2022-11-23 firmware file changes break DBDC on mt7916

[Hurricos]

Hi there,

Recent (Nov 2022) changes to MT7916 firmware files, e.g. in linux-firmware commit cdf9499cf6706b73935a139bb5e76777a87674fe (link), break DBDC for me.

This manifests as being unable to transmit or receive from the 5/6GHz PHY on my AW7916-NPD (mt7916) through any manner. For example, stock hostapd is pointed at the card with this configuration:

config wifi-device 'radio1'     
        option type 'mac80211'
        option path 'ffe0a000.pcie/pcia000:02/a000:02:00.0/a000:03:00.0+1'
        option channel '36'                                               
        option band '5g'                                                  
        option htmode 'HE80'
        option disabled '0' 

config wifi-iface 'default_radio1'
        option device 'radio1'    
        option network 'lan'      
        option mode 'ap'          
        option ssid 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA'
        option encryption 'psk2'       
        option key 'OpenWrtTest'   

... but despite not seeing any warnings when running wifi, no beacons are sent.

Tested on Extreme Networks AP3825i (mpc85xx) running OpenWrt current snapshot (r21523-4609228432). Also tested using this board on OpenWrt 22.03.2, kmod-mt76 package version 5.10.146+2022-09-06-d7054646-4.

Reverting to firmware files from before linux-firmware's cdf9499cf6706b73935a139bb5e76777a87674fe fixes the issue.

[ibrtuyima]

@Batchyx Could u please help and advise how did u manage to get MT7916 working in mesh mode using HE160 width. Trying everything, never got HE160. only HE80

[Batchyx]

@ibrtuyima I just used wpa_supplicant from git and set max_oper_chwidth=2 inside the network block in the configuration file.

[thyTwilightGoth]

Hi is there any solutions for the current 23.05 stable release?

[jayjar291]

has there been any updates to this I am trying to get wifi 6 bands to work

[NotANormalNerd]

@thyTwilightGoth @jayjar291 This has been fixed a long time ago. For me 6Ghz is working on a AW7916-NPD on OpenWRT 23.05.

You need to use WPA3 SAE (CCMP) & Management Frame protection. But then everything is working fine. Check your logs.

[Shulyaka]

@NotANormalNerd What did you do to make it working? Is it detected as Generic MAC80211 or MediaTek device? Does DBDC work as well?

[NotANormalNerd]

It doesn't matter if it is recognized as generic or not, that is just a txt file that maps the PCIe ID to the names. The chip you are using is not in that file yet, that is why it is generic.

DBDC works wothout problems for me on 23.05.

What does your log say?

Here is my setup: https://dennis.schmalacker.cloud/posts/openwrt-mikrotik-rbm11g-setup/

[jayjar291]

@NotANormalNerd this is what I have for my wireless config

config wifi-device 'radio0'
        option type 'mac80211'
        option path 'pci0000:00/0000:00:10.0'
        option channel '1'
        option band '2g'
        option htmode 'HE20'
        option disabled '1'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio0'
        option device 'radio0'
        option network 'lan'
        option mode 'ap'
        option ssid 'OpenWrt'
        option encryption 'none'

config wifi-device 'radio1'
        option type 'mac80211'
        option path 'pci0000:00/0000:00:10.0+1'
        option channel 'auto'
        option band '6g'
        option cell_density '0'
        option country 'US'
        option htmode 'HE80'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio1'
        option device 'radio1'
        option network 'lan'
        option mode 'ap'
        option ssid 'Test6g'
        option encryption 'sae'
        option key 'TESTPa$$W0RD'

and it still does not show up on any wifi 6 or 6e devices

and I have not found any obvious errors in the system or kernel logs current.log

[jayjar291]

also, this is a tri-band card is there any way to enable the third band? I am hoping that I can run 1 2.4g, 5g, and a 6g band

[NotANormalNerd]

@jayjar291 Just grepping for hostapd:

Also the MT7916 is a dual band chip, but supports either 5 Ghz or 6 Ghz.

You are also missing the channel selection

Did you install the correct firmware?

opkg install kmod-mt7915e kmod-mt7916-firmware

[jayjar291]

@NotANormalNerd yes I've installed the correct firmware. I have also set the country code to US. And whenever I select the 6GHz band the channel selector disappears.

What package are you using for wpa3? I've installed the wpad-basic-openssl package

[FallingSnow]

Try setting the country to CA. Also like NotANormalNerd said, you can't use all 3 bands at once. The second band is either 5ghz or 6ghz, not both at the same time.