[SOLVED] Realtek TL-WN723v3 RTL8188EUS working 8188eu driver - AP mode

abga · 05-25-2020, 08:18 PM

I own a TP-Link TL-WN723v3 and struggled for some time to get it in AP mode with the available drivers and using an actual version of hostapd. In the driver repos on github and in some other tutorials I found, some ancient and specially tailored versions of hostapd were suggested for Realtek WiFi dongles and I never considered them from security reasons.
- lsusb output:

Code:

Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0bda:8179 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8188EUS 802.11n Wireless Network Adapter

Started this thread to share my experience and to report my findings about the rtl8188eu SlackBuild (which I never used until my try today):

First the SlackBuild:
http://slackbuilds.org/repository/14...ork/rtl8188eu/
- needs the following added to the Makefile in order to build on -current (latest toolchain)

Code:

EXTRA_CFLAGS += -Wno-address-of-packed-member
EXTRA_CFLAGS += -Wno-implicit-function-declaration

- the version is really old, not reflecting the name of the zip file.
- modinfo:
version: v4.1.4_6773.20130222
author: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
- and it doesn't load/work - kernel log:
[10405.633962] 8188eu: Unknown symbol signal_pending (err 0)
[10405.634266] 8188eu: Unknown symbol allow_signal (err 0)

The version I've been using for the last years:
https://github.com/lwfinger/rtl8188e...4.1.8_9499.zip
- modinfo:
version: v4.1.8_9499.20131104
author: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
- which works stable as station, but crashes so beautifully with hostapd 2.9 initializing it in AP mode

Code:

[10767.585124] usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8188eu
[11162.056334] R8188EU: Loaded firmware file rtlwifi/rtl8188eufw.bin
[11162.056351] R8188EU: Firmware Version 11, SubVersion 1, Signature 0x88e1
[11162.423171] ==> rtl8188e_iol_efuse_patch
[11162.748122] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 00000000
[11162.753517] pgd = b4360000
[11162.755615] [00000000] *pgd=341bb835, *pte=00000000, *ppte=00000000
[11162.757877] Internal error: Oops: 17 [#1] SMP ARM
[11162.760184] Modules linked in: 8188eu(O)

The latest master from https://github.com/lwfinger/rtl8188eu/ builds but doesn't work even as station.

Finally, the last driver release works fine both as station and as AP with the latest hostapd 2.9.
A minor issue is that the link LED doesn't light/blink. Personally I'm very happy about it, because it was way too bright (I had a piece of black tape covering it...).
- get it:

Code:

git clone -b v5.2.2.4 https://github.com/lwfinger/rtl8188eu.git

- needs the following added to the Makefile in order to build on -current (latest toolchain)

Code:

EXTRA_CFLAGS += -Wno-address-of-packed-member
EXTRA_CFLAGS += -Wno-implicit-function-declaration

- modinfo:
version: v5.2.2.4_25483.20171222
author: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
- /etc/modprobe.d/8188eu.conf (same as with v4.1.8_9499)

Code:

blacklist r8188eu
options 8188eu rtw_power_mgnt=0 rtw_enusbss=0

abga · 05-25-2020, 08:19 PM

Down you go! (thread in the list)

xavivg · 11-06-2022, 08:15 AM

First off, thank you, adga! I had exactly the same problem. I connected a dongle usb RTL8188EUS 802.11n Wireless Network Adapter to my beloved old Raspberry Pi 2 Model B Rev 1.1 and was not working as access point. This post is the only one who brought light to my problem.

Let me explain the context: I installed OSMC years ago to mirror iphone and ipads at home to my tv, and play some movies and videos there. Currently using Kodi 19.4. Simple, practical and useful for my needings. I wanted to use it for long trips by car to have my children distracted for a while, so why not using a dongle usb to create a wifi network and let them to watch those videos? By the way, controlling usage time and network connection is another story, out of the scope of this post. My problem was latest firmware available in package firmware-realtek (version 20210315-3) didn't work. I had the same messages in hostapd and nothing was shown using "iw list" command.

Then I followed your instructions and I confirm r8189eu v4.1.2 is not working as access point.

Just to (try to) help others with the same problem, let me describe steps I followed to fix the problem:

1. Starting point
lsusb show Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0bda:8179 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8188EUS 802.11n Wireless Network Adapter
iw list empty (no results)
hostapd package 2:2.9.0-21 configured with /etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf:

Code:

interface=wlan0
#bridge=br0
hw_mode=g
channel=7
wmm_enabled=0
macaddr_acl=0
auth_algs=1
ignore_broadcast_ssid=0
#driver=rtl871xdrv
#driver=8188eu
wpa=2
wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
wpa_pairwise=TKIP
rsn_pairwise=CCMP
ssid=<SSID>
wpa_passphrase=<PASSWD>

Note driver entries are useless. I also disabled bridge as I have no plans (for now) to use rasp to bridge to wired connection

2. Install new firmware:
Clone Realtek firmware from github.com : lwfinger/rtl8188eu (skipping url for forum policy reasons)
Checkout branch origin/v5.2.2.4 (note branch 4.1.x does not work)
Install kernel headers rbp2-headers-5.10.78-7-osmc
Compile code: make all

Code:

$ modinfo ./8188eu.ko  |head -2
filename:       /home/osmc/rtl8188eu/./8188eu.ko
version:        v5.2.2.4_25483.20171222

Install: sudo make install

Code:

$ cat /etc/modprobe.d/50-8188eu.conf
blacklist r8188eu
options 8188eu rtw_power_mgnt=0 rtw_enusbss=0

Reboot raspberry

3. Check wireless connection

Code:

$ dmesg |grep 818
[   26.200555] 8188eu: loading out-of-tree module taints kernel.
[   26.399650] RTW: rtl8188eu v5.2.2.4_25483.20171222
[   26.472308] usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8188eu

Code:

$ lsmod |grep 818
8188eu               1617920  0
cfg80211              827392  1 8188eu

Now iw list show results:

Code:

 Available Antennas: TX 0 RX 0
        Supported interface modes:
                 * IBSS
                 * managed
                 * AP
                 * P2P-client
                 * P2P-GOosmc

Note hostapd is unmasked by defaults, so enable it (sudo systemctl enable hostapd)

Code:

hostapd.service - Access point and authentication server for Wi-Fi and Ethernet
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/hostapd.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Sun 2022-11-06 13:48:59 CET; 3min 42s ago

Now is just a matter to configure network and test it

4. Finally, to complete the goal of this process:
- Enable uPnP on OSMC
- Connect iPad to the new wireless network
- Install VLC in ipads and allow discover the network
- All Kodi photos and videos are available

Mastiff · 11-05-2023, 10:00 AM

Posting to be allowed to post a link...

Mastiff · 11-05-2023, 10:00 AM

I registered on this forum to add the next chapter in this driver. I am using this USB network card for a bridge over hostapd in my boat, and it's glued into a custom fitted box. Replacing that with something else would take many hours of work, and it has been working very well on Stretch. I needed to update to Bookworm because of other software that wants a newer version. I have spent some hours now trying to get it working with xavivg's instructions, and I finally managed to get it up.

The added steps for turned out to be installing the 2.9 version of hostapd (because the 2.10 version that is installed if you try to do an apt-get will not work with the Realtek chip. I found it hereand simply ran the package installation from file manager.

Then I locked it, so it wouldn't update, which of course would break it again:

Code:

sudo apt-mark hold hostapd

I disabled Network Manager completely, so it wouldn't interfere:

Code:

sudo systemctl stop NetworkManager.service
sudo systemctl disable NetworkManager.service
sudo systemctl stop NetworkManager-wait-online.service
sudo systemctl disable NetworkManager-wait-online.service
sudo systemctl stop NetworkManager-dispatcher.service
sudo systemctl disable NetworkManager-dispatcher.service

And after scratching my head for a while since my bridge didn't obey the static network address I had given it in /etc/dhcpcd.conf I finally checked, and of course dhcpcd wasn't even installed!

So

Code:

sudp apt-get install dhcpcd

and a reboot, and now I have my MadMax-network (which a bunch of ESP32's running relays and sensors for the boat, and which let me connect to SignalK, Home Assistant and Node-RED on the main pi (a Pi 4 running almost everything in Docker) back up and running under Bookworm!