# [SOLVED] Toshiba wifi RTL8188CE freezes laptop, won't work.

## Decibels

[How solved is below few post on this page]

Recently bought a Toshiba Satellite C855D-S5209 Laptop. So far have everything pretty much working except Internet. While gathering info did find one weird thing with the ati-drivers that will mention at the end of this 1st post.

Had wpa_supplicant and wicd installed, but have since removed them to start over from the beginning. The hardest part of testing the wifi on this is that anytime it starts scanning for the router the laptop locks up (complete freeze, have to hard reset). Even without wpa_supplicant or wicd emerged, the wlan0 itself will lockup the laptop during boot. So have stopped the interface in /etc/rc.conf: rc_hotplug="!net.eth0 !net.wlan0"

I am booting from a usb drive until get this all worked out, cause don't want to install on the laptop harddrive unless get the wifi working. The net.eth0 is stopped cause need that still when put the usb drive on my main computer and chroot. Also I don't think at this time there is a driver for the wired ethernet on this laptop, plus if have laptop want the wireless working.

Hope that someone can provide some insight/fix,... So here is some hardware info:

```
# lspci -knn

00:01.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI Trinity [Radeon HD 7520G] [1002:9990]

        Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device [1179:fb28]

        Kernel modules: fglrx

01:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Atheros Communications Inc. AR8162 Fast Ethernet [1969:1090] (rev 10)

        Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device [1179:ff1e]

02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter [10ec:8176] (rev 01)

        Subsystem: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device [10ec:8212]

        Kernel driver in use: rtl8192ce

        Kernel modules: rtl8192ce
```

```
# uname -r 3.4.9-gentoo

[*] Networking support  --->

     --- Networking support 

           Networking options  --->

                 <*> Packet socket

                 <*> Unix domain sockets 

                 < >   UNIX: socket monitoring interface 

                 < > PF_KEY sockets  

                 [*] TCP/IP networking

     -*-   Wireless  --->

           --- Wireless  

                 <*>   cfg80211 - wireless configuration API

                 [*]     nl80211 testmode command   

                 [ ]     enable developer warnings  

                 [ ]     cfg80211 regulatory debugging  

                 [*]     enable powersave by default       

                 [*]     cfg80211 DebugFS entries            

                 [*]     cfg80211 wireless extensions compatibility   

                 [*]   Wireless extensions sysfs files        

                 {M}   Common routines for IEEE802.11 drivers                    

                 [*]   lib80211 debugging messages                     

                 <M>   Generic IEEE 802.11 Networking Stack (mac80211)    

                       Default rate control algorithm (Minstrel)  --->       

                 [ ]   Enable mac80211 mesh networking (pre-802.11s) support     

                 [*]   Export mac80211 internals in DebugFS             

                 [*]   Select mac80211 debugging features  --->

     <*>   RF switch subsystem support  ---> 

    Device Drivers  --->

           [*] Network device support  --->

                 [*]   Wireless LAN  --->

                        --- Wireless LAN

                              <M>   Realtek RTL8192CE/RTL8188CE Wireless Network Adapter                       

                              <M>   Realtek RTL8192SE/RTL8191SE PCIe Wireless Network Adapter                 

                              <M>   Realtek RTL8192DE/RTL8188DE PCIe Wireless Network Adapter                      

                              <M>   Realtek RTL8192CU/RTL8188CU USB Wireless Network Adapter                       

                              [*]   Additional debugging output
```

```
# lsmod

Module                  Size  Used by

fglrx                2582785  102 

rtl8192ce              71844  0 

rtl8192c_common        53574  1 rtl8192ce

rtlwifi                92102  1 rtl8192ce

mac80211              378949  3 rtl8192ce,rtl8192c_common,rtlwifi

sdhci_pci               9848  0 

hid_logitech_dj         9873  0 

sdhci                  21553  1 sdhci_pci

sg                     24339  0 

k10temp                 2763  0 

```

firmware for the RTL8192CE is being loaded:

```
# dmesg......

[   26.881697] bus: 'pci': add driver rtl8192ce

[   26.881716] bus: 'pci': driver_probe_device: matched device 0000:02:00.0 with driver rtl8192ce

[   26.881722] bus: 'pci': really_probe: probing driver rtl8192ce with device 0000:02:00.0

[   26.891426] rtl8192ce: Using firmware rtlwifi/rtl8192cfw.bin

[   26.891445] driver: '0000:02:00.0': driver_bound: bound to device 'rtl8192ce'

[   26.891456] bus: 'pci': really_probe: bound device 0000:02:00.0 to driver rtl8192ce

[   26.891710] device: '0000:02:00.0': device_add

[   26.891803] firmware 0000:02:00.0: firmware: requesting rtlwifi/rtl8192cfw.bin

[   27.159739] device: 'phy0': device_add

[   27.159810] device: 'rfkill0': device_add

[   27.159933] ieee80211 phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'rtl_rc'

[   27.160005] device: 'wlan0': device_add

[   27.160269] rtlwifi: wireless switch is on
```

```
#ls /lib/firmware/rtlwifi:

rtl8192cfw.bin  rtl8192cfwU_B.bin  rtl8192cfwU.bin  rtl8192cufw.bin  rtl8192defw.bin  rtl8192sefw.bin  rtl8712u.bin
```

```
# rfkill list 

0: phy0: Wireless LAN

        Soft blocked: no

        Hard blocked: no
```

```
# /etc/init.d/net.wlan0 status

 * status: stopped
```

```
# lshw -C network

  *-network UNCLAIMED     

       description: Ethernet controller

       product: AR8162 Fast Ethernet

       vendor: Atheros Communications Inc.

       physical id: 0

       bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0

       version: 10

       width: 64 bits

       clock: 33MHz

       capabilities: pm pciexpress msi msix bus_master cap_list

       configuration: latency=0

       resources: memory:f0100000-f013ffff ioport:3000(size=128)

  *-network DISABLED

       description: Wireless interface

       product: RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter

       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.

       physical id: 0

       bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0

       logical name: wlan0

       version: 01

       serial: 24:ec:99:5a:fb:3f

       width: 64 bits

       clock: 33MHz

       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless

       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=rtl8192ce driverversion=3.4.9-gentoo firmware=N/A latency=0 link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bgn

       resources: irq:17 ioport:2000(size=256) memory:f0000000-f0003fff 
```

70-persistent-net.rules

```
# PCI device 0x10ec:0x8176 (rtl8192ce)

SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="?*", ATTR{address}=="14:bc:97:5b:cb:3a", ATTR{dev_id}=="0x0", ATTR{type}=="1", KERNEL=="wlan*", NAME="wlan0"
```

Remember, I have wpa_supplicant and wicd unmerged and removed stray config files, also commented everything out in /etc/conf.d/net

```
# iwconfig

lo        no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:off/any  

          Mode:Managed  Access Point: Not-Associated   Tx-Power=0 dBm   

          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr=2347 B   Fragment thr:off

          Encryption key:off

          Power Management:on 

# iwconfig wlan0 freq 2.462G

Error for wireless request "Set Frequency" (8B04) :

    SET failed on device wlan0 ; Network is down.
```

But it did set it cause shows next time:

```
# iwconfig wlan0

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:off/any  

          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated   

          Tx-Power=0 dBm   

          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr=2347 B   Fragment thr:off

          Encryption key:off

          Power Management:on
```

So I set more stuff like ESSID, Channel, txpower to auto (came up 20dBm),...

Ended up with this:

```
# iwconfig wlan0

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:"Zoey"  

          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated   

          Tx-Power=20 dBm   

          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr=2347 B   Fragment thr:off

          Encryption key:xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xx (removed key, using wep)

          Power Management:on
```

So tried #ifconfig wlan0 up    and  /etc/init.d/net.wlan0 start, both same results, computer freezes. This was happing with wpa_supplicant and wicd installed also. So started eliminating stuff to see where problem lies.

```
#/etc/init.d/net.wlan0 start

  *  Caching service dependencies ...

  *  Bringing up interface wlan0

  *     Configuring wireless network for wlan0
```

That is where it stands. I have looked at every wiki,.... maybe doing something in the wrong order, missing something important,... I don't work with wireless much. But did manage to get a friends computer working with wpa_supplicant and wicd with the Charter Internet wireless usb. This one is driving me nuts. Thanks for any help.

** The other odd issue is when issued the command: lshw

The entire screen goes bonkers, multicolored mess. Found that if start amdcccle (Catalyst Control Center) and cancel it goes back to normal.

----------

## LiamOS

Does it work with other linux distributions?

I'd be really confused if it was going nuts inside an Ubuntu/Fedora live session.

I've the same card on my netbook and it's been purring like a kitten on about 10 different kernels, and nothing is jumping out at me from the output you've posted, so I'm sorry I can't be much use at the moment.

----------

## Decibels

I haven't tried with others cause I just don't have the time right now. I did use the most recent Gentoo Live DVD. It would freeze with that also.

It works fine in Win7, even better than my phone. Sometimes phone won't connect to router, the laptop with Win7 always does.

You have a suggestion of another distro Live DVD? I could try the Ubuntu Live DVD (hmmm, not paying for it though). Going to try Fedora, downloading now.

Later: Well, Fedora is a nogo! Had to edit the boot command so could see the loading procedure. See wlan0: link is not ready (fine, doesn't have all my info). But then freezes: Started WPA Supplicant daemon.

Been that way for awhile, so know what it was doing behind the curtain.

Have you used same kernel as mine: linux-3.4.9-gentoo

----------

## LiamOS

I haven't used 3.4.9. I've used 3.5.(0-5)-gentoo, all the 3.6-rcs from git-sources, 3.6.(0-2)-gentoo, geek-sources >=3.6, some zen-sources... all worked fine with it. If it was still twitchy with Fedora, it's almost certainly not kernel related.

Was the Gentoo live DVD the first Linux use on that laptop? I think people have had various weird hardware problems after using one or more of the minimal cds(I was one), but I'm not sure if that's the same of the DVD too. I wouldn't put money on this one either, but I'm at a loss for what else it could be.

----------

## Decibels

Could only install ndiswrapper as: ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="~x86 or ~amd64"  

ndiswrapper-1.58_rc1  used ~amd64

```

Applying ndiswrapper-1.56-cflags.patch ...

 * Preparing ndiswrapper module

 * Installing ndiswrapper module

 * Preparing file for modules.d ...

 * Updating module dependencies for 3.4.9-gentoo ...

 * Adding module to moduledb.

 * NDISwrapper requires .inf and .sys files from a Windows(tm) driver

 * to function. Download these to /root for example, then

 * run 'ndiswrapper -i /root/foo.inf'. After that you can delete them.

 * They will be copied to /etc/ndiswrapper/.

 * Once done, please run 'update-modules'.

 * Please look at http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/

 * for the FAQ, HowTos, tips, configuration, and installation

 * information.

 * Possible hardware: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller 

 * NDISwrapper devs need support (_hardware_, cash).

 * Don't hesitate if you can help.

 * See http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/ for details.

 * Attempting to automatically reinstall any Windows drivers

 * you might already have.

>>> Auto-cleaning packages...
```

I installed each one, made sure kernel driver didn't load, update-modules:

```

The Win7X64 driver installs fine, doesn't work

# ndiswrapper -l

net8192ce : driver installed

        device (10EC:8176) present (alternate driver: rtl8192ce)

        

The Win7x86 driver fails with this:

installing net8192ce ...

couldn't find models section "Realtek" -

installation may be incomplete

couldn't find models section "Lenovo" -

installation may be incomplete

couldn't find models section "ASUS" -

installation may be incomplete

couldn't find models section "EDIMAX" -

installation may be incomplete

WinX64 installs fine, doesn't work

# ndiswrapper -l

net8192ce : driver installed

        device (10EC:8176) present (alternate driver: rtl8192ce)

Same with Winx86

# ndiswrapper -l

net8192ce : driver installed

        device (10EC:8176) present (alternate driver: rtl8192ce)
```

```
# iwconfig 

lo        no wireless extensions.

# lsmod

Module                  Size  Used by

ndiswrapper           247830  0 

sdhci_pci               9848  0 

sg                     24339  0 

fglrx                2582785  94 

k10temp                 2763  0 

hid_logitech_dj         9873  0 

sdhci                  21553  1 sdhci_pci

```

Since the install on this usb was from my desktop with changes to needed for the laptop. I am going to install fresh stage3 and see what happens.

----------

## Decibels

Problem is with the latest kernel drivers. I downloaded the Reatek drivers from their site: 92ce_linux_mac80211_0007.0809.2012.tar.gz

First thing I checked was if they were different than the kernel ones. They are, they are also slightly older.

From the website: Copyright(c) 2009-2010  Realtek Corporation.

In kernel-3.4.9: Copyright(c) 2009-2012  Realtek Corporation.

But the new ones lockup my laptop as soon as the wlan0 is started.

How got these working. Just to make sure didn't have any issues with the original kernel drivers I rebuilt kernel without the rtl8192ce driver and got rid of some debugging while in there. The only problem with this is that it removed the wireless directory in the /lib/modules/<kernel>/kernel/net directory. Rather than rebuild the module I just created the wireless folder. Here are the part of the instructions I used with information they seemed to leave out (including what just mentioned).

 *Quote:*   

> ========================================================================================
> 
> 		II. Compile & Installation & uninstall
> 
> ========================================================================================
> ...

 

The one thing I noticed first was that there are only 2 rtl drivers now instead of 3. The rtl8192c_common is missing. Well should say not needed with these. It isn't selectable by itself in the kernel, and apparently isn't needed. Not sure if it was part of the lockup problem or not.

After rebooting things got better. Still didn't connect, but didn't lockup. Woooot, progress!!

Compare the old iwconfig to the new:

```
# iwconfig wlan0

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:off/any 

          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated   

          Tx-Power=0 dBm   

          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr=2347 B   Fragment thr:off

          Encryption key:off

          Power Management:on
```

```
#iwconfig wlan0 

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:"DOT"  

          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: 00:39:6B:B5:BB:61   

          Bit Rate=18 Mb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm   

          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr=2347 B   Fragment thr:off

          Encryption key:B6A4-2CCC-5CAB-9337-D7EB-3BB9-7B

          Power Management:off

          Link Quality=60/70  Signal level=-50 dBm  

          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0

          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0
```

Also, before it said wlan0 didn't support scanning, now it scans fine:

```
# iwlist scanning

          Cell 04 - Address: 00:39:6B:B5:BB:61

                    Channel:11

                    Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11)

                    Quality=60/70  Signal level=-50 dBm  

                    Encryption key:on

                    ESSID:"DOT"

                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s

                    Bit Rates:6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s

                              36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s

                    Mode:Master

                    Extra:tsf=0000000163cf7b22

                    Extra: Last beacon: 1ms ago

                    IE: Unknown: 00045A6F6579

                    IE: Unknown: 010482848B96

                    IE: Unknown: 03010B

                    IE: Unknown: 0406000200000000

                    IE: Unknown: 2A0100

                    IE: Unknown: 32080C1218243048606C
```

Little more of it working:

```
# wpa_cli scan

Selected interface 'wlan0'

OK

# wpa_cli scan_results

Selected interface 'wlan0'

bssid / frequency / signal level / flags / ssid

 00:39:6B:B5:BB:61   2462   234   [WEP][ESS]   DOT

Doesn't say CURRENT so not connected yet for some reason. Later: doesn't seem to matter can ping later and still doesn't say CURRENT.

# wpa_cli status

Selected interface 'wlan0'

bssid= 00:39:6B:B5:BB:61

ssid=DOT

id=0

mode=station

pairwise_cipher=WEP-104

group_cipher=WEP-104

key_mgmt=NONE

wpa_state=COMPLETED

Says COMPLETED and according to the gentoo wiki 'If it's correct, the last line will be this" Later: this is wrong, needs to show the ip address if actually working.
```

Finally something. I disabled router Access List of mac's and encryption. So above is not true unless it shows an ip address below.

Oh, decided to change /etc/conf.d/net to dhcp from static ip also. Note: when starting still says wlan0 is started but inactive. I read that may be misleading and seems so. I was able to ping now and route showed laptop was connected and an ip address.

```
# wpa_cli status

Selected interface 'wlan0'

bssid=00:09:5b:d5:2b:60

ssid=Zoey

id=0

mode=station

pairwise_cipher=NONE

group_cipher=NONE

key_mgmt=NONE

wpa_state=COMPLETED

ip_address=192.168.0.3
```

Now it is working!!!!!

Then I turned my router ACCESS LIST back on and tested, working. Then for better protection changed the WEP over to WPA-PSK. Everything seems good now.

```
PING yahoo.com (98.138.253.109) 56(84) bytes of data.

64 bytes from ir1.fp.vip.ne1.yahoo.com (98.138.253.109): icmp_req=1 ttl=53 time=1003 ms

64 bytes from ir1.fp.vip.ne1.yahoo.com (98.138.253.109): icmp_req=2 ttl=53 time=51.7 ms

64 bytes from ir1.fp.vip.ne1.yahoo.com (98.138.253.109): icmp_req=3 ttl=53 time=103 ms

64 bytes from ir1.fp.vip.ne1.yahoo.com (98.138.253.109): icmp_req=4 ttl=53 time=57.9 ms

64 bytes from ir1.fp.vip.ne1.yahoo.com (98.138.253.109): icmp_req=5 ttl=53 time=34.9 ms

64 bytes from ir1.fp.vip.ne1.yahoo.com (98.138.253.109): icmp_req=6 ttl=53 time=35.3 ms

--- yahoo.com ping statistics ---

6 packets transmitted, 6 received, 0% packet loss, time 5003ms

rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 34.918/214.439/1003.032/353.416 ms, pipe 2

```

Configs:

/etc/init.d/net   (added the -dd for debug while testing, will remove later)

```
modules_wlan0="wpa_supplicant"

wpa_supplicant_wlan0="-Dwext -c/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf -dd"

config_wlan0="dhcp"
```

/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

```
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant

ctrl_interface_group=wheel

#ap_scan=1

update_config=1

network={

          ssid="DOT"

          scan_ssid=1

          key_mgmt=WPA-PSK

          psk="xxxxxxxxxx"

          proto=WPA

}
```

Further note: I added wpa_supplicant to rc-update default run level but it wouldn't start wlan0 cause I think it said rfkill. Rfkill changed to software yes. I just checked few minutes ago and said no. So will have to test that further later. As of now I have net.wlan0 at default, it starts wpa_supplicant and not the other way around. 

So that is pretty much it. Using the 3.4.9 kernel you can get the RTL8192CE driver working if you use the Vendor driver and firmware from their site. Seems that the kernel drivers are from them also, but they don't work with this kernel and perhaps others. I think it is a safe and time saving bet that if you have lot of trouble with the kernel drivers. Go to the Realtek website and grab the older ones.

Hope this helps someone, cause I sure couldn't find much help. 

Just did my first eix-sync on the laptop.

Later: Trying to get my sound working with flash. Had to recompile the alsa stuff as modules. So came across another issue. The wireless directory had to be recreated, make install ran again on the vendor drivers. That was all, but kind of a pain.

----------

