rtl8821ce breaks system

English Open Chat
1

Leap 15.3 fresh install. Installed rt8821ce driver from here https://build.opensuse.org/package/show/home%3ASauerland/rtl8821ce

Wifi is working for about 1-2 min then the notebook on board keyboard and touchpad is not working anymore. Wifi stops working some seconds later. Uninstall over yast does not solve the problem the driver seems to be still there depsite it is no more shown in package list.

If you want to reboot in this state the system freezes. You have to make a hard reset.

This is just a warning. Dont send help because I would not be able to try it out since the windows installer is already running.

2

Welcome to openSUSE Forums. As this is not a request for help I’ll shift it to to our General Chit-Chat subforum.

3

If you want to cover up such things then please delete the thread, thank you!

4

It is you that posted that you did not want help, hence it was moved from a technical help forum (which are aimed at requests for assistance). Others may still wish to discuss this topic accordingly.

5

Here on Leap 15.3 it has working with both drivers, rtl8821ce and rtw88.
Also it is working native without installing such drivers on kernel 5.12 and higher.

PS:
Its also the wrong Repo you use…

6

Just checking on this Leap 15.3 system –


 > find /lib -iname '*8821*'
/lib/modules/5.3.18-59.16-default/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtlwifi/rtl8821ae
/lib/modules/5.3.18-59.16-default/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtlwifi/rtl8821ae/rtl8821ae.ko.xz
/lib/modules/5.3.18-59.16-default/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw88/rtw88_8821ce.ko.xz
/lib/modules/5.3.18-59.16-default/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw88/rtw88_8821c.ko.xz
/lib/modules/5.3.18-59.19-default/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtlwifi/rtl8821ae
/lib/modules/5.3.18-59.19-default/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtlwifi/rtl8821ae/rtl8821ae.ko.xz
/lib/modules/5.3.18-59.19-default/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw88/rtw88_8821ce.ko.xz
/lib/modules/5.3.18-59.19-default/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw88/rtw88_8821c.ko.xz
/lib/modules/5.3.18-59.13-default/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtlwifi/rtl8821ae
/lib/modules/5.3.18-59.13-default/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtlwifi/rtl8821ae/rtl8821ae.ko.xz
/lib/modules/5.3.18-59.13-default/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw88/rtw88_8821ce.ko.xz
/lib/modules/5.3.18-59.13-default/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw88/rtw88_8821c.ko.xz
/lib/firmware/rtl_bt/rtl8821c_fw.bin.xz
/lib/firmware/rtl_bt/rtl8821c_config.bin.xz
/lib/firmware/rtl_bt/rtl8821a_fw.bin.xz
/lib/firmware/rtlwifi/rtl8821aefw.bin.xz
/lib/firmware/rtlwifi/rtl8821aefw_wowlan.bin.xz
/lib/firmware/rtlwifi/rtl8821aefw_29.bin.xz
/lib/firmware/rtw88/rtw8821c_fw.bin.xz
 >

As you wrote – it’s available by default – “rtw88_8821ce.ko.xz” – but, one may well ask, which firmware will be used?

  • – “/lib/firmware/rtw88/README.xz
    ” –

rtw88 firmware

This repository contains firmware images supported by Realtek’s wireless driver rtw88. And some of the devices run with more than one firmware file. Basically, a “normal” firmware is necessary to be downloaded to the device.

And another is called “wowlan” firmware, it should be loaded when a device is going to suspend. Which means driver will “re-download/swap” the firmware image. The wowlan firmware contains wake up functions that can recognize specific events and send a wake up signal to device if needed, and the system will resume to running state. During resume, driver will then swap the normal firmware back, return to running state.

If any distros or platforms do not require wowlan feature, they can only pick the normal firmware. And everything still works fine, except that the device cannot be waken from the wireless NICs.

Currently supported devices with corresponding firmwares:

RTL8822BE
rtw8822b_fw.bin

RTL8821CE
rtw8821c_fw.bin

RTL8822CE
rtw8822c_fw.bin
rtw8822c_wow_fw.bin

RTL8723DE
rtw8723d_fw.bin

[HR][/HR]Yet another lost soul who believed what someone posted on the Internet … >:)
:cry:

7

rtl8821ce was first in kernel 5.9, but the rtw88_8821ce driver was broken until Realtek patches the driver and the patched driver has got into Kernel 5.11 or 5.12…

So kernel:stable(:backport) will work, but not the Leap kernel, because its a backported kernel 5.9…

And that is what I have checked.

https://bugzilla.opensuse.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1178105

8

Thanks for clarifying here Sauerland. It may help others who come searching for the actual truth.

9

Ok, that clarification works.