Wifi Failure Edimax EW-7811UN RTL8188CUS

[dime]

Anyone else having trouble with the Edimax EW-7811UN wifi adapter? Realtek RTL8188CUS

Tried latest Raspbmc, Openelec, Xbian. Tried network-manager, Openelec settings, Xbian's terminal settings, and manual configuration. Nothing working WPA/WPA2. Tried with and without self-powered USB hub. Tried both DHCP & static IP.

For what it's worth, with the Network-manager addon, it scans local networks and seemingly authenticates with my hidden SSID (it errors out if I enter an incorrect password, for example). Blue light blinks at startup, blinks after XBMC starts, but never connects even after a time period. I have no logs.

There are many reports of this adapter working in the past. Seems like a driver issue with whatever is included now. A few other people recently reported the same issue.

[Wheel_nut]

The latest Raspbian "Wheezy" release here http://downloads.raspberrypi.org/images ... spbian.zip includes the Drivers and also a GUI Utility to connect to a Wireless Network.

The Edimax works out-of-the-box with this release.

[dime]

Thanks, I had not considered that an option. I thought the latest Xbian was built upon raspbian, but maybe it is an older version or something.

If you go here there is a prebuilt image with raspbian+XBMC:
http://michael.gorven.za.net/content/xbmc-raspberry-pi
(hover the "torrent" and "magnet" words toward bottom of post for the links)

This maybe looks like the best solution yet at the moment, as it has apt support for upgrading which I do not believe any of the 3 other pi/xbmc distributions have set up yet.

Will try this out and report back. I assume raspi-config has the wifi setup?

[a6co1lostud]

Hey i know im late with my reply but i literally just installed my edimax in the latest raspbmc with no issues..now my set up is with a powered usb hub...but after getting the network manager add on i just went to add ons from the home menu (quartz reloaded skin..is awesome FYI) and selected network manager..entered my ssid/pw and i was done! now i did have to back out of the config one level to c my status as connected (cause when i entered my creds it just sat and cancel as my only option) so i thought it didnt take! <----frustrating! but im watchin youtube vids now on my pi...lil buffering cause im the only geek in 43 countries that doesn't have an HDMI tv but it works! next quest plexbmc! cheers!

[MishMich]

Yes, I do have problems with this. It just arrived yesterday, and was ordered because I thought it would solve the issue I had with an old Buffalo/Realtek WiFi dongle I tried with. I've been running the Raspbian, as downloaded, fully updated and upgraded, with XFCE rather than LXDE as a desktop.

The Edimax was not recognised out of the box, I had to install the appropriate firmware before I could get it to work, and at first it didn't appear to be recognised, using the wpa_gui, and eventually only work intermittently. ('sudo apt-get install firmware-realtek')

This was when it was still hooked up to an HDMI monitor and to a hub via cable. Then I moved to where I want it, where there is no monitor, and ideally no cable. The problem I then had was that the only way I could get it to work was by attaching a powered USB hub to the RPi, and connect it to the router via ethernet cable, boot up, plug in the Edimax, which then became available via the WLAN interface, so I could log out of SSH, and back in using VNC via the WLAN, and remove the ethernet cable.

If I leave the Edimax plugged in for hard or soft reboots, it does not get loaded (regardless of whether connected via a hub or plugged in direct), and so far I have not figured out why not. I have to use the USB-hub, because the only way it works is by plugging in once the system is up, and if I try that direct into the RPi USB port, it kills the power to the RPi momentarily, effectively rebooting it. I have tried powering the RPi using a range of chargers: Nokia n900, Samsung S3, Garmin SatNav (with a USB-microUSB connector from USB socket); these all are rated at 1 or 1.2 Amps. The USB router is a D-Link one I had to buy because I needed it to run 4 devices involved with telescope control and camera imaging through, and was reckoned to be about the only one good enough for the job (worked perfectly, even with USB cables that were 5 metres long) - so it should be ideal for this kind of job. The USB router is rated at 2.5 Amps, so as I have only one free plug socket on the power board I need to use, I figure that using it to power the RPi, as well as the Edimax, and nothing else plugged into the RPi (apart from a 3.5mm jack) or the hub should be more than adequate, until I can figure out a way of eliminating the hub + ethernet cable fix completely.

[SiriusHardware]

Anyone else having trouble with the Edimax EW-7811UN wifi adapter? Realtek RTL8188CUS

Tried latest Raspbmc, Openelec, Xbian. Tried network-manager, Openelec settings, Xbian's terminal settings, and manual configuration. Nothing working WPA/WPA2. Tried with and without self-powered USB hub. Tried both DHCP & static IP.

For what it's worth, with the Network-manager addon, it scans local networks and seemingly authenticates with my hidden SSID (it errors out if I enter an incorrect password, for example). Blue light blinks at startup, blinks after XBMC starts, but never connects even after a time period. I have no logs.

There are many reports of this adapter working in the past. Seems like a driver issue with whatever is included now. A few other people recently reported the same issue.

Mine works fine on October 2012 Raspbian, but before you do anything expensive or drastic, check this: is your router operating in dual WPA / WPA2 mode? If so, just try setting it to only use WPA2. That often 'fixes' similar problems to yours, especially where the unit seems to get as far as connecting but can't see the internet. Obviously it shouldn't have to be that way, but if it works then you may not care too much.