[PATCH ath-next v2 6/8] wifi: ath10k: hard-block the radio when entering WEDGED state

[Loic Poulain]

On Wed, Oct 21, 2026 at 11:10 AM Kang Yang <kang.yang at oss.qualcomm.com> wrote:
>
> Once ath10k reaches ATH10K_STATE_WEDGED, the device can no
> longer recover and remains unusable until the driver is
> reloaded.
>
> Userspace daemons may continue issuing scan and connect
> requests, which the driver can only reject individually.
>
> Mark the radio as hardware-blocked through rfkill when
> entering the WEDGED state so userspace stops retrying
> operations against a device that can no longer operate.
>
> Both WEDGED transitions already route through
> ath10k_core_enter_wedged(), so adding the call there is
> enough to cover them consistently.
>
> Tested-on: QCA6174 hw3.2 PCI WLAN.RM.4.4.1-00288-QCARMSWPZ-1
> Tested-on: QCA6174 hw3.2 SDIO WLAN.RMH.4.4.1-00189
>
> Signed-off-by: Kang Yang <kang.yang at oss.qualcomm.com>
> ---
>  drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/core.c | 8 ++++++++
>  1 file changed, 8 insertions(+)
>
> diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/core.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/core.c
> index 6b6b80242cd1..66585cfa6d96 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/core.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/core.c
> @@ -2521,6 +2521,14 @@ static void ath10k_core_enter_wedged(struct ath10k *ar)
>
>         ieee80211_stop_queues(ar->hw);
>         ath10k_core_wake_all_waiters(ar);
> +
> +       /*
> +        * Signal the radio as hard-blocked so userspace (e.g.
> +        * wpa_supplicant, NetworkManager) stops looping scan and connect
> +        * requests at a device the driver has already given up on. The
> +        * state is cleared only when the driver is reloaded.
> +        */
> +       wiphy_rfkill_set_hw_state(ar->hw->wiphy, true);

Using rfkill to signal the wedged state feels like an abuse of the
interface. Have you seen similar handling in other wireless drivers?
Wouldn't wiphy_unregister() be more appropriate here?

>  }
>
>  static void ath10k_core_recovery_check_work(struct work_struct *work)
>
> --
> 2.34.1
>