[RESOLVED] Trouble with rtl8192cu on BBB

[Ueberferret]

I now know that I have made the grievous error of owning the dreaded rtl8192cu USB WLAN adapter.

I would like to try and get this working, however, on a BBB Rev B loaned to me by a colleague. It doesn't need to support WPA or WEP or even be fast - it just has to connect and work.

Here's the deal so far:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
[root@sitara ~]# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0bda:8178 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8192CU 802.11n WLAN Adapter
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
')
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '[root@sitara ~]# ifconfig
eth0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
(blah blah)

lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING> mtu 65536
(blah blah)
')
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '[root@sitara ~]# uname -a
Linux sitara 3.8.13-28-ARCH #1 SMP Sat Jul 12 20:08:29 MDT 2014 armv7l GNU/Linux
')
I've tried grabbing 8192cu-dkms from aur, but it gave me the following error:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', 'Packages (1): 8192cu-dkms-v4.0.2_9000-7

Total Installed Size: 5.15 MiB
Net Upgrade Size: 0.00 MiB

:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n]
(1/1) checking keys in keyring [##############################] 100%
(1/1) checking package integrity [##############################] 100%
(1/1) loading package files [##############################] 100%
(1/1) checking for file conflicts [##############################] 100%
(1/1) checking available disk space [##############################] 100%
8192cu, v4.0.2_9000: added

------------------------------
Deleting module version: v4.0.2_9000
completely from the DKMS tree.
------------------------------
Done.
(1/1) reinstalling 8192cu-dkms [##############################] 100%

Creating symlink /var/lib/dkms/8192cu/v4.0.2_9000/source ->
/usr/src/8192cu-v4.0.2_9000

DKMS: add completed.
Error! echo
Your kernel headers for kernel 3.8.13-28-ARCH cannot be found at
/usr/lib/modules/3.8.13-28-ARCH/build or /usr/lib/modules/3.8.13-28-ARCH/source.
Error! echo
Your kernel headers for kernel 3.8.13-28-ARCH cannot be found at
/usr/lib/modules/3.8.13-28-ARCH/build or /usr/lib/modules/3.8.13-28-ARCH/source.
synchronizing filesystem...
:: Discarding sources...
')
So I did a:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '[root@sitara ~]# pacman -S linux-headers
warning: linux-am33x-headers-3.14.4-1 is up to date -- reinstalling
resolving dependencies...
looking for inter-conflicts...

Packages (1): linux-am33x-headers-3.14.4-1

Total Installed Size: 38.44 MiB
Net Upgrade Size: 0.00 MiB

:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n]
')
(I didn't actually reinstall 8192cu-dkms or the headers, but I wanted to show what I have)

These headers seemed like the right idea because am33x matches the processor, right? It gave me a list and I picked them, because 1) default, and 2) I had thought it matched the processor. After getting the headers I did try and reboot and reinstall the dkms modules, but it didn't help.

I think my issue here is that I cannot use the 8192cu-dkms module because I have the wrong headers and I'm not exactly sure where to go from here. I would graciously appreciate any assistance! All the work I've done with Arch Arm on my pogoplugs has been absolutely smooth sailing, but now with the BBB it gets tricky.

Thank you!

[pepedog]

Maybe install linux-headers-am33x-legacy

[Ueberferret]

Okay, installing the legacy headers did allow the 8192cu-dkms package to install without error. However, I don't think the module is being loaded automatically, as it's not coming up at boot. This has definitely moved forward considerably, I just need to do some more research to go on from here.

EDIT- Whoops, spoke to soon! Another reboot sure enough showed it under iwconfig and ifconfig -a. Wicd is listing, but having some trouble connecting, as others have mentioned. Looks like there still may be more work ahead of me.

[Ueberferret]

Little bit more progress. The following did work:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '[root@sitara ~]# ip link set wlan0 up
[root@sitara ~]# iwconfig wlan0 essid myessid
[root@sitara ~]# iwconfig wlan0
wlan0 IEEE 802.11bgn ESSID:"myessid" Nickname:"<WIFI@REALTEK>"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.427 GHz Access Point: <MAC>
Bit Rate:300 Mb/s Sensitivity:0/0
Retry:off RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality=92/100 Signal level=100/100 Noise level=0/100
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0
[root@sitara ~]# ip addr add 192.168.1.10/24 dev wlan0
[root@sitara ~]# ip route add default via 192.168.1.1
[root@sitara ~]# ping 4.2.2.1
PING 4.2.2.1 (4.2.2.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 4.2.2.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=55 time=21.7 ms
')

So it looks like wicd and iw are the ones that don't want to play along. Wicd will scan, but not connect to anything, and iw responds to any input with

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '[root@sitara ~]# iw link wlan0
nl80211 not found.
')

[pepedog]

Have you tried wifi-menu? It scans, connects, and creates profile for netctl

[Ueberferret]

That did it! It seems like netctl and iwconfig work perfectly but wicd and iw do not work at all. Go figure. What matters is that I have a solution.

Thank you very much, pepedog!