Linux 3.12 and streaming media on a Dell XPS 13: kernel panic

Question

Hi all,
Shortly after upgrading from Linux 3.11.6 to 3.12, I started getting kernel panics while playing streaming media (in particular from Youtube and The Daily Show). Here is a camera shot. The crash would not take place immediatly, but perhaps after 15 minutes of streaming. After downgrading to Linux 3.11.6 everything works fine. Therefore, it is clear to me that the issue is related to the Linux 3.12 kernel, but this is all I know.
The fifth-to-last line from the camera shot reads:
[11438.332699] RIP [<ffffffff8129e160>] __sg_page_iter_start+0x20/0x20
A quick Google search reveals that __sg_page_iter_start is a function inside the scatterlist.h library in the Linux kernel, which apparently deals with memory paging, but my knowledge about this stuff is so poor that the message is almost meaningless. I would greatly appreciate if someone could give me a hint about this.
I did not find anything useful in the journal, but here are the last few journal lines for 2 different crash instances:
Crash #1
Nov 15 00:22:45 xps gnome-session[385]: Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_nvidia.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Nov 15 00:24:15 xps gnome-session[385]: Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_nvidia.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Nov 15 00:24:22 xps gnome-session[385]: Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_nvidia.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Nov 15 00:24:24 xps gnome-session[385]: Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_nvidia.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: Starting FCEUX 2.2.2...
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: Loading /home/vrg/MyFiles/roms/nes/CASTLEVA.NES...
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: PRG ROM: 8 x 16KiB
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: CHR ROM: 0 x 8KiB
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: ROM CRC32: 0xb668c7fc
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: ROM MD5: 0x728e05f245ab8b7fe61083f6919dc485
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: Mapper #: 2
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: Mapper name: UNROM
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: Mirroring: Vertical
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: Battery-backed: No
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: Trained: No
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: Power on
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: Initializing video... Video Mode: 256 x 224 x 32 bpp
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: Initializing video... Video Mode: 1920 x 1080 x 32 bpp full screen
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: Emulation speed 126.0%
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: Emulation speed 158.7%
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: Emulation speed 200.0%
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: Emulation speed 252.0%
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: Emulation speed 200.0%
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: Emulation speed 158.7%
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: Emulation speed 126.0%
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: Emulation speed 100.0%
Nov 15 00:24:26 xps gnome-session[385]: Initializing video... Video Mode: 256 x 224 x 32 bpp
Nov 15 00:24:27 xps gnome-session[385]: Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_nvidia.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Nov 15 00:26:02 xps kernel: perf samples too long (2530 > 2500), lowering kernel.perf_event_max_sample_rate to 50100
Nov 15 00:27:43 xps gnome-session[385]: Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_nvidia.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Nov 15 00:28:44 xps gnome-session[385]: Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_nvidia.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Nov 15 00:30:55 xps gnome-session[385]: Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_nvidia.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Nov 15 00:30:55 xps gnome-session[385]: Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_nvidia.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Nov 15 00:30:55 xps gnome-session[385]: !!! [YouTubeInfoService: setting loadContext]: TypeError: channel is undefined
Nov 15 00:31:25 xps gnome-session[385]: Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_nvidia.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Nov 15 00:31:31 xps gnome-session[385]: Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_nvidia.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Nov 15 00:31:32 xps gnome-session[385]: !!! [YouTubeInfoService: setting loadContext]: TypeError: channel is undefined
Crash #2
Nov 17 14:35:41 xps dbus-daemon[279]: dbus[279]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.NetworkManager' unit='dbus-org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.service'
Nov 17 14:35:41 xps dbus[279]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.NetworkManager' unit='dbus-org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.service'
Nov 17 14:35:41 xps dbus[279]: [system] Activation via systemd failed for unit 'dbus-org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.service': Unit dbus-org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.service failed to load: No such file or directory.
Nov 17 14:35:41 xps dbus-daemon[279]: dbus[279]: [system] Activation via systemd failed for unit 'dbus-org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.service': Unit dbus-org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.service failed to load: No such file or directory.
Nov 17 16:15:31 xps gnome-session[351]: Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_nvidia.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Nov 17 16:15:39 xps gnome-session[351]: Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_nvidia.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Nov 17 16:15:50 xps gnome-session[351]: Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_nvidia.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Nov 17 16:15:50 xps gnome-session[351]: !!! [YouTubeInfoService: setting loadContext]: TypeError: channel is undefined
Nov 17 16:16:03 xps gnome-session[351]: Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_nvidia.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Nov 17 16:24:09 xps gnome-session[351]: Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_nvidia.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Nov 17 16:29:40 xps gnome-session[351]: Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_nvidia.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Nov 17 16:37:00 xps gnome-session[351]: Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_nvidia.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Nov 17 16:41:42 xps gnome-session[351]: NOTE: child process received `Goodbye', closing down
In the first journal log, the following line calls my attention:
Nov 15 00:26:02 xps kernel: perf samples too long (2530 > 2500), lowering kernel.perf_event_max_sample_rate to 50100
However, this seems to be a normal occurrence after playing games (https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=170471), so I would guess this is not related to the kernel panic.
For reference, here are some hardware specifications of my Dell XPS 13:
# lsmod
Module Size Used by
usb_storage 47847 1
fuse 74829 3
uvcvideo 72804 0
videobuf2_vmalloc 3272 1 uvcvideo
videobuf2_memops 2335 1 videobuf2_vmalloc
videobuf2_core 27797 1 uvcvideo
videodev 110188 2 uvcvideo,videobuf2_core
media 11591 2 uvcvideo,videodev
hid_generic 1153 0
usbhid 41434 0
hid 89751 2 hid_generic,usbhid
joydev 9663 0
dell_wmi 1485 0
sparse_keymap 3114 1 dell_wmi
ax88179_178a 12500 0
usbnet 26083 1 ax88179_178a
mii 4027 2 usbnet,ax88179_178a
x86_pkg_temp_thermal 6959 0
intel_powerclamp 8642 0
coretemp 6326 0
kvm_intel 129457 0
kvm 379351 1 kvm_intel
crc32_pclmul 2987 0
crc32c_intel 14249 0
ghash_clmulni_intel 4469 0
cryptd 8473 1 ghash_clmulni_intel
nls_cp437 5953 2
iTCO_wdt 5407 0
vfat 10055 2
fat 51827 1 vfat
iTCO_vendor_support 1929 1 iTCO_wdt
dell_laptop 8851 0
dcdbas 6455 1 dell_laptop
arc4 2000 2
iwldvm 172354 0
mac80211 454008 1 iwldvm
microcode 15024 0
psmouse 85356 0
snd_hda_codec_hdmi 30233 1
evdev 10693 15
serio_raw 5041 0
pcspkr 2027 0
i2c_i801 11269 0
iwlwifi 137049 1 iwldvm
snd_hda_codec_realtek 37276 1
cfg80211 403337 3 iwlwifi,mac80211,iwldvm
i915 611138 3
wmi 8347 1 dell_wmi
rfkill 15698 3 cfg80211
thermal 8620 0
snd_hda_intel 36520 3
intel_agp 10872 1 i915
snd_hda_codec 148129 3 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel
intel_gtt 12664 2 i915,intel_agp
drm_kms_helper 35854 1 i915
snd_hwdep 6332 1 snd_hda_codec
tpm_tis 10921 0
tpm 15091 1 tpm_tis
snd_pcm 77765 3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
tpm_bios 9745 1 tpm
drm 236060 4 i915,drm_kms_helper
snd_page_alloc 7202 2 snd_pcm,snd_hda_intel
shpchp 25457 0
snd_timer 18718 1 snd_pcm
i2c_algo_bit 5391 1 i915
snd 59141 13 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_pcm,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
i2c_core 23720 6 drm,i915,i2c_i801,drm_kms_helper,i2c_algo_bit,videodev
soundcore 5450 1 snd
mei_me 9296 0
battery 6925 0
mei 62003 1 mei_me
video 11380 1 i915
mperf 1235 0
lpc_ich 13112 0
ac 3324 0
processor 25077 0
button 4669 1 i915
vboxdrv 263994 0
ext4 470284 3
crc16 1359 1 ext4
mbcache 5866 1 ext4
jbd2 83376 1 ext4
sd_mod 30739 8
ahci 22888 5
libahci 21393 1 ahci
ehci_pci 4120 0
libata 171318 2 ahci,libahci
ehci_hcd 48052 1 ehci_pci
xhci_hcd 91357 0
scsi_mod 128695 3 usb_storage,libata,sd_mod
usbcore 178087 8 uvcvideo,usb_storage,ehci_hcd,ehci_pci,usbhid,usbnet,ax88179_178a,xhci_hcd
usb_common 1648 1 usbcore
# lshw
xps
description: Portable Computer
product: Dell System XPS L322X (System SKUNumber)
vendor: Dell Inc.
version: 0.1
serial: 2H0CVW1
width: 64 bits
capabilities: smbios-2.7 dmi-2.7 vsyscall32
configuration: administrator_password=unknown boot=normal chassis=portable family=ChiefRiver System frontpanel_password=unknown keyboard_password=unknown power-on_password=unknown sku=System SKUNumber uuid=44454C4C-4800-1030-8043-B2C04F565731
*-core
description: Motherboard
product: 0PJHXN
vendor: Dell Inc.
physical id: 0
version: A00
serial: .2H0CVW1.CN4864332G0061.
slot: Part Component
*-cpu
description: CPU
product: Core i7 (To Be Filled By O.E.M.)
vendor: Intel Corp.
physical id: 4
bus info: cpu@0
version: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3537U CPU @ 2.00GHz
serial: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
slot: CPU Socket - U3E1
size: 2500MHz
capacity: 3100MHz
width: 64 bits
clock: 100MHz
capabilities: x86-64 fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm ida arat epb xsaveopt pln pts dtherm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid fsgsbase smep erms cpufreq
configuration: cores=2 enabledcores=2 threads=4
*-cache:0
description: L1 cache
physical id: 6
slot: L1-Cache
size: 32KiB
capacity: 32KiB
capabilities: internal write-through instruction
*-cache:1
description: L2 cache
physical id: 7
slot: L2-Cache
size: 256KiB
capacity: 256KiB
capabilities: internal write-through unified
*-cache:2
description: L3 cache
physical id: 8
slot: L3-Cache
size: 4MiB
capacity: 4MiB
capabilities: internal write-back unified
*-cache
description: L1 cache
physical id: 5
slot: L1-Cache
size: 32KiB
capacity: 32KiB
capabilities: internal write-through data
*-firmware
description: BIOS
vendor: Dell Inc.
physical id: 0
version: A06
date: 12/03/2012
size: 128KiB
capacity: 6592KiB
capabilities: pci pnp upgrade shadowing escd cdboot bootselect edd int13floppy360 int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer int10video acpi usb ls120boot smartbattery biosbootspecification netboot
*-memory
description: System Memory
physical id: 35
slot: System board or motherboard
size: 8GiB
*-bank:0
description: DIMM DDR3 Synchronous 1600 MHz (0.6 ns)
product: HT5SMRAP
vendor: Hynix/Hyundai
physical id: 0
serial: 00000000
slot: ChannelA-DIMM0
size: 4GiB
width: 64 bits
clock: 1600MHz (0.6ns)
*-bank:1
description: DIMM DDR3 Synchronous 1600 MHz (0.6 ns)
product: HT5SMRAP
vendor: Hynix/Hyundai
physical id: 1
serial: 00000000
slot: ChannelB-DIMM0
size: 4GiB
width: 64 bits
clock: 1600MHz (0.6ns)
*-pci
description: Host bridge
product: 3rd Gen Core processor DRAM Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 100
bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
version: 09
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
*-display
description: VGA compatible controller
product: 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 2
bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
version: 09
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
resources: irq:45 memory:d0000000-d03fffff memory:c0000000-cfffffff ioport:2000(size=64)
*-usb:0
description: USB controller
product: 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI Host Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 14
bus info: pci@0000:00:14.0
version: 04
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi xhci bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=xhci_hcd latency=0
resources: irq:40 memory:d0500000-d050ffff
*-usbhost:0
product: xHCI Host Controller
vendor: Linux 3.11.6-1-ARCH xhci_hcd
physical id: 0
bus info: usb@2
logical name: usb2
version: 3.11
capabilities: usb-3.00
configuration: driver=hub slots=4 speed=5000Mbit/s
*-usb
description: Ethernet interface
product: AX88179
vendor: ASIX Elec. Corp.
physical id: 2
bus info: usb@2:2
logical name: enp0s20u2
version: 1.00
serial: 0000249B0982FA
size: 100Mbit/s
capacity: 1Gbit/s
capabilities: usb-3.00 ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=ax88179_178a duplex=full ip=128.103.14.222 link=yes maxpower=496mA multicast=yes port=MII speed=100Mbit/s
*-usbhost:1
product: xHCI Host Controller
vendor: Linux 3.11.6-1-ARCH xhci_hcd
physical id: 1
bus info: usb@1
logical name: usb1
version: 3.11
capabilities: usb-2.00
configuration: driver=hub slots=4 speed=480Mbit/s
*-usb
description: USB hub
product: USB2.0 Hub
vendor: Genesys Logic, Inc.
physical id: 1
bus info: usb@1:1
version: 32.98
capabilities: usb-2.00
configuration: driver=hub maxpower=100mA slots=4 speed=480Mbit/s
*-usb:0
description: Mouse
product: USB OPTICAL MOUSE
vendor: PIXART
physical id: 1
bus info: usb@1:1.1
version: 1.00
capabilities: usb-1.10
configuration: driver=usbhid maxpower=100mA speed=2Mbit/s
*-usb:1
description: Mass storage device
product: Android Phone
vendor: HTC
physical id: 2
bus info: usb@1:1.2
version: 2.26
serial: HT08DHL10581
capabilities: usb-2.00 scsi
configuration: driver=usb-storage maxpower=500mA speed=480Mbit/s
*-communication
description: Communication controller
product: 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 16
bus info: pci@0000:00:16.0
version: 04
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=mei_me latency=0
resources: irq:42 memory:d0515000-d051500f
*-usb:1
description: USB controller
product: 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1a
bus info: pci@0000:00:1a.0
version: 04
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm debug ehci bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=ehci-pci latency=0
resources: irq:16 memory:d051a000-d051a3ff
*-usbhost
product: EHCI Host Controller
vendor: Linux 3.11.6-1-ARCH ehci_hcd
physical id: 1
bus info: usb@3
logical name: usb3
version: 3.11
capabilities: usb-2.00
configuration: driver=hub slots=2 speed=480Mbit/s
*-usb
description: USB hub
product: Integrated Rate Matching Hub
vendor: Intel Corp.
physical id: 1
bus info: usb@3:1
version: 0.00
capabilities: usb-2.00
configuration: driver=hub slots=6 speed=480Mbit/s
*-usb
description: Video
product: Laptop_Integrated_Webcam_1.3M
vendor: 00248CE62D1E-CC18-000603
physical id: 5
bus info: usb@3:1.5
version: 27.09
capabilities: usb-2.00
configuration: driver=uvcvideo maxpower=500mA speed=480Mbit/s
*-multimedia
description: Audio device
product: 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1b
bus info: pci@0000:00:1b.0
version: 04
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=snd_hda_intel latency=0
resources: irq:43 memory:d0510000-d0513fff
*-pci
description: PCI bridge
product: 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1c
bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.0
version: c4
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=pcieport
resources: irq:16 memory:d0400000-d04fffff
*-network DISABLED
description: Wireless interface
product: Centrino Advanced-N 6235
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
logical name: wlp1s0
version: 24
serial: c8:f7:33:83:71:1f
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlwifi driverversion=3.11.6-1-ARCH firmware=18.168.6.1 latency=0 link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11abgn
resources: irq:44 memory:d0400000-d0401fff
*-usb:2
description: USB controller
product: 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1d
bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.0
version: 04
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm debug ehci bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=ehci-pci latency=0
resources: irq:23 memory:d0519000-d05193ff
*-usbhost
product: EHCI Host Controller
vendor: Linux 3.11.6-1-ARCH ehci_hcd
physical id: 1
bus info: usb@4
logical name: usb4
version: 3.11
capabilities: usb-2.00
configuration: driver=hub slots=2 speed=480Mbit/s
*-usb
description: USB hub
product: Integrated Rate Matching Hub
vendor: Intel Corp.
physical id: 1
bus info: usb@4:1
version: 0.00
capabilities: usb-2.00
configuration: driver=hub slots=8 speed=480Mbit/s
*-isa
description: ISA bridge
product: QS77 Express Chipset LPC Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1f
bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.0
version: 04
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: isa bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=lpc_ich latency=0
resources: irq:0
*-storage
description: SATA controller
product: 7 Series Chipset Family 6-port SATA Controller [AHCI mode]
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1f.2
bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.2
version: 04
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: storage msi pm ahci_1.0 bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=ahci latency=0
resources: irq:41 ioport:2098(size=8) ioport:20bc(size=4) ioport:2090(size=8) ioport:20b8(size=4) ioport:2060(size=32) memory:d0518000-d05187ff
*-serial UNCLAIMED
description: SMBus
product: 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1f.3
bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.3
version: 04
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
configuration: latency=0
resources: memory:d0514000-d05140ff ioport:efa0(size=32)
*-battery
product: DELL
vendor: Dynapack
physical id: 1
version: 2008
serial: 1.0
slot: Rear
capacity: 46620mWh
configuration: voltage=7.4V
*-scsi
physical id: 2
bus info: scsi@6
logical name: scsi6
capabilities: scsi-host
configuration: driver=usb-storage

Answer 1

Posted to [email protected], I hope I just haven't dawdled for too long and this can make it to 3.13 final.
Hopefully this should be sufficient information, I've linked to this thread too.  I've also mentioned I'm willing to beam one at someone from Amazon, with 2-day shipping to the USA the Pluggable branded adapter is just under NZD$40, which I can easily live with.
===========================================================================================================
USB3 gigabit ethernet adapters with the ASIX AX88179 chipset (LevelOne USB0401-V3, Plugable USB3-E1000, SIIG JU-NE0211-S1 and others) are experiencing kernel panics in usb_hcd_map_urb_for_dma since 3.12.  The issue does not seem to directly correlate with low or high network activity, occurring seemingly at random.  Some panics occurred less than 5 minutes from boot and tens of megabytes of network transfer, while on other occasions it would be stable for multiple days with tens to hundreds of gigabytes of line-rate throughput and several sleep/resume cycles.
Both my Sony Vaio Pro 13 and another user reporting this issue on the Arch forums [1] are Intel-based, my USB controller is an 8086:9c31 (Lynx Point LP), the other is reported as a C210/7 series (unknown PID).  A third with a Haswell Dell XPS has attempted my workaround and reports similar success.
I have a mediocre quality photo of my laptop's screen from one of these panics [2], the call trace - which is similar but not identical between my machine and that of the other user reporting the issue - is as follows:
usb_hcd_map_urb_for_dma
usb_hcd_submit_urb
local_bh_enable_ip
selinux_parse_skb
usb_alloc_urb
__kmalloc
usbnet_start_xmit
usbnet_start_xmit
dev_hard_start_xmit
sch_direct_xmit
dev_queue_xmit
ip_finish_output2
ip_finish_output
ip_output
dst_output
ip_local_out
ip_queue_xmit
tcp_transmit_skb
tcp_write_xmit
__tcp_push_pending_frames
tcp_push
tcp_sendmsg
inet_sendmsg
__sock_sendmsg_nosec
sock_sendmsg
set_restore_sigmask
set_restore_sigmask
fget_light
SYSC_sendto
set_restore_sigmask
SyS_sendto
system_call_fastpath
So far as I can tell, the driver is unaffected as late as 3.11.6, but problematic as of 3.12 (and still affected in 3.13-rc5).  The history of drivers/net/usb/ax88179_178a.c for this time period yields this patch, which at least in my somewhat limited understanding appeared a likely candidate.  I've reverted this on my system - against several linux-next builds from the last 3-4 weeks - and have had no issues with this network controller since.
commit 3804fad45411b48233b48003e33a78f290d227c8
Author: Ming Lei <[email protected]>
Date:   Thu Aug 8 21:48:25 2013 +0800
    USBNET: ax88179_178a: enable tso if usb host supports sg dma
    This patch enables 'can_dma_sg' flag for ax88179_178a device
    if the attached host controller supports building packet from
    discontinuous buffers(DMA SG is possible), so TSO can be enabled
    and skb fragment buffers can be passed to usb stack via urb->sg
    directly.
    With the patch, system CPU utilization decreased ~50% and throughput
    increased by ~10% when doing iperf client test on one ARM A15 dual
    core board.
    Cc: Ben Hutchings <[email protected]>
    Cc: Grant Grundler <[email protected]>
    Cc: Oliver Neukum <[email protected]>
    Cc: Alan Stern <[email protected]>
    Cc: Freddy Xin <[email protected]>
    Signed-off-by: Ming Lei <[email protected]>
    Acked-by: Eric Dumazet <[email protected]>
    Acked-by: David S. Miller <[email protected]>
    Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <[email protected]>
Unfortunately I have not retained the built kernel from a broken 3.12 build, so the system information below reflects the patched linux-next kernel I am running currently.
I understand this may be a somewhat obscure piece of hardware, I am willing to assist by drop-shipping one to someone from Amazon (or local country equivalent if the price is not extortionate) should it be required.
System information:
ver_linux:
Linux neko 3.13.0-rc5-next-20131224+ #1 SMP Sat Dec 28 19:09:27 NZDT 2013 x86_64 Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4500U CPU @ 1.80GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux
Gnu C                  4.7.3
Gnu make               4.0
binutils               2.24
util-linux             scripts/ver_linux: line 23: fdformat: command not found
mount                  assert
module-init-tools      16
e2fsprogs              1.42.9
jfsutils               1.1.15
reiserfsprogs          3.6.24
reiser4progs           1.0.7
xfsprogs               3.1.11
quota-tools            4.01.
PPP                    2.4.5
Linux C Library        2.17
Dynamic linker (ldd)   2.17
Procps                 3.3.9
Net-tools              1.60_p20130513023548
Kbd                    2.0.1
Sh-utils               8.22
Modules Loaded         bonding rndis_host cdc_ether tun snd_usb_audio snd_usbmidi_lib snd_rawmidi cdc_acm ctr ccm hidp nfsd rfcomm bnep iptable_nat nf_nat_ipv4 nf_nat uvcvideo btusb bluetooth hid_multitouch videobuf2_vmalloc videobuf2_memops videobuf2_core uinput ax88179_178a usbnet mii rtsx_pci_sdmmc rtsx_pci mmc_core fuse snd_hda_codec_realtek iwlmvm kvm_intel snd_hda_codec_generic mac80211 kvm pn544_mei mei_phy iwlwifi pn544 snd_hda_intel hci nfc snd_hda_codec snd_hwdep cfg80211 xhci_hcd
/proc/cpuinfo:
processor       : 3
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 69
model name      : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4500U CPU @ 1.80GHz
stepping        : 1
microcode       : 0x10
cpu MHz         : 2968.125
cache size      : 4096 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 4
core id         : 1
cpu cores       : 2
apicid          : 3
initial apicid  : 3
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 13
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 fma cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm ida arat epb xsaveopt pln pts dtherm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid fsgsbase tsc_adjust bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpcid
bogomips        : 4788.92
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 39 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:
PCI:
-[0000:00]-+-00.0  Intel Corporation Haswell-ULT DRAM Controller [8086:0a04]
           +-02.0  Intel Corporation Haswell-ULT Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:0a16]
           +-03.0  Intel Corporation Device [8086:0a0c]
           +-14.0  Intel Corporation Lynx Point-LP USB xHCI HC [8086:9c31]
           +-16.0  Intel Corporation Lynx Point-LP HECI #0 [8086:9c3a]
           +-1b.0  Intel Corporation Lynx Point-LP HD Audio Controller [8086:9c20]
           +-1c.0-[01]----00.0  Intel Corporation Wireless 7260 [8086:08b1]
           +-1c.3-[02]--
           +-1c.4-[03]----00.0  Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Device [144d:a800]
           +-1d.0  Intel Corporation Lynx Point-LP USB EHCI #1 [8086:9c26]
           +-1f.0  Intel Corporation Lynx Point-LP LPC Controller [8086:9c43]
           \-1f.3  Intel Corporation Lynx Point-LP SMBus Controller [8086:9c22]
USB:
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:8000 Intel Corp.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 025: ID 0b95:1790 ASIX Electronics Corp.
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 027: ID 8087:07dc Intel Corp.
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 04f2:b3be Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0eef:a108 D-WAV Scientific Co., Ltd
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
/proc/modules:
bonding 84837 0 - Live 0xffffffffc00d5000
rndis_host 5162 0 - Live 0xffffffffc0096000
cdc_ether 4324 1 rndis_host, Live 0xffffffffc006e000
tun 16811 0 - Live 0xffffffffc009e000
snd_usb_audio 102474 0 - Live 0xffffffffc007b000
snd_usbmidi_lib 16542 1 snd_usb_audio, Live 0xffffffffc0072000
snd_rawmidi 15891 1 snd_usbmidi_lib, Live 0xffffffffc0017000
cdc_acm 16166 0 - Live 0xffffffffc05ec000
ctr 3471 2 - Live 0xffffffffc05e8000
ccm 6977 2 - Live 0xffffffffc05e3000
hidp 12989 0 - Live 0xffffffffc05db000
nfsd 192979 13 - Live 0xffffffffc059b000
rfcomm 27704 12 - Live 0xffffffffc058e000
bnep 9055 2 - Live 0xffffffffc0587000
iptable_nat 2550 0 - Live 0xffffffffc0583000
nf_nat_ipv4 3118 1 iptable_nat, Live 0xffffffffc057f000
nf_nat 9984 2 iptable_nat,nf_nat_ipv4, Live 0xffffffffc0577000
uvcvideo 60542 0 - Live 0xffffffffc0562000
btusb 14182 0 - Live 0xffffffffc0519000
bluetooth 200149 23 hidp,rfcomm,bnep,btusb, Live 0xffffffffc04d8000
hid_multitouch 8791 0 - Live 0xffffffffc04d1000
videobuf2_vmalloc 2528 1 uvcvideo, Live 0xffffffffc04cd000
videobuf2_memops 1559 1 videobuf2_vmalloc, Live 0xffffffffc04c9000
videobuf2_core 22473 1 uvcvideo, Live 0xffffffffc04be000
uinput 6657 0 - Live 0xffffffffc04b9000
ax88179_178a 11352 0 - Live 0xffffffffc04b2000
usbnet 17066 3 rndis_host,cdc_ether,ax88179_178a, Live 0xffffffffc04a7000
mii 3427 2 ax88179_178a,usbnet, Live 0xffffffffc04a3000
rtsx_pci_sdmmc 8434 0 - Live 0xffffffffc049d000
rtsx_pci 24242 1 rtsx_pci_sdmmc, Live 0xffffffffc0490000
mmc_core 73734 1 rtsx_pci_sdmmc, Live 0xffffffffc0471000
fuse 65180 0 - Live 0xffffffffc0458000
snd_hda_codec_realtek 37786 1 - Live 0xffffffffc0448000
iwlmvm 99382 0 - Live 0xffffffffc03d9000
kvm_intel 119916 0 - Live 0xffffffffc033e000
snd_hda_codec_generic 39626 1 snd_hda_codec_realtek, Live 0xffffffffc032d000
mac80211 352537 1 iwlmvm, Live 0xffffffffc0239000
kvm 332678 1 kvm_intel, Live 0xffffffffc014f000
pn544_mei 1507 0 - Live 0xffffffffc014b000
mei_phy 1942 1 pn544_mei, Live 0xffffffffc0147000                                                                                                                                         
iwlwifi 70257 1 iwlmvm, Live 0xffffffffc0129000                                                                                                                                           
pn544 6215 1 pn544_mei, Live 0xffffffffc0124000                                                                                                                                           
snd_hda_intel 29721 2 - Live 0xffffffffc0106000                                                                                                                                           
hci 13343 2 mei_phy,pn544, Live 0xffffffffc00fd000                                                                                                                                         
nfc 46459 2 pn544,hci, Live 0xffffffffc00c8000                                                                                                                                             
snd_hda_codec 72588 3 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_intel, Live 0xffffffffc00a7000                                                                                   
snd_hwdep 5373 2 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_codec, Live 0xffffffffc009b000                                                                                                                     
cfg80211 320801 3 iwlmvm,mac80211,iwlwifi, Live 0xffffffffc001e000                                                                                                                         
xhci_hcd 88348 0 - Live 0xffffffffc0000000
/proc/iomem:
00000000-00000fff : reserved
00001000-00057fff : System RAM
00058000-00058fff : reserved
00059000-0009dfff : System RAM
0009e000-0009ffff : reserved
000a0000-000bffff : PCI Bus 0000:00
000c0000-000c3fff : PCI Bus 0000:00
000c4000-000c7fff : PCI Bus 0000:00
000c8000-000cbfff : PCI Bus 0000:00
000cc000-000cffff : PCI Bus 0000:00
000d0000-000d3fff : PCI Bus 0000:00
000d4000-000d7fff : PCI Bus 0000:00
000d8000-000dbfff : PCI Bus 0000:00
000dc000-000dffff : PCI Bus 0000:00
000f0000-000fffff : System ROM
00100000-ca4b7fff : System RAM
  06000000-066753ba : Kernel code
  066753bb-06cc83ff : Kernel data
  06dc9000-06ecffff : Kernel bss
ca4b8000-ca4befff : ACPI Non-volatile Storage
ca4bf000-ca8e7fff : System RAM
ca8e8000-cac39fff : reserved
cac3a000-da89bfff : System RAM
da89c000-dab3ffff : reserved
dab40000-dab55fff : ACPI Tables
dab56000-dbaaafff : ACPI Non-volatile Storage
dbaab000-dbffefff : reserved
dbfff000-dbffffff : System RAM
dd000000-df1fffff : reserved
  dd200000-df1fffff : Graphics Stolen Memory
df200000-feafffff : PCI Bus 0000:00
  df200000-df3fffff : PCI Bus 0000:01
  e0000000-efffffff : 0000:00:02.0
    e0000000-e07e8fff : BOOTFB
  f0000000-f09fffff : PCI Bus 0000:03
  f0a00000-f13fffff : PCI Bus 0000:02
  f6400000-f67fffff : 0000:00:02.0
  f6800000-f71fffff : PCI Bus 0000:03
    f6800000-f680ffff : 0000:03:00.0
    f6810000-f6811fff : 0000:03:00.0
      f6810000-f6811fff : ahci
  f7200000-f7bfffff : PCI Bus 0000:02
  f7c00000-f7cfffff : PCI Bus 0000:01
    f7c00000-f7c01fff : 0000:01:00.0
      f7c00000-f7c01fff : iwlwifi
  f7d00000-f7d0ffff : 0000:00:14.0
    f7d00000-f7d0ffff : xhci_hcd
  f7d10000-f7d13fff : 0000:00:1b.0
    f7d10000-f7d13fff : ICH HD audio
  f7d14000-f7d17fff : 0000:00:03.0
  f7d19000-f7d190ff : 0000:00:1f.3
  f7d1a000-f7d1a3ff : 0000:00:1d.0
    f7d1a000-f7d1a3ff : ehci_hcd
  f7d1c000-f7d1c01f : 0000:00:16.0
    f7d1c000-f7d1c01f : mei_me
  f7fef000-f7feffff : pnp 00:0a
  f7ff0000-f7ffffff : pnp 00:0a
  f8000000-fbffffff : PCI MMCONFIG 0000 [bus 00-3f]
    f8000000-fbffffff : reserved
      f8000000-fbffffff : pnp 00:0a
fec00000-fec00fff : reserved
  fec00000-fec003ff : IOAPIC 0
fed00000-fed03fff : reserved
  fed00000-fed003ff : HPET 0
fed10000-fed17fff : pnp 00:0a
fed18000-fed18fff : pnp 00:0a
fed19000-fed19fff : pnp 00:0a
fed1c000-fed1ffff : reserved
  fed1c000-fed1ffff : pnp 00:0a
    fed1f410-fed1f414 : iTCO_wdt
      fed1f410-fed1f414 : iTCO_wdt
fed20000-fed3ffff : pnp 00:0a
fed45000-fed8ffff : pnp 00:0a
fed90000-fed93fff : pnp 00:0a
fee00000-fee00fff : Local APIC
  fee00000-fee00fff : reserved
ff000000-ffffffff : reserved
  ff000000-ffffffff : pnp 00:0a
100000000-21fdfffff : System RAM
21fe00000-21fffffff : RAM buffer
/proc/ioports:
0000-0cf7 : PCI Bus 0000:00
  0000-001f : dma1
  0020-0021 : pic1
  0040-0043 : timer0
  0050-0053 : timer1
  0060-0060 : keyboard
  0062-0062 : EC data
  0064-0064 : keyboard
  0066-0066 : EC cmd
  0070-0077 : rtc0
  0080-008f : dma page reg
  00a0-00a1 : pic2
  00c0-00df : dma2
  00f0-00ff : fpu
  04d0-04d1 : pnp 00:07
  0680-069f : pnp 00:04
0cf8-0cff : PCI conf1
0d00-ffff : PCI Bus 0000:00
  164e-164f : pnp 00:04
  1800-1803 : ACPI PM1a_EVT_BLK
  1804-1805 : ACPI PM1a_CNT_BLK
  1808-180b : ACPI PM_TMR
  1810-1815 : ACPI CPU throttle
  1830-1833 : iTCO_wdt
    1830-1833 : iTCO_wdt
  1850-1850 : ACPI PM2_CNT_BLK
  1854-1857 : pnp 00:06
  1860-187f : iTCO_wdt
    1860-187f : iTCO_wdt
  1880-189f : ACPI GPE0_BLK
  1c00-1cfe : pnp 00:04
  1d00-1dfe : pnp 00:04
  1e00-1efe : pnp 00:04
  1f00-1ffe : pnp 00:04
  2008-200b : pnp 00:04
  3000-3fff : PCI Bus 0000:01
  d000-dfff : PCI Bus 0000:03
  e000-efff : PCI Bus 0000:02
  f000-f03f : 0000:00:02.0
  f040-f05f : 0000:00:1f.3
  ffff-ffff : pnp 00:04
    ffff-ffff : pnp 00:04
Regards,
Thomas