Arch Linux

pigroy

Member

Registered: 2022-07-03

Posts: 9

iwd not recognizing USB wifi adapter

Hello all,

I've been going through the process of installing Arch from the ISO and have encountered my first speed bump. I can boot into Arch successfully, but my problem is with internet. My motherboard did not come with integrated wifi, so I'm currently using the ASUS AC1200 wifi adapter. I also do not pay for the internet in my apartment and have no access to ethernet or the router, so a wired connection isn't an option.

I've seen in other forum posts such as this one that restarting iwd.service is sometimes necessary after boot, but both before and after restarting it the device list and adapter list are empty. Most of the threads I've seen have at least been able to discover their wifi device and come up with a solution, so I'm completely lost on how to handle this.

As suggested in this thread, running dmesg -W and plugging in my device confirms that it connects and gives the output

usb 3-3: new high-speed USB device number 6 using xhci_hcd
usb 3-3: new USB device found, idVendor=0b05, idProduct=184c, bcdDevice= 2.10
usb 3-3: new USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
usb 3-3: Product: 802.11ac NIC
usb 3-3: Manufacturer: RealTek
usb 3-3: SerialNumber: 123456

but iwd still does not list it. Running ip a also results in no wlan0.

I've seen in some forums that RealTek drivers are notoriously unstable/spotty, which I guess I didn't have to worry about when I was on Windows. Is there any way I can proceed with the installation with this wifi adapter, or am I going to have to get a new one?

Thank you!

UPDATE: the ASUS wifi adapter has the RealTek 8822bu chipset and there are drivers available on the AUR. Currently going through the options of installing the package offline and transferring it to my desktop. Wish me luck.

Last edited by pigroy (2022-07-03 21:01:03)