WiFi Adapter Support

[SimCS]

I have my RPi ordered, and am building the support infrastructure, and as part of this I found some tiny USB WiFi 'n' adapters on eBay (UK Item number: 200690722969). They are labelled as "Mini Wireless LAN Adapter - USB 802.11n 150Mbps". The software installation reports it's a "Realtek 11n USB" device. It's a really tiny and neat device, approx 5mm max long and only approx 1mm wider/higher than the USB plug

Would like to know if this is a supported device?

[Pirx-Danford]

On ebay it says that Linux is supported so yes it should work well with the RasPi

[SimCS]

Thanks. Using it will really help as the TV I'm going to connect the pi to doesn't have a wired network connection anywhere near.

I should clear some space on the spare desk in my home office (which has 11n wireless router and 1Gbps wired network, plus my QNAP NAS drives). Just now need get one of the cheap Tesco Full HD LED wide-screen TVs for the display. Alternatively, a wide-screen monitor with in-built USB hub so the keyboard and mouse can work off the 1 remaining USB port.

[jamesh]

See here...http://elinux.org/RPi_Verified.....i_Adapters

[rpt]

Pirx Danford said:


On ebay it says that Linux is supported so yes it should work well with the RasPi


Be aware that when it says Linux is supported that is for an x86 PC - there is no guarantee that it will work on an ARM platform. If the driver is open source then it should be possible to port it, but if it is only available in binary form then you are stuck.

[Pirx-Danford]

rpt said:


Pirx Danford said:


On ebay it says that Linux is supported so yes it should work well with the RasPi


Be aware that when it says Linux is supported that is for an x86 PC - there is no guarantee that it will work on an ARM platform. If the driver is open source then it should be possible to port it, but if it is only available in binary form then you are stuck.


Oh yes that is true... well I guess in the beginning it will always be a bit risky, especially if one does not know the exact chipset and can check if the driver is open source.

Best only order when the adapter might be useful in other devices as well...

[rpt]

Pirx Danford said:


Best only order when the adapter might be useful in other devices as well...


Or wait until you actually have a Raspberry Pi so that you can take advantage of the 30 day money back guarantee.

[SimCS]

I bought the adapters (they came in a deal as a set of 2) with 2 purposes in mind, firstly for the RPi and also for a couple of desktops I have that could do with being relocatable, i.e. wireless.

They came in unbranded boxes, so the only identification is the (Windows) software install that mentions "Realtek". They worked on my 32-bit  Win7Pro laptop without any software install (Win's P&P automatically installed the driver), so there's obviously some knowledge of the device out there.

[EarthlyPangaea]

Simon C-S said:


I bought the adapters (they came in a deal as a set of 2) with 2 purposes in mind, firstly for the RPi and also for a couple of desktops I have that could do with being relocatable, i.e. wireless.

They came in unbranded boxes, so the only identification is the (Windows) software install that mentions "Realtek". They worked on my 32-bit  Win7Pro laptop without any software install (Win's P&P automatically installed the driver), so there's obviously some knowledge of the device out there.


If you go into Device Manager you can ID the chipset.



Get the Hardware ID for your WLAN dongle by going to the Hardware Ids page of your own device in Device Manager.  This is one of mine, for an example.  The first line is USBVID_148F&PID_3070&REV_0101.  You're interested in the VID and PID parts – put them in the format VID:PID.  So from that line of text, I get an ID of 148F:3070.

Do the same for yours, and paste the ID into a search engine.  From there, you'll be able to find out whether your dongle has open drivers.

[jamesh]

Now that is the sort of first post that I like - I was wondering how you got that information in windows. Thanks EarthlyPangaea!

[pepedog]

I have had a sorry 2 days trying to get a carl9170 (Atheros ar9170) working.

Whilst the API for the firware has moved on, neither the firmware for that or matching loads. This is a Popcorn Hour WN111 stick, works fine on other arm devices.

[jamesh]

Where did the other Arm device get their firmware? Can you grab it from them? I see no reason, if its works on other Arm devices, why it won't work on a Raspi.

[pepedog]

I'm not a novice with this stick. Firmware is here

http://linuxwireless.org/en/us.....Firmware-1

The API of pi kernel for this stick is 1.9.4, 1.9.5 is in the link, it should have worked, managed to find a 1.9.4 version, same.

[SimCS]

The hardware IDs are:
USB\VID_0BDA&PID_8176&REV_0200
USB\VID_0BDA&PID_8176

Pasting 0BDA:8176 into Google shows...

UBUNTU Forums.

Re: Realtek RTL8188CE wireless driver
After some trial following instructions on this post this is what worked for me:

1) Go to Rhttp://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/...true#RTL8188CE and download the tar.gz file

2) open terminal and do 'sudo apt-get install build-essential'

3) Follow the readme file's instructions:
sudo su
make
make install
reboot
When I logged in again I was on WiFi....

[SimCS]

The Win7 driver details report: RTL8192cu.sys provided by Realtek Semiconductor Corp.

[patrickhwood]

I've been using these USB devices with x86 and ARM linux for a couple of months now.  They're very nice and have good range for such a small device.  The drivers are standard in linux 3.x kernels (e.g., the beaglebone), but not 2.x kernels, at least up to 2.6.38, so I also had to build it on the beagleboard and various debian/ubuntu builds for x86.  As far as I can tell, the drivers are very stable.

[GizmoB73]

Simon C-S said:


The hardware IDs are:
USB\VID_0BDA&PID_8176&REV_0200
USB\VID_0BDA&PID_8176

Pasting 0BDA:8176 into Google shows...

UBUNTU Forums.

Re: Realtek RTL8188CE wireless driver
After some trial following instructions on this post this is what worked for me:

1) Go to Rhttp://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/...true#RTL8188CE and download the tar.gz file

2) open terminal and do 'sudo apt-get install build-essential'

3) Follow the readme file's instructions:
sudo su
make
make install
reboot
When I logged in again I was on WiFi....



Simon, when I try that I get

/lib/modules/3.1.9+/build: No such file or directory. Stop.

Did you get that too? If so, what did you do to get around it please?

[RaTTuS]

GizmoB73 said:


Simon, when I try that I get

/lib/modules/3.1.9+/build: No such file or directory. Stop.

Did you get that too? If so, what did you do to get around it please?


pastbinit the output of what your doing

sudo apt-get install pastebinit

*^this is a very useful tool*

[GizmoB73]

RaTTuS said:


GizmoB73 said:


Simon, when I try that I get

/lib/modules/3.1.9+/build: No such file or directory. Stop.

Did you get that too? If so, what did you do to get around it please?


pastbinit the output of what your doing

sudo apt-get install pastebinit

*^this is a very useful tool*



Sounds like it would be a useful tool if I could use it...

I have installed in and did a $ ls -a | pastebinit

and I got the directory list that I was expecting.

However, when I do $ make | pastebinit

I get this, instead of the error response on the screen:

make ARCH=armv6l CROSS_COMPILE= -C /lib/modules/3.1.9+/build M=/home/pi/rtl8188C_8192C_8192D_usb_linux_v3.3.2_3192.20120103  modules

What I actually see on the screen is:

make ARCH=armv6l CROSS_COMPILE= -C /lib/modules/3.1.9+/build M=/home /pi/rtl8188C_8192C_8192D_usb_linux_v3.3.2_3192.20120103  modules

make: *** /lib/modules/3.1.9+/build: No such file or directory.  Stop.

make: *** [modules] Error 2

Any ideas on why pastbinit didn't work and why the make command doesn't work?

Thanks

[SimCS]

RaTTuS said:


GizmoB73 said:


Simon, when I try that I get

/lib/modules/3.1.9+/build: No such file or directory. Stop.

Did you get that too? If so, what did you do to get around it please?


pastbinit the output of what your doing

sudo apt-get install pastebinit

*^this is a very useful tool*



My apologies, the post was a bit misleading in the formatting. The text was the entry from the Google search result I found, not what I did. I didn't make it clear. Sorry. If anyone can get this driver working, please post the method.

[RaTTuS]

GizmoB73 said:


Any ideas on why pastbinit didn't work and why the make command doesn't work?

Thanks


no sorry I don't but at least we have a bit more to go on [I'm seriously overloaded ATM] but maybe someone can help

you did do a

sudo apt-get install build-essentials

1st yes?

[GizmoB73]

RaTTuS said:


GizmoB73 said:


Any ideas on why pastbinit didn't work and why the make command doesn't work?

Thanks


no sorry I don't but at least we have a bit more to go on [I'm seriously overloaded ATM] but maybe someone can help

you did do a

sudo apt-get install build-essentials

1st yes?



Yes, I get "build-essential is already the newest version."

[plugwash]

JamesH said:


See here...http://elinux.org/RPi_Verified.....i_Adapters



Be aware though that just because the model number on the box of a wifi adaptor is the same doesn't mean the chipset inside is the same.

[plugwash]

GizmoB73 said:


Any ideas on why pastbinit didn't work and why the make command doesn't work?

Thanks


What system are you doing this on? a Pi? qemu? something else?

What does uname -r give?

What does ls /lib/modules give?

[GizmoB73]

plugwash said:

What system are you doing this on? a Pi? qemu? something else?
What does uname -r give?

What does ls /lib/modules give?



This is being done on an actual Pi with the debian image.

uname -r gives: 3.1.9+

ls /lib/modules gives: 3.1.4+ 3.1.9+