Wifi not finding any networks - driver crashes - since FPOS 15.148.0 and in e/OS

Since I bought my Fairphone 6 it worked fine without any major issues. But after the first software upgrade (it was FP6.QREL.15.148.0) I started to experience Wifi driver crashes at random moments. Sometimes it looks like a sudden reboot of the phone, sometimes it freezes and reboots after that. But most of the time it just looses Wifi connection and stops seeing any networks. Turning wifi of and on does not help - it just stays off. It’s looks very similar to the issue reported here (and also in the comments here).

Using ADB, I found the following lines in the log

11-05 18:58:56.511 1447 1534 E android.hardware.wifi-service: Could not set interface MAC address for wlan0 (Invalid argument)
11-05 18:58:56.511 1447 1534 E android.hardware.wifi-service: Could not set interface flags for wlan0 (Invalid argument)
11-05 18:58:56.511 1447 1534 E android.hardware.wifi-service: SetUpState(true) failed. Wait for driver ready.

Turing airplane mode on and off gives the following lines:

------ airplane mode on —
11-05 19:17:10.554  1447  1534 I android.hardware.wifi-service: Adding interface handle for wifi-aware0
11-05 19:17:10.554  1447  1534 I android.hardware.wifi-service: Adding interface handle for wlan0
11-05 19:17:10.554  1447  1534 I android.hardware.wifi-service: Adding interface handle for p2p0
11-05 19:17:10.554  1447  1534 W android.hardware.wifi-service: No active wlan interfaces in use! Using default
11-05 19:17:10.609  1447  3368 I CLD80211: android.hardware.wifi-service: Sent msg on exit sock to unblock poll()
11-05 19:17:10.614  1447  3368 I android.hardware.wifi-service: Legacy HAL stop complete callback received
11-05 19:17:10.615  1447  1534 I android.hardware.wifi-service: Wifi HAL stopped

------ airplane mode off ------------
11-05 19:17:31.677  1447  1534 W android.hardware.wifi-service: AIBinder_linkToDeath is being called with a non-null cookie and no onUnlink callback set. This might not be intended. AIBinder_DeathRecipient_setOnUnlinked should be called first.

------ enter internet settings -----------
11-05 19:17:53.133  1447  1534 E android.hardware.wifi-service: Failed to write driver state control param: Invalid argument
11-05 19:17:53.133  1447  1534 E android.hardware.wifi-service: Failed to load WiFi driver
11-05 19:17:53.133  1447  1534 E android.hardware.wifi-service: Failed to initialize firmware mode controller
11-05 19:17:53.133  1447  1534 E android.hardware.wifi-service: Wifi HAL start failed
11-05 19:17:55.165  1447  1534 W android.hardware.wifi-service: AIBinder_linkToDeath is being called with a non-null cookie and no onUnlink callback set. This might not be intended. AIBinder_DeathRecipient_setOnUnlinked should be called first.

----- try to turn on Wifi in the internet settings --------------
11-05 19:18:15.665  1447  1534 E android.hardware.wifi-service: Failed to write driver state control param: Invalid argument
11-05 19:18:15.665  1447  1534 E android.hardware.wifi-service: Failed to load WiFi driver
11-05 19:18:15.665  1447  1534 E android.hardware.wifi-service: Failed to initialize firmware mode controller
11-05 19:18:15.666  1447  1534 E android.hardware.wifi-service: Wifi HAL start failed
11-05 19:18:15.684  1447  1534 W android.hardware.wifi-service: AIBinder_linkToDeath is being called with a non-null cookie and no onUnlink callback set. This might not be intended. AIBinder_DeathRecipient_setOnUnlinked should be called first.

I’ve contacted the official technical support, but without full factory reset they refuse to do anything with my report. Doing factory reset is very painful for me because some Android Apps do not support any forms of backup and you need to restore everything manually.

I’ve also tried the following steps which had no effect on my issue:

  • Reset Bluetooth & Wi-Fi (from System → Reset options)
  • Disable MAC randomization for my Wifi network (Privacy → Use device MAC)

Two firmware updates have been released since, but the issue remains (now in the FP6.QREL.15.162.0 version).

Maybe somebody experienced the same problem and know some workarounds?

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