Realtek RTL8192CU WiFi Drivers for Puppy - Look Here First

[greengeek]

Thanks, i will give ndiswrapper a try.
Cheers

[rcrsn51]

@greengeek: I have posted the 8192cu_slacko_56_4G-k3.4.52.pet above (in the second group). This is the non-PAE version.

[greengeek]

I have posted the 8192cu_slacko_56_4G-k3.4.52.pet above (in the second group). This is the non-PAE version.

Many thanks! That works perfectly. Posting from it now.

When I saw the dialog saying "reboot now" I thought this pet might not work for me as my Slacko 5.6 derivative is read only and doesn't retain info across a full reboot - however I just did a restart x server and it worked fine. (EDIT - plugged the dongle in after the restartx).

Very happy as I bought two of these around 3 years ago and never got them to work. All good now.

Cheers!

EDIT : a little more info and couple of pics:

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# dmesg
[  676.320119] usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 3 using ehci_hcd
[  676.445877] usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=0bda, idProduct=8176
[  676.445886] usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[  676.445893] usb 1-1: Product: 802.11n WLAN Adapter
[  676.445899] usb 1-1: Manufacturer: Realtek
[  676.445904] usb 1-1: SerialNumber: 00e04c000001
[  676.660051] usbcore: registered new interface driver 8192cu
# 

# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0bda:8176 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. 

[rcrsn51]

Just out of curiosity, does the in-kernel rtl8192cu driver work for you in new Puppies?

[greengeek]

i almost never use anything other than Slacko 5.6 so will have to dig out something more recent. I have a copy of Fotopup which I think is based on an early version of Tahr so will start with that then I will see what other recent versions I may have on CD and will post back.

EDIT : Fotopup was installed on my usb stick so did a quick test - seems to be working ok (posting from it now) - although some pages seem to take a very long time to load and some fail with connection timeout. I don't know if that is related to the 8192CU or some other Fotopup /palemoon issue (I don't recall when I last used Fotopup to go online...)

One difference I note is that the dongle's green LED stays on all the time in Fotopup although it blinked frequently on Slacko 5.6 with the new pet loaded.

I plan to try some other puppies later but here is the info from fotopup:

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root# uname -r
3.14.54

usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 3 using ehci-pci
udevd[16349]: failed to execute '/etc/udev/mtp-probe' '/etc/udev/mtp-probe /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1a.7/usb1/1-1 1 3': No such file or directory
rtl8192cu: Chip version 0x10
rtl8192cu: MAC address: 00:a1:b0:12:5a:80
rtl8192cu: Board Type 0
rtl_usb: rx_max_size 15360, rx_urb_num 8, in_ep 1
rtl8192cu: Loading firmware rtlwifi/rtl8192cufw_TMSC.bin
usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8192cu
ieee80211 phy1: Selected rate control algorithm 'rtl_rc'
rtlwifi: wireless switch is on
root# 

lsusb looks different though:

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lsusb
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0bda:8176 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8188CUS 802.11n WLAN Adapter

That seems odd.

[greengeek]

Just tried downloading xenialpup 7.0.8.5

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root# uname -r
4.9.15

and the adapter works (posting from it now) but i can't make much sense of the dmesg contents:

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usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 3 using ehci-pci
usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=0bda, idProduct=8176
usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
usb 1-1: Product: 802.11n WLAN Adapter
usb 1-1: Manufacturer: Realtek
usb 1-1: SerialNumber: 00e04c000001
usb 1-1: Vendor: Realtek
usb 1-1: Product: 802.11n WLAN Adapter
usb 1-1: rtl8192cu_parse_efuse: dumping efuse (0x80 bytes):
usb 1-1: 00: 29 81 00 74 cd 00 00 00
usb 1-1: 08: ff 00 da 0b 76 81 01 41
usb 1-1: 10: 32 00 85 62 9e ad 00 a1
usb 1-1: 18: b0 12 5a 80 0a 03 52 65
usb 1-1: 20: 61 6c 74 65 6b 00 16 03
usb 1-1: 28: 38 30 32 2e 31 31 6e 20
usb 1-1: 30: 57 4c 41 4e 20 41 64 61
usb 1-1: 38: 70 74 65 72 00 00 00 00
usb 1-1: 40: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
usb 1-1: 48: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
usb 1-1: 50: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
usb 1-1: 58: 06 00 2e 2f 30 00 00 00
usb 1-1: 60: 2f 2f 2f 00 00 00 00 00
usb 1-1: 68: 00 02 02 02 02 02 02 00
usb 1-1: 70: 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 00
usb 1-1: 78: 10 00 00 00 36 00 81 00
usb 1-1: RTL8188CU rev A (TSMC) 1T1R, TX queues 2, WiFi=1, BT=0, GPS=0, HI PA=0
usb 1-1: RTL8188CU MAC: 00:a1:b0:12:5a:80
usb 1-1: rtl8xxxu: Loading firmware rtlwifi/rtl8192cufw_TMSC.bin
usb 1-1: Firmware revision 80.0 (signature 0x88c1)
usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8xxxu
usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8192cu
wlan1: authenticate with 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd
wlan1: send auth to 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd (try 1/3)
wlan1: authenticated
wlan1: associate with 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd (try 1/3)
wlan1: RX AssocResp from 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd (capab=0x431 status=0 aid=1)
usb 1-1: rtl8xxxu_bss_info_changed: HT supported
wlan1: associated
wlan1: deauthenticated from 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd (Reason: 2=PREV_AUTH_NOT_VALID)
wlan1: authenticate with 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd
wlan1: send auth to 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd (try 1/3)
wlan1: authenticated
wlan1: associate with 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd (try 1/3)
wlan1: RX AssocResp from 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd (capab=0x431 status=0 aid=1)
usb 1-1: rtl8xxxu_bss_info_changed: HT supported
wlan1: associated
wlan1: deauthenticated from 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd (Reason: 2=PREV_AUTH_NOT_VALID)
wlan1: authenticate with 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd
wlan1: send auth to 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd (try 1/3)
wlan1: authenticated
wlan1: associate with 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd (try 1/3)
wlan1: RX AssocResp from 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd (capab=0x431 status=0 aid=1)
usb 1-1: rtl8xxxu_bss_info_changed: HT supported
wlan1: associated
wlan1: deauthenticating from 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd by local choice (Reason: 3=DEAUTH_LEAVING)
wlan1: authenticate with 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd
wlan1: send auth to 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd (try 1/3)
wlan1: authenticated
wlan1: associate with 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd (try 1/3)
wlan1: RX AssocResp from 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd (capab=0x431 status=0 aid=1)
usb 1-1: rtl8xxxu_bss_info_changed: HT supported
wlan1: associated
wlan1: deauthenticated from 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd (Reason: 2=PREV_AUTH_NOT_VALID)
wlan1: authenticate with 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd
wlan1: send auth to 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd (try 1/3)
wlan1: authenticated
wlan1: associate with 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd (try 1/3)
wlan1: RX AssocResp from 64:70:02:e9:e4:dd (capab=0x431 status=0 aid=1)
usb 1-1: rtl8xxxu_bss_info_changed: HT supported
wlan1: associated
nf_conntrack version 0.5.0 (16384 buckets, 65536 max)

lsusb shows the same issue as fotopup with confusing 8192 and 8188.
Hope you understand this because I certainly don't:

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sroot# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0bda:8176 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8188CUS 802.11n WLAN Adapter

EDIT : green LED stays on permanently (similar to fotopup). Did not see it flashing as it did on Slacko 5.6

[greengeek]

Results for Slacko64_6.9.6.1 :

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uname -r
4.1.32

It seems to be working ok (posting from it) but some pages seem to hang for long periods. Doesn't feel quite right.

dmesg:

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usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 3 using ehci-pci
rtl8192cu: Chip version 0x10
rtl8192cu: MAC address: 00:a1:b0:12:5a:80
rtl8192cu: Board Type 0
rtl_usb: rx_max_size 15360, rx_urb_num 8, in_ep 1
rtl8192cu: Loading firmware rtlwifi/rtl8192cufw_TMSC.bin
ieee80211 phy1: Selected rate control algorithm 'rtl_rc'
usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8192cu
cfg80211: Calling CRDA to update world regulatory domain
udevd[3131]: specified group 'input' unknown
udevd[3131]: NAME="%k" is ignored, because it breaks kernel supplied names, please remove it from /etc/udev/rules.d/55-cups.rules:5
cfg80211: Exceeded CRDA call max attempts. Not calling CRDA
# 

Again lsusb thinks it is an 8188cus:

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# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0bda:8176 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8188CUS 802.11n WLAN Adapter

[greengeek]

I really don't know if i am testing relevant "in kernel driver" puppies so if there is any specific pup you would like me to try please let me know.
cheers!

[rcrsn51]

Thanks. That's good enough. It sounds like the in-kernel driver is still a bit wonky.

[greengeek]

I just grafted your Slacko 5.6 pet into a couple of my remasters/derivatives and the adapter works perfectly straight after booting. I wasn't sure whether I would have to "blacklist" something - but that was not necessary. With the .ko file placed in it's appropriate directory (per the .pet location) it has the correct firmware loaded during boot and works straight away.

I note that the adapter shows as wlan0 if I have it connected during boot - ahead of the inbuilt wifi card which normally shows as wlan0 but gets pushed to wlan1 when booting with the usb adapter plugged in.

I am really happy with the functionality that your pet gives me as it means I can finally rely on this adapter - including fitting it to some of my old machines which have no inbuilt wifi.

Being able to use such a low profile dongle is really handy compared to the bulky pcmcia adapter I previously had sticking out of the side of my laptops.

The performance of the adaptor using the Slacko 5.6 pet is far faster and more reliable than the performance when fitted to the newer pups that I ried. It is really quick on Slacko5.6

Many thanks rcrsn51 !

[rcrsn51]

... it has the correct firmware loaded during boot and works straight away.

Just to be clear, my PETs are built from the github project, which claims to be the original vendor code, just updated for new kernels. It does NOT use a separate firmware file, probably because the firmware code is contained in the driver. The in-kernel driver separates them.

I change the driver name to "8192cu" so it's easy to tell which driver is actually in play.

The performance of the adaptor using the Slacko 5.6 pet is far faster and more reliable than the performance when fitted to the newer pups that I tried. It is really quick on Slacko5.6

I don't know if the superior performance is due to the adapter or the browser. Newer Puppies have newer browser versions which tend to be fatter and slower.

[Pelo]

wary 5.3 still succesful, regarding downloads of pets..
That gives an idea of wat puppies are still runing, unchained, wireless connected. Old Puppies are not at the top of the forum topics, but they are well alive..
I was needing wirless for my Wary 511 music kernel 2.6.32.28. Not Available.

I remasterized it with 3.0.25, i got wireless , but loosed audio
I will remasterize it 2.6.32.59. wait and see. On test bench..