ath9k driver randomly disconnects and can only reconnect by reloading the module

Confirmed in oneiric too

This bug is missing log files that will aid in dianosing the problem. From a terminal window please run:

apport-collect 811281

and then change the status of the bug to 'Confirmed'.

If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change the bug status to 'Confirmed'.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

/var/log/syslog shows this, same as the duplicate bug #461769:

Jul 18 10:17:07 conrad-MacBookPro NetworkManager[1061]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant connection state: disconnected -> scanning
Jul 18 10:17:07 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56426.385959] ath: Unable to reset channel (2412 MHz), reset status -5
Jul 18 10:17:07 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56426.633941] ath: Unable to reset channel (2412 MHz), reset status -5
Jul 18 10:17:07 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56426.634086] ath: Unable to set channel
Jul 18 10:17:07 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56426.757998] ath: Could not kill baseband RX
Jul 18 10:17:08 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56426.881799] ath: Unable to reset channel (2417 MHz), reset status -5
Jul 18 10:17:08 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56426.882094] ath: Unable to set channel
Jul 18 10:17:08 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56427.005147] ath: Could not kill baseband RX
Jul 18 10:17:08 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56427.127946] ath: Unable to reset channel (2422 MHz), reset status -5
Jul 18 10:17:08 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56427.128218] ath: Unable to set channel
Jul 18 10:17:08 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56427.250915] ath: Could not kill baseband RX
Jul 18 10:17:08 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56427.374657] ath: Unable to reset channel (2427 MHz), reset status -5
Jul 18 10:17:08 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56427.374920] ath: Unable to set channel
Jul 18 10:17:08 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56427.498066] ath: Could not kill baseband RX
Jul 18 10:17:08 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56427.621761] ath: Unable to reset channel (2432 MHz), reset status -5
Jul 18 10:17:08 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56427.621967] ath: Unable to set channel
Jul 18 10:17:08 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56427.745051] ath: Could not kill baseband RX
Jul 18 10:17:09 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56427.868798] ath: Unable to reset channel (2437 MHz), reset status -5
Jul 18 10:17:09 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56427.869016] ath: Unable to set channel
Jul 18 10:17:09 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56427.992226] ath: Could not kill baseband RX
Jul 18 10:17:09 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56428.116008] ath: Unable to reset channel (2442 MHz), reset status -5
Jul 18 10:17:09 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56428.116196] ath: Unable to set channel
Jul 18 10:17:09 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56428.239135] ath: Could not kill baseband RX
Jul 18 10:17:09 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56428.362919] ath: Unable to reset channel (2447 MHz), reset status -5
Jul 18 10:17:09 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56428.363048] ath: Unable to set channel
Jul 18 10:17:09 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56428.485950] ath: Could not kill baseband RX
Jul 18 10:17:09 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56428.609759] ath: Unable to reset channel (2452 MHz), reset status -5
Jul 18 10:17:09 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56428.609870] ath: Unable to set channel
Jul 18 10:17:09 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56428.732884] ath: Could not kill baseband RX
Jul 18 10:17:10 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56428.856614] ath: Unable to reset channel (2457 MHz), reset status -5
Jul 18 10:17:10 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56428.856739] ath: Unable to set channel
Jul 18 10:17:10 conrad-MacBookPro kernel: [56428.980723] ath: Could not kill baseband RX
Jul 18 10:17:10 conrad-Ma...

This bug has been confirmed in many duplicates in many versions. It was refiled only because the automatic scripts closed the old fully reported bug (which is stupid).

I try to start WiFi with WPA2 from /etc/network/interfaces. Most of the times I boot it, it will not connect to the AP, and the "iwlist wlan1 scanning" does not list the AP half of the time.

Reloading the module does not help.

However, the few times I boot the computer and it does connect, everything works all of the time, with excellent quality.

All other equipment, computers, smartphones both lists and connects to the AP without any problem.

Tomi Pieviläinen, thank you for reporting this and helping make Ubuntu better. This bug was reported a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue? Can you try with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO CD images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/ .

If it remains an issue, could you run the following command from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal). It will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report.

apport-collect -p linux <replace-with-bug-number>

Also, if you could test the latest upstream kernel available that would be great. It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please remove the 'needs-upstream-testing' tag. This can be done by clicking on the yellow pencil icon next to the tag located at the bottom of the bug description and deleting the 'needs-upstream-testing' text. Please let us know your results.

Thanks in advance.

[Expired for linux (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

I can't believe that bug hasn't been fixes yet. It is very annoying in the LTS, I can't imagine the number of laptop using the ath9k driver and switching back to an other OS than Linux...

Laurent Dinclaux, please stop making comments as you are not the original reporter. For more on this, please see https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs#A3._Make_sure_the_bug_hasn.27t_already_been_reported . If you are having a problem in Ubuntu, please file a new report by executing the following via the Terminal and feel free to subscribe me to it:
ubuntu-bug linux

Thanks!

Based on Laurent's comment, this bug does still appear in current versions of Ubuntu, which is what was asked from me in March. I couldn't answer that, because I thought nothing will ever happen, and switched away from Ubuntu on my laptop last winter. I also won't be installing Ubuntu just to confirm this bug on new releases.

Laurent, I guess you just have to file a new bug, as stupid as that feels. Just like I did after #461769 was closed.

Tomi Pieviläinen, this report is being closed as the minimum requirements to investigate this problem requested in https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/811281/comments/6 will not be provided. If the minimum requirements are provided, please re-open this report and we can take it from there. Thank you for your understanding and feel free to report any future bugs you may find.