[PATCH ath-next] wifi: ath11k: look for firmware-N.bin without the user-space fallback

[Christopher Griffin via B4 Relay]

From: Christopher Griffin <christophergriffin05@xxxxxxxxx>

ath11k_fw_pre_init() asks for firmware-2.bin through
ath11k_core_firmware_request(), that is firmware_request_nowarn(), and
falls back to API 1 when the file is not there. The file is optional,
and many installations have none: on an Arista C-360 the QCN9074 runs
from amss.bin alone. With CONFIG_FW_LOADER_USER_HELPER_FALLBACK, which
OpenWrt sets, firmware_request_nowarn() still hands a missing file to
the user-space loader, so every probe of such a device waits on a
uevent and its answer, and the loader logs the miss; when the device
goes away before the answer, as when it is unbound right after probing,
the loader then fails to write its answer:

  procd: Failed to write to .../firmware/ath11k!QCN9074!hw1.0!firmware-2.bin/loading: Bad file descriptor

Request it with request_firmware_direct() instead, which looks on the
filesystem only, as ath11k already does for the optional calibration
file in ath11k_qmi_load_bdf_qmi().

Tested-on: QCN9074 hw1.0 PCI WLAN.HK.2.5.r4-00683-QCAHKSWPL_SILICONZ-1

Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-5-5
Signed-off-by: Christopher Griffin <christophergriffin05@xxxxxxxxx>
---
Seen on an Arista C-360 with OpenWrt: its QCN9074 has no firmware-2.bin,
and its scan radio is unbound right after probing.
---
 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/fw.c | 12 ++++++++----
 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/fw.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/fw.c
index ef1b4c81843a3..3628e33e57f6e 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/fw.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/fw.c
@@ -16,10 +16,14 @@ static int ath11k_fw_request_firmware_api_n(struct ath11k_base *ab,
 	struct ath11k_fw_ie *hdr;
 	const u8 *data;
 	__le32 *timestamp;
-
-	ab->fw.fw = ath11k_core_firmware_request(ab, name);
-	if (IS_ERR(ab->fw.fw)) {
-		ret = PTR_ERR(ab->fw.fw);
+	char path[100];
+
+	/* The file is optional: look for it on the filesystem only, so a
+	 * missing one does not go through the user-space fallback loader.
+	 */
+	ath11k_core_create_firmware_path(ab, name, path, sizeof(path));
+	ret = request_firmware_direct(&ab->fw.fw, path, ab->dev);
+	if (ret) {
 		ath11k_dbg(ab, ATH11K_DBG_BOOT, "failed to load %s: %d\n", name, ret);
 		ab->fw.fw = NULL;
 		return ret;

---
base-commit: a3ddbb45768717b5c9f923489387cf55c838d1ad
change-id: 20261101-b123-fw-api-n-direct-7390bf5fecb3

Best regards,
--  
Christopher Griffin <christophergriffin05@xxxxxxxxx>