Wireless Card [RTL8188CE] Not Detected/Installed!

Vexon · 02-07-2017, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardvark71

Hello and welcome to the forum

Hello and thank you.

Quote:

If you would and have access to the internet via ethernet, ...

Unfortunately, I don't have access to the internet via ethernet (see post #8).

Vexon · 02-07-2017, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by erik2282

[S]eems like OP's choices are to:

- try and test installing the driver somehow (not recommended/supported by Trisquel)
- buy a compatible internal wifi card (wnic)
- trying to find a compatible USB wifi dongle
- or choose a different OS

The second and third options on the list are not possible for me at the moment. I would like to try the first option first. How do I do that?

Vexon · 02-07-2017, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beachboy2

Vexon,

Once (on another computer) you have downloaded and burned the .iso image to a DVD, no ethernet connection is required on the first suggestion.

1. On a netbook you would probably be better using a lightweight distribution such as the 32 bit or 64 bit version of antiX-16.1 which is based on Debian:
http://antix.mepis.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

Download the 32 bit or 64 bit antiX-16.1_386-full.iso:
http://antix.mepis.org/index.php?tit...Page#Downloads

antiX-16 FAQs:
http://download.tuxfamily.org/antix/...FAQ/index.html

To enable wifi after installation:

Menu > Control Centre > Network > Network Interfaces (ceni) > wlan0 > follow wizard and give SSID/network name and wifi password.

Your Realtek 8188ce may still present problems, but it is worth a try first.

It looks to me like antiX is not fully free. Am I correct about this? If yes, please see post #12.

Quote:

2. Failing that, one easy and cheap way to solve this is to get a D-Link N150 USB wifi adapter:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/D-Link-Wire.../dp/B008PC19DC

This wifi adapter works “out of the box” in Linux.

Seems like a good option. Would you (or anybody else) like to suggest a way of buying this without having a Visa or Mastercard?

Quote:

3. The kernel driver on your Toshiba is rtl8188ce (rtl8192ce covers rtl8188ce and all other rtl81xxce versions).

Trisquel is Ubuntu-based.

Possible solutions (requiring an ethernet connection) on Ubuntu 14.04 & 16.04:
http://askubuntu.com/questions/50376...ltek-rtl8188ce

No ethernet connection. See post #8.

Vexon · 02-07-2017, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jjanel

Do you have a rtl8192ce driver? (find/locate/modinfo) -MAYBE/wild_guess- this:
echo "options rtl8192ce swenc=1 ips=0" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8192ce.conf
sudo modprobe -rfv rtl8192ce
sudo modprobe -v rtl8192ce

I don't know what I have. Jjanel, your post might as well have been in Chinese for me (including the link). That's how much I understood.

beachboy2 · 02-07-2017, 11:52 PM

Vexon,

Quote:

Yes, free software is a concern for me. That's why I got Trisquel. Unfortunately, I need the machine work right now, and I can't get new hardware.

I appreciate that you would like to use free software which has no proprietary software or firmware.

Unfortunately your Toshiba machine will not work without the addition of non-free software because of its Realtek wireless card. This applies to all Linux distributions, not just Trisquel.

The workaround is to use a different wifi adapter that works out of the box in Linux.

To purchase the D-Link N150 USB wifi adapter, I suggest that you ask a friend or relative to buy this online for you and then you reimburse them.

Vexon · 02-08-2017, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardvark71

... you can just double click on the file and it should begin installing it ...

I double clicked on the file. It gave me the error message in Picture 1 (attached).

Quote:

... navigate to the location of the file and then use something like...

Code:

sudo dpkg -i firmware-realtek_0.43_all

I don't know if Trisquel uses sudo, so you may need to omit that particular part.

I didn't know how to navigate (as I'm sure you can see in Picture 2), but I did punch in the code, both first without, and then with sudo. Alas, I got an error there also. Please see Picture 2 (attached).

Quote:

Take careful note where it installs the firmware files to as you may need to delete them later.

Why would I need to delete them later? Plus, I'm getting a little frustrated. Isn't installing a driver in GNU involves copying of some files, like in Windows. Whoever designed this whole thing in whatever way, it seems a bit more complicated than necessary to me. Copy the files, tell the system to install the drivers from those files through a dialog box, and boom. We are done. Voila! I mean, I hate Windows for being treacherous, but... I don't know.

You know, can't help but reflect on my first experience with Windows back in '98. Two days after we got a computer, I uninstalled (deleted, really) the drivers for the sound card. I actually still don't know how I did it. I was just deleting all those files that I deemed unnecessary, thinking "Why the hell they are there?". Once the sound was gone, it was obvious I messed up something. Our Windows was in English, and I didn't speak a word of English back then. It was my brother who after talking to the computer shop told me that I "uninstalled" (in English) the drivers. "What the hell is a driver, and what the hell is "uninstall", I thought. Notwithstanding, the machine had to go back to the shop to get fixed. This was 4 years before I decided one day that config.sys, autoexec.bat, and similar files in the root of drive C: were just unnecessary --a nuisance, really--, "just taking up space. Aaahh, we'll just delete them..."

I thought I came a long way from those days, but... Maybe I still have a long way to go...

Quote:

Disclaimer: Be careful with commands that are prefaced with "su" or "sudo." They will essentially allow root access to your system. Mistakes could possibly damage or even destroy your OS.

That's okay. Once this thing is done, I will be reinstalling the entire system anyway.

Thanks for your help though. And for everybody else's...

Vexon · 02-08-2017, 01:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardvark71

Concerning the firmware error message, was this after you tried installing the package you asked me about?

No, it was before. Would you like me to run that code again? I wasn't able to install any packages though. So I don't know if the result's going to be different.

ardvark71 · 02-08-2017, 02:32 AM

Hi...

I realize you're frustrated but could you refrain from using God's name in/as a swear word? I would appreciate it. You need to understand that because you chose a distribution that emphasizes free software, installing certain types of software is going to be more involved.

I think at least part of the problem is that when you entered the word "desktop," in your terminal you didn't capitalize the D. You also might need to use the command "cd" in front of it...

Code:

cd Desktop

Command line is very particular with characters. It has to be exact.

Regards...

ardvark71 · 02-08-2017, 03:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vexon

Why would I need to delete them later?

Whoops, forgot to answer this in my last post. In case the firmware files are the wrong ones for the system, by deleting them, it might prevent any kind of interference with the correct firmware you might install afterwards.

Regards...

beachboy2 · 02-08-2017, 03:21 AM

Vexon,

Quote:

Would you like me to run that code again? I wasn't able to install any packages though.

You are not connected to the internet and therefore you cannot install any packages.

You have no ethernet connection to a router and your Realtek wifi card needs additional non-free software/firmware in order for it to be enabled in a Linux distribution.

I suggest that you read post #20 again.

Vexon · 02-08-2017, 04:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beachboy2

Vexon,

...

Unfortunately your Toshiba machine will not work without the addition of non-free software because of its Realtek wireless card.

Yes, beachboy2, I do, and did understand that. That's why I said (just like you said in your post) "unfortunately" in post #12. I can't buy new hardware right now, and I urgently need this machine to work, so I have to make compromises. The machine is useless to me without internet access, so unless we can come up with another way of giving it connectivity*, I would rather have a libre-OS machine with non-free BIOS, non-free hardware, and one non-free driver on it but have it functioning, than have a libre-OS machine without non-free drivers but not have it functioning. So I have to get this Realtek wireless driver installed*. I would love to have a visit to the mother of whoever person at Realtek decided to make this driver closed-source, such that people at Trisquel decided not to include it in their database of drivers, hence temporarily turning my life into a small hell, but...since that's gonna take more time and energy on our part, can we just please install this freak'n driver and make this piece of card work? Wouldn't this be just a lot easier? Also, isn't this a lot less intrusive than installing a whole new operating system with more non-free stuff than just one driver?

Quote:

This applies to all Linux distributions, not just Trisquel.

I do understand that Realtek has not released its source code, such that no matter what distro, (or no matter what OS for that matter), the driver is going to be non-free.

Quote:

The workaround is to use a different wifi adapter that works out of the box in Linux.

*Well, talking about workarounds: You know, when I got the first few responses after I started the thread, I actually thought of switching the two wi-fi cards in the two computers I have. As you can see in the attached picture (where the problem netbook is on top of the other), the netbook's realtek card is much smaller than the atheros of the other computer. Curiously, the netbook has some empty space that is almost the exact same amount of area that the atheros occupies. There are even same number of pins that correspond to mini-pci pins at the end of that empty space, which made me think that that area should be for a pci wi-fi card (or some pci card for that matter). The unfortunate thing is that there is no female slot that a pci card would be able to go in. There are the pins, but a slot would have to be soldered in there first to have any pci card attached to it.

Anyhow, any ideas on this would be greatly appreciated.

Another thought

: How about using my android phone as an antenna, and getting the wi-fi through the phone and then passing it to the netbook via USB? Would that work? What do you guys think?

Not that it's any better than installing this freak'n non-free driver (if I 'can' install it that is), but hey... it doesn't hurt to brainstorm.

Quote:

To purchase the D-Link N150 USB wifi adapter, I suggest that you ask a friend or relative to buy this online for you and then you reimburse them.

Sad it may sound, I neither have friends, nor relatives. Looks like you guys are my new friends for now...

Cheers.

Vexon · 02-08-2017, 04:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardvark71

... could you refrain from using God's name in/as a swear word? I would appreciate it.

Okay ardvark71, sorry about that. Didn't mean no offence. Although I don't think that's God's name but, hey.. we all have our opinions.

Quote:

... installing certain types of software is going to be more involved.

Yeah, I never thought it would be this much though.

Quote:

... when you entered the word "desktop," in your terminal you didn't capitalize the D. You also might need to use the command "cd" in front of it...

Code:

cd Desktop

Command line is very particular with characters. It has to be exact.

Now I did that, and it still didn't work (see Picture attached).

Any comments?

erik2282 · 02-08-2017, 05:22 AM

Dude, seriously. You are saying conflicting things and it's making it difficult for us to help you. You say you want free software only, but at the same time you are wanting us to help you make the non-free driver work. What sense does that make? If you want free software get a different wireless card that will just work with Trisquel or install a different OS.

Jjanel · 02-08-2017, 06:16 AM

Sorry, I only know how to write CLIese

@ardvark: HELP! Please translate for me

Code:

# modinfo rtl8192ce
filename:       /lib/modules/4.4.8-NuTyX-lts/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtlwifi/rtl8192ce/rtl8192ce.ko
firmware:  ...
author: ...
...

*IF* this 'works' (gives info like above, vs. PROBABLY some 'not found' error)

modinfo rtl8192ce

try those commands, as root [in a 'terminal']. (Did you read [all of, skim thru at least] that:
http://askubuntu.com/questions/45645...n-ubuntu-14-04
link?)

p.s. this [note different rtl18##!] is 'expected'
# modinfo rtl8188ce
modinfo: ERROR: Module rtl8188ce not found.

Look for a net device *if&after* those modprobe rtl8192ce -work-, with:
ip a
ifconfig -a

The/my idea/guess is that: the rtl8192ce driver [might/probably] -work ok- for your rtl8188ce: http://wiki.debian.org/rtl819x web-search: RTL8188CE RTL8192CE linux

beachboy2 · 02-08-2017, 06:25 AM

Vexon,

Even if you could somehow install the Atheros card, there is a good chance that it will have exactly the same problem as the Realtek one and require additional software in order to enabled in Linux.

Most Linux users have a special drawer containing several of these "tricky"/useless wireless adapters.

Your cheapest and easiest route out of this impasse is to get the D-Link N150 USB wifi adapter:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/D-Link-Wire.../dp/B008PC19DC

Make sure that it looks exactly the same as the illustration and accept no substitutes.