Ubuntu Wiki

General Info

Escalating bugs and issues to the upstream developers is important to improving the overall quality of wireless drivers. Before we get started we will review first a few general details about the life cycle of Ubuntu's kernel releases so you are more comfortable with how things get into Ubuntu and what you are using.

Bug Report Minimum Requirement Information

When providing information for a bug to be worked on by a developer, please mention the following information:

1. What is the full computer model number (ex. HP G32-301TX Notebook PC)?
2. If you update your BIOS to the newest version, does this change anything?
3. Regarding your wireless Access Point (AP):
   1. What is the AP manufacturer, model, and firmware version?
   2. What wireless connection type are you using (e.g. 802.11n, 802.11g, etc.)?
   3. Encryption Type (ex. WEP, WPA2-PSK TKIP/AES)?
   4. MAC Filtering
   5. QoS/WMM
   6. Beacon Interval
   7. Router Internal Firewall
      1. If you change any of the settings above does it change anything?
4. Does another wireless device tested with the AP have the same problem as the hardware you initially reported with?
5. What is the distance of the wireless device from AP?
6. What is the number and type of obstructions between your device and the AP?
   1. If you bring the device close to the AP and eliminate obstructions, does this change anything?
7. Does the issue occur with different APs?
8. Is it a regression (e.g. did the problem happen in a prior Ubuntu release)?
   1. If so, what release specifically did it last work with?

   2. If you do not know, could you please test for this in the earliest release of Ubuntu that is supported as per Ubuntu Releases?

9. Does compat-wireless provide a work around or solution following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LinuxWireless#Compat-wireless_in_Ubuntu? Please mention in your report the specific version you tested for compat-wireless from the Ubuntu repos and upstream.

10. Does this problem occur in the newest mainline kernel following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/MainlineBuilds? Please mention what specific version of the mainline kernel you tested with in your report.

11. Does ndiswrapper provide a work around following https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/Driver/Ndiswrapper? Please mention what specific version of ndiswrapper you tested with, and a link to the Windows driver you used in your report.

    1. If ndiswrapper does not work for you, you are welcome to file a new bug report by executing at a terminal:

       ubuntu-bug ndiswrapper-utils-1.9 

12. For Broadcom wireless chipsets, does the proprietary Broadcom STA wireless driver provide a work around following https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BroadcomSTA%28Wireless%29? Please mention what specific version of Broadcom STA you tested with in your report.

13. For Realtek wireless chipsets:

    1. Does the Realtek Backport PPA provide a work around following https://launchpad.net/~lexical/+archive/hwe-wireless? Please mention what specific version of the Realtek Backport PPA you tested with in your report.

    2. Does the upstream Realtek drivers downloaded from http://www.realtek.com.tw provide a work around? Please mention what specific version of the drivers you tested with in your report.

Ubuntu's kernels

During the Ubuntu development cycle, which happens every 6 months, the Ubuntu kernel will pick the latest stable kernel release available. At Ubuntu's Intrepid release cycle, for example, this was the 2.6.27 kernel, for Jaunty this was the 2.6.28 kernel, and for Karmic 2.6.31.

The Linux wireless guide on reporting bugs

Please be sure to read this guide, then finish this guide.

http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Documentation/Reporting_bugs

The Ubuntu proposed repository

Keep in mind Ubuntu has a "proposed" repository which allows you get newer kernels stable kernels (if you are 2.6.27.10 the proposed repository may have a 2.6.27.14 kernel). Instructions on enabling this repository may be found here. The kernels are propagated over time from the proposed repository to updates over a few weeks period of time after general testing and acceptance.

Ubuntu Intrepid kernel release to stable kernel map

Unfortunately Ubuntu's Intrepid kernels do not tell you what the extraversion is (the .10 in 2.6.27.10) and this is required to report bugs upstream. Because of this you can look at the Ubuntu kernel version --> detailed mainline kernel version map to find out what exact upstream mainline kernel your kernel is based on.

For example if you get:

ogasawara@emiko:~$ cat /proc/version_signature
Ubuntu 2.6.27-10.20-generic

You can then look at the map as to what exactly this maps to. In this case this would map to the 2.6.27.7 kernel.

It should be noted that the /proc/version_signature is an Ubuntu specific feature to help you get the detailed kernel version.

Compat-wireless in Ubuntu

Ubuntu packages compat-wireless in the linux-backports-modules package.

For Precise, this may be done by executing the following at a terminal:

sudo apt-get -y install linux-backports-modules-cw-3.3-3.2.0.23-generic-pae
sudo reboot

You will probably get newer version of this package if you enable the proposed repository as explained above.

It should be noted that linux-backports-modules is updated regularly but not every day. If you want to ensure you are running bleeding edge you are better off using compat-wireless directly. Also keep in mind that linux-backports-modules installs modules in /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/updates/ and upon removal the modules are not removed. So be sure to rm -rf that updates directory (and only the updates directory!).