Difference between revisions of "Rtl8187 wireless"

Revision as of 09:35, 6 March 2013

This page describes how to get the rtl8187 wifi-driver working

The rtl8187 chip is made for usb-cards/dongles. It supports 802.11(a)/b/g and the following encryptions: WEP, WPA and WPA2. The rtl8187 driver is in the kernel now.

Using the driver

Make sure that you have loaded the rtl8187 module with

# modprobe rtl8187

Then run

# dmesg | grep rtl8187

You should see some output like this

 usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8187

If you see that line everything should be OK

If everything is right, you should have two new interfaces: wlan0 and wmaster0 If you do not see wlan0 just run

# ip link set dev wlan0 up

To list all available wifi-networks just run

# iw dev wlan0 scan

For more information about configuring your wifi-network see here: Wireless management.

What to do if your connection always times out?

The open source driver suffers from a lot of tx excessive retries and invalid misc errors for some unknown reason, resulting in a lot of packet loss and it keeps disconnecting, some times instantly.

Lowering the rate

The solution can be found in this thread: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=299642

Just set the rate to 5.5

iwconfig wlan0 rate 5.5M auto

Fixed option should ensure, however, it doesn't change the rate on its own, thus making the connection a bit more stable:

iwconfig wlan0 rate 5.5M fixed

Alternativelly find the $POST_UP option and append the above options to your profile config file:

POST_UP="iwconfig wlan0 rate 5.5M fixed"

Try various rates until you get the optimal setting, with no disconnection. In this case 12Mbits, as shown bellow:

POST_UP="iwconfig wlan0 rate 12M fixed"

Now calling;

netfcg2 -c <wireless profile>

or

  netcfg-menu

and choosing your profile works without extra commands.

Lowering the txpower

You can try lowering the transmit power as well. This may save power as well:

iwconfig wlan0 txpower 5

or even as low as 0. Valid settings are from 0 to 20, auto and off for the stock kernel driver.

Setting rts and fragmentation thresholds

Default iwconfig options have rts and fragmentation thresholds off. These options are particularly useful when there are many adjacent APs or in a noisy environment.

The minimum value for fragmentation value is 256 and maximum is 2346. In many windows drivers the maximum is the default value:

iwconfig wlan0 frag 2346

For rts minimum is 0, maximum is 2347. Once again windows drivers use maximum as the default:

iwconfig wlan0 rts 2347

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[Category:Communication and network (English)]]
+[[Category:Wireless Networking]]
-[[Category:HOWTOs (English)]]
 This page describes how to get the '''rtl8187''' wifi-driver working
-Note: The rtl8187 driver is included in vanilla 2.6.23!
+The rtl8187 chip is made for usb-cards/dongles. It supports 802.11(a)/b/g and the following encryptions:  WEP, WPA and WPA2. The rtl8187 driver is in the kernel now.
+== Using the driver ==
-The rtl8187 chip is made for usb-cards/dongles
-It supports 802.11(a)/b/g and the following encryptions:  WEP, WPA and WPA2
-The driver's source is released under the GPL
-= Installing the driver =
-If you are on 2.6.23 or above you have to enable CONFIG_RTL8187 in your kernel-config.
-You can check if this option is enabled in your current kernel by executing:
- zcat /proc/config.gz | grep CONFIG_RTL8187
-If it outputs
- CONFIG_RTL8187=m
-or
- CONFIG_RTL8187=y
-then your kernel includes the rtl8187 driver
-If you are using anything lower than 2.6.23 you can choose between the following methods:
-== Compiling the module from the source-code ==
-No HOWTO yet
-== Patch your 2.6.22 kernel ==
-Note: if you are already running 2.6.23 or later this is not necessary anymore - just enable the Realtek 8187 USB support in your kernel-config
-At first you have to get the kernel-sources
-After that you'll need to download two patches: one for the rtl8187 driver and one for EEPROM_93CX6 (rtl8187 requires EEPROM_93CX6-support)
-Save the following link as EEPROM_93CX6.patch (download it to your harddisk with wget -O EEPROM_93CX6.patch $URL):
-[http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux%2Fkernel%2Fgit%2Ftorvalds%2Flinux-2.6.git;a=commitdiff_plain;h=9467d64b0e88763914c01f71ddf591b166c4f526;hp=7dcca30a32aadb0520417521b0c44f42d09fe05c  EEPROM_93CX6.patch]
-Then save the following link as rtl8187.patch (download it to your harddisk with wget -O rtl8187.patch $URL):
-[http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux%2Fkernel%2Fgit%2Ftorvalds%2Flinux-2.6.git;a=commitdiff_plain;h=605bebe23bf6ac66c0a717e663a7baa2f981294d;hp=4b914dc0493edff19ff698a18198a173a14ba9d2 rtl8187.patch]
-Now extract your kernel sources, cd into the kernel-source directory
-and run
- patch -Np1 -i $path/to/EEPROM_93CX6.patch
- patch -Np1 -i $path/to/rtl8187.patch
- make menuconfig
-Now activate: <pre> Device Drivers  ---> Misc devices  ---> EEPROM 93CX6 support </pre> (I compiled it directly into the kernel with [*])
-Then go to: <pre> Device Drivers  ---> Network device support  ---> Wireless LAN  ---> Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11) -> Realtek 8187 USB support </pre>
-(I compiled this as module [m])
-What if you can't find "Realtek 8187 USB support" in the kernel config menu?
-Don't panic - make sure you activated EEPROM 93CX6 support <pre> Device Drivers  ---> Misc devices  ---> EEPROM 93CX6 support </pre> and the Generic IEEE 802.11 Networking Stack (mac80211) <pre> Networking  ---> Wireless  ---> Generic IEEE 802.11 Networking Stack (mac80211) </pre>
-Now you can save your kernel-config and start compiling
-After a reboot the module rtl8187 should be available.
-You can load it like this:
- modprobe rtl8187
-You can also add rtl8187 to the MODULES-section in your rc.conf
-If you want to add rtl8187 support 'The Arch-Way' make sure to add "patch -Np1 -i ../foo.bar" to your kernel-PKGBUILD
-=Using and testing the driver/Troubleshooting=
 Make sure that you have loaded the rtl8187 module with
-  modprobe rtl8187
+  # modprobe rtl8187
 Then run
-  dmesg | grep rtl8187
+  # dmesg | grep rtl8187
 You should see some output like this <pre> usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8187 </pre>
 If you see that line everything should be OK
-== Using the driver ==
 If everything is right, you should have two new interfaces: wlan0 and wmaster0
-If you don't see wlan0 just run
+If you do not see wlan0 just run
-  ifconfig wlan0 up
+  # ip link set dev wlan0 up
 To list all available wifi-networks just run
-  iwlist wlan0 scan
+  # iw dev wlan0 scan
-For more information about configuring your wifi-network see here: [http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wireless_Setup#Setup_and_Boot http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wireless_Setup#Setup_and_Boot]
+For more information about configuring your wifi-network see here: [[Wireless_Setup#Part II: Wireless management|Wireless management]].
 == What to do if your connection always times out? ==
-=== Method 1: Lowering the transfer rate manually ===
+The open source driver suffers from a lot of tx excessive retries and invalid misc errors for some unknown reason, resulting in a lot of packet loss and it keeps disconnecting, some times instantly.
-The solution can be found in this thread: http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=299642
+=== Lowering the rate ===
+The solution can be found in this thread: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=299642
 Just set the rate to 5.5
   iwconfig wlan0 rate 5.5M auto
-Actually this worked for a while but it would still start revving out, so making the last
+Fixed option should ensure, however, it doesn't change the rate on its own, thus making the connection a bit more stable:
-item "fixed" ensures it does not spin.  Btw. If your wireless card has already gone into
-meltdown issuing this command will get it working again.
   iwconfig wlan0 rate 5.5M fixed
-I have also tried setting this in the IWOPTS, but it does not seem to be taking, so now what I do until I get this sorted out is:
+Alternativelly find the $POST_UP option and append the above options to your profile config file:
-   netcfg2 -c <your wireless profile>
-   iwconfig wlan0 rate 5.5M fixed
-And then it never times out (at least for me)
+ POST_UP="iwconfig wlan0 rate 5.5M fixed"
-Found the $POST_UP option, so appending this to your profile config
+Try various rates until you get the optimal setting, with no disconnection. In this case 12Mbits, as shown bellow:
-file, sets the rate correctly when using the netcfg tools.
-    POST_UP="iwconfig wlan0 rate 5.5M fixed"
+ POST_UP="iwconfig wlan0 rate 12M fixed"
-Actually for my card setting the rate higher still works, so now this line looks like:
-    POST_UP="iwconfig wlan0 rate 12M fixed"
 Now calling;
-    netfcg2 -c <wireless profile>
+ netfcg2 -c <wireless profile>
 or
     netcfg-menu
 and choosing your profile works without extra commands.
-=== Method 2: Aircrack-ng patched driver ===
+=== Lowering the txpower ===
-Another method that works for some users are the Aircrack-ng patches for the rtl8187 driver. This driver can be installed by the rtl8187-ng package from [[AUR]].
-=== Method 3: Using Ndiswrapper ===
-If everything else fails, then you are left with using Ndiswrapper. Ndiswrapper takes Windows RTL8187 drivers and uses them to enable your card.
-Symptoms which suggest you may have better luck with Ndiswrapper:
-* "iwlist wlan0 scan" results are irregular and/or don't show some APs.
-* Everything seems to be working, except the DHCP request, which may just time out.
-. Install ndiswrapper:
-    pacman -Sy ndiswrapper
-. Download the Windows drivers:
+You can try lowering the transmit power as well. This may save power as well:
-    wget http://www.kuratkull.com/ndiswrapper/ndisdrivers.tar.gz
-. Extract the drivers:
+ iwconfig wlan0 txpower 5
-    gzip -dc ndisdrivers.tar.gz | tar xf -
-. If you have the rtl8187 module loaded, then do this:
+or even as low as 0. Valid settings are from 0 to 20, auto and off for the stock kernel driver.
-    rmmod rtl8187
-It is suggested that you remove previous ndiswrapper drivers, if you have installed them.
-    ndiswrapper -l
-    ndiswrapper -r <drivername>
-Also add "ndiswrapper" and "!rtl8187" to /etc/rc.conf under MODULES - this will stop rtl8187 from loading on boot, and will enable ndiswrapper to load on boot.
+=== Setting rts and fragmentation thresholds ===
-. Install the driver:
+Default iwconfig options have rts and fragmentation thresholds off. These options are particularly useful when there are many adjacent APs or in a noisy environment.
-If you have an older kernel(eg. older than 2.6.28.*), do:
-    cd ./ndisdrivers/Win98-krnl24/
+The minimum value for fragmentation value is 256 and maximum is 2346. In many windows drivers the maximum is the default value:
-If you have a newer kernel (eg. 2.6.28.*), do:
+ iwconfig wlan0 frag 2346
-    cd ./ndisdrivers/Win98seME-krnl28/
-Proceed with:
+For rts minimum is 0, maximum is 2347. Once again windows drivers use maximum as the default:
-    ndiswrapper -i net8187b.inf
-    ndiswrapper -m
-    modprobe ndiswrapper
-Proceed to connect as you normally would.
+ iwconfig wlan0 rts 2347
-=Misc Links=
+== See also ==
-*[http://rtl-wifi.sourceforge.net/ Project-page of the rtl-wifi driver project]
+*[http://wireless.kernel.org/ The Linux Wireless project]
+*[http://aircrack-ng.org/doku.php?id=r8187 Aircrack-ng information for rtl8187 chips]

Difference between revisions of "Rtl8187 wireless"

Revision as of 09:35, 6 March 2013

Contents

Using the driver

What to do if your connection always times out?

Lowering the rate

Lowering the txpower

Setting rts and fragmentation thresholds

See also

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