I’m trying to install new wifi drivers because the default one for my wifi card sucks. I’m following a guide on this particular wifi adapter, which apparently is known to have issues on linux.
The guide says:
git clone https://github.com/lwfinger/rtlwifi_new
cd rtlwifi_new
git checkout rock.new_btcoex
make
sudo make install
basically it’s grabbing the driver from git, changing the branch, compiling the driver and installing it. However I can’t make the file, I get 2 errors.
eze@kanji:~/rtlwifi_new$ make
make -C /lib/modules/4.15.0-30-generic/build M=/home/eze/rtlwifi_new modules
make[1]: Entering directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-4.15.0-30-generic'
CC [M] /home/eze/rtlwifi_new/base.o
In file included from /home/eze/rtlwifi_new/base.c:26:0:
/home/eze/rtlwifi_new/wifi.h:43:2: error: #error "This branch is abandoned. Please do not use"
#error "This branch is abandoned. Please do not use"
^~~~~
/home/eze/rtlwifi_new/base.c: In function ‘_rtl_init_deferred_work’:
/home/eze/rtlwifi_new/base.c:602:2: error: implicit declaration of function ‘setup_timer’; did you mean ‘sk_stop_timer’? [-Werror=implicit-function-declaration]
setup_timer(&rtlpriv->works.watchdog_timer,
^~~~~~~~~~~
sk_stop_timer
cc1: some warnings being treated as errors
scripts/Makefile.build:332: recipe for target '/home/eze/rtlwifi_new/base.o' failed
make[2]: *** [/home/eze/rtlwifi_new/base.o] Error 1
Makefile:1552: recipe for target '_module_/home/eze/rtlwifi_new' failed
make[1]: *** [_module_/home/eze/rtlwifi_new] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-4.15.0-30-generic'
Makefile:57: recipe for target 'all' failed
make: *** [all] Error 2
One error is about the used branch, I don’t really think it matters that much tbh.
The second one has an invalid function apparently, which is why I can’t compile this.
Any suggestions? Or anyone knows a better driver for the RTL8723BE ?
After making the install I have the driver, I followed the guide to set it up. However nothing changed, my wifi is still utter poo
I’ve read that this driver won’t load when secure bios is turned on in the uefi
However, I’ve tried with it on and off, and nothing changed, I guess I’ll keep trying.
One weird thing: During the live boot I did to test the distro out, wifi worked pretty good actually, it was after the OS install that it all went south. Any clues?
I know this isn’t the answer you’re looking for. Ditch it and buy an Intel WiFi chip instead. You’re literally wasting your valuable time (unless you’re a WiFi driver developer or have a shitty Lenovo laptop with whitelisted cards)
The guide you linked has rtl8723be as the driver you activate, but it seems from
that you need rtl8xxxu so I assume it’s rtl8192cu. Try to modprobe that one,
Might I add that the repo’s README has this in it:
This code will build on any kernel 4.2 and newer as long as the distro has not modified any of the kernel APIs. IF YOU RUN UBUNTU, YOU CAN BE ASSURED THAT THE APIs HAVE CHANGED. NO, I WILL NOT MODIFY THE SOURCE FOR YOU. YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN!!!
I’ve been considering it, however this is a really cheap laptop, 14" quite slim, nice looking screen and acceptable keyboard, but it only has 4gb ram (on board, doesn’t have slots), and a Celeron N3350 dual core CPU. Plus a eMMC 32gb drive + 500gb HDD.
The battery is pretty decent because it’s the same one their higher power models use, while being quite low power and fanless.
I’ve got it for about $150
What I mean is, it’s a dirt cheap system, and I don’t know how cheap I can get a replacement wifi module.
Plus, I tried it on windows (which I don’t use), but it worked pretty OK, It SHOULD be decent on linux
If you were in the UK is just send you one I have spares laying around there like £15 normally.
Try and get it working but don’t go to the end of the earth for it. You can look up the WiFi slot type and get a new chip online pretty cheap if you don’t get it working.
I’d probably say if/when you stop learning anything from this process then stop doing it and just go for the one that will let you get on with other stuff.
Oh to answer this slightly. There are a couple of WiFi chip types that don’t have drivers with code allowed in the kenrel. As such, they are a pain and horrible to work with in the long run.
yes sir, I’ve also tried with -C
I’ve also rebooted after each try, I’ve also tried going back to the older driver I was using, still nothing.
Don’t get me wrong, it does show 1 maybe 2 networks out of the 10 it should be displaying. What’s weird is that the connections that should have the strongest signal, don’t appear at all! (even if I create a hotspot with my phone and place it next to it)
I’ve also tried editing the parameter ant_sel with 0, with 1, and with 2. None of them changed much.
When I try to connect to one of the displayed networks, most of the time it fails, sometimes it connects successfully and becomes really unstable after it. If I try manually entering to a not-displayed network, it won’t connect.
Now I remember. I was trying to install Gentoo via the live cd. The live cd worked with my wifi card, but the install didn’t. I also had the Realtek chip. This was on my, since retired, toshiba laptop. This was back in 2010.
there like £15 normally.