#1109900 linux-image-6.16-rc7-amd64: Intel Wi-Fi broken on Linux 6.16-rc7 with firmware 99 causing iwlwifi microcode errors

#1109900#5
Date:
2025-07-26 00:34:28 UTC
From:
To:
Dear Maintainer,

What led up to the situation?
Upgraded from Linux 6.15 to 6.16-rc7 kernel.
iwlwifi 0000:08:00.0: microcode SW error detected. Restarting 0x2000000.
iwlwifi 0000:08:00.0: Failed to start RT ucode: -110

What exactly did you do (or not do) that was effective (or ineffective)?
Booted into Linux 6.16-rc7, where iwlwifi loads firmware version 99 for the
Intel BE200 device. This causes microcode software errors and prevents the Wi-
Fi interface from initializing. Reverting to Linux 6.15 loads firmware version
98, which initializes the device properly and Wi-Fi works as expected. Manually
copying firmware version 98 over the 99 file forces the driver to load the
older, working firmware on 6.16-rc7, temporarily restoring Wi-Fi functionality.
This indicates firmware 99 is likely buggy.

Full firmware 99 dmesg 'iwl|firmware' log here
https://pastebin.com/raw/9TBdP50w

dmesg 'iwl|firmware' log with 98 override here
https://pastebin.com/raw/dDQA0Csd

What was the outcome of this action?
Wi-Fi broken on 6.16-rc7; works fine on 6.15.

What outcome did you expect instead?
Wi-Fi should work on 6.16-rc7 as it did on 6.15.