Dear Maintainer,
*** Reporter, please consider answering these questions, where appropriate ***
* What led up to the situation?
Setup of Debian 13 RC 2 on a Lenovo T14 G5 AMD Model 21MC003QGE
during network config i get the error, that firmware files are missing,
and i cann provide them via usb-stick.
in dmesg i can see this error:
dmesg | grep -i ath11k
[ 5.900513] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: BAR 0 [mem 0x90600000-0x907fffff
64bit]: assigned
[ 5.900531] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[ 5.902080] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: MSI vectors: 32
[ 5.902085] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: wcn6855 hw2.1
[ 5.902265] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware: failed to load
ath11k/WCN6855/hw2.1/firmware-2.bin (-2)
[ 5.902275] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware: failed to load
ath11k/WCN6855/hw2.1/firmware-2.bin (-2)
[ 5.902284] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware: failed to load
ath11k/WCN6855/hw2.1/firmware-2.bin (-2)
[ 7.044701] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: chip_id 0x12 chip_family 0xb board_id
0xff soc_id 0x400c1211
[ 7.044708] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: fw_version 0x11088c35
fw_build_timestamp 2024-04-17 08:34 fw_build_id
WLAN.HSP.1.1-03125-QCAHSPSWPL_V1_V2_SILICONZ_LITE-3.6510.41
[ 7.374303] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0 wlp2s0: renamed from wlan0
[ 7.384968] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: Failed to set the requested Country
regulatory setting
[ 7.384972] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: failed to process regulatory info -22
[ 7.385277] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: Failed to set the requested Country
regulatory setting
[ 7.385279] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: failed to process regulatory info -22
apt policy firmware-atheros
firmware-atheros:
Installiert: 20250410-2
Installationskandidat: 20250410-2
Versionstabelle:
*** 20250410-2 500
500 http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie/non-free-firmware amd64
Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
* What exactly did you do (or not do) that was effective (or
ineffective)?
apt update;apt upgrade
* What was the outcome of this action?
no newer firmware found
* What outcome did you expect instead?
I would expect that necessary firmware files are available for this
adapter in package fimrware-atheros
I can confirm this bug. I installed Trixie on a brand new thinkpad p14. I
am on a newer kernel though:
gargle@p14:~$ uname -a
Linux p14 6.12.48+deb13-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.12.48-1
(2025-09-20) x86_64 GNU/Linux
gargle@p14:~$ cat /etc/debian_version
13.1
gargle@p14:~$ sudo dmesg | grep -i ath11k
[ 16.414533] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: BAR 0 [mem 0x90600000-0x907fffff
64bit]: assigned
[ 16.414550] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[ 16.416163] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: MSI vectors: 32
[ 16.416169] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: wcn6855 hw2.1
[ 16.416498] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware: failed to load
ath11k/WCN6855/hw2.1/firmware-2.bin (-2)
[ 16.416516] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware: failed to load
ath11k/WCN6855/hw2.1/firmware-2.bin (-2)
[ 16.416529] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware: failed to load
ath11k/WCN6855/hw2.1/firmware-2.bin (-2)
[ 17.299873] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: chip_id 0x12 chip_family 0xb
board_id 0xff soc_id 0x400c1211
[ 17.299882] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: fw_version 0x11088c35
fw_build_timestamp 2024-04-17 08:34 fw_build_id
WLAN.HSP.1.1-03125-QCAHSPSWPL_V1_V2_SILICONZ_LITE-3.6510.41
[ 17.626382] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0 wlp2s0: renamed from wlan0
[ 17.638811] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: Failed to set the requested Country
regulatory setting
[ 17.638816] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: failed to process regulatory info
-22
[ 17.639119] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: Failed to set the requested Country
regulatory setting
[ 17.639122] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: failed to process regulatory info
-22
gargle@p14:~$ apt policy firmware-atheros
firmware-atheros:
Installed: 20250410-2
Candidate: 20250410-2
Version table:
*** 20250410-2 500
500 http://ftp.be.debian.org/debian trixie/non-free-firmware amd64
Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
Greetings,
Johan
Hello, I assume the wifi adapter doesn't work after these messages. Can you confirm that? Or is it only the messages that offend you? Best regards Uwe
Hello Johan,
[you only replied to me in private. I guess and hope there is nothing
you consider private, so I'm readding the original reporter and the bug
to Cc:]
OK, thanks for confirming. That's how I understood the issue, it's just
the follow-up messages ("Failed to set the requested Country regulatory
setting" and others) that made me wonder.
I'll take a look if/how these messages could be suppressed.
Best regards
Uwe
I can confirm this bug too, it occurred upgrading from bookworm to trixie. Failure in loading the proper firmware leads to several limitiations in the use of the wifi chip in access points mode. All 5GHZ band channels have the "no initiate radiation" (NO-IR) flag set despite the correct country regulatory settings and so preventing the use of this band in AP mode, and you cannot set more than one SSID in AP mode. I suspect the bug occurred after this commit in vanilla kernel: https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/7db88b962f06a52af5e9a32971012e8f3427cec0 On Trixie, manually installing the latest bookworm kernel (6.1.40) fixes the problem. 'dmesg' and 'iw list' extracts following. ##################################################################### ### Debian trixie starting latest trixie kernel 6.12.57-1 (buggy) ### ##################################################################### DMESG EXTRACT: [ 0.000000] Linux version 6.12.57+deb13-amd64 (debian-kernel@lists.debian.org) (x86_64-linux-gnu-gcc-14 (Debian 14.2.0-19) 14.2.0, GNU ld (GNU Binutils for Debian) 2.44) #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.12.57-1 (2025-11-05) ... [ 7.210134] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: BAR 0 [mem 0xa4000000-0xa41fffff 64bit]: assigned [ 7.210559] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: MSI vectors: 32 [ 7.210567] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: wcn6855 hw2.1 [ 7.211946] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware: failed to load ath11k/WCN6855/hw2.1/firmware-2.bin (-2) [ 7.211963] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware: failed to load ath11k/WCN6855/hw2.1/firmware-2.bin (-2) [ 7.211975] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware: failed to load ath11k/WCN6855/hw2.1/firmware-2.bin (-2) ... [ 7.383485] mhi mhi0: Requested to power ON [ 7.383496] mhi mhi0: Power on setup success [ 7.509857] mhi mhi0: Wait for device to enter SBL or Mission mode ... [ 8.170791] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: chip_id 0x2 chip_family 0xb board_id 0xff soc_id 0x400c0210 [ 8.170807] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: fw_version 0x11088c35 fw_build_timestamp 2024-04-17 08:34 fw_build_id WLAN.HSP.1.1-03125-QCAHSPSWPL_V1_V2_SILICONZ_LITE-3.6510.41 ... [ 8.595347] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0 wlo1: renamed from wlan0 IW LIST extract: valid interface combinations: * #{ managed } <= 2, #{ AP, P2P-client, P2P-GO } <= 1, #{ P2P-device } <= 1, total <= 3, #channels <= 2, STA/AP BI must match ######################################################################## ### Debian trixie starting latest bookworm kernel 6.1.0-40 (working) ### ######################################################################## DMESG EXTRACT: [ 0.000000] Linux version 6.1.0-40-amd64 (debian-kernel@lists.debian.org) (gcc-12 (Debian 12.2.0-14+deb12u1) 12.2.0, GNU ld (GNU Binutils for Debian) 2.40) #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.1.153-1 (2025-09-20) ... [ 7.463799] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: BAR 0: assigned [mem 0xa4000000-0xa41fffff 64bit] [ 7.464074] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: MSI vectors: 32 [ 7.464080] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: wcn6855 hw2.1 [ 7.628447] mhi mhi0: Requested to power ON [ 7.628458] mhi mhi0: Power on setup success [ 7.637248] mhi mhi0: firmware: direct-loading firmware ath11k/WCN6855/hw2.1/amss.bin ... [ 7.997975] mhi mhi0: Wait for device to enter SBL or Mission mode ... [ 8.648463] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: chip_id 0x2 chip_family 0xb board_id 0xff soc_id 0x400c0210 [ 8.648478] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: fw_version 0x11088c35 fw_build_timestamp 2024-04-17 08:34 fw_build_id WLAN.HSP.1.1-03125-QCAHSPSWPL_V1_V2_SILICONZ_LITE-3.6510.41 [ 8.672778] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware ath11k/WCN6855/hw2.1/board-2.bin [ 8.678103] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware ath11k/WCN6855/hw2.1/board-2.bin [ 8.689576] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware ath11k/WCN6855/hw2.1/board-2.bin [ 8.717806] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware ath11k/WCN6855/hw2.1/m3.bin [ 9.017092] ath11k_pci 0000:02:00.0 wlo1: renamed from wlan0 IW LIST extract: valid interface combinations: * #{ managed } <= 1, #{ AP } <= 16, total <= 16, #channels <= 1, STA/AP BI must match, radar detect widths: { 20 MHz (no HT), 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, 160 MHz }
Hello Stefano, I the symptoms you describe are a different problem. In my understanding the original bug is that the ath11k driver supports two different firmwares and after it tries (and fails loudly) to load the first option it falls back to the second and everything is fine, just that error messages appear in dmesg. The only thing in common here is that you see those wrong error messages, too. So can you please open a separate bug for your problem? Best regards Uwe
Hello Uwe, I re-read the original bug and I cannot see any clue that the ath11k driver falls back to a different firmware. Actually, the driver can work even without loading firmware - but with limited features. In my opinion , this is the same bug reported by me. If you still think differently, I will open a new bug. Just let me know.