ath10k_pci logs errors about missing pre-cal and cal firmware on a laptop

[Paul Menzel]

[To: +debian-kernel at lists.debian.org]

Dear Jeff, dear Debian Linux kernel team,


Am 14.11.23 um 19:19 schrieb Jeff Johnson:
> On 11/14/2023 9:32 AM, Jeff Johnson wrote:
>> On 11/12/2023 4:13 AM, Paul Menzel wrote:

>>> On the Dell XPS 13 9360 with Debian sid/unstable, Linux 6.5.10 logs the
>>> error below:
>>>
>>>       $ sudo dmesg | grep -e "DMI:" -e "Linux version" -e microcode
>>>       [    0.000000] microcode: updated early: 0xf0 -> 0xf4, date = 2023-02-22
>>>       [    0.000000] Linux version 6.5.0-4-amd64 (debian-kernel at lists.debian.org) (gcc-13 (Debian 13.2.0-6) 13.2.0, GNU ld (GNU Binutils for Debian) 2.41) #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.5.10-1 (2023-11-03)
>>>       [    0.000000] DMI: Dell Inc. XPS 13 9360/0596KF, BIOS 2.21.0 06/02/2022
>>>       [    0.580689] microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.2.
>>>
>>>       $ sudo dmesg --level alert,crit,err
>>>       [    0.053566] x86/cpu: SGX disabled by BIOS.
>>>       [    1.942183] psmouse serio1: synaptics: Unable to query device: -5
>>>       [   14.401112] ath10k_pci 0000:3a:00.0: firmware: failed to load ath10k/pre-cal-pci-0000:3a:00.0.bin (-2)
>>>       [   14.401143] firmware_class: See https://wiki.debian.org/Firmware for information about missing firmware
>>>       [   14.401185] ath10k_pci 0000:3a:00.0: firmware: failed to load ath10k/pre-cal-pci-0000:3a:00.0.bin (-2)
>>>       [   14.401233] ath10k_pci 0000:3a:00.0: firmware: failed to load ath10k/cal-pci-0000:3a:00.0.bin (-2)
>>>       [   14.401273] ath10k_pci 0000:3a:00.0: firmware: failed to load ath10k/cal-pci-0000:3a:00.0.bin (-2)
>>>
>>> As it’s logged with error level, I’d like to address the ath10k_pci
>>> errors, but I am unable to find the firmware in the Linux firmware
>>> archive [1].
>>>
>>> What can I do about this?

>>> [1]: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git/
>>
>> Adding the ath10k list so this isn't lost in the noise
> 
> The calibration files are optional and you should not see any warnings
> if they are not present.
> 
> Note ath10k explicitly calls firmware_request_nowarn() when it loads the
> files since it doesn't want any warnings from the firmware loader if the
> files aren't present.
> <https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/v6.5.10/source/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/core.c#L929>
> 
> And ath10k itself explicitly doesn't warn:
> <https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/v6.5.10/source/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/core.c#L1259>
> 
> So I'm confused where these warnings originate.
> 
> Based upon the message:
> [   14.401143] firmware_class: See https://wiki.debian.org/Firmware
> for information about missing firmware
> 
> it seems you are not running a stock kernel. So perhaps Debian has
> modified the firmware loading such that it ignores the FW_OPT_NO_WARN
> flag and warns even when told not to do so? This does not appear to be
> an upstream kernel issue.

Thank you very much for the analysis. It seems to be indeed a Debian 
specific patch [1].

Dear Debian Linux kernel team, is my observation about the error log a 
result of the patch and intended?


Kind regards,

Paul


[1]: 
debian/patches/debian/firmware_class-refer-to-debian-wiki-firmware-page.patch