Fighting wifi

A

AVTechGuy

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Hello all
Im fairly new to Linux, (PC tech for years)
I have several systems running Linux, run fine with cable ether
but have been fighting with USB WiFi adapter drivers
for the realtek usb dongles (rtl8811)
cant seem to find the right info on the net that works
I have the driver cd but have not been able to understand
all of the codes involved for installing the drivers

I have a thumb drive with lubuntu that works fine with
the built in wifi on many laptops, but does not work
with the desktops with the realtek dongle

Is there a wifi dongle that is recommended that is easier
to deal with for Linux machines?
 


I think those wifi adaters with are available for older rasoberry pi’s could work, because they are also Linux-systems.
 
G'day @AVTechGuy and (hey, Peer ... where's your manners? :D:D) Welcome to linux.org :)

I take it as a given you have Windows or some other means of communicating with us, or are you hooked in via Ethernet?

AVTechGuy said:
I have several systems running Linux, run fine with cable ether
Click to expand...

Just define that a little more. Which Linux Distros and is/are any running wifi?

AVTechGuy said:
cant seem to find the right info on the net that works
Click to expand...

... give us a broad idea of some of the searches (keywords) you have performed and the sites visited, perhaps from your History?

AVTechGuy said:
I have the driver cd but have not been able to understand
all of the codes involved for installing the drivers
Click to expand...

Maybe you can give us some of that info?

AVTechGuy said:
I have a thumb drive with lubuntu that works fine with
the built in wifi on many laptops, but does not work
with the desktops with the realtek dongle
Click to expand...

many laptops - does it not work with some? Which ones?

You can likely see where I am headed with this.

  1. Structure for yourself a wish list or priority list of which system you most want to get the Lubuntu/dongle combination running on.
  2. Run at Terminal
    Code: 
    inxi -Fxz
    and give us the output, so we can see the specs
  3. Flesh out some more detail on those quotes I listed above
We can start with one system, which solution might suit all, or we can get you to start a separate Thread for each, all this so as not to confuse Helpers and The Viewers (and me/us :rolleyes:)

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz

BTW swing over to Member Introductions if you get the time and say Hi and meet some of the Gang.
 
wizardfromoz said:
G'day @AVTechGuy and (hey, Peer ... where's your manners? :D:D) Welcome to linux.org :)

I take it as a given you have Windows or some other means of communicating with us, or are you hooked in via Ethernet?



Just define that a little more. Which Linux Distros and is/are any running wifi?



... give us a broad idea of some of the searches (keywords) you have performed and the sites visited, perhaps from your History?



Maybe you can give us some of that info?



many laptops - does it not work with some? Which ones?

You can likely see where I am headed with this.

  1. Structure for yourself a wish list or priority list of which system you most want to get the Lubuntu/dongle combination running on.
  2. Run at Terminal
    Code: 
    inxi -Fxz
    and give us the output, so we can see the specs
  3. Flesh out some more detail on those quotes I listed above
We can start with one system, which solution might suit all, or we can get you to start a separate Thread for each, all this so as not to confuse Helpers and The Viewers (and me/us :rolleyes:)

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz

BTW swing over to Member Introductions if you get the time and say Hi and meet some of the Gang.
Click to expand...
Thanks for ur reply, ive been gone today

The main problem is with Mint running on various desktops with the realtek rtl8811uc and rtl8811au
i have many of these that i use on windows systems with no problem.
The usb drives i have used have Lubuntu, they seem to work fine on most laptops
and they do install the wifi drivers, but not on the desktops with the realtek dongles
 
Thanks for ur reply, ive been gone today

The main problem is with Mint running on various desktops with the realtek rtl8811uc and rtl8811au
i have many of these that i use on windows systems with no problem.
The usb drives i have used have Lubuntu, they seem to work fine on most laptops
and they do install the wifi drivers, but not on the desktops with the realtek dongles
 
I am new to this forum, not sure if im doing it right, I have been gone since the last reply
thanks for any help
 
I am hoping to gain knowledge and become an avid Linux user like you Mister Wizard
 
G'day @AVTechGuy :)

At Terminal, can you give us the output of

Code: 
inxi -nz
?

Mine looks like this

Code: 
chris@BeaverGNOME-Dell-HDD:~$ inxi -nz
Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8101/2/6E PCIE Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller
           driver: r8169
           IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
           driver: ath10k_pci
           IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter>
           Card-3: Atheros
           IF: null-if-id state: N/A speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: N/A

The "z" hides your MAC address details - try it for yourself as inxi -n

Also

Code: 
inxi -F | grep -i desktop

Thanks

Wizard

BTW
AVTechGuy said:
I am hoping to gain knowledge and become an avid Linux user like you Mister Wizard
Click to expand...

b-Zo-Rud6-Imgur.gif


If you get it right with the knowledge, do let me know :)
 
Card-1: 3Com 3c905B 100BaseTX [Cyclone] driver: 3c59x
IF: enp2s1 state: unknown speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full
mac: <filter>
Card-2: Intel 82562EZ 10/100 Ethernet Controller driver: e100
IF: enp2s8 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>


it evidently doesn't see the dongle
 
I did enter another code in the terminal couple days ago
from what i read on the net but dont remember what it was

the result did have realtek corp in the return
 
I have read about alot of users struggling with this same problem
should I be using a different version of linux ?
 
But i have no problem buying different usb wifi dongles
or external antennas with a cable if there is one that will work
 
AVTechGuy said:
it evidently doesn't see the dongle
Click to expand...

That appears to be the case.

AVTechGuy said:
I did enter another code in the terminal couple days ago
from what i read on the net but dont remember what it was

the result did have realtek corp in the return
Click to expand...

When you run commands from Terminal, the input is captured in a file called bash_history, in your home folder or partition.

If you type in this exact command

Code: 
cat ~/.bash_history

the output will be revealed.

The list might be quite long, so go to the bottom and work up and see if you can find that command.

AVTechGuy said:
I have read about alot of users struggling with this same problem
should I be using a different version of linux ?
Click to expand...

We have problems quite often with wifi drivers that were not originally planned by manufacturers to be used with Linux. This improves constantly thanks to a dedicated number of volunteers whom work essentially on providing compatible drivers. Realtek is not alone there.

Linux Mint is as good as any Distro to use in this regard, but you can always try another, using a Live scenario, that is with a burned USB stick or DVD and try to see if the wifi connects, before installing.

Which Linux Mint are you using, eg Linux Mint 18.3 Cinnamon, Linux Mint 19 MATE, etc? The original .iso will tell you the answer if you still have it, or we can advise.

AVTechGuy said:
But i have no problem buying different usb wifi dongles
or external antennas with a cable if there is one that will work
Click to expand...

One of my good friends here, Stan, is on leave at the moment, but he has recommended dongles before, I have not really used them. I can do a search.

Have you made the acquaintance yet of Synaptic Package Manager? We can search with that to see if the driver can be installed easily, just let me know that Linux Mint type you have.

Cheers and Avagudweegend

Wiz
 
AVTechGuy said:
But i have no problem buying different usb wifi dongles
or external antennas with a cable if there is one that will work
Click to expand...
Here's a link below to the one that I always recommend for Linux. Note that I do not recommend other TP-Link models that look like this one... just this model only. It has been extremely reliable to work with Ubuntu/Mint without any setup needed... may need to be plugged in already when booting computer. Other distros, like Debian, may need to install drivers. It isn't the fastest, but it works well enough to stream YouTube videos with no trouble.

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-TL-W...d=1543592968&sr=8-2&keywords=tp-link+tlwn722n

Cheers
 
Here is the output of the bash history

at the bottom is the version release

mint@mint-Dimension-4600i ~ $ cat ~/.bash_history
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 04f2:b5ab Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 8087:0a2b Intel Corp.
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 04f2:b5ac Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0bda:c811 Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 03f0:094a Hewlett-Packard Optical Mouse [672662-001]
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
ariel@ariel-lin:~$ uname -r
https://github.com/whitebatman2/rtl8821CU
sudo usb_modeswitch -KW -v 0bda -p 1a2b
cdrtl8811cu
cd rtl8811cu
sudo
lsusb
sudo lsusb
lshw -c network
sudo lsmod
sudo modprobe rtl8811au
sudo modprobe rtl8811
man lsusb
lsusb
echo "##################################################"
echo "Realtek Wi-Fi driver Auto installation script"
echo "Novembor, 21 2011 v1.1.0"
echo "##################################################"
cd driver
Drvfoulder=`ls |grep .tar.gz`
echo "Decompress the driver source tar ball:"
echo ""$Drvfoulder
tar zxvf $Drvfoulder
Drvfoulder=`ls |grep -iv '.tar.gz'`
echo "$Drvfoulder"
cd $Drvfoulderif [ -e ./make_drv ]; then
./make_drv
fi
echo "Authentication requested [root] for make clean:"
if [ "`uname -r |grep fc`" == " " ]; then sudo su -c "make clean"; Error=$?; else su -c "make clean"; Error=$?; fiecho "Authentication requested [root] for make driver:"; if [ "`uname -r |grep fc`" == " " ]; then sudo su -c make; Error=$?; else su -c make; Error=$?; fimodule=`ls |grep -i 'ko'`; echo "##################################################"; if [ "$Error" != 0 ];then echo "Compile make driver error: $Error"; echo "Please check error Mesg"; echo "##################################################"; exit; else echo "Compile make driver okif [ "`uname -r |grep fc`" == " " ]; then sudo su -c "make clean"; Error=$?; else su -c "make clean"; Error=$?; fiecho "Authentication requested [root] for make driver:"; if [ "`uname -r |grep fc`" == " " ]; then sudo su -c make; Error=$?; else su -c make; Error=$?; fimodule=`ls |grep -i 'ko'`; echo "##################################################"; if [ "$Error" != 0 ];then echo "Compile make driver error: $Error"; echo "Please check error Mesg"; echo "##################################################"; exit; else"; echo "##################################################"; fi; if [ "`uname -r |grep fc`" == " " ]; then echo "Authentication requested [root] for install driver:"; sudo su -c "make install"; echo "Authentication requested [root] for remove driver:"; sudo su -c "modprobe -r ${module%.*}"; echo "Authentication requested [root] for insert driver:"; sudo su -c "modprobe ${module%.*}"; else echo "Authentication requested [root] for install driver:"; su -c "make install"; echo "Authentication requested [root] for remove driver:"; su -c "modprobe -r ${module%.*}"; echo "Authentication requested [root] for insert driver:"; su -c "modprobe ${module%.*}"; fi; echo "##################################################"; echo "The Setup Script is completed !"; echo "##################################################"

mint@mint-Dimension-4600i ~ $ cat /etc/os-release
NAME="Linux Mint"
VERSION="18.3 (Sylvia)"
ID=linuxmint
ID_LIKE=ubuntu
PRETTY_NAME="Linux Mint 18.3"
VERSION_ID="18.3"
HOME_URL="http://www.linuxmint.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="http://forums.linuxmint.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="http://bugs.launchpad.net/linuxmint/"
VERSION_CODENAME=sylvia
UBUNTU_CODENAME=xenial
 
atanere said:
Here's a link below to the one that I always recommend for Linux. Note that I do not recommend other TP-Link models that look like this one... just this model only. It has been extremely reliable to work with Ubuntu/Mint without any setup needed... may need to be plugged in already when booting computer. Other distros, like Debian, may need to install drivers. It isn't the fastest, but it works well enough to stream YouTube videos with no trouble.

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-TL-W...d=1543592968&sr=8-2&keywords=tp-link+tlwn722n

Cheers
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info !, just back in and going to check it out now
 
wizardfromoz said:
That appears to be the case.



When you run commands from Terminal, the input is captured in a file called bash_history, in your home folder or partition.

If you type in this exact command

Code: 
cat ~/.bash_history

the output will be revealed.

The list might be quite long, so go to the bottom and work up and see if you can find that command.



We have problems quite often with wifi drivers that were not originally planned by manufacturers to be used with Linux. This improves constantly thanks to a dedicated number of volunteers whom work essentially on providing compatible drivers. Realtek is not alone there.

Linux Mint is as good as any Distro to use in this regard, but you can always try another, using a Live scenario, that is with a burned USB stick or DVD and try to see if the wifi connects, before installing.

Which Linux Mint are you using, eg Linux Mint 18.3 Cinnamon, Linux Mint 19 MATE, etc? The original .iso will tell you the answer if you still have it, or we can advise.



One of my good friends here, Stan, is on leave at the moment, but he has recommended dongles before, I have not really used them. I can do a search.

Have you made the acquaintance yet of Synaptic Package Manager? We can search with that to see if the driver can be installed easily, just let me know that Linux Mint type you have.

Cheers and Avagudweegend

Wiz
Click to expand...
mint@mint-Dimension-4600i ~ $ cat ~/.bash_history
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 04f2:b5ab Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 8087:0a2b Intel Corp.
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 04f2:b5ac Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0bda:c811 Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 03f0:094a Hewlett-Packard Optical Mouse [672662-001]
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
ariel@ariel-lin:~$ uname -r
https://github.com/whitebatman2/rtl8821CU
sudo usb_modeswitch -KW -v 0bda -p 1a2b
cdrtl8811cu
cd rtl8811cu
sudo
lsusb
sudo lsusb
lshw -c network
sudo lsmod
sudo modprobe rtl8811au
sudo modprobe rtl8811
man lsusb
lsusb
echo "##################################################"
echo "Realtek Wi-Fi driver Auto installation script"
echo "Novembor, 21 2011 v1.1.0"
echo "##################################################"
cd driver
Drvfoulder=`ls |grep .tar.gz`
echo "Decompress the driver source tar ball:"
echo ""$Drvfoulder
tar zxvf $Drvfoulder
Drvfoulder=`ls |grep -iv '.tar.gz'`
echo "$Drvfoulder"
cd $Drvfoulderif [ -e ./make_drv ]; then
./make_drv
fi
echo "Authentication requested [root] for make clean:"
if [ "`uname -r |grep fc`" == " " ]; then sudo su -c "make clean"; Error=$?; else su -c "make clean"; Error=$?; fiecho "Authentication requested [root] for make driver:"; if [ "`uname -r |grep fc`" == " " ]; then sudo su -c make; Error=$?; else su -c make; Error=$?; fimodule=`ls |grep -i 'ko'`; echo "##################################################"; if [ "$Error" != 0 ];then echo "Compile make driver error: $Error"; echo "Please check error Mesg"; echo "##################################################"; exit; else echo "Compile make driver okif [ "`uname -r |grep fc`" == " " ]; then sudo su -c "make clean"; Error=$?; else su -c "make clean"; Error=$?; fiecho "Authentication requested [root] for make driver:"; if [ "`uname -r |grep fc`" == " " ]; then sudo su -c make; Error=$?; else su -c make; Error=$?; fimodule=`ls |grep -i 'ko'`; echo "##################################################"; if [ "$Error" != 0 ];then echo "Compile make driver error: $Error"; echo "Please check error Mesg"; echo "##################################################"; exit; else"; echo "##################################################"; fi; if [ "`uname -r |grep fc`" == " " ]; then echo "Authentication requested [root] for install driver:"; sudo su -c "make install"; echo "Authentication requested [root] for remove driver:"; sudo su -c "modprobe -r ${module%.*}"; echo "Authentication requested [root] for insert driver:"; sudo su -c "modprobe ${module%.*}"; else echo "Authentication requested [root] for install driver:"; su -c "make install"; echo "Authentication requested [root] for remove driver:"; su -c "modprobe -r ${module%.*}"; echo "Authentication requested [root] for insert driver:"; su -c "modprobe ${module%.*}"; fi; echo "##################################################"; echo "The Setup Script is completed !"; echo "##################################################"

mint@mint-Dimension-4600i ~ $ cat /etc/os-release
NAME="Linux Mint"
VERSION="18.3 (Sylvia)"
ID=linuxmint
ID_LIKE=ubuntu
PRETTY_NAME="Linux Mint 18.3"
VERSION_ID="18.3"
HOME_URL="http://www.linuxmint.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="http://forums.linuxmint.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="http://bugs.launchpad.net/linuxmint/"
VERSION_CODENAME=sylvia
UBUNTU_CODENAME=xenial
 
Code: 
echo $DESKTOP_SESSION

... will tell us what DE (Desktop Environment) you are using.

So will

Code: 
inxi -Fxz

... which is a good one for you to keep in a text file or to show us. Use of the "z" option filters out your MAC addresses, whereas "s" shows them. For your eyes only. I would keep one of both.

But remember I asked for

Code: 
inxi -F | grep -i desktop

.. at #9 above, that will also give us the DE. The reason I ask on the DE is that I have both LM 18.3 Cinnamon and MATE on board, and menus differ if we need to give you directions.

Cheers for now

Wizard
BTW - nice to see you Stan :) - saved me some time :D
 
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