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For the past days a message is being displayed prompting for updating the hardware enablement stack. I did install it but after a restart, my wireless began to have problems.

It can connect to my router but it gives me very slow speeds compared to before I updated hwe.

Background:

  • OS: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 64-bit
  • wireless: TP-LINK TL-WN727N
  • uname -r: 4.4.0-36-generic

  • output of lsusb concerning my wireless:

    Bus 003 Device 002: ID 148f:7601 Ralink Technology, Corp. MT7601U Wireless Adapter

Here's what I tried so far:

  • booting to an older kernel: for some unknown reason, my wireless did not work properly, kept on asking for a password but not connecting

  • trying to downgrade the hwe: there's this question but I don't think it worked. Anyway I tried doing: sudo apt-get install --install-recommends linux-generic-lts-trusty xserver-xorg-lts-trusty libgl1-mesa-glx-lts-trusty

  • reinstalling the driver for my wireless

What I noticed though, is that my wireless should have always been ra0, but now when I run ifconfig it shows as wlan0.

I also noticed something with the output of dmesg

$ dmesg | grep 7601
[    0.934064] usb 3-4: New USB device found, idVendor=148f, idProduct=7601
[   15.338268] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: ASIC revision: 76010001 MAC revision: 76010500
[   15.471269] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Firmware Version: 0.1.00 Build: 7640 Build time: 201302052146____
[   15.860232] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Warning: unsupported EEPROM version 0d
[   15.860234] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: EEPROM ver:0d fae:00
[   15.860430] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: EEPROM country region 01 (channels 1-13)
[   16.089832] usbcore: registered new interface driver mt7601u
[  160.315896] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Warning: mt7601u_mcu_wait_resp retrying
[  160.615899] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Warning: mt7601u_mcu_wait_resp retrying
[  160.915929] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Warning: mt7601u_mcu_wait_resp retrying
[  161.215895] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Warning: mt7601u_mcu_wait_resp retrying
[  161.515928] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Warning: mt7601u_mcu_wait_resp retrying
[  161.515931] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Error: mt7601u_mcu_wait_resp timed out
[  161.820244] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Error: MCU response pre-completed!
[  161.820282] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Error: MCU resp evt:0 seq:7-6!
[  243.314219] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Warning: mt7601u_mcu_wait_resp retrying
[  243.614228] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Warning: mt7601u_mcu_wait_resp retrying
[  243.914225] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Warning: mt7601u_mcu_wait_resp retrying
[  244.214266] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Warning: mt7601u_mcu_wait_resp retrying
[  244.514289] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Warning: mt7601u_mcu_wait_resp retrying
[  244.514304] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Error: mt7601u_mcu_wait_resp timed out
[  244.886451] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Error: MCU resp evt:0 seq:1-f!
[  343.173024] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Warning: mt7601u_mcu_wait_resp retrying
[  343.473023] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Warning: mt7601u_mcu_wait_resp retrying

Also, output of lsmod:

$ lsmod | grep -e mt7
mt7601u               102400  0 
mac80211              733184  1 mt7601u
cfg80211              557056  2 mac80211,mt7601u
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krato
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1 Answers1

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First of all, the package linux-generic-lts-trusty installs the 3.13.0-xx kernel version. http://packages.ubuntu.com/search?keywords=linux-generic-lts&searchon=names&suite=trusty&section=all The newest driver is included in 4.4.0-xx. Please verify the kernel version you have now:

uname -r

If you have anything other than 4.4.0-xx, we'll address a remedy.

Second, the driver you compiled is now deprecated in favor of the in-kernel mt7601u. Let's be sure that the driver you compiled is completedly removed:

cd ~/mt7601/src
sudo make uninstall

Next, these errors:

[ 161.215895] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Warning: mt7601u_mcu_wait_resp retrying [ 161.515928] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Warning: mt7601u_mcu_wait_resp retrying [ 161.515931] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Error: mt7601u_mcu_wait_resp timed out [ 161.820244] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Error: MCU response pre-completed! [ 161.820282] mt7601u 3-4:1.0: Error: MCU resp evt:0 seq:7-6!

I have read some reports that suggest these errors may be related to channel changes in the router. In fact, many Linux drivers are sensitive to settings in the router.

Please check the settings in the router. WPA2-AES is preferred; not any WPA and WPA2 mixed mode and certainly not TKIP. Second, if your router is capable of N speeds, you may have better connectivity with a channel width of 20 MHz in the 2.4 GHz band instead of automatic 20/40 MHz, although it is likely to affect N speeds. I also have better luck with a fixed channel, either 1, 6 or 11, rather than automatic channel selection. Also, be certain the router is not set to use N speeds only; auto B, G and N is preferred. After making these changes, reboot the router.

Next, I recommend that your regulatory domain be set explicitly. Check yours:

sudo iw reg get

If you get 00, that is a one-size-maybe-fits-all setting. Find yours here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1_alpha-2 Then set it temporarily:

sudo iw reg set IS

Of course, substitute your country code if not Iceland. Set it permanently:

gksudo gedit /etc/default/crda

Use nano or kate or leafpad if you don't have the text editor gedit.

Change the last line to read:

REGDOMAIN=IS

Proofread carefully, save and close the text editor.

Next, I'd set IPv6 to Ignore in Network Manager: http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/18/html/Installation_Guide/images/netconfig/network-connections-ipv6-ignore.png This example is for ethernet, but you want wireless.

Reboot and test. If it is not working as expected, please edit your question to add a new:

dmesg | grep mt76
chili555
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  • Thanks man! It's all good, your solution worked like magic! I further investigated and found out that the main problem is that my router's channel width is set to 40, changed that to 20 MHz and that did it. – krato Sep 01 '16 at 13:49
  • Awesome! Glad it's working and thanks for posting your findings. I am sure it will help some searchers. – chili555 Sep 01 '16 at 15:38