Realtek rtl8192cu driver
 

I have installed, used VMBox, run off DVD and USB drives for at least 45 distro's of all shapes and sizes, ;-) Still a learning process after 6 months. My question is about the Realtek rtl8192cu driver for the similiar name adapter, is there another possible way other then using the perfect instructions on a few websites for compiling this pesky driver? Or maybe something in the near future that will include driver/kernel fix for said adapter in Linux? Just curious is all, thanks in advance..."if you do not ask...you will not know", my philosophy.

Hi...

Welcome to the forum :)

From what I have read here, the driver you mentioned is already included in the "mainline kernel," although I don't know what version support started....

Unless it's to include the missing firmware, I'm not sure why folks have to install the drivers for these adapters. :confused:

Out of curiosity, what is the Device ID number for your adapter?

Regards...

Distros often do not include the firmware, for legal reasons. Installing firmware is something user has to do to make the kernel driver work.

wireless adapter
 

thank you and appreciate your quick reply Ardvark71...this is lsusb result "Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0bda:8178 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8192CU 802.11n WLAN Adapter".

I agree with you on the installing the firmware..which I have done repeatedly on most of the distro's. (Debian during installation via usb stick), I even installed Debian 8.3 non-free iso which included firmware for the Rtl8192cu driver, still had to compile it to get it to work. The real question is why do I have to compile the rtl8192cu driver to the 8192cu every time, because of falling off connections and low kbs speeds! Am I missing something? lol. For example I am in a low speed area at the moment, a sort of monopolized ISP, when I get the wireless adapter installed and working I get exactly 72kbs on every distro I install. After I go through one of the many awesome website instructions, http://askubuntu.com/questions/24623...l8192cu-driver, to compile the adapter driver and reboot, I get exactly 144kbs, every time,(which is the highest wireless speed I will get with the ISP...340kbs wired). (hoping I did the URL right).

also... thank you for replying Emerson..I am aware of the legal aspects of alot of the firmwares, have done a great deal of research before even attempting Linux. Just thought I would throw the question out there to learn something new about wireless and Linux, thanks again :-)

My 2¢ on this matter. First, try the latest kernel 4.4.1 from kernel.org. Second, investigate your dmesg to make sure correct firmware is present and loaded.

excuse my late reply, whomever is concerned, this is part of the dmesg readout (with rtl8192cu driver) with the Linux 4.4.1 kernel installed on Manjaro15.12 Distro:


[ 12.523914] rtl8192cu: Chip version 0x11
[ 12.601426] rtl8192cu: MAC address: e8:4e:06:15:f6:9d
[ 12.601434] rtl8192cu: Board Type 0
[ 12.601668] rtl_usb: rx_max_size 15360, rx_urb_num 8, in_ep 1
[ 12.601707] rtl8192cu: Loading firmware rtlwifi/rtl8192cufw_TMSC.bin
[ 12.649412] ieee80211 phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'rtl_rc'
[ 12.649709] usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8192cu
[ 12.652877] rtl8192cu 5-6:1.0 wlp0s29f7u6: renamed from wlan0
[ 12.666316] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlp0s29f7u6: link is not ready
[ 12.668295] rtl8192cu: MAC auto ON okay!
[ 12.708177] rtl8192cu: Tx queue select: 0x05
[ 12.794854] Non-volatile memory driver v1.3
[ 13.123887] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlp0s29f7u6: link is not ready
[ 13.288166] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlp0s29f7u6: link is not ready
[ 14.497447] r8168: enp1s0: link up
[ 14.497481] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): enp1s0: link becomes ready
[ 15.103836] fuse init (API version 7.23)
[ 174.507527] wlp0s29f7u6: authenticate with 70:f1:96:fa:82:03
[ 174.531260] wlp0s29f7u6: send auth to 70:f1:96:fa:82:03 (try 1/3)
[ 174.535251] wlp0s29f7u6: authenticated
[ 174.536971] wlp0s29f7u6: associate with 70:f1:96:fa:82:03 (try 1/3)
[ 174.540338] wlp0s29f7u6: RX AssocResp from 70:f1:96:fa:82:03 (capab=0x411 status=0 aid=2)
[ 174.541838] wlp0s29f7u6: associated


I am still getting 72kbs only and constant dropoff and disconnect as before...same as all other distros, with any kernel...I am near to discarding the Realtek dongle and trying something that does not need all this "bug" work...lol

the "bug" fix seems to be the driver 8192cu which always has to be compiled, is what I read all over linux forums...am at a loss. I am to new to Arch to even attempt to install the bug fix for this driver..thanks again for your replies....

Debian has the firmware-realtek package in the non-free repo, and it says the firmware for the 8192cu is included.

https://packages.debian.org/jessie/k...rmware-realtek