>I suppose we could consider applying a workaround like this if it has a >condition checking that the buffer passed in is the maximum possible >buffer (65535 bytes, due to iw_point::length being u16) This is what the latest patch does (attached to my email from yesterday / https://lkml.org/lkml/2019/8/10/452 ). If you'd like to apply it, I'm happy to make any needed revisions. Otherwise I'm going to have to keep patching my kernels for this issue, unfortunately I don't have the time to try to get wicd to migrate to a better solution. On 8/11/19, Johannes Berg <johannes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > On Sun, 2019-08-11 at 02:08 +0000, James Nylen wrote: >> In 5.x it's still possible for `ieee80211_scan_results` (`iwlist >> scan`) to fail when too many wireless networks are available. This >> code path is used by `wicd`. >> >> Previously: https://lkml.org/lkml/2017/4/2/192 > > This has been known for probably a decade or longer. I don't know why > 'wicd' still insists on using wext, unless it's no longer maintained at > all. nl80211 doesn't have this problem at all, and I think gives more > details about the networks found too. > >> I've been applying this updated patch to my own kernels since 2017 with >> no issues. I am sure it is not the ideal way to solve this problem, but >> I'm making my fix available in case it helps others. > > I don't think silently dropping data is a good solution. > > I suppose we could consider applying a workaround like this if it has a > condition checking that the buffer passed in is the maximum possible > buffer (65535 bytes, due to iw_point::length being u16), but below that > -E2BIG serves well-written implementations as an indicator that they > need to retry with a bigger buffer. > >> Please advise on next steps or if this is a dead end. > > I think wireless extensions are in fact a dead end and all software > (even 'wicd', which seems to be the lone holdout) should migrate to > nl80211 instead. > > johannes > >
