Laptop Realtek buitin device does not work

English Network/Internet
1

I asked for help on this forum to enable a wireless dongle, but since I had no replies I decided to try looking for a built-in device instead.

The laptop is Zoostorm, running 12.3

Following instructions in the sticky posts, this is what I have done so far:


>/sbin/lspci

...
> 02:00.0 Network controller:Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device 8723
...

Then:


> /sbin/lspci -n

...
> 02:00.0 0280: 10ec:8723
...

I also tried lsusb:


> /usr/sbin/lsusb

...
> Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0bda:8723 Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
...

However, the command dmesg does not give any indication of this device. The only Realtek reference is a usb device:


...
>   2.387845] usb 2-1.3: Product: RT Bluetooth Radio
>   2.387847] usb 2-1.3: Manufacturer: Realtek
>   2.387848] usb 2-1.3: SerialNumber: 00c04c000001
...

There is no indication of any missing firmware.

I then did:


> /usr/sbin/iwconfig
>
> lo        no wireless extensions
>
> eth0    no wireless extensions
>

Now I am confused: do I or don’t I have a built-in wireless device? and if I do, how do I make the system recognise it?

Thanks,

Abe

2

Looks like the YaST package** kernel-firmware** must be loaded to provide the right kernel wireless module. Loading YaST Software Management can allow you see (search for) if it is installed. Sometimes you need to start with a wired network connection to get the required firmware if you did not install openSUSE from the DVD. openSUSE 12.3 has a problem where the wired network connection may not get configured during the installation. That is easy to fix if you are aware of the problem.

Thank You,

3

On 11/10/2013 09:56 AM, jdmcdaniel3 wrote:
>
> naimab;2596982 Wrote:
>> I asked for help on this forum to enable a wireless dongle, but since I
>> had no replies I decided to try looking for a built-in device instead.
>>
>> The laptop is Zoostorm, running 12.3
>>
>> Following instructions in the sticky posts, this is what I have done so
>> far:
>>>
> Code:
> --------------------
> > >
> > >/sbin/lspci
> >
> > …
> > > 02:00.0 Network controller:Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device 8723
> > …
> >
> --------------------
>>>
>>
>> Then:
>>>
> Code:
> --------------------
> > >
> > > /sbin/lspci -n
> >
> > …
> > > 02:00.0 0280: 10ec:8723
> > …
> >
> --------------------
>>>
>>
>> I also tried lsusb:
>>>
> Code:
> --------------------
> > >
> > > /usr/sbin/lsusb
> >
> > …
> > > Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0bda:8723 Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
> > …
> >
> --------------------
>>>
>>
>> However, the command dmesg does not give any indication of this
>> device. The only Realtek reference is a usb device:
>>>
> Code:
> --------------------
> > >
> > …
> > > 2.387845] usb 2-1.3: Product: RT Bluetooth Radio
> > > 2.387847] usb 2-1.3: Manufacturer: Realtek
> > > 2.387848] usb 2-1.3: SerialNumber: 00c04c000001
> > …
> >
> --------------------
>>>
>>
>> There is no indication of any missing firmware.
>>
>> I then did:
>>>
> Code:
> --------------------
> > >
> > > /usr/sbin/iwconfig
> > >
> > > lo no wireless extensions
> > >
> > > eth0 no wireless extensions
> > >
> >
> --------------------
>>>
>>
>> Now I am confused: do I or don’t I have a built-in wireless device?
>> and if I do, how do I make the system recognize it?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Abe
>
> Looks like the YaST package* kernel-firmware* must be loaded to provide
> the right kernel wireless module. Loading YaST Software Management can
> allow you see (search for) if it is installed. Sometimes you need to
> start with a wired network connection to get the required firmware if
> you did not install openSUSE from the DVD. openSUSE 12.3 has a problem
> where the wired network connection may not get configured during the
> installation. That is easy to fix if you are aware of the problem.
>

You do need the firmware as suggested; however, the 12.3 kernel does not have
that driver as it first appeared in kernel 3.8. You can do one of several things:

  1. Upgrade to openSUSE 13.1.
  2. Install a newer kernel.
  3. Install the backports package from packman.

#3 is probably the easiest one to do.

4

I have a blog post on how to upgrade your kernel version, tested up to openSUSE 12.3: openSUSE and Installing New Linux Kernel Versions - Blogs - openSUSE Forums

Thank You,

5

Thanks for all the suggestions - given that we are only six days away from the release of 13.1, I think I will wait a little bit longer and install it.
Hopefully this will solve the problem.

Thanks,

Abe

6

On 11/12/2013 04:46 PM, naimab wrote:

> Thanks for all the suggestions - given that we are only six days away
> from the release of 13.1, I think I will wait a little bit longer and
> install it.
> Hopefully this will solve the problem.

Actually, if you download the 13.1 medium now, you will get the material that
will be released as 13.1. On 11/8, the code was locked. The time between then
and the actual release is mostly used for echoing to mirrors.