===== Driver API tracing =====
==== Enabling ====
Since 2.6.32 mac80211 includes a tracing framework, and since 3.2 it is always enabled if possible (if EVENT_TRACING is enabled in the kernel.)
To be able to use it on kernels before 3.2, enable CONFIG_MAC80211_DRIVER_API_TRACER
(requires tracing and CONFIG_MAC80211_DEBUG_MENU
).
==== Using trace-cmd ====
The easiest way to give a trace to other people is to use trace-cmd, see also [[https://lwn.net/Articles/410200/|https://lwn.net/Articles/410200/]]. To record a trace with trace-cmd, use
trace-cmd record -e mac80211
This will record until you hit Ctrl-C to abort. The result is stored in a file "trace.dat" which you can send around for analysis. You should compress it before sending it to other people since it is relatively large but compresses well.
To analyse a file, use
trace-cmd report -i trace.dat | less
==== cfg80211 and wpasupplicant ====
Both cfg80211 and wpasupplicant have tracing support. Use '-e cfg80211' with trace-cmd to enable all cfg80211 tracing points. For wpasupplicant enable CONFIG_DEBUG_LINUX_TRACING build config and use -T switch to get log messages sent to the tracing framework.
==== Driver tracing ====
In addition to mac80211, some drivers include tracing as well.
=== iwlwifi ===
For iwlwifi, set the IWLWIFI_DEVICE_TRACING
Kconfig option. You can then get new trace subsystems:
; iwlwifi : the commands exchanged between driver and device
; iwlwifi_io : the device IO accesses and interrupt information
; iwlwifi_msg : all debug messages from the driver
; iwlwifi_ucode : uCode events (not sure they're useful today)
; iwlwifi_data : data for TX/RX frames
Recommended:
trace-cmd record -e mac80211 -e mac80211_msg -e iwlwifi -e iwlwifi_msg -e iwlwifi_data