[regression] WiFi stops working on with pico W
Port, board and/or hardware
picow
MicroPython version
Reproduction
Connect to wifi and suddenly start getting connection aborted errors (103) when making outbound request
When this happens isconnected() returns true, my ubiquity logs shows the device is still connected and i am not able to load the diagnostic data over http and the pico does not see the connection attempt
Expected behaviour
Wifi works indefinitely
Observed behaviour
wifi stops working within 6 hours of uptime (could take less than 5 minutes)
- Note that my AP and Pico W are less than 30cm apart
Additional Information
v1.23.0 (2024-06-02) .uf2 - no issues, it just works
v1.24.0 (2024-10-25) .uf2 - why is this not working
Archive.zip - my simple script
The PICO just sits around waiting for input to report to my server and periodically reports sensor data to my server
Related discussion: https://github.com/orgs/micropython/discussions/16288 - may have useful notes
Code of Conduct
Yes, I agree
Raspberry Pi Pico2 W - Wifi fails to start if CPU is overclocked
Port, board and/or hardware
RPI_PICO_2_W
MicroPython version
MicroPython v1.25.0-preview.307.g4364d9411 on 2025-02-23; Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W with RP2350
Reproduction
Save the following code onto the Pico 2 W and run it with either CPU_FREQ = 300_000_000 or CPU_FREQ = 150_000_000 uncommented.
When using the overclocked frequency, the following error is printed and the access point is not available to connect to: [CYW43] Failed to start CYW43
When using the default frequency the access point can be connected to and no errors are printed
import machine
import network
"""
When overclocked we get
[CYW43] Failed to start CYW43
When using default CPU frequency
the wifi starts fine
"""
CPU_FREQ = 300_000_000 # overclocked
#CPU_FREQ = 150_000_000 # default
machine.freq(CPU_FREQ)
wifi = network.WLAN(network.WLAN.IF_AP)
wifi.config(
ssid="pico2w_ap",
channel=10,
security=network.WLAN.SEC_OPEN,
)
wifi.active(True)
Expected behaviour
WiFi should work if the CPU is overclocked
Observed behaviour
When the CPU is overclocked, the wireless card firmware does not appear to initialize correctly:
[CYW43] Failed to start CYW43
Additional Information
My testing setup has 2 I2C devices connected: an OLED display GP0 & GP1 and a battery-backed realtime clock on GP2 & GP3. The code above does not initialize these devices, so I don't think their presence should have any impact; it looks like simply changing the CPU frequency is enough.
Doing a little trial-and-error changing the frequencies in the script above it looks like 270MHz is the upper limit of what the wifi can handle. Is this a known limitation of the firmware?
Code of Conduct
Yes, I agree