[PATCH] ath11k: pci: avoid unsafe register access during shutdown
Balsam Chihi
balsam.chihi at moment.tech
Mon Aug 11 02:08:53 PDT 2025
On Fri, Jul 25, 2025 at 5:25 AM Baochen Qiang
<baochen.qiang at oss.qualcomm.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> On 6/12/2025 12:40 AM, balsam.chihi at moment.tech wrote:
> > From: Balsam CHIHI <balsam.chihi at moment.tech>
> >
Hello, sorry for the delay. I was OoO.
> > During system reboot or module removal (rmmod), a crash was observed
> > due to a synchronous external abort caused by invalid register access
> > in ath11k_pci_clear_dbg_registers(). This happens when the device is
> > already powered off and the driver attempts to read debug registers.
>
> What does 'powered off' mean exactly here? is WLAN powered by an internal/external supply
> that will be removed during rmmod/reboot?
The "powered off" means that the wlan card is rmmod or reboot.
It is not powered by external supply.
>
> >
> > The crash log shows:
> > root at OpenWrt:~# reboot
> > [ 343.663492] Internal error: synchronous external abort:
> > 0000000096000210 [#1] SMP
> > [ 343.670992] Modules linked in: [...]
> > [ 343.842432] CPU: 7 PID: 9435 Comm: procd Tainted: G O 6.6.86 #0
> > [ 343.849746] Hardware name: LS1088A
> > [ 343.856969] pstate: 60400005 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--)
> > [ 343.863933] pc : ath11k_pci_get_msi_irq+0x18a0/0x1900 [ath11k_pci]
>
> I don't see any relationship between ath11k_pci_clear_dbg_registers() and this PC pointer.
> So how did you locate the problematic register access then?
I tyied to look for the problem based the PC pointer but I was not
abled to find it.
So, I added prints in ath11k driver to find out where it stucks,
classical debug method.
Then I found out that any "ath11k_pcic_read32()" call fails on rmmod
ath11k_pci or reboot,
but they work fine when insmod/boot ath11k_pci.
>
> > [ 343.870125] lr : ath11k_pcic_init_msi_config+0x98/0xc4 [ath11k]
> > [...]
> > [ 343.950800] Call trace:
> > [ 343.953241] ath11k_pci_get_msi_irq+0x18a0/0x1900 [ath11k_pci]
> > [ 343.959080] ath11k_pcic_init_msi_config+0x98/0xc4 [ath11k]
> > [ 343.964671] ath11k_pcic_read32+0x30/0xb4 [ath11k]
> > [ 343.969477] ath11k_pci_get_msi_irq+0x528/0x1900 [ath11k_pci]
> > [ 343.975230] ath11k_pci_get_msi_irq+0x1460/0x1900 [ath11k_pci]
> > [ 343.981068] ath11k_pci_get_msi_irq+0x1750/0x1900 [ath11k_pci]
> > [ 343.986906] pci_device_shutdown+0x34/0x44
> > [ 343.991004] device_shutdown+0x160/0x268
> > [ 343.994928] kernel_restart+0x40/0xc0
> > [ 343.998594] __do_sys_reboot+0x104/0x23c
> > [ 344.002518] __arm64_sys_reboot+0x24/0x30
> > [ 344.006529] do_el0_svc+0x6c/0x100
> > [ 344.009931] el0_svc+0x28/0x9c
> > [ 344.012986] el0t_64_sync_handler+0x120/0x12c
> > [ 344.017344] el0t_64_sync+0x178/0x17c
> > [ 344.021009] Code: f94e0a80 92404a73 91420273 8b130013 (b9400273)
> > [ 344.027102] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
> >
> > This patch adds a `power_on` flag to conditionally skip debug register
> > reads when the device is not powered, preventing invalid memory access.
>
> why is only 'read' concerned here?
Good question, I can't explain why only the reading fails but not the writing.
>
> You are skipping several 'read' in this change, could you help narrow down which
> individual read instance causes this?
>
All read calls fail on rmmod/reboot, when
ath11k_pci_clear_dbg_registers() is called.
But they all succeed when insmod/boot ath11k_pci.
> >
> > With this change, the system no longer crashes on reboot or rmmod,
> > and the driver continues to function correctly when reloaded.
> >
> > Tested-on: QCN9074 hw2.0 PCIe on LS1088A
> > Tested-on: OpenWrt 24.10.1
> > Fixes: crash on reboot/rmmod due to invalid register access
> > Signed-off-by: Balsam CHIHI <balsam.chihi at moment.tech>
> > ---
> > drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/pci.c | 36 ++++++++++++++++-----------
> > 1 file changed, 21 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)
> >
> > diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/pci.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/pci.c
> > index 78444f8ea153..0c1b55957557 100644
> > --- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/pci.c
> > +++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/pci.c
> > @@ -203,16 +203,18 @@ static void ath11k_pci_soc_global_reset(struct ath11k_base *ab)
> > ath11k_warn(ab, "link down error during global reset\n");
> > }
> >
> > -static void ath11k_pci_clear_dbg_registers(struct ath11k_base *ab)
> > +static void ath11k_pci_clear_dbg_registers(struct ath11k_base *ab, bool power_on)
> > {
> > - u32 val;
> > + if (power_on) {
> > + u32 val;
> >
> > - /* read cookie */
> > - val = ath11k_pcic_read32(ab, PCIE_Q6_COOKIE_ADDR);
> > - ath11k_dbg(ab, ATH11K_DBG_PCI, "pcie_q6_cookie_addr 0x%x\n", val);
> > + /* read cookie */
> > + val = ath11k_pcic_read32(ab, PCIE_Q6_COOKIE_ADDR);
> > + ath11k_dbg(ab, ATH11K_DBG_PCI, "pcie_q6_cookie_addr 0x%x\n", val);
> >
> > - val = ath11k_pcic_read32(ab, WLAON_WARM_SW_ENTRY);
> > - ath11k_dbg(ab, ATH11K_DBG_PCI, "wlaon_warm_sw_entry 0x%x\n", val);
> > + val = ath11k_pcic_read32(ab, WLAON_WARM_SW_ENTRY);
> > + ath11k_dbg(ab, ATH11K_DBG_PCI, "wlaon_warm_sw_entry 0x%x\n", val);
> > + }
> >
> > /* TODO: exact time to sleep is uncertain */
> > mdelay(10);
> > @@ -223,14 +225,18 @@ static void ath11k_pci_clear_dbg_registers(struct ath11k_base *ab)
> > ath11k_pcic_write32(ab, WLAON_WARM_SW_ENTRY, 0);
> > mdelay(10);
> >
> > - val = ath11k_pcic_read32(ab, WLAON_WARM_SW_ENTRY);
> > - ath11k_dbg(ab, ATH11K_DBG_PCI, "wlaon_warm_sw_entry 0x%x\n", val);
> > + if (power_on) {
> > + u32 val;
> >
> > - /* A read clear register. clear the register to prevent
> > - * Q6 from entering wrong code path.
> > - */
> > - val = ath11k_pcic_read32(ab, WLAON_SOC_RESET_CAUSE_REG);
> > - ath11k_dbg(ab, ATH11K_DBG_PCI, "soc reset cause %d\n", val);
> > + val = ath11k_pcic_read32(ab, WLAON_WARM_SW_ENTRY);
> > + ath11k_dbg(ab, ATH11K_DBG_PCI, "wlaon_warm_sw_entry 0x%x\n", val);
> > +
> > + /* A read clear register. clear the register to prevent
> > + * Q6 from entering wrong code path.
> > + */
> > + val = ath11k_pcic_read32(ab, WLAON_SOC_RESET_CAUSE_REG);
> > + ath11k_dbg(ab, ATH11K_DBG_PCI, "soc reset cause %d\n", val);
> > + }
> > }
> >
> > static int ath11k_pci_set_link_reg(struct ath11k_base *ab,
> > @@ -368,7 +374,7 @@ static void ath11k_pci_sw_reset(struct ath11k_base *ab, bool power_on)
> > }
> >
> > ath11k_mhi_clear_vector(ab);
> > - ath11k_pci_clear_dbg_registers(ab);
> > + ath11k_pci_clear_dbg_registers(ab, power_on);
> > ath11k_pci_soc_global_reset(ab);
> > ath11k_mhi_set_mhictrl_reset(ab);
> > }
>
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