[PATCH ath-next] wifi: ath12k: fix ML-STA authentication timeout on QCC2072

[PATCH ath-next] wifi: ath12k: fix ML-STA authentication timeout on QCC2072

[Miaoqing Pan]

QCC2072 firmware interprets the MLO_LINK_ADD and MLO_START_AS_ACTIVE
flags to control the link state during MLO vdev start. MLO_LINK_ADD
indicates that a link is being added, while MLO_START_AS_ACTIVE specifies
that the link should become active during the start.

When an association link is added without setting MLO_START_AS_ACTIVE,
the firmware may transition the link into a suspended state. In this
case, authentication frames transmitted by the host can be dropped,
leading to repeated authentication retries and eventual timeout,
for example:
  wlp1s0: send auth to <AP> (try 1/3)
  wlp1s0: send auth to <AP> (try 2/3)
  wlp1s0: send auth to <AP> (try 3/3)
  wlp1s0: authentication with <AP> timed out

Avoid triggering this behavior by setting the MLO_START_AS_ACTIVE flag
when MLO_ASSOC_LINK is set, which tells the firmware that the current
vdev must not enter suspend mode

Note that this change relies on firmware behavior observed on the QCC2072
platform. The firmware on WCN7850 and QCN9274 does not use the
MLO_START_AS_ACTIVE flag, so this change is effectively a no-op on those
platforms

Tested-on: QCC2072 hw1.0 PCI WLAN.COL.1.0.c2-00068-QCACOLSWPL_V1_TO_SILICONZ-1
Tested-on: WCN7850 hw2.0 PCI WLAN.HMT.1.1.c5-00302-QCAHMTSWPL_V1.0_V2.0_SILICONZ-1.115823.3

Fixes: d8e1f4a19310 ("wifi: ath12k: enable QCC2072 support")
Signed-off-by: Miaoqing Pan <miaoqing.pan@oss.qualcomm.com>
---
 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/wmi.c | 2 ++
 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/wmi.h | 1 +
 2 files changed, 3 insertions(+)

diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/wmi.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/wmi.c
index ad739bffcf88..800fa753021b 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/wmi.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/wmi.c
@@ -1229,6 +1229,8 @@ int ath12k_wmi_vdev_start(struct ath12k *ar, struct wmi_vdev_start_req_arg *arg,
 						    ATH12K_WMI_FLAG_MLO_MCAST_VDEV) |
 				   le32_encode_bits(arg->ml.link_add,
 						    ATH12K_WMI_FLAG_MLO_LINK_ADD) |
+				   le32_encode_bits(arg->ml.assoc_link,
+						    ATH12K_WMI_FLAG_MLO_START_AS_ACTIVE) |
 				   cpu_to_le32(ATH12K_WMI_FLAG_MLO_IEEE_LINK_IDX_VALID);
 
 		ml_params->ieee_link_id = cpu_to_le32(arg->ml.ieee_link_id);
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/wmi.h b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/wmi.h
index 51f3426e1fcd..20e3939e8820 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/wmi.h
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/wmi.h
@@ -2954,6 +2954,7 @@ struct wmi_vdev_create_mlo_params {
 #define ATH12K_WMI_FLAG_MLO_EMLSR_SUPPORT		BIT(6)
 #define ATH12K_WMI_FLAG_MLO_FORCED_INACTIVE		BIT(7)
 #define ATH12K_WMI_FLAG_MLO_LINK_ADD			BIT(8)
+#define ATH12K_WMI_FLAG_MLO_START_AS_ACTIVE		BIT(17)
 #define ATH12K_WMI_FLAG_MLO_IEEE_LINK_IDX_VALID		BIT(18)
 #define ATH12K_WMI_FLAG_MLO_IEEE_LINK_IDX_VALID_PARTNER	BIT(19)
 

base-commit: fa1b1469f1c5f0f54ed9dab80106a117e7736bfd
-- 
2.34.1

Re: [PATCH ath-next] wifi: ath12k: fix ML-STA authentication timeout on QCC2072

[Baochen Qiang]

On 7/4/2026 3:30 PM, Miaoqing Pan wrote:
> QCC2072 firmware interprets the MLO_LINK_ADD and MLO_START_AS_ACTIVE
> flags to control the link state during MLO vdev start. MLO_LINK_ADD
> indicates that a link is being added, while MLO_START_AS_ACTIVE specifies
> that the link should become active during the start.
> 
> When an association link is added without setting MLO_START_AS_ACTIVE,
> the firmware may transition the link into a suspended state. In this
> case, authentication frames transmitted by the host can be dropped,
> leading to repeated authentication retries and eventual timeout,
> for example:
>   wlp1s0: send auth to <AP> (try 1/3)
>   wlp1s0: send auth to <AP> (try 2/3)
>   wlp1s0: send auth to <AP> (try 3/3)
>   wlp1s0: authentication with <AP> timed out
> 
> Avoid triggering this behavior by setting the MLO_START_AS_ACTIVE flag
> when MLO_ASSOC_LINK is set, which tells the firmware that the current
> vdev must not enter suspend mode
> 
> Note that this change relies on firmware behavior observed on the QCC2072
> platform. The firmware on WCN7850 and QCN9274 does not use the
> MLO_START_AS_ACTIVE flag, so this change is effectively a no-op on those
> platforms
> 
> Tested-on: QCC2072 hw1.0 PCI WLAN.COL.1.0.c2-00068-QCACOLSWPL_V1_TO_SILICONZ-1
> Tested-on: WCN7850 hw2.0 PCI WLAN.HMT.1.1.c5-00302-QCAHMTSWPL_V1.0_V2.0_SILICONZ-1.115823.3
> 
> Fixes: d8e1f4a19310 ("wifi: ath12k: enable QCC2072 support")
> Signed-off-by: Miaoqing Pan <miaoqing.pan@oss.qualcomm.com>

Reviewed-by: Baochen Qiang <baochen.qiang@oss.qualcomm.com>

Re: [PATCH ath-next] wifi: ath12k: fix ML-STA authentication timeout on QCC2072

[Vasanthakumar Thiagarajan]

On 7/4/2026 1:00 PM, Miaoqing Pan wrote:
> QCC2072 firmware interprets the MLO_LINK_ADD and MLO_START_AS_ACTIVE
> flags to control the link state during MLO vdev start. MLO_LINK_ADD
> indicates that a link is being added, while MLO_START_AS_ACTIVE specifies
> that the link should become active during the start.
> 
> When an association link is added without setting MLO_START_AS_ACTIVE,
> the firmware may transition the link into a suspended state. In this
> case, authentication frames transmitted by the host can be dropped,
> leading to repeated authentication retries and eventual timeout,
> for example:
>    wlp1s0: send auth to <AP> (try 1/3)
>    wlp1s0: send auth to <AP> (try 2/3)
>    wlp1s0: send auth to <AP> (try 3/3)
>    wlp1s0: authentication with <AP> timed out
> 
> Avoid triggering this behavior by setting the MLO_START_AS_ACTIVE flag
> when MLO_ASSOC_LINK is set, which tells the firmware that the current
> vdev must not enter suspend mode
> 
> Note that this change relies on firmware behavior observed on the QCC2072
> platform. The firmware on WCN7850 and QCN9274 does not use the
> MLO_START_AS_ACTIVE flag, so this change is effectively a no-op on those
> platforms
> 
> Tested-on: QCC2072 hw1.0 PCI WLAN.COL.1.0.c2-00068-QCACOLSWPL_V1_TO_SILICONZ-1
> Tested-on: WCN7850 hw2.0 PCI WLAN.HMT.1.1.c5-00302-QCAHMTSWPL_V1.0_V2.0_SILICONZ-1.115823.3
> 
> Fixes: d8e1f4a19310 ("wifi: ath12k: enable QCC2072 support")
> Signed-off-by: Miaoqing Pan <miaoqing.pan@oss.qualcomm.com>

Reviewed-by: Vasanthakumar Thiagarajan <vasanthakumar.thiagarajan@oss.qualcomm.com>

Re: [PATCH ath-next] wifi: ath12k: fix ML-STA authentication timeout on QCC2072

[Jeff Johnson]

On Sat, 04 Jul 2026 15:30:00 +0800, Miaoqing Pan wrote:
> QCC2072 firmware interprets the MLO_LINK_ADD and MLO_START_AS_ACTIVE
> flags to control the link state during MLO vdev start. MLO_LINK_ADD
> indicates that a link is being added, while MLO_START_AS_ACTIVE specifies
> that the link should become active during the start.
> 
> When an association link is added without setting MLO_START_AS_ACTIVE,
> the firmware may transition the link into a suspended state. In this
> case, authentication frames transmitted by the host can be dropped,
> leading to repeated authentication retries and eventual timeout,
> for example:
>   wlp1s0: send auth to <AP> (try 1/3)
>   wlp1s0: send auth to <AP> (try 2/3)
>   wlp1s0: send auth to <AP> (try 3/3)
>   wlp1s0: authentication with <AP> timed out
> 
> [...]

Applied, thanks!

[1/1] wifi: ath12k: fix ML-STA authentication timeout on QCC2072
      commit: 3567d90721a8a51f051bcea3937febddc973e14c

Best regards,
-- 
Jeff Johnson <jeff.johnson@oss.qualcomm.com>