Realtek 8191SEvB Non-functional after fresh install

Zymus · 02-16-2012, 04:08 PM

I'm running Debian Squeeze (2.6.32-5)

I know that many people before me have had problems getting the Realtek drivers to work. However I have seen only one other thread dealing with the exact errors I'm having, but they didn't explain how they fixed it.

I decided to reinstall Debian to get rid of the cruft. Before reinstallation, the drivers were working, and I don't recall having to do anything special to accomplish that.

The firmware-realtek package didn't solve the problem.

ifconfig shows no wireless device

Code:

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr c8:0a:a9:bb:ba:ad  
          inet addr:192.168.1.104  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::ca0a:a9ff:febb:baad/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:7529 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:6367 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:3
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:7851494 (7.4 MiB)  TX bytes:1138258 (1.0 MiB)
          Interrupt:28 

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:8 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:8 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:560 (560.0 B)  TX bytes:560 (560.0 B)

lspci shows that there is

Code:

02:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8191SEvB Wireless LAN Controller (rev 10)

I've downloaded and attempted to build the drivers from Realtek's site (the 8191SE-VA2 and 8192SE are the same) with this as a result

Code:

make -C /lib/modules/2.6.32-5-686/build M=/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011 modules
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-5-686'
  CC [M]  /home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.o
In file included from /home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:32:
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/wifi.h: In function ‘rtl_find_sta’:
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/wifi.h:2094: warning: passing argument 1 of ‘ieee80211_find_sta’ from incompatible pointer type
/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-5-common/include/net/mac80211.h:2091: note: expected ‘struct ieee80211_hw *’ but argument is of type ‘struct ieee80211_vif *’
In file included from /home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:34:
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.h: At top level:
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.h:143: warning: ‘enum ieee80211_smps_mode’ declared inside parameter list
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.h:143: warning: its scope is only this definition or declaration, which is probably not what you want
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c: In function ‘_rtl_init_mac80211’:
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:322: error: ‘IEEE80211_HW_CONNECTION_MONITOR’ undeclared (first use in this function)
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:322: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:322: error: for each function it appears in.)
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c: In function ‘rtl_tx_agg_start’:
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:991: warning: passing argument 1 of ‘ieee80211_start_tx_ba_cb_irqsafe’ from incompatible pointer type
/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-5-common/include/net/mac80211.h:2038: note: expected ‘struct ieee80211_hw *’ but argument is of type ‘struct ieee80211_vif *’
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c: In function ‘rtl_tx_agg_stop’:
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:1020: warning: passing argument 1 of ‘ieee80211_stop_tx_ba_cb_irqsafe’ from incompatible pointer type
/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-5-common/include/net/mac80211.h:2079: note: expected ‘struct ieee80211_hw *’ but argument is of type ‘struct ieee80211_vif *’
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c: In function ‘rtl_watchdog_wq_callback’:
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:1274: error: implicit declaration of function ‘ieee80211_connection_loss’
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c: At top level:
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:1332: warning: ‘enum ieee80211_smps_mode’ declared inside parameter list
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:1332: error: parameter 2 (‘smps’) has incomplete type
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c: In function ‘rtl_make_smps_action’:
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:1352: error: ‘WLAN_HT_ACTION_SMPS’ undeclared (first use in this function)
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:1354: error: ‘IEEE80211_SMPS_AUTOMATIC’ undeclared (first use in this function)
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:1355: error: ‘IEEE80211_SMPS_NUM_MODES’ undeclared (first use in this function)
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:1357: error: ‘IEEE80211_SMPS_OFF’ undeclared (first use in this function)
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:1359: error: ‘WLAN_HT_SMPS_CONTROL_DISABLED’ undeclared (first use in this function)
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:1361: error: ‘IEEE80211_SMPS_STATIC’ undeclared (first use in this function)
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:1363: error: ‘WLAN_HT_SMPS_CONTROL_STATIC’ undeclared (first use in this function)
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:1365: error: ‘IEEE80211_SMPS_DYNAMIC’ undeclared (first use in this function)
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:1367: error: ‘WLAN_HT_SMPS_CONTROL_DYNAMIC’ undeclared (first use in this function)
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c: At top level:
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:1376: warning: ‘enum ieee80211_smps_mode’ declared inside parameter list
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:1376: error: parameter 3 (‘smps’) has incomplete type
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c: In function ‘rtl_send_smps_action’:
/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.c:1404: error: type of formal parameter 2 is incomplete
make[4]: *** [/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011/base.o] Error 1
make[3]: *** [_module_/home/zymus/Downloads/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_linux_mac80211_0005.1230.2011] Error 2
make[2]: *** [sub-make] Error 2
make[1]: *** [all] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-5-686'
make: *** [all] Error 2

It seems that it's simply a matter of variables not being found, but I've done a search through all of the source files (in the drivers, and the linux source) and couldn't find any of the variables listed.

jhwilliams · 02-17-2012, 09:21 AM

Hi Zymus,

Looks like you're headed in the right direction so far.

I tried to build the driver on my Squeeze box. (I don't have the hardware so can't test it, however.)

This version did not build:
Linux driver for kernel 2.6.24 (and later, up to 3.2.x) 0005.1230.2011

However, this version does build:
Linux driver for kernel 2.6.23 (and earlier)

Even though I am running a kernel beyond 2.6.23 -- stock debian squeeze -- like you:

Code:

jameson@apricot:~$ uname -r
2.6.32-5-amd64

Are you able to build that other version?

Look for
rtl8192se_linux_2.6.0019.1207.2010.tar.gz

Zymus · 02-27-2012, 12:47 AM

Yes, building the earlier version worked. Although I'm still getting random disconnects while using the driver. I don't think disconnect is the right word. Randomly, I will be disconnected from the current network, and not be able to reconnect to any network until I rmmod, and modprobe.

cascade9 · 02-27-2012, 05:20 AM

Tried getting the realtek firmware? Either the 'firmware-realtek' debian package, or rtl8192sefw.bin.

Zymus · 02-27-2012, 01:56 PM

Yes, and when that didn't work is when I went to get the proprietary drivers.