Realtek WIFI Driver Issue

English Network/Internet
1

Hi all,
I recently purchased a new ASUS Z370-G motherboard after my old board fried. I have installed 42.3 (kernel 4.4.114-42) and everything works except the wifi which is mounted on the motherboard.

The system sees the Realtek hardware -

chris@linux-vdis:~> sudo lspci|grep controller
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Device a2af
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Device a2ba
00:17.0 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Device a282
00:1f.2 Memory controller: Intel Corporation Device a2a1
00:1f.6 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection (2) I219-V
02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation Device 1c82 (rev a1)
**05:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device b822**
06:00.0 USB controller: ASMedia Technology Inc. Device 2142
chris@linux-vdis:~>

And from yast’s Hardware Info tool -

39: PCI 500.0: 0280 Network controller
  [Created at pci.378]
  Unique ID: Ddhb.KuztIuqw8CA
  Parent ID: hoOk.b4k2bPp7Bz3
  SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1c.2/0000:05:00.0
  SysFS BusID: 0000:05:00.0
  Hardware Class: network
  Model: "Realtek Network controller"
  Vendor: pci 0x10ec "Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd."
  Device: pci 0xb822 
  SubVendor: pci 0x1043 "ASUSTeK Computer Inc."
  SubDevice: pci 0x8746 
  I/O Ports: 0xd000-0xdfff (rw,disabled)
  Memory Range: 0xf7200000-0xf720ffff (rw,non-prefetchable,disabled)
  IRQ: 15 (no events)
  Module Alias: "pci:v000010ECd0000B822sv00001043sd00008746bc02sc80i00"
  Config Status: cfg=no, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
  Attached to: #29 (PCI bridge)

Problem is the wifi doesn’t work and I think it is a missing driver issue. But I have gone around in circles for hours trying to sort this out.

Is there a driver in any repo’s for this wifi or do I have to compile a driver? If so, how?

Appreciate any help,
Chris.

2

RTL8822BE support is included in kernel 4.14 apparently, so perhaps worth trying the current stable kernel.

zypper ar -f http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Kernel:/stable/standard Kernel:stable

zypper in --from Kernel:stable kernel-default

*Your existing kernel will remain, and you can boot from it if necessary should there be problems.

3

Forgot to mention, that you’ll want to get the requiref firmware for this device as well

wget https://github.com/wkennington/linux-firmware/raw/master/rtlwifi/rtl8822befw.bin

sudo mv /rtl8822befw.bin /lib/firmware/rtlwifi/

Hopefully, following a manual load of the driver or a reboot, your wireless device should now be working.

4

HI Deano,

That has worked (almost) brilliantly. Wifi is now working but it has killed my ASUS GeForce GTX1050ti card’s resolution. Can only get 1024x768 whereas I had full 1920x1080.

chris@linux-vdis:~> uname -a
Linux linux-vdis 4.15.9-1.g2c1b8ee-default #1 SMP PREEMPT Sun Mar 11 22:31:16 UTC 2018 (2c1b8ee) x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
chris@linux-vdis:~>

How do I fix that?
Thanks,
Chris.

5

I assume that you were using the proprietary nvidia driver (installed via nvidia packages for the Leap 42.3 kernel). Since you’re no longer using the standard kernel, you’ll will have to install the driver as explained here…

https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:NVIDIA_the_hard_way

It will need to be rebuilt every time the kernel changes. Your other option may just be to migrate to openSUSE Tumbleweed instead.

6

Yes, I installed a driver from https://download.nvidia.com/opensuse/leap/42.3 repo. There were 3 flavours to try

x11-video-nvidiaG02 x11-video-nvidiaG03 x11-video-nvidiaG04

so I choose the later G04. Don’t suppose G02 or G03 will help.

Will read up on “the hard way” after a good sleep :slight_smile:

Thanks.

7

Hi Deano,

The ‘hard way’ scares me a bit but I will play with kernel work a little later. I think it will be easier to buy a USB dual band 2.4/5 GHz wifi dongle.

However that leads to a question or two - how did you the identify the firmware needed for the device? Also how did you know that particular kernel version works?

Is there a wiki or database I can search to identify firmware/drivers/kernels etc BEFORE I rush out and buy hardware? That would make me a bit more self reliant in linux.

Thanks,
Chris.

8

Whatever works best for you. Some online retailers provide explicit information with respect to Linux support for a given device. Most leave you to research such things for yourself

However that leads to a question or two - how did you the identify the firmware needed for the device? Also how did you know that particular kernel version works?

Short answer -a bit of online research with appropriate keywords, and in particular the chipset details. Results like this…
https://cateee.net/lkddb/web-lkddb/R8822BE.html

Once one knows more about the device concerned, github can be also be one’s friend

If a kernel includes a particular driver module eg foo, then the pertinent firmware details for various supported chipsets can be found using

modinfo foo|grep firmware

Is there a wiki or database I can search to identify firmware/drivers/kernels etc BEFORE I rush out and buy hardware? That would make me a bit more self reliant in linux.

Thanks,
Chris.

Not a centralised one if that’s what you mean. Hardware compatibility lists are often out of date - a constantly moving target, so careful research is needed. From a Linux perspective, chipset details are what counts, but these are not always published with the reseller specs. Bleeding edge hardware can be risky, as kernel support takes time to be implemented.

https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/drivers
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/WirelessCardsSupported
https://wiki.debian.org/WiFi
https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/drivers

9

“The hard way” isn’t really that hard. I almost completely rewrote that article, so let me know if something is unclear.

Is there a wiki or database I can search to identify firmware/drivers/kernels etc BEFORE I rush out and buy hardware?

This might be useful: https://h-node.org

10

You can also use the Kernel 4.4 shipped with Leap 42.3 and the rtlwifi-kmp in my Repo:
This one is for Kernel 4.4.76 from OSS Repo:
https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/Sauerland/openSUSE_Leap_42.3/x86_64/rtlwifi_new-extended-kmp-default-20180224_k4.4.76_1-1.1.x86_64.rpm

This one is for the updated Kernel from the Update-OSS-Repo and build automatically new, if a new Kernel is released:
https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/Sauerland/openSUSE_Leap_42.3_Update/x86_64/rtlwifi_new-extended-kmp-default-20180224_k4.4.114_42-1.2.x86_64.rpm

Firmware:
https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/Sauerland/openSUSE_Leap_42.3/noarch/rtl8822be-firmware-0.7.git20180301-5.1.noarch.rpm

11

That’s a good option Sauerland. I wasn’t ware of your repo for this. This would allow the OP to keep the standard Leap 42.3 kernel (and nvidia drivers). Thanks for sharing.

12

Thank you sauerland, I nearly missed your reply as I hadn’t set my email subscription properly.

So as I understand it from Deano, if I load your modules for k4.4.114 and assuming it works, then if and when the kernel gets updated from the repo it will pick up these modules as well?

Sounds easy :slight_smile:

Still reading the notes from deano and ravas but that may end up as an experiment for me in a Virtualbox environment first.

13

If you have updated to Kernel 4.4.114, you should add my Update Repo and install rtlwifi_new-extended.
If the Kernel in the OSS-Update Repo gets an Update, my rtlwifi_new-extended will automatically build against the new Kernel and published as an Update in my Update Repo.
You get only the last build Package, so the now actual kmp for kernel 4.4.114 will be deleted and replaced by the new one.

Repo URL:
https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/Sauerland/openSUSE_Leap_42.3_Update/

14

Hi Sauerland,

added your repo and the required files. Works beautifully!

Thank you very much.

15

Thanks for the procedure deano_ferrari, I had the same issue with openSUSE Leap 15 on my ThinkPad A475. Installing the new kernel and copying the new firmware did the trick to get my Wi-Fi card detected.