network" for systemd-networkd:
>
> <<Client mode: 80-wifi-station.network>>
>
> [Match]
> Type=wlan
> WLANInterfaceType=station
>
> [Network]
> DHCP=yes
>
> <<AP mode: 80-wifi-ap.network>>
>
> [Match]
> Type=wlan
> WLANInterfaceType=ap
>
> [Network]
> Address=192.168.100.1/24
> DHCPServer=yes
>
> [DHCPServer]
> PoolOffset=100
> PoolSize=20
>
> I think this is not related to driver.
>
> David

I didn't really understand what systemd-networkd has to do with anything 
being discussed here. We could use it to create an AP, but that's not 
the test I did. In my case I used hostapd directly.


Rafael