rtl8723e disconnect problem on the kernel 3.4.9.

Dear all,

I have a problem RTl8723 wifi connection. I can connect the access point fine but exactly 10 seconds later, the connection will be lost. This is 100% reproducible. Here is the "iw event" log.

---
1351707196.317590: wlan0 (phy #0): scan started 1351707197.302943: wlan0 (phy #0): scan finished: 2412 2417 2422 2427 2432 2437 2442 2447 2452 2457 2462 2467 2472, "" 1351707210.124514: wlan0 (phy #0): scan started 1351707211.109857: wlan0 (phy #0): scan finished: 2412 2417 2422 2427 2432 2437 2442 2447 2452 2457 2462 2467 2472, "" 1351707212.091111: wlan0 (phy #0): scan started 1351707213.075847: wlan0 (phy #0): scan finished: 2412 2417 2422 2427 2432 2437 2442 2447 2452 2457 2462 2467 2472, "WHRG300N" 1351707213.125596: wlan0: new station 00:24:a5:b4:d6:28 1351707213.128086: wlan0 (phy #0): auth 00:24:a5:b4:d6:28 -> 74:e5:43:d3:83:1f status: 0: Successful [frame: b0 00 3a 01 74 e5 43 d3 83 1f 00 24 a5 b4 d6 28 00 24 a5 b4 d6 28 40 02 00 00 02 00 00 00] 1351707213.190419: wlan0 (phy #0): assoc 00:24:a5:b4:d6:28 -> 74:e5:43:d3:83:1f status: 0: Successful ...
1351707213.190577: wlan0 (phy #0): connected to 00:24:a5:b4:d6:28 1351707222.948847: wlan0: unknown event 20
1351707222.965529: wlan0 (phy #0): deauth 74:e5:43:d3:83:1f -> 00:24:a5:b4:d6:28 reason 4: Disassociated due to inactivity [frame: c0 00 00 00 00 24 a5 b4 d6 28 74 e5 43 d3 83 1f 00 24 a5 b4 d6 28 00 00 04 00] 1351707222.965603: wlan0 (phy #0): disconnected (local request) 1351707222.979348: phy #0: regulatory domain change: set to world roaming by the wireless core upon initialization request 1351707222.982223: regulatory domain change: set to JP by a user request
---

Does anyone have the same problem? Can someone tell me what is "wlan0:
unknown event 20"? I suspect this is the cause of the disconnection. I am no wifi expert. Where should I take look at in the source code?

I am using Fedora 16 kernel 3.4.9 with some minor patches and Realktek driver provided from my vendor, "8723AE_linux_WiFimac80211_0007.0809.2012.tar.gz".

And here is lspci info.

02:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device 8723
Subsystem: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device 0726
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 18
I/O ports at e000 [size=256]
Memory at f7b00000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3
Capabilities: [50] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
Capabilities: [70] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
Capabilities: [140] Virtual Channel
Capabilities: [160] Device Serial Number 01-23-87-fe-ff-4c-e0-00 Kernel driver in use: rtl8723e
Kernel modules: rtl8723e

I have sent the same question to the Realtek support but I also appreciate your help.

Regards,

Akira Nonaka
Tokyo, Japan

According to the table at
http://etutorials.org/Networking/Wireless+lan+security/Chapter+4.+WLAN+Fundamentals/Basic+Choreography/,
event 20 is "Invalid AKMP". That acronym stands for Active Key Management Protocol.

I have some questions:

(1) What version of the vendor driver are you using?
(2) Are the memset errors fixed? There are a number of calls where args 2 and 3 are reversed.
(3) Can you build your own kernel? If so, check
http://www'lwfinger.com/realtek_drivers/rtl8723ae_master_patch. That will patch a 3.4 kernel to include the driver rtl8723ae that has been submitted for inclusion in kernel 3.8.

Larry

Thanks Larry,

I got the driver from below, where my PC vendor told me to go.

http://www.liteon.com/UserFiles/driver/Module/Network/WLAN/RTL/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_8723ae_linux_mac80211_0007.0809.2012.tar.gz

I will check the source code.

I will try this patch also and get back to you.

Regards,

Akira Nonaka

Those are all fixed in my patch. The driver that you are using was my starting point for the one that will be included in the kernel. My experience is that the connections that I get are extremely stable, particularly for a new driver.

Larry

Larry,

I applied your patch against the compat-wireless-2012-10-03.tar.bz2
(http://linuxwireless.org/download/compat-wireless-2.6/)
and it is now working stably on the kernel 3.4.9.

Thank you very much!!!

Akira Nonaka

That is good news. I hope that the patches become part of the compat code very soon.

Larry