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ngoonee

Forum Fellow

From: Between Thailand and Singapore

Registered: 2009-03-17

Posts: 7,362

TP-Link USB wifi dongle works but doesn't show up in iw

My internal wifi chip has been given hardware-related problems (randomly disconnects and requires a reboot) so I bought a TP-LInk wifi dongle, which just works out of the box.

$ lsusb
Bus 003 Device 003: ID 0bda:8179 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8188EUS 802.11n Wireless Network Adapter

From the `ip link` below you can see both the built-in (wlp3s0) and dongle (wlp0s20u4) devices (other interfaces removed for brevity):-

 $ ip link                                                    
3: wlp3s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP mode DORMANT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether dc:85:de:52:b6:08 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
6: wlp0s20u4: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether c0:25:e9:36:e6:81 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

So everything works, I can enable netctl-auto@wlp0s20u4.service (creating the right netctl config files first of course) and things go fine.

However, iw doesn't seem to pick up my dongle.

 $ iw dev
phy#0
        Interface wlp3s0
                ifindex 3
                wdev 0x1
                addr dc:85:de:52:b6:08
                type managed
                channel 6 (2437 MHz), width: 20 MHz, center1: 2437 MHz
                txpower 15.00 dBm

The only relevant dmesg lines seem to be:-

[    3.740297] usbcore: registered new interface driver btusb
[    3.743954] usbcore: registered new interface driver r8188eu
[    3.744066] psmouse serio4: elantech: Elan sample query result 07, 15, 64
[    3.744876] r8188eu 3-4:1.0 wlp0s20u4: renamed from wlan0

which just shows that udev is doing the device renaming.

Any idea how I can get the device to show up in iw, or what it means when the device isn't showing up in iw?

---

Allan-Volunteer on the (topic being discussed) mailn lists. You never get the people who matters attention on the forums.
jasonwryan-Installing Arch is a measure of your literacy. Maintaining Arch is a measure of your diligence. Contributing to Arch is a measure of your competence.
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trytipARCH

Banned

Registered: 2017-06-05

Posts: 38

Re: TP-Link USB wifi dongle works but doesn't show up in iw

here's my iw dev with TP-LINK WN722N using ARCH XFCE

~ $ iw dev
phy#0
	Interface wlp0*******
		ifindex 3
		wdev 0x1
		addr **:**:**:**:**:**
		type managed
		channel 11 (2462 MHz), width: 20 MHz, center1: 2462 MHz
		txpower 20.00 dBm

* <removed address and interface for privacy

Gusar

Member

Registered: 2009-08-25

Posts: 3,607

Re: TP-Link USB wifi dongle works but doesn't show up in iw

If you're using Realtek's driver instead of rtl8xxxu, that's perfectly normal. iw works only with nl80211 drivers, but Realtek still uses wext instead of nl80211. Use iwconfig from wireless_tools, you'll see your device there (wireless_tools uses wext).

ngoonee

Forum Fellow

From: Between Thailand and Singapore

Registered: 2009-03-17

Posts: 7,362

Re: TP-Link USB wifi dongle works but doesn't show up in iw

If you're using Realtek's driver instead of rtl8xxxu, that's perfectly normal. iw works only with nl80211 drivers, but Realtek still uses wext instead of nl80211. Use iwconfig from wireless_tools, you'll see your device there (wireless_tools uses wext).

Ah, didn't try iwconfig. It's deprecated though I believe. Thanks for the pointer, gives me the right hooks to search up more on the issue.

---

Allan-Volunteer on the (topic being discussed) mailn lists. You never get the people who matters attention on the forums.
jasonwryan-Installing Arch is a measure of your literacy. Maintaining Arch is a measure of your diligence. Contributing to Arch is a measure of your competence.
Griemak-Bleeding edge, not bleeding flat. Edge denotes falls will occur from time to time. Bring your own parachute.