Leap 15.6 freezes after enabling Wi-Fi

I upgraded my old, mid-2011 MacBook Air from Leap 15.5 to Leap 15.6. The new version works decently if Wi-Fi is turned off. But when I enable Wi-Fi, it typically works for a little while (maybe a minute or two, but sometimes significantly longer) and then freezes completely.

This problem does not occur if I boot Leap 15.6 using the old Linux kernel version 5.14.21. It only happens with the new Linux kernel version 6.4.0.

Some details:

  • As far as I can tell, the freeze happens every time I boot with Wi-Fi enabled or enable Wi-Fi after booting. The only variation is in the amount of time before the freeze occurs.

  • The freeze happens completely unexpectedly (no slowdown in advance).

  • It is such a complete freeze that I generally cannot even move the mouse pointer.

  • It seems to be a permanent, not a temporary, freeze. I once waited for a while, but when I came back, the system was still frozen, and the status bar displayed a time from over 45 minutes earlier, presumably the time the system froze.

  • If I force the machine to power off (by holding down the power button) and then reboot, it typically works for a little while and then freezes again.

  • I tried running sudo journalctl -r -b -1 and looking at the logs, but I did not see any obvious error message.

I am using GNOME, in case that matters.

Has anyone else had this issue? Any ideas for resolving it?

What wifi, post:
/sbin/lspci -nnk | grep -iA3 net
and
lsusb

Also which kernel is running:
uname -a

Any keyboard LED blinking when this happens?

Thank you so much for your help. Here is the command output:

sandeep@MacBookAirSandeep:~> /sbin/lspci -nnk | grep -iA3 net
02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM43224 802.11a/b/g/n [14e4:4353] (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Apple Inc. AirPort Extreme [106b:00e9]
	Kernel driver in use: bcma-pci-bridge
	Kernel modules: bcma
sandeep@MacBookAirSandeep:~> lsusb
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 0424:2513 Microchip Technology, Inc. (formerly SMSC) 2.0 Hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 05ac:850a Apple, Inc. FaceTime Camera
Bus 002 Device 005: ID 05ac:0249 Apple, Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
Bus 002 Device 008: ID 05ac:821f Apple, Inc. Built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR HCI
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 0a5c:4500 Broadcom Corp. BCM2046B1 USB 2.0 Hub (part of BCM2046 Bluetooth)
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0424:2513 Microchip Technology, Inc. (formerly SMSC) 2.0 Hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
sandeep@MacBookAirSandeep:~> uname -a
Linux MacBookAirSandeep 6.4.0-150600.23.14-default #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Wed Jul  3 00:26:09 UTC 2024 (95fb0f8) x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

And no, I do not see anything blinking on the keyboard while the system is frozen. The keyboard backlight stays on, and the Caps Lock indicator stays off. This keyboard does not have a Number Lock or Scroll Lock indicator.

Since we are on the topic of keyboard lights, I will mention that I have one other issue: The system also usually freezes when I try to change the keyboard backlight brightness, using either the physical buttons on the keyboard or the slider in the GNOME 45 quick-settings menu. This freeze occurs even when I use the old Linux kernel version 5.14.21, and even when Wi-Fi is off. Often, I can still move the mouse pointer when this freeze occurs, but everything else is frozen.

I didn’t mention this in my original post since it is a bit off-topic. I am just mentioning it now in case it helps pinpoint the problem in my original post. I can create a separate topic for this later.

Does this problem stay when you boot with the other kernels of Leap 15.6:

i+ | kernel-default          | Paket | 6.4.0-150600.23.14.2 | x86_64 | Update repository with updates from SUSE Linux Enterprise 15
i+ | kernel-default          | Paket | 6.4.0-150600.23.7.3  | x86_64 | Update repository with updates from SUSE Linux Enterprise 15
i+ | kernel-default          | Paket | 6.4.0-150600.21.3    | x86_64 | OSS

If yes, have you tried the kernel from kernel:stable:backports?

What happens if you go to Runlevel three (I know, some folks are gonna correct me) … so to be descriptive:

Runlevel 3 being “system with networking, but without a Desktop Environment”, so you’re basically at a command prompt (text mode only), no GUI environment. Do whatever you can as would be similar to running GNOME.

Maybe run Lynx or w3m - text-based browsers (yea, I know, a “text mode” browser ?!?!). Any difference ?

Thanks for the suggestions! The problem occurs in at least the following kernels:
6.4.0-150600.23.14-default
6.4.0-150600.23.7-default

The problem does not occur in the following kernel:
5.14.21-150500.55.68-default

Kernel version 6.4.0-150600.21.3 was no longer listed in my bootloader, so to see whether the problem occurs in that kernel version, I tried installing it using these instructions:

Unfortunately, when I booted into that kernel, two things happened;

  • There was no option to enable Wi-Fi. (I guess I should have installed something else in addition to the kernel package? I must admit I am a Linux novice. :wink:)

  • Kernel version 5.14.21, which doesn’t have the Wi-Fi freezing issue, was removed from my bootloader.

I tried reinstalling kernel version 5.14.21 using YaST, but the system froze before it finished downloading. So this may be a little tricky… :wink:

No worries - this isn’t my primary computer. It is just an old laptop that was sitting on my shelf, and I thought I would install Linux on it for fun. So this isn’t a high-priority problem.

If I remember correctly, I upgraded from Leap 15.5 to Leap 15.6 on June 30, 2024. The system froze that same day. I am not sure whether this first freeze was Wi-Fi-induced or keyboard-backlight-induced (see my previous post), but I suspect it was probably the former. So the problem seems to have existed for at least a few weeks.

Should I still try the kernel from kernel:stable:backports? If so, where can I find instructions on how to do this? Sorry, I am not familiar with this process.

As for trying runlevel 3, thanks for that suggestion. I will try it and let you know what I find out.

There’s a couple other things to try.

I mentioned executing Runlevel 3 … heck, since it’s a test system, run / login at Runlevel 3 and just walk away for hours :slight_smile:

A couple other options …
a. install an earlier 15.6 version, or
b. run a Live version (early?) from a USB stick.

You can find either at the base URL below, at your choosing. After selecting a version, then select either the ISO (install) or Live (live version, no install) sub-directory.

https://download.opensuse.org/distribution/leap/
.
As it is an old system and just for fun system, you’ll need to decide what effort is worth it :slight_smile:

Is there anything in the logs?

dmesg
or
journalctl -b
or
journalctl -f
as root when freeze?

Can you switch ro Runlevel 3 by using
STRG+ALT+F2
when freezing?

Well, the problem occurs even on runlevel 3! I booted into runlevel 3 and tried to use zypper to install the Lynx web browser (sudo zypper install lynx). The terminal froze with the following output displayed (I am omitting most of the “=” characters):

Retrieving: lynx-2.9.0-bp156.2.1.x86_64.rpm <4%>============[- (349.8 KiB/s)]

It remained frozen for well over half an hour, until I forced the device to power off.

Note: I had some difficulty getting into runlevel 3. Running sudo init 3 did not work (it just showed a black screen with no text), so with the help of various online resources, I managed to boot into runlevel 3 by adding systemd.unit=multi-user.target to the boot parameters, in the location shown in the following instructions:

When I get a chance, I will try checking the logs as Sauerland suggested.

Use only a “3”…

Have you tried the kernel from kernel:stable:backport:
https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Kernel:/stable:/Backport/standard/

Thanks for the tip - I went ahead and tried this. The system still freezes, even when I boot to runlevel 3 using this method.

I did manage to install Lynx and browse the web for a while. But the system always seems to freeze sooner or later.

I have not tried this yet, but I am still planning to try this, and will let you know what I find out. Thanks for the suggestion.

Sorry, I am not familiar with how to do this. Can this be installed with zypper or YaST?

To prevent the laptop from freezing during the download, I will probably need to download it on another computer and transfer it to the laptop using a flash drive. What file(s) do I need to download? And once I transfer them to the laptop, how do I proceed with the installation?

Thanks for everyone’s help, and no rush - I am not in any hurry with this.

I poked around a little in the logs, but did not really get anywhere. But then I did some additional searching on the Web, and I found something quite promising!

I am not sure if this is what is happening, but it looks quite likely. This issue was fixed in kernel version 6.6.6. Have those changes been backported to the kernel used in Leap 15.6?

I suppose I’d better try the kernel from kernel:stable:backport. But I will need to download it on another computer. Since this is a 2011 MacBook Air, would I just download x86_64/kernel-default-6.10.2-lp155.5.1.g58e734c.x86_64.rpm and install this RPM package on the MacBook Air? Do I need any other files besides this?

(Note: I got to the above page by following a link from [Regression] 6.1.66, 6.6.5 - wifi: cfg80211: fix CQM for non-range use, and I got to this latter page by following a link from here: Wifi not working and system freezes after 2023.12.10 Stable Update - #10 by philm - Network - Manjaro Linux Forum)

openSUSE uses a backported kernel, so it is not kernel6.4.
I don’t know up to date, from which kernel Version, but I have patched vmware from some 6.5 lines back to 6.4, so it is minimum a backported 6.5 kernel.

As I wrote:
You can use kernel:stable:backport

Or maybe broadcom-wl from packman.

Thanks. I am just a little unsure how to do this, especially given that I will need to download it on another computer.

Given that this is a 2011 MacBook Air, do I just download x86_64/kernel-default-6.10.2-lp155.5.1.g58e734c.x86_64.rpm and install this RPM package on the MacBook Air? Do I need any other files besides this?

Thanks for your help!

Use the complete Repo:
As root
zypper ar -f https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Kernel:/stable:/Backport/standard/ kernel-stable-backport


zypper dup --allow-vendor-change --from kernel-stable-backport

But if you have f. e. Nvidia drivers installed, they will not work with that kernel.

Thanks! My concern is that if I download the files on the MacBook Air, it will probably freeze before the download is finished.

Is there some way to download the repo on another computer, so that I can transfer it to the MacBook Air with a flash drive?

Download:
https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Kernel:/stable:/Backport/standard/x86_64/kernel-default-6.10.2-lp155.5.1.g58e734c.x86_64.rpm

And install it with zypper.

Thanks! I downloaded this package, transferred it to the MacBook Air, and tried installing it with zypper. It gave me the following warning:

kernel-default-6.10.2-lp155.5.1.g58e734c.x86_64 (Plain RPM files cache): Signature verification failed [4-Signatures public key is not available]

I pressed “i” to ignore the warning, and finished the installation.

I now see the new kernel listed in my bootloader. However, when I try to boot using this kernel, the system gets hung up on the Plymouth boot screen and does not finish booting. When I press and release the power button, it switches to the text-based boot screen. At the bottom of this screen is the following line:

[  OK  ] Started Locale Service.com firmware files needed for bcm43xx WLAN chips.....ss polling...

The boot process does not continue past this point. (The system is not frozen, though. If I type on the keyboard, the letters I type appear at the bottom-left corner of the screen.)

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance for any suggestions you might have.