External TP Link TL-725n Card not working | Internal Wifi Card Broken | No internet

English Hardware
1

Hi ! i am in 42.2 Leap Gnome and im having an issue with the external WIFI Card

My laptop has the **internal WIFI card swtich broken so its imposible to unlock Airplane Mode **(ethernet is working fine).

Ive bought this http://www.tp-link.com/us/products/details/cat-11_TL-WN725N.html

I’ve read that Blacklisting the Iternal Wifi enables the External card to work.
So i run in terminal : ** /sbin/lspci -nnk | grep -i net -A3 **
and it get:

02:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller [10ec:8168] (rev 06)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device [1179:fd30]
Kernel driver in use: r8169
Kernel modules: r8169
07:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter [10ec:8176] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device [10ec:8184]
Kernel modules: rtl8192ce
16:00.0 System peripheral [0880]: JMicron Technology Corp. SD/MMC Host Controller [197b:2382] (rev 20)

Then i **edit the blacklist.conf **in etc/modprobe.d directory and i add blacklist rtl8192ce
(at least that worked in Arch after reboot)

But in Leap 42.2 Gnome my External TP Link TL-W725n it isnt even recognized.
I know there are 3 versiones of this card, in arch i detected mine is V3.

I’ve ran out of ideas on how to fix this…
Any help on how to solve this?

2 
lsusb

To see the ID of the TP-Link…

3

output of LSUSB:

Bus 002 Device 005: ID 0955:7002 NVidia Corp.
Bus 002 Device 013: ID 0bda:8179 Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Bus 002 Device 012: ID 0bc2:ab10 Seagate RSS LLC
Bus 002 Device 007: ID 3938:1032
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0020 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 04f2:b1d6 Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd CNF9055 Toshiba Webcam
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0020 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

i believe its Bus 002 Device 013: ID 0bda:8179 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. because that one disappear when i remove the card and re run LSUSB

but what do i do with this? it still doesnt make wifi available …

4

This chipset is supported by the r8188eu driver (included as part of the kernel)

The following will confirm if the device has a driver already associated with it

usb-devices

Also, open a terminal and run

sudo journalctl -f

What is reported when the device is first plugged in?

Wireless device node(s)?

/sbin/ifconfig -a
5

*Note: all this test i will run are with the internal wifi card blacklisted, in the blacklist file at modprobe.d folder i have blacklist rtl8192ce added

THIS

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 88:AE:1D:F7:DB:20            inet addr:192.168.0.14  Bcast:192.168.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::8aae:1dff:fef7:db20/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:1062785 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:580203 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:1426924406 (1360.8 Mb)  TX bytes:58964175 (56.2 Mb)


lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:65536  Metric:1
          RX packets:192 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:192 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1 
          RX bytes:16416 (16.0 Kb)  TX bytes:16416 (16.0 Kb)


wlan2     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 18:A6:F7:11:8F:1B  
          BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
6

I don’t think that is required actually, but it won’t hurt in any case.
The output confirms that your device is supported/working and shows up as wlan2.

7

Did you try configuring the connection via NetworkManager yet?

8

In the Network Gnome app (the one that shows when you click Network in the Settings panel) only shows Ethernet (the one im using now) and the Network Proxy option in the left column , theres no Wifi option, like if this notebook wouldnt have a Wifi card…

i dont know if theres another way …

9

Let’s check rfkill status…

/usr/sbin/rfkill list
  • If this command is not found, then you’ll need to install rfkill first using
sudo zypper in rfkill

Also, what is reported by NetworkManager (nmcli)?

nmcli g

nmcli d
10

deano_ferrari;2800319]Let’s check rfkill status…

/usr/sbin/rfkill list
  • If this command is not found, then you’ll need to install rfkill first using
sudo zypper in rfkill

I’ve installed RFKILL , now it doesnt show me anything (thats strange) but yestarday it showed me that my Internal Wifi was Hard Blocked (the one i blacklist)

Also, what is reported by NetworkManager (nmcli)?

nmcli g

ESTADO CONECTIVIDAD WIFI-HW WIFI WWAN-HW WWAN
conectado total activado activado activado activado

nmcli d

DISPOSITIVO TIPO ESTADO CONEXIÓN
eth0 ethernet conectado Conexión cableada 1
lo loopback sin gestión –

my system is in spanish (obviously)
conectado = connected
sin gestión = without managment ?
activado = activated or online or something like “on”
conexion cableada = wired conection

11

https://s15.postimg.org/84hko1pt7/Captura_de_pantalla_de_2016_11_17_18_41_09.png](https://postimg.org/image/9jj5crqw7/)sube

12

A possible firmware issue perhaps? Do you have the kernel-firmware package installed?

rpm -qa|grep kernel-firmware

If nothing returned, it isn’t installed.

13

deano_ferrari;2800325]A possible firmware issue perhaps? Do you have the kernel-firmware package installed?

rpm -qa|grep kernel-firmware

If nothing returned, it isn’t installed.

shiva@linux-x6oo:~> rpm -qa|grep kernel-firmware

kernel-firmware-20160516git-3.1.noarch

shiva@linux-x6oo:~>
14

Strange… check that the relevant firmware exists. For reference, I have (Leap 42.1)

rpm -ql kernel-firmware|grep 8188
/lib/firmware/rtlwifi/rtl8188efw.bin
/lib/firmware/rtlwifi/rtl8188eufw.bin

Anything interesting reported by the following?

dmesg|egrep '8188|firmware'
15

deano_ferrari;2800329]Strange… check that the relevant firmware exists. For reference, I have (Leap 42.1)

rpm -ql kernel-firmware|grep 8188
/lib/firmware/rtlwifi/rtl8188efw.bin
/lib/firmware/rtlwifi/rtl8188eufw.bin

rpm -ql kernel-firmware|grep 8188

/lib/firmware/rtlwifi/rtl8188efw.bin

/lib/firmware/rtlwifi/rtl8188eufw.bin

Anything interesting reported by the following?

dmesg|egrep '8188|firmware'

dmesg|egrep ‘8188|firmware’
15.146303] r8188eu: module is from the staging directory, the quality is unknown, you have been warned.
15.147943] Chip Version Info: CHIP_8188E_Normal_Chip_TSMC_D_CUT_1T1R_RomVer(0)
15.179898] usbcore: registered new interface driver r8188eu
15.420776] r8188eu 2-1.4:1.0 wlan2: renamed from wlan0
[23762.421712] Chip Version Info: CHIP_8188E_Normal_Chip_TSMC_D_CUT_1T1R_RomVer(0)
[23763.581794] r8188eu 2-1.4:1.0 wlan2: renamed from wlan0
[27952.069562] Chip Version Info: CHIP_8188E_Normal_Chip_TSMC_D_CUT_1T1R_RomVer(0)
[27953.124713] r8188eu 2-1.3:1.0 wlan2: renamed from wlan0
[27981.509725] Chip Version Info: CHIP_8188E_Normal_Chip_TSMC_D_CUT_1T1R_RomVer(0)
[27982.563425] r8188eu 2-1.3:1.0 wlan2: renamed from wlan0
[27997.449920] Chip Version Info: CHIP_8188E_Normal_Chip_TSMC_D_CUT_1T1R_RomVer(0)
[28048.581823] Chip Version Info: CHIP_8188E_Normal_Chip_TSMC_D_CUT_1T1R_RomVer(0)
[28049.637433] r8188eu 2-1.3:1.0 wlan2: renamed from wlan0

16

It all looks as I’d expect. BTW, please embed the output you post within code tags like I am with commands. Refer to the ‘#’ button in the forum editor.

/sbin/ifconfig

/sbin/ifconfig -a

The first command shows only active network devices vs the second which reports all network devices (active and inactive)

17

deano_ferrari;2800334]It all looks as I’d expect. BTW, please embed the output you post within code tags like I am with commands. Refer to the ‘#’ button in the forum editor.

/sbin/ifconfig


eth0    Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 88:AE:1D:F7:DB:20  
          inet addr:192.168.0.14  Bcast:192.168.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::8aae:1dff:fef7:db20/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:1513232 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:854948 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:1980397089 (1888.6 Mb)  TX bytes:89735048 (85.5 Mb)


lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:65536  Metric:1
          RX packets:440 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:440 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1 
          RX bytes:37176 (36.3 Kb)  TX bytes:37176 (36.3 Kb)




/sbin/ifconfig -a

The first command shows only active network devices vs the second which reports all network devices (active and inactive)

/sbin/ifconfig -aeth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 88:AE:1D:F7:DB:20  
          inet addr:192.168.0.14  Bcast:192.168.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::8aae:1dff:fef7:db20/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:1513855 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:855665 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:1980545336 (1888.7 Mb)  TX bytes:89845461 (85.6 Mb)


lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:65536  Metric:1
          RX packets:440 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:440 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1 
          RX bytes:37176 (36.3 Kb)  TX bytes:37176 (36.3 Kb)


wlan2     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 18:A6:F7:11:8F:1B  
          BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
18

It’s a curious issue. Clearly the driver is loaded, but there is no mention of firmware being loaded, and I’m not sure about the significance (if any) of this message

r8188eu 2-1.3:1.0 wlan2: renamed from wlan0

I’m left wondering if the driver is the problem here (no firmware loaded message as I would have expected), or a NetworkManager issue…

FWIW, I did find this archlinux thread discussing strange behaviour with external (USB) wireless devices which may or may not be relevant. Post #9 mentioned

Networkmanager starts the PCI-WiFi without any issues but the USB-one can only be started via iw link and/or wifi-menu.

and

The only workaround I found was to downgrade networkmanager to the previous version.

Anyway, for test purposes you could try using wicked instead. This will also mean configuring the wireless device via YaST. That would help confirm if NM is the problem here.

If that doesn’t help, a bug report might be needed.