Arch Linux

sormifnd

Member

Registered: 2019-12-09

Posts: 6

ASUS laptop can't discover wifi networks

Recently bought an Asus VivoBook and am trying to install Arch on it. I've installed Arch previously on a couple other laptops, following the wiki's installation guide, and everything has gone smoothly before. I'm booting off a live USB containing archlinux-2019.12.01-x86_64.iso.
All works well until I try to scan for wireless networks. iw and wifi-menu both fail to find any as if there were no networks in the area:

# iw dev wlan0 scan
# wifi-menu
Scanning for networks... failed
No networks found

My other devices can connect to my network and detect neighbors' networks from the same location, so the network itself existing isn't the problem.
ip link shows the interface as up and rfkill shows that nothing is being blocked:

# ip link
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: wlan0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether dc:f5:05:f6:94:bf brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
# rfkill
ID TYPE      DEVICE      SOFT      HARD
 0 bluetooth hci0   unblocked unblocked
 1 wlan      phy0   unblocked unblocked

The wireless network configuration page suggests that a problem like this may come from the regulatory domain being misconfigured. At boot, both the global and the phy#0 domain are country 00. I can set the global to country US, but I haven't discovered a way to set phy#0 to US. The best thing I've found is to try to use CRDA to set it, but this gives a mysterious error code that I haven't been able to find the meaning of anywhere.

# iw reg set US
# iw reg get
global
country US: DFS-FCC
	(2402 - 2472 @ 40), (N/A, 30), (N/A)
	(5170 - 5250 @ 80), (N/A, 23), (N/A), AUTO-BW
	(5250 - 5330 @ 80), (N/A, 23), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW
	(5490 - 5730 @ 160), (N/A, 23), (0 ms), DFS
	(5735 - 5835 @ 80), (N/A, 30), (N/A)
	(57240 - 71000 @ 2160), (N/A, 40), (N/A)

phy#0
country 00: DFS-UNSET
	(2402 - 2472 @ 40), (N/A, 20), (N/A)
	(2457 - 2482 @ 20), (N/A, 20), (N/A), AUTO-BW, PASSIVE-SCAN
	(2474 - 2494 @ 20), (N/A, 20), (N/A), NO-OFDM, PASSIVE-SCAN
	(5170 - 5250 @ 80), (N/A, 20), (N/A), AUTO-BW, PASSIVE-SCAN
	(5250 - 5330 @ 80), (N/A, 20), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, PASSIVE-SCAN
	(5490 - 5730 @ 160), (N/A, 20), (0 ms), DFS, PASSIVE-SCAN
	(5735 - 5835 @ 80), (N/A, 20), (N/A), PASSIVE-SCAN
	(57240 - 63720 @ 2160), (N/A, 0), (N/A)

# COUNTRY=US crda
Failed to set regulatory domain: -7

I've tried to diagnose if this is a driver problem, but haven't been able to find anything conclusive. As far as I can tell, the necessary modules are present and loaded.

# lspci -k
00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 60h-6fh) Processor Root Complex
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Family 15h (Models 60h-6fh) Processor Root Complex
00:00.2 IOMMU: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 60h-6fh) I/O Memory Management Unit
	Subsystem: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 60h-6fh) I/O Memory Management Unit
00:01.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Wani [Radeon R5/R6/R7 Graphics] (rev c8)
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Wani [Radeon R5/R6/R7 Graphics]
	Kernel driver in use: amdgpu
	Kernel modules: amdgpu
00:01.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Kabini HDMI/DP Audio
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Kabini HDMI/DP Audio
	Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
	Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel
00:02.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 60h-6fh) Host Bridge
00:02.4 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 60h-6fh) Processor Root Port
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:03.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 60h-6fh) Host Bridge
00:03.1 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 60h-6fh) Processor Root Port
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:08.0 Encryption controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Carrizo Platform Security Processor
	Subsystem: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Carrizo Platform Security Processor
00:09.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Carrizo Audio Dummy Host Bridge
00:09.2 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 60h-6fh) Audio Controller
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Family 15h (Models 60h-6fh) Audio Controller
	Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
	Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel
00:10.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB XHCI Controller (rev 20)
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. FCH USB XHCI Controller
	Kernel driver in use: xhci_hcd
	Kernel modules: xhci_pci
00:11.0 SATA controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 49)
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. FCH SATA Controller [AHCI mode]
	Kernel driver in use: ahci
	Kernel modules: ahci
00:12.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller (rev 49)
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. FCH USB EHCI Controller
	Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
	Kernel modules: ehci_pci
00:14.0 SMBus: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SMBus Controller (rev 4a)
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. FCH SMBus Controller
	Kernel driver in use: piix4_smbus
	Kernel modules: i2c_piix4, sp5100_tco
00:14.3 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH LPC Bridge (rev 11)
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. FCH LPC Bridge
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 60h-6fh) Processor Function 0
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 60h-6fh) Processor Function 1
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 60h-6fh) Processor Function 2
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 60h-6fh) Processor Function 3
	Kernel driver in use: k10temp
	Kernel modules: k10temp
00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 60h-6fh) Processor Function 4
	Kernel driver in use: fam15h_power
	Kernel modules: fam15h_power
00:18.5 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 60h-6fh) Processor Function 5
01:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8822BE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WiFi adapter
	Subsystem: AzureWave RTL8822BE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WiFi adapter
	Kernel driver in use: rtw_pci
	Kernel modules: rtwpci, wl

# lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
nls_iso8859_1          16384  1
nls_cp437              20480  1
vfat                   24576  1
fat                    86016  1 vfat
wl                   6467584  0
amdgpu               4718592  1
joydev                 28672  0
edac_mce_amd           32768  0
mousedev               24576  0
kvm_amd               106496  0
uvcvideo              114688  0
rtwpci                 24576  0
rtw88                 454656  1 rtwpci
btusb                  65536  0
videobuf2_vmalloc      20480  1 uvcvideo
hid_multitouch         32768  0
videobuf2_memops       20480  1 videobuf2_vmalloc
btrtl                  24576  1 btusb
videobuf2_v4l2         28672  1 uvcvideo
gpu_sched              36864  1 amdgpu
ccp                    98304  1 kvm_amd
mac80211              999424  2 rtwpci,rtw88
videobuf2_common       57344  2 videobuf2_v4l2,uvcvideo
btbcm                  16384  1 btusb
btintel                28672  1 btusb
i2c_algo_bit           16384  1 amdgpu
hid_generic            16384  0
kvm                   782336  1 kvm_amd
videodev              237568  3 videobuf2_v4l2,uvcvideo,videobuf2_common
bluetooth             675840  5 btrtl,btintel,btbcm,btusb
ttm                   118784  1 amdgpu
mc                     61440  4 videodev,videobuf2_v4l2,uvcvideo,videobuf2_common
snd_hda_codec_generic    94208  1
irqbypass              16384  1 kvm
ledtrig_audio          16384  1 snd_hda_codec_generic
drm_kms_helper        212992  1 amdgpu
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     65536  1
cfg80211              856064  3 wl,mac80211,rtw88
crct10dif_pclmul       16384  1
asus_nb_wmi            28672  0
ecdh_generic           16384  1 bluetooth
ecc                    32768  1 ecdh_generic
snd_hda_intel          53248  0
crc16                  16384  1 bluetooth
input_leds             16384  0
ghash_clmulni_intel    16384  0
8250_dw                28672  0
asus_wmi               36864  1 asus_nb_wmi
snd_hda_codec         159744  3 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel
drm                   516096  5 gpu_sched,drm_kms_helper,amdgpu,ttm
sparse_keymap          16384  1 asus_wmi
wmi_bmof               16384  0
pcspkr                 16384  0
rfkill                 28672  4 asus_wmi,bluetooth,cfg80211
snd_hda_core          102400  4 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
libarc4                16384  1 mac80211
evdev                  24576  5
agpgart                53248  2 ttm,drm
snd_hwdep              20480  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm               135168  4 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_core
syscopyarea            16384  1 drm_kms_helper
sysfillrect            16384  1 drm_kms_helper
tpm_crb                20480  0
mac_hid                16384  0
pinctrl_amd            32768  1
sysimgblt              16384  1 drm_kms_helper
snd_timer              40960  1 snd_pcm
tpm_tis                16384  0
snd                   110592  7 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hwdep,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_timer,snd_pcm
tpm_tis_core           24576  1 tpm_tis
asus_wireless          20480  0
battery                24576  0
ac                     16384  0
tpm                    73728  3 tpm_tis,tpm_crb,tpm_tis_core
soundcore              16384  1 snd
sp5100_tco             20480  0
fb_sys_fops            16384  1 drm_kms_helper
i2c_hid                32768  0
rng_core               16384  2 ccp,tpm
hid                   143360  3 i2c_hid,hid_multitouch,hid_generic
fam15h_power           16384  0
k10temp                16384  0
i2c_piix4              28672  0
acpi_cpufreq           28672  0
pkcs8_key_parser       16384  0
ip_tables              36864  0
x_tables               49152  1 ip_tables
overlay               135168  1
squashfs               69632  1
loop                   40960  2
isofs                  49152  1
sd_mod                 57344  4
uas                    28672  0
usb_storage            77824  3 uas
crc32_pclmul           16384  0
crc32c_intel           24576  0
serio_raw              20480  0
atkbd                  36864  0
libps2                 20480  1 atkbd
aesni_intel           372736  0
ahci                   40960  0
aes_x86_64             20480  1 aesni_intel
libahci                40960  1 ahci
glue_helper            16384  1 aesni_intel
crypto_simd            16384  1 aesni_intel
xhci_pci               20480  0
libata                282624  2 libahci,ahci
cryptd                 24576  2 crypto_simd,ghash_clmulni_intel
xhci_hcd              278528  1 xhci_pci
ehci_pci               20480  0
scsi_mod              249856  4 sd_mod,usb_storage,uas,libata
ehci_hcd               98304  1 ehci_pci
wmi                    36864  2 asus_wmi,wmi_bmof
i8042                  32768  1 asus_nb_wmi
serio                  28672  4 serio_raw,atkbd,i8042

However, they barely appear in dmesg output (the wireless network config article implies they should appear at least several times), except for a verification error I don't know how to correct:

# dmesg | egrep '(wl|rtwpci)'
[   11.356311] wl: loading out-of-tree module taints kernel.
[   11.356318] wl: module license 'MIXED/Proprietary' taints kernel.
[   11.361856] wl: module verification failed: signature and/or required key missing - tainting kernel

I'm stumped on what to do here; since the laptop doesn't have an Ethernet port, the inability to connect over wireless means I can't continue installing Arch. I can transfer files by mounting a flash drive, which is how I got the output of these commands, but that's about it.

ewaller

Administrator

From: Pasadena, CA

Registered: 2009-07-13

Posts: 20,353

Re: ASUS laptop can't discover wifi networks

You might try tethering a smart phone via a USB port.  It will appear as a wired Ethernet port.  Just connect it and run dhcpcd as root.  You can then install any drivers you need for your wireless NIC.

---

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Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine. -- Alan Turing
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Lone_Wolf

Administrator

From: Netherlands, Europe

Registered: 2005-10-04

Posts: 13,368

Re: ASUS laptop can't discover wifi networks

A search for rtl8822be linux shows several reports of people having trouble with the built-in kernel driver rtwpci/rtw88 .

You could try building https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/rtlw … tw88-dkms/  on another archlinux system and use that.

edit: damn typos

Last edited by Lone_Wolf (2019-12-10 14:14:20)

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Disliking systemd intensely, but not satisfied with alternatives so focusing on taming systemd.

clean chroot building not flexible enough ?
Try clean chroot manager by graysky

sormifnd

Member

Registered: 2019-12-09

Posts: 6

Re: ASUS laptop can't discover wifi networks

ewaller, all I have available to tether is an iphone, which won't work without installing a bunch of packages.

Lone_Wolf, that's helpful to know. I built the rtlwifi_new-rtw88-dkms package on my existing Arch laptop, and used my flash drive to transfer it and its dependency packages over, then installed them individually with pacman -U. I first got a kernel header error when trying to install rtw88, so I brought over the linux-headers package too. The installation of the rtw88 package produced some errors:

# pacman -U rtlwifi_new-rtw88-dkms-r293.05f5504-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
loading packages...
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...

Packages (1) rtlwifi_new-rtw88-dkms-r293.05f5504-1

Total Installed Size:  6.14 MiB
Net Upgrade Size:      0.00 MiB

checking keyring...
checking package integrity...
loading package files...
checking for file conflicts...
:: Running pre-transaction hooks...
(1/1) Remove DKMS modules
:: Processing package changes...
reinstalling rtlwifi_new-rtw88-dkms...

------------------------------
Deleting module version: r293.05f5504
completely from the DKMS tree.
------------------------------
Done.

Creating symlink /var/lib/dkms/rtlwifi_new/r293.05f5504/source ->
                 /usr/src/rtlwifi_new-r293.05f5504

DKMS: add completed.
Error! echo
Your kernel headers for kernel 5.3.13-arch1-1 cannot be found at
/usr/lib/modules/5.3.13-arch1-1/build or /usr/lib/modules/5.3.13-arch1-1/source.
You can use the --kernelsourcedir option to tell DKMS where it's located.
Error! echo
Your kernel headers for kernel 5.3.13-arch1-1 cannot be found at
/usr/lib/modules/5.3.13-arch1-1/build or /usr/lib/modules/5.3.13-arch1-1/source.
You can use the --kernelsourcedir option to tell DKMS where it's located.
:: Running post-transaction hooks...
(1/2) Arming ConditionNeedsUpdate...
(2/2) Install DKMS modules
==> Unable to install module rtlwifi_new/r293.05f5504 for kernel 5.4.2-arch1-1: Missing kernel modules tree.

I'm not sure on what to do next even if I do get it to install properly, since this is the first time I've really had to mess with drivers. Would I use modprobe to remove the running rtw88 module and substitute in a different module from this package?
(Also, I don't really know where pacman -U installs packages in a live usb boot. They don't appear to persist when I reboot the laptop.)

Last edited by sormifnd (2019-12-11 01:54:25)

dglt

Member

Registered: 2019-08-14

Posts: 82

Re: ASUS laptop can't discover wifi networks

you could try bringing over/installing both the kernel and it's matching header packages, then the dkms package.

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 30,335

Website

Re: ASUS laptop can't discover wifi networks

(Also, I don't really know where pacman -U installs packages in a live usb boot. They don't appear to persist when I reboot the laptop.)

Of course not, nothing is persistent - it is a disk image with a ramdisk overlay.  So anything you install is just for that boot, but there should be no need to reboot into the iso again.

---

"UNIX is simple and coherent" - Dennis Ritchie; "GNU's Not Unix" - Richard Stallman

sormifnd

Member

Registered: 2019-12-09

Posts: 6

Re: ASUS laptop can't discover wifi networks

Hmm, so should the next thing I do be to try to install a minimal but complete build of Arch on the laptop's drive, as described in https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Of … stallation? That won't solve the wifi issue but it will maybe make it easier to mess with the driver.

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 30,335

Website

Re: ASUS laptop can't discover wifi networks

If you have another means of connecting to the internet, then yes.

---

"UNIX is simple and coherent" - Dennis Ritchie; "GNU's Not Unix" - Richard Stallman

dglt

Member

Registered: 2019-08-14

Posts: 82

Re: ASUS laptop can't discover wifi networks

Hmm, so should the next thing I do be to try to install a minimal but complete build of Arch on the laptop's drive

since the wl module loads, and it's just having trouble finding networks you can try changing your router channel/width to something more widely acceptable. if it's a dual band router change the 5ghz to ch.149@20mhz width. and change the 2.4ghz to ch.1 or ch.3, also at 20mhz channel width.  then see if you wireless adapter is able to detect the access point.

when regdom causes problems when it shouldnt, those channels/widths seem to not be effected and still work.