[SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

mvymazal · 2015-12-31 17:30:06

Hello,

I have Qualcomm Atheros QCA6174 wireless network adapter in my laptop and since there are no drivers available (lspci shows the hardware, but that's about it), I decided to buy a usb wifi dongle. Could you please recommend something that works for you? I found someone on the forum using Linksys AE3000, but there are probably other alternatives. Could you please share your experience? Thank you.

Martin

Last edited by mvymazal (2016-01-01 14:27:52)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2015-12-31 17:35:32

This one works for me:

run0 at uhub0 port 9 configuration 1 interface 0 "Ralink 802.11 g WLAN" rev 2.00/1.01 addr 4
run0: MAC/BBP RT3070 (rev 0x0201), RF RT2020 (MIMO 1T1R), address 00:08:10:73:31:10

(Ralink RT3070 chipset)

2ManyDogs · 2015-12-31 17:47:43

This Edimax dongle works for me.

Bus 003 Device 005: ID 7392:7811 Edimax Technology Co., Ltd EW-7811Un 802.11n Wireless Adapter [Realtek RTL8188CUS]

severach · 2015-12-31 19:04:24

My laptop has an Atheros PCIe. My desktop has a Ralink RT5370.

# lsusb
Bus 006 Device 003: ID 148f:5370 Ralink Technology, Corp. RT5370 Wireless Adapter
# lspci
10:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR9287 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)

Laptop wifi adapters are dime-a-dozen. I'd buy a few off eBay or paw through the junk box at the local computer store until you find one that isn't blacklisted by your laptop. Laptops usually don't have enough spare USB ports to waste one full time on a wifi adapter. Laptop antennas tend to be much better than those in the stubby adapters, which are the only ones I'd want full time.

Last edited by severach (2015-12-31 19:08:45)

jeremy31 · 2015-12-31 22:58:24

mvymazal wrote:

Hello,
I have Qualcomm Atheros QCA6174 wireless network adapter in my laptop and since there are no drivers available (lspci shows the hardware, but that's about it), I decided to buy a usb wifi dongle. Could you please recommend something that works for you? I found someone on the forum using Linksys AE3000, but there are probably other alternatives. Could you please share your experience? Thank you.
Martin

The QCA6174 can be made to work with kernel backports and the right firmware, what does

lspci -nnk | grep -iA2 net

say about the wireless card?

mvymazal · 2016-01-01 12:31:17

Hi,

the output of

lspci --nnk | grep -iA2 net

is

02:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Qualcomm Atheros Killer E220x Gigabit Ethernet Controller [1969:e091] (rev 10)
        Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:0685]
        Kernel driver in use: alx
--
03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Qualcomm Atheros QCA6174 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter [168c:003e] (rev 20)
        Subsystem: Bigfoot Networks, Inc. Killer N1525 Wireless-AC [1a56:1525]
        Kernel driver in use: ath10k_pci
        Kernel modules: ath10k_pci

R00KIE · 2016-01-01 13:04:44

You probably want to check what you can buy and see if you find it here [1], then you can probably ask how it is working for others.

As this thread is now it runs afoul of this recommendation [2] and is a good candidate to be closed.

[1] https://wikidevi.com/wiki/List_of_Wi-Fi … s_in_Linux
[2] https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fo … n_requests

jeremy31 · 2016-01-01 14:18:20

mvymazal wrote:

Hi,

the output of

lspci --nnk | grep -iA2 net

is

02:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Qualcomm Atheros Killer E220x Gigabit Ethernet Controller [1969:e091] (rev 10)
        Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:0685]
        Kernel driver in use: alx
--
03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Qualcomm Atheros QCA6174 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter [168c:003e] (rev 20)
        Subsystem: Bigfoot Networks, Inc. Killer N1525 Wireless-AC [1a56:1525]
        Kernel driver in use: ath10k_pci
        Kernel modules: ath10k_pci

Post

rfkill list all; dmesg | grep ath10k

mvymazal · 2016-01-01 14:26:48

rfkill list all; dmesg | grep ath10k

gives

0: dell-rbtn: Wireless LAN
        Soft blocked: yes
        Hard blocked: yes
2: hci0: Bluetooth
        Soft blocked: no
        Hard blocked: no
[    8.720886] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[    8.721265] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: pci irq msi-x interrupts 8 irq_mode 0 reset_mode 0
[    9.204057] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/cal-pci-0000:03:00.0.bin failed with error -2
[    9.204077] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/board-pci-168c:003e:1a56:1525.bin failed with error -2
[    9.204079] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: failed to load spec board file, falling back to generic: -2
[    9.204085] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/board.bin failed with error -2
[    9.204086] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: failed to fetch generic board data: -2
[    9.204087] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: failed to fetch board file: -2
[    9.204088] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: could not fetch firmware files (-2)
[    9.204089] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: could not probe fw (-2)
[    9.893890] Modules linked in: iTCO_wdt gf128mul iTCO_vendor_support glue_helper ablk_helper snd_soc_rt5640 snd_hda_codec_ca0132(+) dell_wmi sparse_keymap mxm_wmi snd_hda_intel snd_hda_codec cryptd snd_soc_rl6231 snd_soc_core snd_compress fjes snd_pcm_dmaengine snd_hda_core i2c_i801 int3403_thermal psmouse evdev input_leds mac_hid serio_raw ath10k_pci ath10k_core ac97_bus i915 ath mac80211 drm_kms_helper snd_hwdep snd_pcm snd_timer thermal alx cfg80211 drm rtsx_pci_ms intel_gtt snd memstick syscopyarea sysfillrect sysimgblt mdio fb_sys_fops i2c_algo_bit dw_dmac elan_i2c i2c_hid 8250_dw snd_soc_sst_acpi soundcore ie31200_edac i2c_designware_platform battery dw_dmac_core i2c_designware_core ac edac_core gpio_lynxpoint lpc_ich spi_pxa2xx_platform button mei_me mei video shpchp dell_rbtn wmi acpi_als
[  514.167703] Modules linked in: btusb intel_rapl iosf_mbi btrtl x86_pkg_temp_thermal btbcm intel_powerclamp btintel bluetooth joydev mousedev snd_hda_codec_hdmi uvcvideo coretemp kvm_intel kvm videobuf2_vmalloc videobuf2_memops videobuf2_core v4l2_common crct10dif_pclmul crc32_pclmul crc32c_intel videodev media aesni_intel aes_x86_64 lrw iTCO_wdt gf128mul iTCO_vendor_support glue_helper ablk_helper snd_soc_rt5640 snd_hda_codec_ca0132 dell_wmi sparse_keymap mxm_wmi snd_hda_intel snd_hda_codec cryptd snd_soc_rl6231 snd_soc_core snd_compress fjes snd_pcm_dmaengine snd_hda_core i2c_i801 int3403_thermal psmouse evdev input_leds mac_hid serio_raw ath10k_pci ath10k_core ac97_bus i915 ath mac80211 drm_kms_helper snd_hwdep snd_pcm snd_timer thermal alx cfg80211 drm rtsx_pci_ms intel_gtt snd memstick syscopyarea
[  514.796485] Modules linked in: btusb intel_rapl iosf_mbi btrtl x86_pkg_temp_thermal btbcm intel_powerclamp btintel bluetooth joydev mousedev snd_hda_codec_hdmi uvcvideo coretemp kvm_intel kvm videobuf2_vmalloc videobuf2_memops videobuf2_core v4l2_common crct10dif_pclmul crc32_pclmul crc32c_intel videodev media aesni_intel aes_x86_64 lrw iTCO_wdt gf128mul iTCO_vendor_support glue_helper ablk_helper snd_soc_rt5640 snd_hda_codec_ca0132 dell_wmi sparse_keymap mxm_wmi snd_hda_intel snd_hda_codec cryptd snd_soc_rl6231 snd_soc_core snd_compress fjes snd_pcm_dmaengine snd_hda_core i2c_i801 int3403_thermal psmouse evdev input_leds mac_hid serio_raw ath10k_pci ath10k_core ac97_bus i915 ath mac80211 drm_kms_helper snd_hwdep snd_pcm snd_timer thermal alx cfg80211 drm rtsx_pci_ms intel_gtt snd memstick syscopyarea

@R00KIE: I marked the thread as solved so that it does not encourage people to add new posts.

Thank you all guys for saying what hardware works for you.

Last edited by mvymazal (2016-01-01 14:29:37)

WorMzy · 2016-01-01 14:37:11

As noted by ROOKIE, product recommendation request threads are discouraged. I will leave this topic open, as it appears to be moving in a hardware support direction, but please update the topic title and do your own research on supported USB dongles.

jeremy31 · 2016-01-01 14:45:14

sudo mkdir -p /usr/lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1
cd /usr/lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1
sudo wget https://github.com/kvalo/ath10k-firmware/blob/master/QCA6174/hw2.1/board.bin
sudo wget https://github.com/kvalo/ath10k-firmware/blob/master/QCA6174/hw2.1/firmware-5.bin_SW_RM.1.1.1-00157-QCARMSWPZ-1
sudo mv firmware-5.bin_SW_RM.1.1.1-00157-QCARMSWPZ-1 firmware-5.bin

Reboot and use the keyboard shortcut to enable wifi, the dell_rbtn module allows it to clear hard block

mvymazal · 2016-01-01 15:37:59

Unfortunately this does not work for me - I see the following at boot:

[   12.104646] Bluetooth: hci0: QCA: patch rome 0x200 build 0x299, firmware rome 0x200 build 0x111
[   13.265271] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/cal-pci-0000:03:00.0.bin failed with error -2
[   13.316712] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/board-pci-168c:003e:1a56:1525.bin failed with error -2
[   13.432638] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: invalid firmware magic
[   13.432686] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/firmware-4.bin failed with error -2
[   13.432688] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: could not fetch firmware file 'ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/firmware-4.bin': -2
[   13.432724] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/firmware-3.bin failed with error -2
[   13.432725] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: could not fetch firmware file 'ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/firmware-3.bin': -2
[   13.443943] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: invalid firmware magic
[   13.443975] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/firmware.bin failed with error -2
[   13.443977] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: could not fetch firmware (-2)
[   13.443997] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: could not fetch firmware files (-2)

The 'invalid firmware magic' message appears because I copied firmware-5.bin into firmware-2.bin since the system was asking for firmware-2.bin, then for firmware-3.bin and then for firmware-4.bin. With firmware-5.bin and board.bin only as you originally suggested, the wifi card is still not recognized.

The repository of kvalo contains only firmware-5.bin, so I copied it and changed the name to firmware-2.bin (surprisingly that does not fix the problem )

jeremy31 · 2016-01-01 15:49:19

Does it work if left at firmware-5.bin kvalo is a kernel developer involved with ath10k so there might be a reason it was firmware-5

mvymazal · 2016-01-01 16:01:57

No it does not work. At the beginning, I had firmware-5.bin and board.bin as I followed your instructions exactly - this didn't work. I copied firmware-5.bin into firmware-2.bin (i.e. I have 3 files now: firmware-2.bin, firmware-5.bin and board.bin and there's absolutely no difference between firmware-2.bin and firmware-5.bin) and that produces the output I posted above.

I already played with the files from kvalo's repo months ago, but it didn't go anywhere. I'm not an expert though, and maybe I was doing something wrong at that time.
One strange thing is that the wifi led indicator on the laptop is on as if the wifi were active, but 'ip addr' shows only the lo device and ethernet card.

jeremy31 · 2016-01-01 16:12:44

At one time it was recommended to use

echo "options ath10k_core skip_otp=Y" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/ath10k_core.conf

Then reboot but delete the firmware-2.bin first

mvymazal · 2016-01-01 16:41:39

Hello Jeremy,

I created ath10k_core.conf with the the option you suggested, but unfortunately still no success. This is what dmesg says:

[   12.468767] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/cal-pci-0000:03:00.0.bin failed with error -2             
[   12.490644] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/board-pci-168c:003e:1a56:1525.bin failed with error -2  
[   12.645737] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: invalid firmware magic                                                                                
[   12.645780] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/firmware-4.bin failed with error -2                                   
[   12.645782] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: could not fetch firmware file 'ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/firmware-4.bin': -2                                             
[   12.645819] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/firmware-3.bin failed with error -2                                              
[   12.645820] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: could not fetch firmware file 'ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/firmware-3.bin': -2                                                        
[   12.645856] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/firmware-2.bin failed with error -2                                                      
[   12.645857] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: could not fetch firmware file 'ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/firmware-2.bin': -2                                                                
[   12.645893] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/firmware.bin failed with error -2                                                              
[   12.645894] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: could not fetch firmware (-2)                                                                                                                
[   12.645915] ath10k_pci 0000:03:00.0: could not fetch firmware files (-2)

Do you have an idea why is it asking for firmware-[234].bin and not firmware-5.bin ?

jeremy31 · 2016-01-01 17:17:01

It found firmware-5 but for some reason still searches for the others. What kernel is this as it might just be a problematic kernel

mvymazal · 2016-01-01 17:29:36

The kernel is 4.3.3-2:

4.3.3-2-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Wed Dec 23 20:09:18 CET 2015 x86_64 GNU/Linux

I've had this issue with wifi since I bought the laptop (Dell Alienware) some time in May 2015, so I doubt it's a problem related to this particular kernel version.

Last edited by mvymazal (2016-01-01 18:47:38)

jeremy31 · 2016-01-01 19:47:30

Since it doesn't like firmware-5 no matter what it is named, delete it

cd /usr/lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1
sudo rm firmware-5.bin
wget https://github.com/sumdog/ath10k-firmware/blob/master/ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/firmware-4.bin

Reboot, this file has a different md5sum so it might actually work for you

mvymazal · 2016-01-01 21:03:22

Unfortunately I still see the same error: when it gets to the point of loading firmware-4.bin, I get the 'invalid firmware magic' message. This is with both ath10k_core skip_otp=Y enabled and disabled. I'm starting to think that I have a problem somewhere else. If this message means that the md5sum is not correct or the kernel somehow doesn't recognize the firmware binary regardless of what I try to use, maybe I need to load the kernel with some specific parameters, change permissions somehwere or maybe update my mkinitcpio.conf.

I'm just guessing here, but could it be that the problem is actually somewhere else than in the firmware-*.bin or the kernel itself?

jeremy31 · 2016-01-01 22:49:24

ls -l /lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1
md5sum /lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/board.bin
md5sum /lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/firmware-4.bin

It might help to enable some additional debugging info with

modprobe ath10k_core.ko debug_mask=0x432

Reboot and see what

dmesg | grep ath10k

Last edited by jeremy31 (2016-01-03 16:06:48)

mvymazal · 2016-01-03 13:39:21

ls -l /lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22232 Jan  1 16:16 board.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 22928 Jan  1 20:53 firmware-4.bin
md5sum /lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/board.bin 
1500066ca63cd5182a80b4e05b4aca9b  /lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/board.bin
md5sum /lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/firmware-4.bin 
f1a4d4d54db560add703b747a34b2e25  /lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/firmware-4.bin

I can not load ath10k_core.ko because it does not seem to exist in my system (am I supposed to install something)?

modprobe ath10k_core.ko debug_mask=0x432
modprobe: FATAL: Module ath10k_core.ko not found in directory /lib/modules/4.3.3-2-ARCH

jeremy31 · 2016-01-03 16:27:34

Is there any difference if you

md5sum /usr/lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/board.bin
md5sum /usr/lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/firmware-4.bin

The md5sum's I have are different

mvymazal · 2016-01-03 17:22:10

Well that might be because you installed the firmware earlier than me and the files changed in the meantime. The md5sums I listed are for board.bin from kvalo and firmware-4.bin from the sumdog repo. Which ones are you using? Could you download the most recent ones somewhere in your computer and tell me what's your md5sum?

I would really appreciate if you could be so kind and upload your (working) binaries somewhere so that I can try them out if that doesn't bother you too much.

jeremy31 · 2016-01-03 17:39:08

I wonder

cd 
wget https://github.com/sumdog/ath10k-firmware/blob/master/ath10k/QCA6174/hw2.1/firmware-4.bin
md5sum firmware-4.bin
wget https://github.com/kvalo/ath10k-firmware/blob/master/QCA6174/hw2.1/board.bin
md5sum board.bin

I have a different chipset but I downloaded the files from sumdog and kvalo this morning and they haven't changed in months.

Arch Linux

#1 2015-12-31 17:30:06

[SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#2 2015-12-31 17:35:32

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#3 2015-12-31 17:47:43

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#4 2015-12-31 19:04:24

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#5 2015-12-31 22:58:24

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#6 2016-01-01 12:31:17

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#7 2016-01-01 13:04:44

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#8 2016-01-01 14:18:20

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#9 2016-01-01 14:26:48

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#10 2016-01-01 14:37:11

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#11 2016-01-01 14:45:14

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#12 2016-01-01 15:37:59

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#13 2016-01-01 15:49:19

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#14 2016-01-01 16:01:57

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#15 2016-01-01 16:12:44

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#16 2016-01-01 16:41:39

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#17 2016-01-01 17:17:01

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#18 2016-01-01 17:29:36

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#19 2016-01-01 19:47:30

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#20 2016-01-01 21:03:22

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#21 2016-01-01 22:49:24

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#22 2016-01-03 13:39:21

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#23 2016-01-03 16:27:34

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#24 2016-01-03 17:22:10

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

#25 2016-01-03 17:39:08

Re: [SOLVED] Supported USB wifi dongles

Board footer