[SOLVED] [Request] help noob install/fix

alan_ri · 02-11-2012, 11:24 PM

I did a little search and whatnot about this. It seems that lots of distros had/have problems with RTL8191SEvB, even the mighty Ubuntu. However, don't think that this is Debian's problem.

Anyhow if you go here; http://wiki.debian.org/WiFi you can see that it'll not work by default.

Now lovely thing is that I couldn't find exact driver on their (Realtek) site, but some have reported and that was on ThinkPad edge 15, that it works with RTL8191SE-VA2 (which is the closest thing to what you have).

You can find that driver here; http://218.210.127.131/downloads/dow...#RTL8191SE-VA2 Be sure to download the right version. (That would be Linux driver for kernel 2.6.24 (and later, up to 3.2.x)).

Important thing is to read the Readme file within that package, but before you could install that driver you need to install all the things needed to compile that driver, so install build-essential package. You will also need linux headers and linux source and they need to be same version as is your kernel and you check your kernel version in the terminal with command;

Code:

uname -a

If you're not comfortable with the terminal yet, you use Synaptic to install those packages.

When that's done, you read the Readme file mentioned earlier and then you compile your driver and compiling lets say usually goes with;

Code:

make && make install

but it can be different. If all goes well, you reboot and configure your network with network manager and not Wicd, because in Debian, using Wicd is recommended in other desktop environments, not GNOME.

When you do all that, you let me know how it went.

jokawild · 02-12-2012, 02:29 AM

Ok I redownloaded the correct driver. I installed build-essential, wireless-tools, headers, and source for my correct kernel. I reread the readme file which stated to compile it using a different method instead of make and make install since im using an older kernel. The install completed successfully but when I ran iwconfig, wlan0 does not appear. So I looked at the link I provided earlier that had solved the issue and now the folders appeared in the directory. My next question is do I copy everything in the folder or specific files. The OP was not super clear about it. In any case I made progress. Thanks. Ill reread the other post about copying the folders tomorrow since I need to get some rest. Good night.

jokawild · 02-14-2012, 06:08 PM

I have tried to copy over the directory of the source and header files over to the build folder using

Code:

jokawild@debian:~$ sudo cp -r /usr/src/* /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-amd64/build/
cp: cannot copy a directory, `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-5-amd64', into itself, `/lib/modules/2.6.32-5-amd64/build/linux-headers-2.6.32-5-amd64'

as you can see not everything copies over. Then I reattempt to compile and install the driver again but I still am not about to see any wireless devices

Code:

jokawild@debian:~$ sudo iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

pan0      no wireless extensions.

So now I'm back to researching again.

alan_ri · 02-15-2012, 04:12 AM

You know what, you upload that Readme file here as attachment. And do me a favor, send an email to Realtek and tell'em about your problem, because it seems that they are helpful. I wonder what will they say.

Now, I have Ralink Technology, Corp. RT2870/RT3070 Wireless Adapter and what I did to make it work is as follows;

Code:

# cd /etc/modprobe.d
# touch rt2800lib.conf rt2800pci.conf rt2800usb.conf rt2x00lib.conf rt2x00pci.conf rt2x00usb.conf rt61pci.conf
# echo "blacklist rt2800lib" > rt2800lib.conf
# echo "blacklist rt2800pci" > rt2800pci.conf
# echo "blacklist rt2800usb" > rt2800usb.conf
# echo "blacklist rt2x00lib" > rt2x00lib.conf
# echo "blacklist rt2x00pci" > rt2x00pci.conf
# echo "blacklist rt2x00usb" > rt2x00usb.conf
# echo "blacklist rt61pci" > rt61pci.conf
# depmod -ae
# update-initramfs -u

What I didn't blacklist is rt2780sta. Reboot and it works. Here I use WEP, if someone is using WAP, they should do;

Code:

# aptitude install wpasupplicant

# iwlist wlan0 scan

# nano /etc/network/interfaces

Add the following:

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
        wpa-ssid ESSID
        wpa-psk PASSPHRASE

Bring up the interface.

# ifup wlan0

You might wanna try something that I did, maybe it'll work, but I'll wait until you upload that Readme file, to see what can be done.

jokawild · 02-20-2012, 03:33 AM

Great news guys, I fixed my issue. I emailed realtek support but his advice did not work. So after hours of searching google everything pointed to needing to upgrade my kernel. So I downloaded all the necessary files for 3.2 generic. I installed both header debs but when I tried to install the image file it failed do to a dependency issue. I needed to install crda. So I checked debian.org packages and only one for found wheezy 1.1.2 so I installed the amd64 package. So then I reattempted the image file again and it installed successfully. I rebooted my laptop and now I have kernel 3.2 as an option. I logged in and ran terminal command uname -r and the kernel was upgraded. Then was the moment of truth. I ran command iwconfig and it recognized my wireless card. So I opened up network manager and connected to my network! Thanks guys for all the help

EricTRA · 02-20-2012, 09:45 AM

Hi,

That great news! Congratulations and thanks for marking the thread as solved. Have fun with Linux.

Kind regards,

Eric