Ath10k Candela Technologies CT 10.4 Firmware

The CT 10.4 firmware is a modified version of the official firmware from Qualcom-Atheros based on the 10.4 code. It should support all features available in the upstream 10.4 firmware as well as additional features. The firmware is compiled for different target NICs/chipsets, be sure to get the one that works for your particular NIC!

Want to help fund new ath10k CT firmware features with modest contributions? See the ath10k kickstarter page.

This is 'wave-2' firmware, and is known to support at least these NICS:

WLP1200 heat-sink pcie -> mini-pcie adapter
The CUS239 related boards require extra cooling. The WLP1200 works well for this, but may be hard to find in smaller quantities and/or short lead times.
Zcomax AC-924 / CUS239 with QCA9984
NOTES: Requires external 2-amp 5v power supply (and ground) on the 5v solder point when used in x86 (and probably other platforms that do not have special built-in 5v power on the pcie-bus.) We had success using the 5v pin on an SATA/floppy power header, connected with 18 gauge wire so it can carry the desired power. Also may require heat-sink or other active cooling to keep the board from over-heating.
Compex WLE1216V5-23 / CUS239 - with QCA9984
NOTES: Requires external 2-amp 5v power supply (and ground) on the 5v loop connector when used in x86 (and probably other platforms that do not have special built-in 5v power on the pcie-bus.) We had success using the 5v pin on an SATA/floppy power header, connected with 18 gauge wire so it can carry the desired power. Also may require heat-sink or other active cooling to keep the board from over-heating.
Compex WLE650V5-18 - with QCA9888
This is a 2x2 MU-MIMO capable NIC. It is similar to the 9984 except that it is only 2x2. It uses the 9888 firmware images. It does not require extra cooling or external power. Early versions of this NIC with similar model number had the QCA9886 chipset, but new ones only use the QCA9888 chipset it seems.

WLE1200v5-22 / CUS239 with QCA9980 (EOL)
NOTES: Requires external 2-amp 5v power supply (and ground) on the 5v loop connector when used in x86 (and probably other platforms that do not have special built-in 5v power on the pcie-bus.) We had success using the 5v pin on an SATA/floppy power header, connected with 18 gauge wire so it can carry the desired power. Also may require heat-sink or other active cooling to keep the board from over-heating.
WLE1216V5-20 with QCA9984
This NIC uses same BMI-id and PCI-id as the WLE1216V5-23, so by default the ath10k driver will load the wrong board-file contents. The recent CT ath10k driver supports specifying a unique board-file using the fwcfg feature. With the latest beta CT firmware, and a customized board.bin it has been working well in brief testing. Further testing showed several potential issues: When the NIC is within about 8 feet or less of the AP, throughput suffers badly. At 12 feet and higher (in our tests), it runs well. A second problem is that the NIC appears to radiate some near-field interference: If you bring up an idle station on a WLE1216V5-20, it will significantly disrupt traffic running on another NIC a few inches away. The WLE1216V5-23 and the Zcomax AC-924, which uses the same 9984 chipset, does not appear to have this problem.

To use this firwmare, download one of the firmware images and rename it firmware-5.bin. The command below should work on most systems:

cp firmware-5-ct-full-community.bin /lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA99X0/hw2.0/firmware-5.bin

Get the board.bin file from the official firmware site, for example, 9980:

# ls -l /usr/lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA99X0/hw2.0/
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root     37 Jan 15 17:07 board.bin -> boardData_AR900B_CUS239_5G_v2_001.bin
-rw-rw-r-- 1  500  500  12064 Oct 13 17:26 boardData_AR900B_CUS239_5G_v2_001.bin
-rw-rw-r-- 1  500  500  12064 Oct 13 17:26 boardData_AR900B_CUS260_2G_v2_002.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 523924 Jan 22 12:43 firmware-5.bin

Or, board-2.bin for 9984 or 9888:

[root@ath-9984 ~]# ls -l /lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA9984/hw1.0/
total 1200
-rw-rw-r-- 1  500  500  12144 Jun  2 15:56 board-2.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 589204 Jul 15 10:30 firmware-5.bin
-rw-rw-r-- 1  500  500 591308 Jun  2 15:56 firmware-5.bin_10.4-3.2-00072
-rw-rw-r-- 1  500  500  30479 Jun  2 15:56 notice.txt_10.4-3.2-00072

Then, reboot or reload the ath10k_pci driver to start using the new firmware. Look in the kernel logs (or dmesg) to make sure the firmware version contains '-ct', such as: 10.4.3-ct-xtH-007-a5ece62

For more advanced configuration options, see below.

There are two types of CT firmware: The community version supports all features EXCEPT connecting multiple vifs to the same AP when using encryption. The community version may be used for any purpose allowed by the official firmware from Qualcom-Atheros, including commercial applications.
firmware-5-ct-full-community.bin (latest) 9980 | 9984.

The non-commercial firmware from Candela Technologies does support multiple station vifs connecting to a single AP (really, it supports rx-software-crypt, which is the enabling feature). The non-commercial firmware is NOT freely available. It is restricted to non-commerical use unless you arrange a commercial-use license with Candela Technologies. Contact sales@candelatech.com for additional information on this topic.
firmware-5-ct-non-commercial.bin (latest) 9980 | 9984.

Any and all bug reports involving this firmware (and the modified kernels from Candela Technologies) should be sent to support@candelatech.com. Qualcom-Atheros is not responsible for the changes made to the modified firmware and should not be bothered with bug reports relating to it. Reports of success are welcome as well! To submit a useful bug report, please include kernel logs, especially any firmware crash logs. These crash logs are often chunks of ascii hex. Candela has tools that can usually decode these, but due to NDA issues, these tools may not be shared with the general public. Candela engineers will attempt to decode any reported crashes and provide help as possible. Note that unless you have a contract with Candela that provides otherwise, any help with bugs may be slow or even not much actual help at all. Please also report the kernel version and any other details about how the problem was triggered.

Candela offers paid support options, please contact sales@candelatech.com if you have interest.

See the bottom of this page for some common crash signatures.

CT 10.4 Firmware Differences from Official QCA Firmware

The ath10k 10.4 firmware from Candela is based on the 10.4.3.3-25 firmware from QCA, but has some added features and fixes (and probably a few added bugs). Some notable differences are listed below. Most of these require the kernel modifications in the 4.4 or later Candela Linux kernels, but the firmware images should work on un-modified kernels for the standard features.

Most of the 10.1 CT features have now been ported to 10.4.

Optimized tx-credits handling. Host driver can configure maximum tx-credits and firmware will return credits immediately so less flush-mgmt hacks are needed on host.
Supports reporting tx-rate to the sending stack.
Supports configuring the firmware tx-buffer count below 1024 (diet variants only, since they compile out the descriptor-management code that likes to assert when too few tx-descriptors are configured.)
Supports rx-software-crypt (non-commercial version only, unless you purchase commercial license.). This enables having multiple station VIFs connect to the same AP. Decrypt is done on CPU, so it is relatively slow, especially on slower CPUs.
Support IBSS (ADHOC) mode.
Optimized firmware memory usage to be more stable in strange configurations.
Lots of bug fixes and hardening related to memory usage issues.
Fix 802.11r (fast roaming) in station mode.
Supports up to 36 station VIFS (64 with 9984 and 9888).

Known CT 10.4 Firmware/Kernel Bugs

9980 chipset NICs appear to have trouble doing full 4x4 MCS rates, even in optimal environments.

To take advantage of all of the CT firmware features, please consider using one of these kernels. These kernels are rebased fairly often to keep all CT patches at the top of the git changelog. 4.4 or higher is currently the required kernel.

## Full Candela Technologies patch set
git clone https://github.com/greearb/linux-ct-4.4.git 
or
git clone https://github.com/greearb/linux-ct-4.7.git (Suggested, and required for 9984, 9888 chipset support.)
or
git clone https://github.com/greearb/linux-ct-4.9.git (beta-ish)

The CT firmware has a separate release number appended to the end of the version string. If the binaries do not yet exist, then the features that define them have not yet been implemented.

Ath10k CT 10.4.3 Beta 9

Improve vht-160 support.
Improve rate-ctrl with many active peers.
Allow configuring max-amsdu (up to 31).
Fix probe-req having invalid rate sometimes.
Fix compiler warnings when compiling with 4.7 gcc. Big code cleanup.
Backport up to 10.4.3.4.82 upstream firmware.
Compile out COEX code in diet/trimmed builds to save RAM/IRAM.
Fix some type-safety problems in WDS code.
Start using patch-allocram code for 9888. Gives extra RAM resources, and extra debugging hooks.
Fix a bunch of issues related to EAPOL 4-way & 64 active station vdevs.

See BETA release notes for details.

firmware-5-ct-full-community.bin 9980 | 9984 | 9888: No CT-HTT-MGT feature, no upstream features compiled out (no diet), available for commercial and non-commercial use at no charge. This firmware should be a drop-in replacement for stock QCA firmware.
firmware-5-ct-community.bin 9980 | 9984 | 9888: No CT-HTT-MGT feature, some un-used and/or useless upstream features compiled out (diet), available for commercial and non-commercial use at no charge.
firmware-5-ct-non-commercial.bin 9980 | 9984 | 9888: No CT-HTT-MGT feature, swbmiss, beacon filtering, roaming code, descriptor-mgt compiled out, supports rx-sw-crypt (commercial use not allowed unless you have a license from Candela Technologies.
firmware-5-ct-non-commercial-full.bin 9980 | 9984 | 9888: No CT-HTT-MGT feature, no upstream features compiled out (no diet), supports rx-sw-crypt (commercial use not allowed unless you have a license from Candela Technologies.