Intel AX210 - Gentoo Linux OS - Unable To Enable AP Operation at Any Non-2.4GHz Frequency - Page 2

IAmMrZ · ‎06-23-2021

Hi There !

I'm Setting-Up a New Edge Router ( & WiFi AP ) . It's a 'Intel Celeron J4125' based 'NUC' Like System, with an Onboard 2x1GE (2x RJ45/8P8C) & a Self-Installed 'Intel AX210' M.2-2230 Card (Brand New).

I've Successfully Brought Up The System & Installed a 'Gentoo Linux' OS (an Old-Time Favorite) - Including a Linux Kernel Built with The Latest WiFi Regulatory DB as a Built-In Firmware,

But Only To Find Out That The 'Intel AX210' Card - While Successfully Enable AP Operation at 2.4GHz Frequencies (Tested) - Just Refuse To Enable AP Operation at Any Non-2.4GHz Frequency.

I Suspect That The 'Location Aware Regulatory' (LAR) Driver/FW Functionality Is To Blame.

Any Ideas ?

*

Here's Some Extra Details -

'emerge --info' (Relevant) Output :

Portage 3.0.20 (python 3.9.5-final-0, default/linux/amd64/17.0/musl/hardened, gcc-10.3.0, musl-1.2.2-r2, 5.12.12-gentoo x86_64)
=================================================================
System uname: Linux-5.12.12-gentoo-x86_64-Intel-R-_Celeron-R-_J4125_CPU_@_2.00GHz-with-libc
KiB Mem:    16136948 total,  15649876 free
KiB Swap:   16777212 total,  16777212 free
Timestamp of repository gentoo: Wed, 23 Jun 2021 01:30:01 +0000
Head commit of repository gentoo: e9053729cf3bbc30c1728a295294eb514f84971d
sh bash 5.1_p8
ld GNU ld (Gentoo 2.36.1 p3) 2.36.1
app-shells/bash:          5.1_p8::gentoo
dev-lang/perl:            5.34.0::gentoo
dev-lang/python:          2.7.18_p7::gentoo, 3.8.10_p2::gentoo, 3.9.5_p2::gentoo
dev-lang/rust:            1.47.0-r1::musl
dev-util/cmake:           3.20.4::gentoo
sys-apps/baselayout:      2.7-r3::gentoo
sys-apps/openrc:          0.43.3::gentoo
sys-apps/sandbox:         2.24::gentoo
sys-devel/autoconf:       2.13-r1::gentoo, 2.69-r5::gentoo
sys-devel/automake:       1.16.3-r1::gentoo
sys-devel/binutils:       2.35.2::gentoo, 2.36.1-r1::gentoo
sys-devel/gcc:            9.3.0-r2::gentoo, 10.3.0-r1::gentoo
sys-devel/gcc-config:     2.4::gentoo
sys-devel/libtool:        2.4.6-r6::gentoo
sys-devel/make:           4.3::gentoo
sys-kernel/linux-headers: 5.12::gentoo (virtual/os-headers)
sys-libs/musl:            1.2.2-r2::gentoo

<...>

CBUILD="x86_64-gentoo-linux-musl"
CFLAGS="-O3 -march=haswell -mtune=goldmont-plus -maes -mno-avx -mno-avx2 -mno-f16c -mno-fma -mno-bmi -mno-bmi2 -mno-lzcnt -mno-hle -pipe"
CHOST="x86_64-gentoo-linux-musl"
CXXFLAGS="-O3 -march=haswell -mtune=goldmont-plus -maes -mno-avx -mno-avx2 -mno-f16c -mno-fma -mno-bmi -mno-bmi2 -mno-lzcnt -mno-hle -pipe"

( The Bit Unusual CFLAGS/CXXFLAGS Are Set To Enable OS Building/Testing on a Regular PC ) .

*

hostapd.conf - working cfg. ( hostapd v2.9 ; 2.4GHz Frequencies Only ) :

ssid=WLAN-Test1
interface=wlo1
bridge=br0
driver=nl80211
auth_algs=1
country_code=IL
country3=0x49 # Indoor Operation Setting
channel=6
ieee80211d=1
ieee80211h=1
hw_mode=g
ieee80211n=1
ieee80211ac=1
acs_num_scans=10
ht_capab=[HT40-][HT40+][SHORT-GI-20][SHORT-GI-40][DSSS_CCK-40][LDPC][TX-STBC]
vht_capab=
require_ht=0
require_vht=0
vht_oper_chwidth=0
wmm_enabled=1
logger_stdout=-1
logger_stdout_level=0
max_num_sta=25
wpa=2
wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK SAE
wpa_pairwise=CCMP GCMP GCMP-256
wpa_group_rekey=7200
wpa_passphrase=DEADBEEF

*

hostapd.conf - non-working cfg. ( hostapd v2.9 ) :

channel=149
hw_mode=a

( a Differential cfg. ; Other Channel Selection - Manually or By 'ACS' Auto-Tuning - Does Not Change The Result )

*

'hostapd' Output - non-working cfg. - sample #1 :

wlo1: interface state UNINITIALIZED->COUNTRY_UPDATE
Channel 149 (primary) not allowed for AP mode, flags: 0x20053 NO-IR
wlo1: IEEE 802.11 Configured channel (149) not found from the channel list of current mode (2) IEEE 802.11a
wlo1: IEEE 802.11 Hardware does not support configured channel
Could not select hw_mode and channel. (-3)
wlo1: interface state COUNTRY_UPDATE->DISABLED
wlo1: AP-DISABLED 
wlo1: Unable to setup interface.
wlo1: interface state DISABLED->DISABLED
wlo1: AP-DISABLED 
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-TERMINATING 
hostapd_free_hapd_data: Interface wlo1 wasn't started
nl80211: deinit ifname=wlo1 disabled_11b_rates=0

( The 'hostapd' Process Won't Start )

*

'iw reg get' Output - sample #1 :

global
country IL: DFS-ETSI
        (2402 - 2482 @ 40), (N/A, 20), (N/A)
        (5150 - 5250 @ 80), (N/A, 23), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW
        (5250 - 5350 @ 80), (N/A, 23), (0 ms), NO-OUTDOOR, DFS, AUTO-BW

phy#0 (self-managed)
country 00: DFS-UNSET
        (2402 - 2437 @ 40), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-80MHZ, NO-160MHZ
        (2422 - 2462 @ 40), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-80MHZ, NO-160MHZ
        (2447 - 2482 @ 40), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-80MHZ, NO-160MHZ
        (5170 - 5190 @ 160), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5190 - 5210 @ 160), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5210 - 5230 @ 160), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5230 - 5250 @ 160), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5250 - 5270 @ 160), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5270 - 5290 @ 160), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5290 - 5310 @ 160), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5310 - 5330 @ 160), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5490 - 5510 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5510 - 5530 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5530 - 5550 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5550 - 5570 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5570 - 5590 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5590 - 5610 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5610 - 5630 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5630 - 5650 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5650 - 5670 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5670 - 5690 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5690 - 5710 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5710 - 5730 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5735 - 5755 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5755 - 5775 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5775 - 5795 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5795 - 5815 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5815 - 5835 @ 40), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-80MHZ, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN

***

SteveR · ‎09-14-2021

@IAmMrZ I went for an Atheros QCA9880 based card in the end, ath10k module. Even that required a kernel recompile, or at least a module recompile, to get DFS working, and it's ac not ax, but so far so good, works a treat.

IAmMrZ · ‎10-16-2021

FWIW, 'Realtek' Driver For Their '802.11ax' Solutions - 'rtw89', Is Set To Go Mainline on Linux 5.16:

https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/kvalo/wireless-drivers-next.git/commit/?id=e3ec7017f6a20d12ddd9fe23d345ebb7b8c104dd

AndrewG_Intel · ‎11-11-2021

Hello @IAmMrZ

Thank you for your patience in this matter.

We would like to inform you that at the moment enabling Soft AP mode operation at non-2.4GHz frequencies on Linux is not supported but this suggestion has been documented and submitted for review and further actions to the relevant department. Unfortunately, the team will not be able to provide updates regarding the status of the suggestion/request.

Having said that, we will proceed to close this thread now from our end. Thank you for your understanding.

If you need any additional information, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

IAmMrZ · ‎11-11-2021

Isn't "Unfortunately" Intel's Alias, More Often Than Not, In The Last Decade or So... ?

Anyhow, That Piece of HW 'Intel' Knowingly & Willingly Crippled Into Uselessness, Is Already Removed From That System - In Favor of a Working Solution: a 'Realtek RTL8822CE' Based One (a US~$10 Fully-Functional '802.11ac' Solution; The Herein Included 'hostapd' Cfg., Enables a '5GHz' Operation w/ a 80MHz BW - For This 'Realtek' Solution).