AX210 cannot scan channels in US with linux 5.10

[tanshihaj]

Hi,

I've find a bit strange bug with iwlwifi driver, iwlwifi-ty-a0-gf-a0-59.ucode firmware and linux kernel 5.10.104.

It seems that sometimes AX210 card cannot launch hardware network scan if card "assumes" that its regulatory domain is US. Scan request returns 22 errno (EINVAL, Invalid argument).

I've find out that it happens there: https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/v5.10.104/source/drivers/net/wireless/intel/iwlwifi/mvm/mac80211.c#L2795. There cfg80211 requests 101 channel to scan, however, firmware supports only 67 channels. cfg80211 gets this 101 channels here https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/v5.10.104/source/net/wireless/nl80211.c#L8150. so it just count all channels that is supported by module and do not disabled and it sound logical.

Is it expected behavior that number of channels supported for hardware scan is less that number of channels supported by module?

Linux kernel version: 5.10.104-l4t-35.3.1.

Hardware platform: Jetson AGX ORIN.

Loaded firmware version: 59.601f3a66.0 (file name iwlwifi-ty-a0-gf-a0-59.ucode).

[ACarmona_Intel]

Hello Tanshihaj

Thank you for posting in our communities.

May we know who installed your AX210 card? 

We look forward to your response!

Best regards,

Carmona A.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[tanshihaj]

This is a Nvidia Jetson Orin Developer Kit with manually installed ax210 module into m.2 m key slot. I do not know who installed it but pretty sure that this information will not help you. You can consider that I've installed this module by myself.

[ACarmona_Intel]

Hello Tanshihaj

Thank you so much for the quick response.

We wanted to inform you that the installation or use of Intel® Wireless Adapters is subject to country-specific legal regulations. Some countries require the Intel® Wireless Adapters to be certified with the antenna that is intended to be used together in the system, while some countries require the Intel® Wireless Adapter to be certified at the full system level. For example, in the US, the official rules governing the use of antennas with certified modules is covered under rule parts 15.203, 15.247 and 15.407. These can be accessed and/or downloaded at the FCC site.

As each country may have different regulatory requirements, before you install or change the Intel® Wireless Adapter in a system, you must contact the system manufacturer to determine if the Intel® Wireless Adapter you plan to install is approved for use in your system and country. You are required to follow the manufacturer's post-approval requirements.

For more information, please check out the article below:

•  Regulatory Information Regarding Wireless Hardware Installation or Upgrade

Best regards,

Carmona A.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[tanshihaj]

Ok, but the issue I've described is not related to module installation but rather firmware and iwlwifi driver combination.

[ACarmona_Intel]

Hello Tanshihaj

Thank you so much for the quick response. 

The firmware and iwlwifi driver combination are generic and validated to be working; however, to further check, you will need to contact your system manufacturer to see if the BIOS on your system is compatible with your wireless card.

Best regards,

Carmona A.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[ACarmona_Intel]

Hello Tanshihaj

To further explain, the issue you're encountering with the iwlwifi driver and the AX210 card not being able to launch a hardware network scan under certain regulatory domain settings is indeed unusual. The discrepancy between the number of channels requested by cfg80211 and the number supported by the firmware can lead to the EINVAL error you're seeing. This behaviour suggests a potential mismatch between the driver's expectations and the firmware's capabilities.

In general, the number of channels that the hardware can scan should align with the number of channels supported by the module, taking into account any regulatory restrictions. If the firmware only supports 67 channels, but the driver is attempting to scan 101 channels, this inconsistency could be due to a bug or a regulatory domain misconfiguration.

It's not expected for the hardware scan to support fewer channels than the module unless there are specific regulatory or hardware limitations in place. It might be beneficial to check for any updates to the iwlwifi driver using our Linux* Support for Intel® Wireless Adapters article or firmware that address this issue or to seek guidance from the Linux kernel community, where others may have encountered and resolved similar issues.

In the meantime, you could also try setting the regulatory domain manually to see if that allows the hardware scan to proceed correctly. However, please ensure that you comply with local regulations when changing these settings and contact the hardware manufacturer of the computer.

If you've installed the AX210 module yourself, it's also worth double-checking that the antenna (if there's an antenna) connections are secure and that the card is properly seated in the M.2 slot, as physical installation issues can sometimes cause unexpected behaviour, although the issue seems to be with the firmware and driver combination.

Kindly inform us if you have any questions, and we will await your response.

Best regards,

Carmona A.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[tanshihaj]

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If the firmware only supports 67 channels, but the driver is attempting to scan 101 channels, this inconsistency could be due to a bug or a regulatory domain misconfiguration.

Ok, so the answer to the original question - it is unexpected behavior.

---

It's not expected for the hardware scan to support fewer channels than the module unless there are specific regulatory or hardware limitations in place. It might be beneficial to check for any updates to the iwlwifi driver using our Linux* Support for Intel® Wireless Adapters article or firmware that address this issue or to seek guidance from the Linux kernel community, where others may have encountered and resolved similar issues.

Yes, it seems that the best thing to do is to use backported iwlwifi driver (https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/iwlwifi/backport-iwlwifi.git) with latest firmware. Hope it will help.

In the meantime, you could also try setting the regulatory domain manually to see if that allows the hardware scan to proceed correctly. However, please ensure that you comply with local regulations when changing these settings and contact the hardware manufacturer of the computer.

I've already tried to set regulatory domain manually to solve this issue, but it didn't help.

Kindly inform us if you have any questions, and we will await your response.

---

No, I've got all answers I need, thank you very much for help.

[ACarmona_Intel]

Hello Tanshihaj

We sincerely appreciate you taking the time to read the information we have provided, and we hope that we have been of assistance to you in addressing your concern.

By the way, please let us know if you still need our help or if you wish that we close the case for you.

We look forward to your response!

Best regards,

Carmona A.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[ACarmona_Intel]

Hello Tanshihaj

Again, please let us know if you still need our help or if you wish that we close the case for you.

We look forward to your response!

Best regards,

Carmona A.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[ACarmona_Intel]

 Hello Tanshihaj

We are checking in with you if you need any additional queries or require further explanation. Please know that we would be happy to assist you if you have any.

Thank you, and have a great day!

Best regards,

Carmona A.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[ACarmona_Intel]

Hello Tanshihaj

We have not heard back from you, so we will close this enquiry now. For additional information, please submit a new question, as this thread will no longer be monitored.

By the way, we hope that, in some way, we have helped you with your concern.

Bye for now, and and have a great day ahead.

Best regards,

Carmona A.

Intel Customer Support Technician