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Subject: Re: rtw88 driver support for rtl8723ds does not work on Radxa
 RockPi-S
To: Larry Finger <Larry.Finger@lwfinger.net>, linux-wireless@vger.kernel.org,
 martin.blumenstingl@googlemail.com
References: <9f47e65e-35f1-b090-cad1-4d8333293b00@mbari.org>
 <9f7c6005-e9c5-4691-87c2-fee8641f02a4@lwfinger.net>
From: Brent Roman <brent@mbari.org>
Organization: MBARI
Message-ID: <f8d31d74-fdfe-8706-6748-273b8c3674ca@mbari.org>
Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2024 21:13:47 -0800
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Larry,

Radxa confirmed that they do not program the eFUSE on these boards.
We do not get a sensible MAC from the chip, so I derive a one from the=20
CPU's unique serial number.
It's a hack, but it works well and is standard's compliant.

The RockPI-S a *very* inexpensive board, so I can understand Radxa=20
wanting to minimize the time spent configuring each one.
https://shop.allnetchina.cn/products/rock-pi-s

The vendor driver seems to deal with this by applying typical gain=20
parameters when the eFUSE is invalid.
With that driver, this board's WiFi performs beautifully, despite the=20
unprogrammed eFUSE.

Would you accept a patch to add this logic to RTW88?

- brent


Larry Finger wrote:
> On 2/15/24 17:55, Brent Roman wrote:
>> Originally sent to linux-wireless on Feb 1, 2024:
>>
>> The Radxa RockPi-S has a built-in RTL8723DS interfaced to a Rockchip=20
>> RK3308 A35 ARM64 processor on one of its SDIO busses.
>>
>> I maintain Armbian's support this board.
>>
>> The built-in WiFi works perfectly with RTL's 8723ds.ko driver.
>> Recently, the rtw88 driver got support for SDIO.
>> https://lwn.net/Articles/925940/
>>
>> However, when we attempt to enable the rtw88_8723ds module, WiFi does=20
>> not work.
>>
>> Specifically, the WiFi scan returns only the strongest AP while=20
>> indicating that AP has a very weak signal.
>> No connections can be made.
>>
>> Unloading the rtw88_8723ds modules to replace it with 8723ds=20
>> immediately restores WiFi function without the need to reboot the=20
>> system.
>>
>> Has anyone tested the SDIO variant of this driver?
>> If so, on which board(s)?
>>
>> I'd very much like to get this working.
>> Any tips for debugging, or just getting relevant info from the=20
>> driver, would be appreciated
>
> Brent,
>
> Yes, there are SDIO cards working with the RTW88 driver.
>
> Is the EFUSE properly encoded on the RockPI-S? If not, then the=20
> parameters of the chip with respect to gains are not set correctly.=20
> You should be able to see that condition in the dmesg output. Also, is=20
> the driver getting a realistic MAC address? That also comes from the=20
> EFUSE.
>
> Larry


--=20
  Brent Roman                                   MBARI
  Software Engineer               Tel: (831) 775-1808
  mailto:brent@mbari.org  http://www.mbari.org/~brent