Dockstar with AirLink 101 Golden N Wireless Mini USB Adapter

[daloarc]

I am trying to get my Dockstar working with a small, inexpensive wirless adapter, the AirLink 101 AWLL6075, the "Golden N Wireless Mini USB Adapter." Lsusb shows

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0bda:8172 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8191S WLAN Adapter
')

When I boot with the adapter in, dmesg.log contains (eliminating most of the lines that are always there)

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
[ 5.671692] Registered led device: status:blue:health
[ 5.672182] r8712u: DriverVersion: v7_0.20100831
[ 5.676917] r8712u: register rtl8712_netdev_ops to netdev_ops
[ 5.682698] r8712u: USB_SPEED_HIGH with 4 endpoints
[ 5.688351] r8712u: Boot from EFUSE: Autoload OK
...
[ 6.487353] r8712u: CustomerID = 0x0000
[ 6.491205] r8712u: MAC Address from efuse = 00:21:2f:34:b9:92
[ 6.498192] usbcore: registered new interface driver r8712u
...
')

I downloaded the Realtek driver source, and found from the documentation that the 8712, so it seems suggestive, as if it could work.

The Debian Dockstar forums have postings indicating success, such as this one, but Arch Linux configures a little differently than Debian, and I am not sure how to do it.

First, I tried defining an interface in rc.conf:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
interface=wlan0
address=
netmask=
gateway=
')

and /etc/conf.d/wireless:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
wlan_wlan0="wlan0 mode managed essid default"
WLAN_INTERFACES=(wlan0)
')

However, upon rebooting the machine, it hangs. I tried providing an address, netmask and gateway in rc.conf, but the machine still hung, too. I had to remove the interface definition from rc.conf to get it to boot, but I did leave the definition in the "wireless" file.

I decided that I needed to look more into the wireless configuration side.

"iwconfig wlan0" shows

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
wlan0 unassociated Nickname:"rtl_wifi"
Mode:Auto Access Point: Not-Associated Sensitivity:0/0
Retry:off RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0
')

Running "ip addr", I get

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
...
3: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN qlen 1000
link/ether 00:21:2f:34:b9:92 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
')

I could manually set some items using iwconfig, but decided that I really should set up configuration files. I use WPA2 on my network, so following the directions on the ArchLinx Wiki

First, I tried the dynamic method. I created /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=wheel
update_config=1
')

Then I tried to run wpa_supplicant, but it didn't work

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
# wpa_supplicant -Dwext -i wlan0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -B
Could not set interface wlan0 flags: Operation not permitted
Failed to initialize driver interface
')

By the way, /var/log/messages.log says
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
r8712u: Loading firmware from "rtlwifi/rtl8712u.bin"
')
whenever I try it. There is no /lib/firmware directory, so I don't know where it would be getting it from.

Then I tried the classic method on the wiki page. I used wpa_passphrase to create /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf with the following contents

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=wheel
network={
ssid="<myssid>"
proto=RSN
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
pairwise=CCMP TKIP
group=CCMP TKIP"
psk=<long hex string>
}
')

I tried defining an interface in rc.conf:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
interface=wlan0
address=
netmask=
gateway=
')
Then running "ip link set wlan0 up" as root yields "RTNETLINK answers: Operation not permitted"

At this point, I'm stuck. It seems like it should work, but I am not configuring it properly. Does anybody out there have any suggestions?

[pepedog]

The interface setting in rc.conf is only for a single interface.
Install netcfg and then network entry in rc.conf is the way.
Look at samples in /etc/network.d and you will be probably be starting other network scripts in /etc/rc.d

[daloarc]

That is useful, but still not enough. I set up wireless profile for netcfg, and now I get
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
#netcfg myprofile
:: myprofile up [BUSY]
nl80211: 'nl80211' generic netlink not found
Could not set interface wlan0 flags: Operation not permitted
Failed to initialize driver interface
> wpa_supplicant did not start, possible configuration error
')

I see that the nl80211 error is somewhat spurious, but the problem with wpa_supplicant remains and seems to be the crux of the problem.

[daloarc]

I don't know how I missed it, but missing firmware probably contributes to the problem
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
[10718.348981] r8712u: Loading firmware from "rtlwifi/rtl8712u.bin"
[10718.358131] r8712u: Unable to load firmware
')
Now I have to figure out where to get the firmware.

Edit: package linux-firmware

[pepedog]

I am using hostapd, somehow wpa_supplicant was coming up, I put this in rc.local
/usr/bin/killall wpa_supplicant
Think this is in a wrong place as rc.local comes after daemons.
Don't know what made wpa_supplicant come up early, see if it's running before starting netcfg myprofile
This is good for tracking config faults.

I tested by only starting (dhcpd) wired (with net-profiles), start other if with netcfg gui (install dialog)
My setup is wired to isp, and another wired and wireless serving lan supplying ip addresses

[daloarc]

Once I put the linux-firmware package in place, everything became functional. I haven't fully configured it yet, but I can do "iwlist wlan0 scanning" and see the nearby ESSID and all the details, so now I just need to get all the various configuration files set properly.

[daloarc]

The dockstar is partially functional. I tried to get netcfg to manage both wired and wireless networks, but couldn't do it. When trying this, In rc.conf I commented out the interface lines for eth0, removed network from DAEMONS and added net-profiles. Upon rebooting, neither the wired nor wireless interfaces work.

So, for the moment, I am letting netcfg handle the wireless interface and network handle the wired interface. I restored the eth0 interface lines in rc.conf, and DAEMONS has both net-profiles and network. I suspect this is a bad idea, but it works. If the wired ethernet is plugged in, then both the wired and the wireless interface are up when the machine reboot.

The problem is that if I disconnect the wired ethernet and reboot the machine, the wireless interface comes up enough to respond to pings, but I can't ssh into it. As soon as I connect the wired ethernet, then everything is fine and I can ssh through the wireless interface. Any ideas why this would be so?

[pepedog]

It might help seeing my wireless profile (in master mode)
CONNECTION='ethernet'
DESCRIPTION='my wireless'
INTERFACE='wlan0'
IP='static'
ADDR='192.168.4.1'
NETMASK='255.255.255.0'
#DNS=('192.168.1.1')

See, I set it as wired
I would look at this script, it shows what sort of variables are expected
/usr/lib/network/connections/ethernet

[varkey]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('daloarc', '
')The problem is that if I disconnect the wired ethernet and reboot the machine, the wireless interface comes up enough to respond to pings, but I can't ssh into it. As soon as I connect the wired ethernet, then everything is fine and I can ssh through the wireless interface. Any ideas why this would be so?