R7800 reboots when Pinebook Pro uses the Wifi in AP mode
Hi,
I recently got a PineBook Pro (aka PBP, from pine64.org) and I have now the issue that each time the PBP uses the Wifi a bit more heavily, the R7800 chokes and reboots.
this hints at a denial of service weakness in the R7800 which could be used for malign purposes
I'd appreciate some help to debug the issue from the R7800 side, where the logs are absolutely useless, and gone after a reboot. I've discovered https://nighthawk.home/debug.htm but missing documentation on how to use it.
Thanks, Eric
Some more information: I have two R7800 both configured very similarly as AP against the same 3rd party router, latest firmware, and both showing the same behavior. Depending which Wifi is used by the PBP, the corresponding R7800 reboots.
does it matter if its connected to the 2.4ghz or the 5ghz?
No, it doesn't. My normal configuration is with "Smart Connect", so both under the same name, and the issue appeared. I split them for troubleshooting, but both cause the reboot.
I didn't know about the Voxel firmware, but I was considering OpenWrt if everything else breaks. What would be the advantages/disadvantages of both, if we arrive to this stage? From what I could find, Voxel, like the stock firmware, is also based on OpenWrt.
I didn't know about the Voxel firmware, but I was considering OpenWrt if everything else breaks. What would be the advantages/disadvantages of both, if we arrive to this stage? From what I could find, Voxel, like the stock firmware, is also based on OpenWrt.
My only experience is with Voxel, none with OpenWrt. I ran Voxel on my R7800 for three years before I put it in backup status. Now on my R9000 it has performed well for the last couple of years. Both routers were obtained second hand.
Voxel is based on stock firmware with many of the Netgear imposed limitations removed. This has a more substantial impact on the R7800 than on the R9000. I obtained the R9000 because it has an optical SPF 10Gb WAN port.
Voxel is easy to get into or get out of. However, he is a one man show. If something happens to him I expect the project to disappear. I am on board as long as it is available.
Most users that install Voxel firmware on their router never look back.
Re: R7800 reboots when Pinebook Pro uses the Wifi in AP mode
Voxels WEB GUI is mostly same or similar to NG stock FW. He makes some GUI changes and mostly cosmetic.
Voxels mostly keeps the backend FW packages more up to date with in the FW and also as more support for some features that NG doesn't support.
I think other draw backs would be that features like Amor and Circle may not work at all with his FW loaded. Not sure if Nighthawk app will either.
I did load his FW on my R7800 a few years back. With the additional WEB GUI diagnostic plug-in that was supported back then, was really nice. Seem to run well though I didn't test it out for a long time. Just wanted to see if I could get it loaded on and with the plug-in that was brought up. I have data at home that I still have somewhere's regarding that.
Think in long term, Voxels would be the better option, if your system is not in warranty and this is what you want to keep for a while longer, give it a try. You can always come back to NG stock.
Re: R7800 reboots when Pinebook Pro uses the Wifi in AP mode
Hi, so I found at last the time to burn Voxel's firmware and it didn't change anything to my problem, exactly the same behavior once my PineBook Pro starts to use the Wifi, reboot without notice of warning...
Does this new firmware have secret powers for debugging?
Hi, so I found at last the time to burn Voxel's firmware and it didn't change anything to my problem, exactly the same behavior once my PineBook Pro starts to use the Wifi, reboot without notice of warning...
Does this new firmware have secret powers for debugging?
No special powers. There is a debug menu for both stock and Voxel firmware. It is here: http://192.168.1.1/debug.htm. If your IP address for the router is different you will have to adjust the address. I note a debug log capture you could experiment with. Also you could post your issue in the Netgear section over in Small Net Builders forum. Lots of experience there with the R7800.
Re: R7800 reboots when Pinebook Pro uses the Wifi in AP mode
After having setup SSH, I'm now able at least to access `dmesg` and the result is:
[ 0.000000] Inst RSSI value of node-96:16:68:1f:58:96: 18 [ 0.000000] Inst RSSI value of node-96:16:68: [ 0.000000] 58:96: 18 [ 0.000000] Inst RSSI value of node-96:16: [ 0.000000] 58:96: 18 [ 0.000000] [wifi1] FWLOG: [1410228] RATE: ChainMask 1, peer_mac 1e:9b, phymode 5, ni_flags 0x00041006, vht_mcs_set 0x0000, ht_mcs_set 0x00ff, legacy_rate_set 0x1584d7 [ 0.000000] [wifi1] FWLOG: [1410263] WAL_DBGID_SECURITY_UCAST_KEY_SET ( 0x1e9b, 0x0 ) [ 0.000000] [wifi1] FWLOG: [1410263] WAL_DBGID_SECURITY_ENCR_EN ( [ 0.000000] ) [ 0.000000] [wifi1] [ 0.000000] 0x4492cc ) [ 0.000000] [wifi1] FWLOG: [1410430] WAL_DBGID_TX_BA_SETUP ( [ 0.000000] 0x4492cc, 0x1e9b0006 [ 0.000000] , 0x2, 0x20, 0x1 ) [ 0.000000] [wifi1] FWLOG: [1410431] [ 0.000000] RATE: ChainMask 1, peer_mac 1e:9b, phymode 5, ni_flags 0x00041006, vht_mcs_set 0x0000, ht_mcs_set 0x00ff, legacy_rate_set 0x1585cf [ 0.000000] [wifi1] FWLOG: [1410511] WAL_DBGID_TX_BA_SETUP ( [ 0.000000] 0x4492cc, 0x1e9b0000 [ 0.000000] , 0x0, 0x20, 0x1 ) [ 0.000000] Inst RSSI value of node-84:cf:bf:8f:45:50: 45 [ 0.000000] Inst RSSI value of node-84:cf:bf:8f:45:50: 45 [ 0.000000] Inst RSSI value of node-84:cf:bf:8f:45:50: 45 [ 0.000000] Inst RSSI value of node-84:cf:bf:8f:45:50: 45 [ 0.000000] Inst RSSI value of node-96:16:68:1f:58:96: 18 [ 0.000000] Inst RSSI value of node-96:16:68:1f:58:96: 18 [ 0.000000] Inst RSSI value of node-84:cf:bf:8f:45:50: 42 [ 0.000000] Inst RSSI value of node-84:cf:bf:8f:45:50: 42 [ 0.000000] Inst RSSI value of node-96:16:68:1f:58:96: 18 [ 0.000000] Inst RSSI value of node-96:16:68:1f:58:96: 18 [ 0.000000] Inst RSSI value of node-84:cf:bf:8f:45:50: 41 [ 0.000000] Inst RSSI value of node-84:cf:bf:8f:45:50: 42 [ 0.000000] Inst RSSI value of node-96:16:68:1f:58:96: 18 [ 0.000000] Inst RSSI value of node-96:16:68:1f:58:96: 18 [ 0.000000] ASSERT: ecm_nss_ipv4_ip_process:884:Not IPv4 address: dead:beef:dead:beef:dead:beef:b63f:0896 client_loop: send disconnect: Broken pipe
the last IPv6 address is the one of my PineBook Pro and is the last message before break-down.
It sounds to me almost like the PBP sends an IPv6 address where it should send an IPv4 one, and the router doesn't catch it properly (possibly related to the NSS driver, which is quite specific AFAIU). Does it make sense and, more importantly, how to go further?
Re: R7800 reboots when Pinebook Pro uses the Wifi in AP mode
Fair enough, I'm also outside of my waters already since quite a while. As a side remark, I got the confirmation that it was a kernel/driver issue, a longer message appeared after another test:
