Wireless is giving me BSOD (Black Screen Of Doom)!!!

English Network/Internet
1

hello, friends.
i’m running 11.3 kde 4.4, with a Broadcom 4318.

since installing 11.3 a few days ago, whenever i’m connected via wireless, one of two things always happen:
when trying to play video (hulu, youtube, etc.) in firefox, within a minute or so i will get the BSOD–that is, my screen will go black, and my cap/num lock lights will flash on and off.
also, when regularly browsing the internet…not long after opening firefox, it will stop working like i have no connection, and then i will get a frozen screen and system within a minute or two after seeing a variation of this communication message:

"Message from syslogd@sbkra at Nov 2 21:09:53
   kernel: [956.784417] process irq/11-b43 (pid: 1974, ti=debee000
   task=dd291170 task.ti=debee000

  Message from syslogd@sbkra at Nov 2 21:09:53
    kernel: [956.784424] Stack:

  Message from syslog@sbkra at Nov 2 21:09:53
    kernel: [956.784458] Call Trace: "

a couple times, i’ve gotten this message and the following freeze when running video in firefox.

strangely, i have no problems running streaming audio through smplayer. and i have no problems playing saved video files through smplayer.
and i have absolutely no problems whatsoever browsing or playing online video while connected via ethernet.

i’ve also searched through the various forum sections to try to address the issue, but nothing i’ve tried has worked. nor has anyone had a problem identical or even similar to this.

btw…in relation to “broadcom”, yast tells me that i have “b43-firmware” and “b43-fwcutter” installed. nothing else. i do not have “ndiswrapper” installed, because this gave me problems in 11.2, and this problem mentioned here was happening in 11.3 before i uninstalled “ndiswrapper”.
and the repos i have are: Packman, OSS, Non-OSS, and Update.

will someone please help me resolve this issue?!?
i’m still a linux student, so tell me what you need to know and i will do my best to provide the information.

thanks in advance!
–sbkra:(

2

On 11/03/2010 08:36 PM, sabaka wrote:
>
> hello, friends.
> i’m running 11.3 kde 4.4, with a Broadcom 4318.
>
> since installing 11.3 a few days ago, whenever i’m connected via
> wireless, one of two things always happen:
> when trying to play video (hulu, youtube, etc.) in firefox, within a
> minute or so i will get the BSOD–that is, my screen will go black, and
> my cap/num lock lights will flash on and off.
> also, when regularly browsing the internet…not long after opening
> firefox, it will stop working like i have no connection, and then i will
> get a frozen screen and system within a minute or two after seeing a
> variation of this communication message:
>
> "Message from syslogd@sbkra at Nov 2 21:09:53
> kernel: [956.784417] process irq/11-b43 (pid: 1974, ti=debee000
> task=dd291170 task.ti=debee000
>
> Message from syslogd@sbkra at Nov 2 21:09:53
> kernel: [956.784424] Stack:
>
> Message from syslog@sbkra at Nov 2 21:09:53
> kernel: [956.784458] Call Trace: "
>
> a couple times, i’ve gotten this message and the following freeze when
> running video in firefox.
>
> strangely, i have no problems running streaming audio through smplayer.
> and i have no problems playing saved video files through smplayer.
> and i have absolutely no problems whatsoever browsing or playing online
> video while connected via ethernet.
>
> i’ve also searched through the various forum sections to try to address
> the issue, but nothing i’ve tried has worked. nor has anyone had a
> problem identical or even similar to this.
>
> btw…in relation to “broadcom”, yast tells me that i have
> “b43-firmware” and “b43-fwcutter” installed. nothing else. i do not have
> “ndiswrapper” installed, because this gave me problems in 11.2, and this
> problem mentioned here was happening in 11.3 before i uninstalled
> “ndiswrapper”.
> and the repos i have are: Packman, OSS, Non-OSS, and Update.
>
> will someone please help me resolve this issue?!?
> i’m still a linux student, so tell me what you need to know and i will
> do my best to provide the information.

The caps lock/numlock keys flashing is the indication that a kernel panic has
happened. There is no recovery from them. If you can get the failure without
massaging the screen, then looking at the logging console (CTRL-ALT-F10) will
show you what has happened.

It is quite unlikely that b43 or wireless is causing this problem. A number of
people have exercised this driver very hard for a number of years. You can test
this driver by switching to console 1 (CTRL-ALT-F1) and logging into a terminal.
To make the wireless perform hard, issue the following:


wget
http://download.opensuse.org/factory/iso/openSUSE-GNOME-LiveCD-i686-Build0834-Media.iso

The above code should all be on 1 line. Once the nearly 700 MB download starts,
then switch to the logging console in case a crash occurs. Incidently, to return
to the GUI, use CTRL-ALT-F7.

From the symptoms you describe, I suspect either the graphics driver or the
graphics hardware.

Incidentally, ndiswrapper relies on Windows software, and you know what we think
of that. A Windows BSOD is just an indication that your computer has been up for
too long - perhaps an hour, or so.

3

yes, ndiswrapper had my 11.2 running like cabbage.

…i dont understand how the issue could be the graphics driver or hardware when i’m doing the same exact things with a wired connection with spectacular results. in fact, the video via wired is so much smoother than it’s ever been for years using wireless.

executing the code, i got the fatality. (the screen didn’t go black, but the cap/num lock lights were flashing, the only thing to do is to use the off button.)
it sprayed the screen with many lines of output, and the following is all that i was able to copy (by hand!):

[931.112023] <e1cc10a5>] dma_rx+O135/)x3c) [b43}
[931.112023] <e1cc1bd9>] b43_dma_rx+0x29/0x60 [b43]
[931.112023] <e1cae458>] b43_do_interrupt_thread+0x248/0x420 [b43]
[931.112023] <e1cae645>] b43_interrupt_thread_handler+0x15/0x30 [b43]
[931.112023] <c029838a>] irq_thread+0xfa/0x170
[931.112023] <c025dcd4>] kthread+0x74/0x80
[931.112023] <c02037a6>] kernel_thread_helper+0x6/0x10
[931.112023] Code: 24 0c 89 4c 24 04 8d 00 e0 ff ff 85 f6 89 04 24 74 42 8d 76 00 39 f3 72 0c 83 c4 10 89 e8 5b 5e 5f 5d c3 66 90 3b 1c 24 72 ef <8b> 3b 89 f8 e8 02 5d 05 00 85 c0 74 16 8d 45 04 39 c3 74 2f 89
[931.112023] EIP: <c0205fc5>] print_conte4xt_stack+0x45/0x60 SS:ESP 00068:dde45c88
[931.112023] CR2: 000000004e12d719
[931.251419] --- end trace 051a128cf4400e55 ]---
[931.255281] Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception in interrupt
[931.259174] Pid:1838, comm: irq/11-b43 Tainted: G       D     2.6.34.2-0.5-default #1
[931.263009] CallTrace:
[931.266768] <c0206303>] try_stack_unwind+0x173/0x190
[931.270454] <c020509f>] dump_trace+0x3f/0xe0
[931.274094] <c020636b>] show_trace_log_lvl+0x4b/0x60
[931.277652] <c0206398>] show_trace+0x18/0x20
[931.281006] <c05b9f5b>] dump_stack+0x6d/0x72
[931.284340] <c05b9fa1>] panic+0x41/0xdb
[931.287536] <c05bfa30>] __die+0x0/0x10
[931.290649] <c0225272>] no_context+0xc2/0x150
[931.293642] <c02254af>] bad_area_nosemaphore+0xf/0x20
[931.296589] <c05bfa1a>] do_page_fault+0x35a/0x3f0
[931.299470] <c05bcee6>] error_code+0x66/0xe0
[931.302361] <c0205fc5>] print_context_stack+0x45/0xb0
[931.305222] <c02050f3>] dump_trace+0x93/0x30
[931.308085] <c020636b>] show_trace_log_lvl+0x4b/0x60
[931.310900] <c0206398>] show_trace+0x18/0x20
[931.313663] <c020a0cd>] show_regs+0x1d/0x30
[931.316368] <c05ba8a8>] schedule+0x598/0x6b0
[931.318996] <c02985b5>] synchronize_irq+0x75/0xb0
[931.321638] <e197f779>] vortex_timer+0x39/0x570 [3c59x]
[931.324246] <c0250afa>] run_timer_softirq+0x12a/0x290
[931.326796] <c0249bd1>] __do_softirq+0xa1/0x1c0
[931.331898] <c0249ea1>] local_bh_enable+0x71/0x80
[931.334532] <e1cbc142>] b43_rx+0x3b2/0x4f0 [b43]
[931.337200] <e1cc10a5>] dma_rx+0x135/0x3c0 [b43]
[931.339856] <e1cc1bd9>] b43_dma_rx+0x29/0x60 [b43]
[931.342537] <e1cae458>] b43_do_interrupt_thread+0x248/0x420 [b43]
[931.345215] <e1cae645>] b43_interrupt_thread_handler+0x15/0x30 [b43]
[931.347854] <c029838a>] irq_thread+0xfa/0x170
[931.350509] <c025dcd4>] kthread+0x74/0x80
[931.353179] <c02037a6>] kernel_thread_helper+0x6/0x10
[931.355850] <drm:drm_fb_helper_panic] *ERROR* panic occurred, switching back to text console

…???..

btw…only 18.4MB of that file was downloaded…

4

You are correct in that b43 is indeed crashing the system.

I need some additional information: You are using openSUSE 11.3, but I need to
know which kernel you are running. Please post the output of “uname -r”.
Understanding the traceback requires that information. As ndiswrapper does not
work very well with a 64-bit system, I am assuming that yours is 32 bit, but the
uname output will say for sure.

5

uname -r
2.6.34.7-0.5-default

…yes, it is 32 bit.

6

On 11/04/2010 09:36 AM, sabaka wrote:
>
> uname -r
> 2.6.34.7-0.5-default
>
> …yes, it is 32 bit.
>

I am trying to duplicate your results. Which Broadcom device do you have? Post
the output of “/sbin/lspci -nnk | grep 14e4”.

7 
sabaka@sbkra:~> /sbin/lspci -nnk | grep 14e4
03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:4318] (rev 02)
8

On 11/04/2010 01:06 PM, sabaka wrote:
>
> Code:
> --------------------
> sabaka@sbkra:~> /sbin/lspci -nnk | grep 14e4
> 03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:4318] (rev 02)
> --------------------

I have that model on a 32-bit platform. Mine transferred about 189 MB of the
iso, and then got a “Unable to suspend MAC” error. That one does not panic the
kernel.

Unfortunately, your traceback does not go far enough for me to see exactly what
happened. The method for obtaining the full dump would require a serial line to
a second computer, or a serial printer. I’m guessing that you do not have that
hardware. As a result, I need to duplicate your crash.

To let me know a little more about your system, please post the output of

dmesg | egrep “ssb|b43”

9

no, i do not have that hardware…

dmesg | egrep "ssb|b43"
   17.178033] b43-pci-bridge 0000:03:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
   17.178056] b43-pci-bridge 0000:03:00.0: PCI INT A -> Link[LNKD] -> GSI 11 (level, low) -> IRQ 11
   17.178073] b43-pci-bridge 0000:03:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
   17.196174] ssb: Core 0 found: ChipCommon (cc 0x800, rev 0x0D, vendor 0x4243)
   17.196189] ssb: Core 1 found: IEEE 802.11 (cc 0x812, rev 0x09, vendor 0x4243)
   17.196203] ssb: Core 2 found: PCI (cc 0x804, rev 0x0C, vendor 0x4243)
   17.196215] ssb: Core 3 found: PCMCIA (cc 0x80D, rev 0x07, vendor 0x4243)
   17.236190] ssb: Sonics Silicon Backplane found on PCI device 0000:03:00.0
   17.354768] b43-phy0: Broadcom 4318 WLAN found (core revision 9)
   17.490716] Registered led device: b43-phy0::tx
   17.490749] Registered led device: b43-phy0::rx
   17.490781] Registered led device: b43-phy0::radio
   44.604271] b43 ssb0:0: firmware: requesting b43/ucode5.fw
   44.614961] b43 ssb0:0: firmware: requesting b43/pcm5.fw
   44.622424] b43 ssb0:0: firmware: requesting b43/b0g0initvals5.fw
   44.629446] b43 ssb0:0: firmware: requesting b43/b0g0bsinitvals5.fw
   44.843098] b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 478.104 (2008-07-01 00:50:23)

…i thank you so much for taking the time to help me with this. this is definitely a huge lesson for me, and i’m very grateful…

10

well, my friend…
the hard drive is dead.
i’m using the livecd right now. although i have an xp desktop right here, this livecd is still faster. and i feel more comfortable and secure in a linux setup.

…i guess it wasnt the b43 afterall, huh?

thank you very much for taking the time and making the effort in helping me. i did learn a good bit, and that is most important to me.
–>sbkra

11

hello once again.
sorry to have killed this thread and then have to resurrect it again.
but…

after the hard drive on the other laptop died, i’ve since acquired another laptop. i’ve again installed 11.3 kde 4.4.
i’ve also installed the same wireless card, and have done the same process for the b43 firmware (/usr/sbin/install_bcm43xx_firmware).
now the same exact problem that was occurring with the previous system is now happening with this one.
i’m shown that a wireless connection is made, however, the screen blacks out, and my num/cap lock lights flash (i.e. kernel panic?).

…could someone please kindly help me resolve this serious issue…again?
thank you much.
–>sbkra

12

sooo…
…no one has a clue?

13

No. I cannot make it happen here with my 4318, and you cannot tell me the details of the kernel panic. What can I do?