WizardStan
Mega GP Mania
- Joined
- May 24, 2008
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Which value in the file is the gain? For the most part, the data is just a bunch of numbers with no indication what any of it means.
WiFi mysteries resolved once and for all — Power saving is clearly the culprit!
- Thread starter porg
- Start date
notaz
Certified Guru
Or better, check nvs_map.txt from http://notaz.gp2x.de/misc/pnd/wl1251/
WizardStan
Mega GP Mania
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- May 24, 2008
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Oh, well then. Cool 
porg
Active Member
@Notaz:
@Notaz:
- Please remove my MAC address from the publicly available profile. Thanks! (I removed it from my public post as well, had not known that the MAC was included)
- I am willing to test other profiles now (i.e. from Neelix). Before this I need some info from you, please. AFAIK all Pandoras have the same WiFi chip.
I assume I can load just any profile? Or only those, which are the same model as mine? (Parameters model-specific? Or different per every Pandora (=serial-nr)? I have a Rebirth) - Must I prepare the file prior loading into the driver? (i.e. replace the MAC address with my MAC address? Any other precautions? Or just trial and error, no harm possible?
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porg
Active Member
@Forum admin: Btw, could you please remove that annoying file type limitation (everything besides the usual (jpg/gif/png/txt) is forbidden). Have to rename .bin files each time prior attaching. Hope .pnd and .zip are allowed!
notaz
Certified Guru
Done.
Yeah it should be safe, no need no update anything as there is nothing model specific, the whole thing is temporary and will only be effective until driver is unloaded. Also the driver will use random MAC address in this mode (not sure why it's coded like that but that's how it is).
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Zero3K
Active Member
Here are the full and nvs EEPROMs that I dumped from my Rebirth Pandora.
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porg
Active Member
1) Thanks for sharing! 2) If you share, please also state how well your WiFi works (with/without powersaving) and with which router(s).
Zero3K
Active Member
With Powersave: 100-210 KB/s
Without Powersave:30-210 KB/s
Router: Cisco Linksys E1200
Without Powersave:30-210 KB/s
Router: Cisco Linksys E1200
porg
Active Member
I tried loading various calibration profiles. After loading the driver with the profile from file,
my Pandora connects to my WPA-PSK encrypted network of my D-Link DI-524 router,
and then I wget a large file (753MB) from a very fast and reliable server (Ubuntu mirror).
Profiles from Neelix, Galaxis, Zero3K, Notaz (all revisions): Sadly, the same bad behavior as with my profile. A bit of variation. Mostly it starts at ~30-60 KB/s, drops to NULL or almost NULL in about 10-30 seconds ). Once in a while (maybe 1 out of 50 attempts) I get that lucky streak of reaching 500-600 KB/s and then keeping it until driver unload. But on next reload, gone again. Sometimes I had the impression that one profile was better/worse than others. But after multiple attempts, I always came to the conclusion, that this was just the same statistical distribution I experienced with my own profile.
Disclaimer: Notaz' instruction mentions no checking method to be sure that force_nvs_file=1 was indeed considered by the driver,
After cp /somewhere/specific-profile.bin to /lib/firmware/wl1251-nvs.bin and reloading the driver with force_nvs_file=1 no error message was thrown, and in the GUI, the network icon in the XFCE menu bar showed the connection animation and then the icon status as connected. The driver was loaded, and I guess the calibration file was considered. But who knows, maybe I was seeing my very own profile all the time. I cannot tell for sure.
But if the profiles were indeed loaded, then that's bad news, because none of the profiles changed anything about WiFi, which diminishes our hopes that recalibration may improve WiFi.
Or it means that I need even more samples for trial and error. Or it means, that we need a more dynamic driver configuration/monitoring software utility.
Neelix
Insecticidal Maniac
If you successfully loaded the NVS profile you should have had a different (random) MAC address. That's what I'd be looking for in terms of confirmation. Note the MAC address you usually get, when loading the driver without specifying an NVS and use that as a reference.
- Neelix
- Neelix
notaz
Certified Guru
Like Neelix says, easiest way to check if custom NVS is loaded is to see what MAC address you have at given time (you can use ifconfig for that), if it starts with 00:19:94 it means it didn't load and your own default is used, otherwise it's loaded from file.
If what you say is true then it's not calibration related and just more overall effort wasted on wifi, ohwell..
If what you say is true then it's not calibration related and just more overall effort wasted on wifi, ohwell..
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porg
Active Member
1) I tested again, and the MAC addresses always changed, so the profiles were read in this test session, and very likely also in my recent test session, with the disappointing results.
This time I had speedy connections with all profiles (my own (porg), neelix, galaxis), meaning that I either immediately reached 500-650 KB/s, or at least built up that speed after about 1-2min. But this is only a lucky time of the day (14:00-15:00) were most neighbors are at work, WiFi traffic is reduced.
Maybe the Pandora WiFi chip is the "weak child in the neighborhood", which cannot establish itself with too much nearby traffic, copes badly with collisions?
Can I read the number of packet collisions anywhere, to see wether that theory holds, wether there is a correlation?
15:30: Again, that theory did not hold long. As soon as I stopped testing via wget (speedy long term connection), I changed to the rather day-to-day application of web browsing (all tests in both profiles: porg and neelix), and soon stalling happened again! Again my theory of the "critical treshhold" turned out to likely be true — permanent transmissions which once made it through the treshhold survive, chunk wise traffic gets suppressed. But also wget stalled then. So maybe neighboring traffic increased at that time?
Does anyone have any ideas for improvement? I am already quite de-moralized!
2) Very close to simply buying a tiny USB-WiFi-adapter, and accepting the higher battery drain — btw, does USB-Wifi drain significantly more battery than internal-WiFi? And how is USB-WiFi toggled? Is it user friendly (1-click for toggling) or cumbersome (successive actions such as first enabling USB-host, then USB-WiFi)?
This time I had speedy connections with all profiles (my own (porg), neelix, galaxis), meaning that I either immediately reached 500-650 KB/s, or at least built up that speed after about 1-2min. But this is only a lucky time of the day (14:00-15:00) were most neighbors are at work, WiFi traffic is reduced.
Maybe the Pandora WiFi chip is the "weak child in the neighborhood", which cannot establish itself with too much nearby traffic, copes badly with collisions?
Can I read the number of packet collisions anywhere, to see wether that theory holds, wether there is a correlation?
15:30: Again, that theory did not hold long. As soon as I stopped testing via wget (speedy long term connection), I changed to the rather day-to-day application of web browsing (all tests in both profiles: porg and neelix), and soon stalling happened again! Again my theory of the "critical treshhold" turned out to likely be true — permanent transmissions which once made it through the treshhold survive, chunk wise traffic gets suppressed. But also wget stalled then. So maybe neighboring traffic increased at that time?
Does anyone have any ideas for improvement? I am already quite de-moralized!
2) Very close to simply buying a tiny USB-WiFi-adapter, and accepting the higher battery drain — btw, does USB-Wifi drain significantly more battery than internal-WiFi? And how is USB-WiFi toggled? Is it user friendly (1-click for toggling) or cumbersome (successive actions such as first enabling USB-host, then USB-WiFi)?
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mcobit
Advanced Member
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2008
- Messages
- 6,909
You only enable usb host. The rest should be automatic. Including the connection to the network.
So go ahead and buy one.
The battery drain doesn't seem too bad.
I didn't do measurements, but I think I get about an hour less of total runtime with an usb wifi stick.
So go ahead and buy one.
The battery drain doesn't seem too bad.
I didn't do measurements, but I think I get about an hour less of total runtime with an usb wifi stick.
porg
Active Member
But this is a service, which starts at boot/login time. Is there also the possibility to toggle it on/off while runtime with a single interaction? (Like the toggle for the internal WiFi)
porg
Active Member
But this is only "USB host" in general (which you also enable prior connecting a USB flash drive, or USB printer, etc). It then needs another toggle for "activate WiFi over USB" (where and however this works!?) And this is what I want to spare myself. Toggle, wait, toggle, wait. I
That's why I asked: Is there a single click operation for toggling USB-WiFi ???
That's why I asked: Is there a single click operation for toggling USB-WiFi ???
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There is no USB Wifi.
If the host is enabled, it will recognize the device you plug in and it will work.
Or have you seen on any PC or the Pandora switches to enable USB-Sticks, USB-Joysticks, USB-CardReaders, ...
A PC recognizes any USB device automatically as long as there is a driver on the system (which is the case for most Wifi devices).
If the host is enabled, it will recognize the device you plug in and it will work.
Or have you seen on any PC or the Pandora switches to enable USB-Sticks, USB-Joysticks, USB-CardReaders, ...
A PC recognizes any USB device automatically as long as there is a driver on the system (which is the case for most Wifi devices).
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