Orange Pi mini 2 / Linux / Edimax USB WiFi Dongle [SOLVED]

mrdma · Published in 2016-1-22 12:29:09

Edited by mrdma at 2016-2-10 00:48

Hello!

I dislike asking for help, but I finally give up on trying to figure out how to get a USB WiFi dongle to work. I’ve been to so many Linux related forums, and have done so many Linux related searches, my head is spinning.

I recently purchased an Edimax EW-7811Un on Amazon based on what I thought was a recommendation in the OrangePi Facebook group. I’m using the Orange Pi mini 2. I was hoping any of the Loboris images would work “out of the box”, but so far that hasn’t happened. I’m not a complete noob with Linux, but I’m struggling a bit with this task. If anybody could point me to some resources for downloading, or how to make a driver from source, or any other method, I would appreciate it.

Or, if it’s easier, if someone could point me to a USB WiFi dongle that works out of the box via any of the Loboris images, I can go that route too. However, I’ve invested untold hours in the above scenario, and I would rather see that endeavor all the way through.

Thank you.

WereCatf · Published in 2016-1-22 13:34:53

It seems that device uses the rtl8192cu-driver. Is the module present on your system and does it get loaded?

crazykill · Published in 2016-1-22 16:55:50

In android works out of the box.And on linux you just need to enable it.

WereCatf · Published in 2016-1-22 16:59:40

crazykill replied at 2016-1-22 16:55
In android works out of the box.And on linux you just need to enable it.

That's not very helpful when he said it's not working.

crazykill · Published in 2016-1-22 17:10:48

WereCatf replied at 2016-1-22 16:59
That's not very helpful when he said it's not working.

I clearly said enable it. The network tab is at the bottom right corner.

mrdma · Published in 2016-1-23 09:33:01

Here is the output of dmesg | grep "rtl":

[ 7.546717] RTL871X: rtl8189es v4.3.0.4_11916.20140724_COB
[ 11.988633] rtl8192cu: Chip version 0x10
[ 12.078328] rtl8192cu: MAC address: 74:da:38:6b:aa:0f
[ 12.078353] rtl8192cu: Board Type 0
[ 12.078562] rtlwifi: rx_max_size 15360, rx_urb_num 8, in_ep 1
[ 12.078672] rtl8192cu: Loading firmware rtlwifi/rtl8192cufw.bin
[ 12.078951] usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8192cu
[ 12.080101] rtlwifi: Firmware rtlwifi/rtl8192cufw.bin not available

This was performed on Loboris' Ubuntu Mate image without any modifications. In other words, right out of the box.

PS. I selected to be notified of replies to my post but never received any notifications. Is that forum function broken?

Thanks in advance for all of your responses.

PPS. There wasn't an option to enable WiFi. Only Ethernet 1 was available (eth0).

WereCatf · Published in 2016-1-23 14:05:42

Edited by WereCatf at 2016-1-23 14:06

You are missing the firmware-file, try installing the linux-firmware package and seeing if the firmware is included there. If not you can download the firmware from multiple places, like e.g. https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linu ... e.git/tree/rtlwifi/ and then copy the firmware-file to /lib/firmware/rtlwifi/ and your device should start to work after reloading the module/rebooting.

mrdma · Published in 2016-1-24 01:35:57

I had to create /lib/firmware before copying the .bin file. After reboot, still the same output from dmesg. I need help with modprobe if that's what I'm supposed to use to reload the module. Or, is rebooting the same as reloading?

WereCatf · Published in 2016-1-24 01:44:09

Did you place the file in /lib/firmware/ or /lib/firmware/rtlwifi/ like I said to?

mrdma · Published in 2016-1-24 02:38:50

I apologize...I meant to say that I had to create /lib/firmware/rtlwifi. The firmware directory didn't exist, let alone the rtlwifi. I did find a /sys/modules/rtlwifi already created, but even as root, it won't let me put it there.