[SOLVED]Can't ID wifi card on X201i

Don Coyote · 2010-09-17 21:29:39

This is a laptop wifi issue, but I think basic enough to belong here. I configured my X201i with the ethernet cable, skipping the Beginner Guide references to wifi as it said it could be done later. After getting Xfce up and running, I went back and looked around for guidance on diong the wifi, but found nothing helpful. after an hour or so of following references form the guides, I finally came accross one to the wireless setup page, but even this seems to start out beyond where my installation progress has gone. If anyone is looking at redoing the Beginners Guide, working in more guidance to the promised subsequent install of wifi would be most helpful.

As for IDing my card, lspci | grep -i shows:

00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82577LM Gigabit Network Connection (rev 06)
02:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device 8172 (rev 10)

Is the Network controller from the wifi card? I'd guess not and didn't see much about the term on a search.
lsusb shows nothing but hubs.

The thinkwiki indicates that the X201i comes with either an Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1000 or an Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6200, and both should use the iwlagn driver, included in the mainline kernel since 2.6.27. So I don't know exactly what card I have, but it seems I should have access to the driver regardless. A debian site I've found says that devices running off of iwlagn require non-free firmware.

Any advice on how I could identify my specific card and chipset? The thinkwiki doesn't have information listed for these two cards as to their chipset.

Last edited by Don Coyote (2010-11-25 17:43:28)

Don Coyote · 2010-09-17 21:34:01

Ok, just did a search on the realtek 8172 rather than network controller, and it is a wifi chip. I guess I just need to look for more info on the firmware...

Don Coyote · 2010-09-22 06:11:18

Ok, I'm getting way too dizzy working on this. I'm making progress, but don't like when programming ceases to keep a logical base and starts to work like magic.

lspci shows the 8172 controller. A web search shows a number of hits on this saying the 8172 uses the same controller as the 8192se. Or maybe the 8192se chipset displays as a 8172 controller. Most of the hits are from Ubuntu sites so no one bothers to explain these types of things.

Now the wireless tutorial here mentions a rtl8192e driver. The firmware I ended up downloading from Realtek was rtl8192se. With the driver and firmware installed, iwconfig shows wlan0 as being 'nicknamed' "rtl8191SEVA2".

Being down in this rabbit hole already, I'm going through the Configuring_Network, Wireless_Setup, and WPA_Supplicant wiki pages as directed. Rarely does my output match what they say I should see, but it doesn't seem to crash and burn so I just move on like it seems others using this driver have been. However, when I tried to install NetworkManager, the gnome plugin applet came up with missing packages and wouldn't install. Trying the manual instructions for netcfg most things worked but it never ended up connecting to the router. My last shot is going to be wicd once I restart.

I just don't know where to start troubleshooting this. Without knowing what my card/chipset is, everything else I've tried has been a succession of guessing games based up seeming similarities. Maybe something is a problem, maybe it is just irrelevant feedback. After a half dozen of these, things have gotten quite murky. Is there a way out of this quaqmire? Would taking apart the case and finding the physical wifi card reveal anything useful without voiding the warranty?

tomk · 2010-09-22 06:19:35

The stock Arch kernel provide the 8192e driver. If you want the 8192se driver, you need to build and install it - there's a package for it in the AUR.

Don Coyote · 2010-09-22 06:38:33

That is the firmware, not the driver, right? I downloaded and built the lastest one from the realtek site following http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Len … nkPad_T400, which report the same network controller in lspci. From that page and the thinkwiki I gathered the driver was the iwlagn and included in the kernel. I'm still not clear on what all an AUR package does - would it work different than my own build?

pnutzh4x0r · 2010-09-22 11:43:24

Don, from your lspci, you have a Realtek wireless card, not an Intel one. Most Thinkpads come with two options: Intel wireless or Thinkpad wireless. These days the Thinkpad wireless card is just a rebrand of the Realtek card. In the most recent kernels there is a driver for this card for the card in the staging area of the kernel, but I believe you still need a firmware file and it may not be installed by default. The package in AUR (rtl8192se) provides the official driver and firmware from Realtek. The driver itself is flaky but mostly works (depending on the router and options you use... yeah it sucks, but it's all we have at the moment). I haven't used the driver with netcfg, but I do use it with networkmanager, so I know it works with that just fine. Does this help?

tomk · 2010-09-22 12:05:49

Don Coyote wrote:

I'm still not clear on what all an AUR package does - would it work different than my own build?

No it would work the same - the difference is that you have installed your driver and firmware directly into your live system, so the files are not under pacman's control. The AUR allows you to create an Arch package for it, which can then be cleanly managed by pacman.

Don Coyote · 2010-11-24 05:46:47

pnutzh4x0r wrote:

Don, from your lspci, you have a Realtek wireless card, not an Intel one. Most Thinkpads come with two options: Intel wireless or Thinkpad wireless. These days the Thinkpad wireless card is just a rebrand of the Realtek card. In the most recent kernels there is a driver for this card for the card in the staging area of the kernel, but I believe you still need a firmware file and it may not be installed by default. The package in AUR (rtl8192se) provides the official driver and firmware from Realtek. The driver itself is flaky but mostly works (depending on the router and options you use... yeah it sucks, but it's all we have at the moment). I haven't used the driver with netcfg, but I do use it with networkmanager, so I know it works with that just fine. Does this help?

I've reinstalled my whole system and come to this point again. I installed wireless_tools and followed the AUR directions to install your rtl8192se package, and installed wpa_supplicant according to the wiki page. After rebooting it looks to be running, but when I do

wpa_supplicant -B -Dwext -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -d

I get

Initializing interface 'wlan0' conf '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf' driver 'wext' ctrl_interface 'N/A' bridge 'N/A'
Configuration file '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf' -> '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf'
Reading configuration file '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf'
ctrl_interface='DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=wheel'
Priority group 0
   id=0 ssid='YCLT'
WEXT: cfg80211-based driver detected
SIOCGIWRANGE: WE(compiled)=22 WE(source)=18 enc_capa=0xf
  capabilities: key_mgmt 0xf enc 0xf flags 0x0
ioctl[SIOCSIWAP]: Operation not permitted
WEXT: Failed to clear to disconnect
netlink: Operstate: linkmode=1, operstate=5
Own MAC address: f0:7b:cb:a6:76:e7
wpa_driver_wext_set_key: alg=0 key_idx=0 set_tx=0 seq_len=0 key_len=0
wpa_driver_wext_set_key: alg=0 key_idx=1 set_tx=0 seq_len=0 key_len=0
wpa_driver_wext_set_key: alg=0 key_idx=2 set_tx=0 seq_len=0 key_len=0
wpa_driver_wext_set_key: alg=0 key_idx=3 set_tx=0 seq_len=0 key_len=0
wpa_driver_wext_set_countermeasures
RSN: flushing PMKID list in the driver
Setting scan request: 0 sec 100000 usec
WPS: UUID based on MAC address - hexdump(len=16): 89 ac 15 b0 2b a7 51 89 ab cb a9 8b b1 7a 36 92
EAPOL: SUPP_PAE entering state DISCONNECTED
EAPOL: Supplicant port status: Unauthorized
EAPOL: KEY_RX entering state NO_KEY_RECEIVE
EAPOL: SUPP_BE entering state INITIALIZE
EAP: EAP entering state DISABLED
EAPOL: Supplicant port status: Unauthorized
EAPOL: Supplicant port status: Unauthorized
ctrl_interface_group=10 (from group name 'wheel')
Added interface wlan0
Daemonize..

The wpa_supplicant wiki says that "ioctl[SIOCSIWAP]: Operation not permitted" indicates it is a driver issue. Is this supposed to work with wext?

Don Coyote · 2010-11-24 19:43:11

In response to my initial inquiry, Realtek support suggested this:

> Please download the latest RTL8191SE Linux driver source from following
> URL.
>
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/dow … id=21&PFid
> =48&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false&Downloads=true
> Description : Linux driver for kernel 2.6.X
> You should clear previous drive or inbox driver first after you install
> this
> driver source.
> The previous driver will be stored within
> /lib/modules/2.6.XXX/kernel/driver/staging.
> Please remove "r8192se_pci.ko" files by following command.
> 1. sudo su (you should input you root password after it)
> 2. find /lib/modules/ -name "r8192se_*.ko" -exec ls -l {} \;
> 3. find /lib/modules/ -name "r8192se_*.ko" -exec rm {} \;
>
> After, You could execute "find /lib/modules/ -name "r8192se_*.ko" -exec
> ls
> -l {} \;" to confirm it's clear properly.
> And then, install this driver source as below steps. Don't forget to
> extract
> this package before you install it.
> 1. sudo su
> 2. make
> 3. make install
> 4. reboot
> 5. ./wlan0up or ./wlan1up

My request for further clarification:

I am still a little confused by the names of the driver (or is this
firmware?) and the Web page you linked to. Why is there no software for
an 8172 card? Instead which are you recommending to use; the 8191SE-VA2
or the 8191SU?
Also, do you know why many Linux communities recommend using the 8192SE
software?

garnered:

Please use windows OS to find the device (not USB dongol) ID in device
manager.
If the DID is 8172, you should use RTL8191SE driver to install.
RTL8191SE is just the IC part number. Thanks.

At this point it seems I should forgo the benefits of an AUR package and just install 8191SE(-VA2?) software from scratch...?

pnutzh4x0r · 2010-11-24 20:32:48

Don Coyote wrote:

At this point it seems I should forgo the benefits of an AUR package and just install 8191SE(-VA2?) software from scratch...?

You are free to try to see if that helps... although the AUR package is just a packaging of the instructions given in the email. I don't know why wpa_supplicant doesn't work for you; I've been using NetworkManager just fine. Could you post the output of 'dmesg | grep rtl' and ' lsmod'?

Misfit138 · 2010-11-24 21:08:27

Don't give up.
Start over, and give us more relevant details along the way.

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkPad_ … Adapter_II
^ Indicates you need this driver from aur: http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=34281
Do you know how to install packages from the AUR? If not, instructions are in the wiki. Start by downloading the tarball file. AFAICT, the AUR package includes the very same driver Realtek supplies.

(Since the driver is not part of the Linux kernel, a reboot or depmod -a may be necessary, I don't know with this one)

Once the driver and firmware are installed, take it one step at a time with us, starting with the outputs of

ifconfig -a

and then

iwconfig

This seems like a really flaky driver at this time. I did not notice if you were able to get it working on any other distro..have you?
If yes, then there is a near 100% chance that you can get it to work on Arch.

Don Coyote · 2010-11-25 06:52:36

pnutzh4x0r wrote:

I don't know why wpa_supplicant doesn't work for you; I've been using NetworkManager just fine. Could you post the output of 'dmesg | grep rtl'

[root@denkenbett ~]# dmesg | grep rtl
rtllib_crypt: registered algorithm 'NULL'
rtllib_crypt: registered algorithm 'TKIP'
rtllib_crypt: registered algorithm 'CCMP'
rtllib_crypt: registered algorithm 'WEP'
rtl819xSE 0000:02:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16
rtl819xSE 0000:02:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
rtl: EEPROM regdomain: 0xb
rtl: Country alpha2 being used: EC
rtl_regd: rtl_reg_notifier
########>#rtl8192_register_wiphy_dev() regulatory_hint success

and ' lsmod'?

[root@denkenbett ~]# lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
ipv6                  239371  14 
ext2                   56204  0 
uvcvideo               53488  0 
videodev               39124  1 uvcvideo
v4l1_compat            13562  2 uvcvideo,videodev
snd_hda_codec_intelhdmi     9122  1 
snd_hda_codec_conexant    26484  1 
i915                  267648  3 
drm_kms_helper         22043  1 i915
drm                   134219  3 i915,drm_kms_helper
i2c_algo_bit            4407  1 i915
snd_seq_dummy           1079  0 
snd_seq_oss            25072  0 
snd_seq_midi_event      4496  1 snd_seq_oss
snd_seq                41752  5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_seq_device          4369  3 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq
snd_hda_intel          19020  0 
thinkpad_acpi          54236  0 
snd_hda_codec          67274  3 snd_hda_codec_intelhdmi,snd_hda_codec_conexant,snd_hda_intel
tpm_tis                 6420  0 
snd_pcm_oss            33662  0 
led_class               1843  1 thinkpad_acpi
tpm                     9793  1 tpm_tis
snd_mixer_oss          14686  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_hwdep               4764  1 snd_hda_codec
tpm_bios                4629  1 tpm
battery                 7879  0 
nvram                   4749  1 thinkpad_acpi
snd_pcm                58308  3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss
ac                      2329  0 
r8192se_pci           468547  0 
snd_timer              15423  2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
ehci_hcd               32860  0 
wmi                     5962  0 
psmouse                51529  0 
snd                    43283  12 snd_hda_codec_conexant,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_hda_intel,thinkpad_acpi,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_hwdep,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer
cfg80211              124335  1 r8192se_pci
serio_raw               3566  0 
iTCO_wdt                8677  0 
i2c_i801                7426  0 
thermal                 9786  0 
evdev                   6820  14 
rfkill                 12854  2 thinkpad_acpi,cfg80211
button                  3746  1 i915
processor              25126  4 
pcspkr                  1359  0 
soundcore               5025  1 snd
iTCO_vendor_support     1433  1 iTCO_wdt
usbcore               121737  3 uvcvideo,ehci_hcd
video                  15889  1 i915
output                  1448  1 video
e1000e                122295  0 
snd_page_alloc          5981  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
intel_agp              24747  2 i915
sg                     20932  0 
i2c_core               15599  6 videodev,i915,drm_kms_helper,drm,i2c_algo_bit,i2c_i801
agpgart                23520  2 drm,intel_agp
rtc_cmos                7746  0 
rtc_core               11831  1 rtc_cmos
rtc_lib                 1494  1 rtc_core
ext4                  282610  2 
mbcache                 4290  2 ext2,ext4
jbd2                   58396  1 ext4
crc16                   1053  1 ext4
sd_mod                 26768  4 
ahci                   17973  3 
libahci                16046  1 ahci
libata                140771  2 ahci,libahci
scsi_mod              105888  3 sg,sd_mod,libata

I haven't attempted a manager install this time around, just trying to see if I get get the connection up manually first. The difference between the AUR package and the email is that Realtek is recommending the 8191 driver insted of the 8192 used in yours. I guess I could probably drop that driver into the code you've written to make another AUR package, but I'm looking to establish that I can get this card to work at all before worrying about that...

Don Coyote · 2010-11-25 07:30:43

Misfit138 wrote:

Do you know how to install packages from the AUR? If not, instructions are in the wiki. Start by downloading the tarball file. AFAICT, the AUR package includes the very same driver Realtek supplies.
(Since the driver is not part of the Linux kernel, a reboot or depmod -a may be necessary, I don't know with this one)

Yes, I did the full AUR install, including a reboot. However, if this goes through, "depmod -a" appears to have done what the reboot didn't. Or else it was just flakey the first few times I tried.

The AUR package includes the 8192 driver but Realtek also offers a 8191 on the same page, which is what their support guy recommended. I guess if i notice a lot of drops with this I will try that one...

bangkok_manouel · 2010-11-25 10:17:28

i got a x201i as well and i really love it with passion... after i changed the wifi chipset (it took a good 10 minutes, very simple given the build quality of the thinkpads) to an intel 6200 that you can find at reasonnable price (intel 1000 are good too and very cheap +/-EUR10). realtek drivers suck because 1. they're out of kernel tree 2. they aren't reliable at all if i believe the internets. i wont let a 12.1" notebook have poor wireless connection, they are meant to be taken outside. now i enjoy packet injection and connection stablity. this doesnt solve your problem, i know. but a few euros/dollars/whatever for the peace of your packets is something i wanted to mention.

/edit: i was a bit optmistic with the price, brand new it's about less than USD20 for a 1000.

Last edited by bangkok_manouel (2010-11-25 10:26:19)

Don Coyote · 2010-11-25 17:42:12

I've been able to repeat establishing the wifi connection manually, so I'll move on to networkmanager. I haven't used it enough to tell how reliable it is, but if I notice problems I'll try the 8191 driver and then swapping to an Intel card if needed, in which case I'll be sure to let Lenovo know how happy I am that they are dragging down the ThinkPad line with poorly supported components.

To reiterate, my Lenovo X201i has a Realtek 8172 Network Controller in it (the Thinkwiki does not have this as a listed option yet). Realtek support recommends the 8191SE driver, but the 8192SE in the AUR repository works well enough. One thing I didn't see mentioned in the AUR guidelines or on the 8192 page is that after the turtorial steps are completed, a reboot and/or "depmod -a" is necessary, I think the latter was my case. Thanks for your work on it pnutzh4x0r.

Misfit138 · 2010-11-25 22:18:40

One thing I would also like to mention is that you should give wpa_supplicant a few moments to associate before polling for an IP address with dhcpcd. Just fyi.
Best regards.

Arch Linux

#1 2010-09-17 21:29:39

[SOLVED]Can't ID wifi card on X201i

#2 2010-09-17 21:34:01

Re: [SOLVED]Can't ID wifi card on X201i

#3 2010-09-22 06:11:18

Re: [SOLVED]Can't ID wifi card on X201i

#4 2010-09-22 06:19:35

Re: [SOLVED]Can't ID wifi card on X201i

#5 2010-09-22 06:38:33

Re: [SOLVED]Can't ID wifi card on X201i

#6 2010-09-22 11:43:24

Re: [SOLVED]Can't ID wifi card on X201i

#7 2010-09-22 12:05:49

Re: [SOLVED]Can't ID wifi card on X201i

#8 2010-11-24 05:46:47

Re: [SOLVED]Can't ID wifi card on X201i

#9 2010-11-24 19:43:11

Re: [SOLVED]Can't ID wifi card on X201i

#10 2010-11-24 20:32:48

Re: [SOLVED]Can't ID wifi card on X201i

#11 2010-11-24 21:08:27

Re: [SOLVED]Can't ID wifi card on X201i

#12 2010-11-25 06:52:36

Re: [SOLVED]Can't ID wifi card on X201i

#13 2010-11-25 07:30:43

Re: [SOLVED]Can't ID wifi card on X201i

#14 2010-11-25 10:17:28

Re: [SOLVED]Can't ID wifi card on X201i

#15 2010-11-25 17:42:12

Re: [SOLVED]Can't ID wifi card on X201i

#16 2010-11-25 22:18:40

Re: [SOLVED]Can't ID wifi card on X201i

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