# No Wireless Interface / No idea why

## genstoopid

First time playing around with Gentoo. Really enjoying it so far, but getting my RTL8188CE wireless interface to show itself is driving me insane. I believe Ive enabled the right fields in genkernel's menuconfig, systemlinked net.wlp7s0 to net.lo, emerged linux-firmware. Its been two days and no hope.

Recently found this giys blog and enabled all Realtek's family as modules, but nothing.

http://0f5f.blogs.minster.io/2014/10/wifi-on-gentoo-using-a-rtl8192cu-wireless-adapter/

```
ifconfig -a

enp5s0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500

        inet 192.168.1.106  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 192.168.1.255

        inet6 fe80::5e26:aff:fe4d:b78e  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>

        ether 5c:26:0a:4d:b7:8e  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)

        RX packets 420692  bytes 173196756 (165.1 MiB)

        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0

        TX packets 656567  bytes 891885924 (850.5 MiB)

        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING>  mtu 65536

        inet 127.0.0.1  netmask 255.0.0.0

        inet6 ::1  prefixlen 128  scopeid 0x10<host>

        loop  txqueuelen 1  (Local Loopback)

        RX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)

        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0

        TX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)

        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0
```

```
# ispci -vv

07:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter (rev 01)

        Subsystem: Dell RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter

        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-

        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-

        Latency: 0, Cache Line Size: 32 bytes

        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 4

        Region 0: I/O ports at 3000 [size=256]

        Region 2: Memory at f0100000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]

        Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3

                Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1+ D2+ AuxCurrent=375mA PME(D0+,D1+,D2+,D3hot+,D3cold+)

                Status: D0 NoSoftRst+ PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

        Capabilities: [50] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+

                Address: 0000000000000000  Data: 0000

        Capabilities: [70] Express (v2) Endpoint, MSI 00

                DevCap: MaxPayload 128 bytes, PhantFunc 0, Latency L0s <512ns, L1 <64us

                        ExtTag- AttnBtn- AttnInd- PwrInd- RBE+ FLReset- SlotPowerLimit 10.000W

                DevCtl: Report errors: Correctable- Non-Fatal- Fatal- Unsupported-

                        RlxdOrd+ ExtTag- PhantFunc- AuxPwr- NoSnoop-

                        MaxPayload 128 bytes, MaxReadReq 512 bytes

                DevSta: CorrErr+ UncorrErr+ FatalErr- UnsuppReq+ AuxPwr+ TransPend-

                LnkCap: Port #0, Speed 2.5GT/s, Width x1, ASPM L0s L1, Exit Latency L0s <512ns, L1 <64us

                        ClockPM+ Surprise- LLActRep- BwNot- ASPMOptComp-

                LnkCtl: ASPM L0s L1 Enabled; RCB 64 bytes Disabled- CommClk+

                        ExtSynch- ClockPM- AutWidDis- BWInt- AutBWInt-

                LnkSta: Speed 2.5GT/s, Width x1, TrErr- Train- SlotClk+ DLActive- BWMgmt- ABWMgmt-

                DevCap2: Completion Timeout: Not Supported, TimeoutDis+, LTR-, OBFF Not Supported

                DevCtl2: Completion Timeout: 50us to 50ms, TimeoutDis-, LTR-, OBFF Disabled

                LnkCtl2: Target Link Speed: 2.5GT/s, EnterCompliance- SpeedDis-

                         Transmit Margin: Normal Operating Range, EnterModifiedCompliance- ComplianceSOS-

                         Compliance De-emphasis: -6dB

                LnkSta2: Current De-emphasis Level: -6dB, EqualizationComplete-, EqualizationPhase1-

                         EqualizationPhase2-, EqualizationPhase3-, LinkEqualizationRequest-
```

# dmesg : https://pastebin.com/CvVEKGPN

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

----------

## bunder

CONFIG_RTL8192CE should be the kernel option to enable for that card.  Just throwing it out there, but I bought one to use as an AP and it lasted all of 5 minutes.  The module still loads and unloads fine and I can change channels and SSID name, but none of my wireless devices detect it.  Maybe I just got a bum card.   :Confused: 

----------

## charles17

 *genstoopid wrote:*   

> # dmesg : https://pastebin.com/CvVEKGPN
> 
> 

 

The information you gave from lspci are missing important information.  Please add the -n and -k options:

```
lspci -nnkv | sed -n '/Network/,/^$/p'
```

And as described in the Wifi wiki article, you could boil down the dmesg output to the relevant lines.

----------

## xaviermiller

Hi!,

Don't forget to emerge linux-firmware too.

If it still doesn't work, I could give you my wpa_supplicant.conf details, because the default -wext doesn't work, you need to define an other driver, bu I forgot its name.

----------

## genstoopid

Bunter, I just checked my kernel config, and thats set to be loaded as a module. Do tou mean I should pass it as an arg from grub at boot? Im wondering if genkernel is doing what I ask of it - I bet it is, humans are usually the issue when it comes to things like this.

```
07:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter [10ec:8176] (rev 01)

        Subsystem: Dell RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter [1028:8194]

        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 4

        I/O ports at 3000 [size=256]

        Memory at f0100000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]

        Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3

        Capabilities: [50] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+

        Capabilities: [70] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
```

```
sudo dmesg | grep -i -E '7:00.0|wlan|wlp7s0|rtlwifi|80211|rtl'

[    0.233352] pci 0000:07:00.0: [10ec:8176] type 00 class 0x028000

[    0.233391] pci 0000:07:00.0: reg 0x10: [io  0x3000-0x30ff]

[    0.233460] pci 0000:07:00.0: reg 0x18: [mem 0xf0100000-0xf0103fff 64bit]

[    0.233674] pci 0000:07:00.0: supports D1 D2

[    0.233678] pci 0000:07:00.0: PME# supported from D0 D1 D2 D3hot D3cold

[   13.558757] r8169 0000:05:00.0 eth0: RTL8105e at 0xffffc90000045000, 5c:26:0a:4d:b7:8e, XID 00900000 IRQ 25
```

Linux-firmware is emerged, and in /etc/genkernel set:

```
FIRMWARE="yes"

FIRMWARE_DIR="/lib/firmware"
```

xaviermiller, so something other than RTL8192CE is needed?

Thanks for the help.

----------

## NeddySeagoon

genstoopid,

What is the date/time in 

```
uname -a
```

Its the date/time that the running kernel was compiled.  Does it look right or has the kernel update gone wrong somewhere?

Not mounting /boot before installing the new kernel is popular.

----------

## josephg

if you are using gentoo-sources-4.12, try the previous stable version 4.9. i downgraded as i was having networking problems.

----------

## genstoopid

Yeah the new kernel is being used, and its the stable amd64 version - 4.9.34. 

NeddySeagoon, /boot is mounted. 

Why is it always wifi? ><

```
 cat /var/log/genkernel.log | grep -i rtl

  LD      drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/built-in.o

  LD      drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/rtl8180/built-in.o

  LD      drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/rtl8187/built-in.o

  LD      drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl8xxxu/built-in.o

  CC [M]  drivers/net/usb/rtl8150.o

  CC [M]  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/rtl8180/dev.o

  CC [M]  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/rtl8180/rtl8225.o

  CC [M]  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/rtl8187/dev.o

  CC [M]  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/rtl8180/sa2400.o

  CC [M]  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/rtl8187/rtl8225.o

  CC [M]  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/rtl8187/leds.o

  CC [M]  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/rtl8180/max2820.o

  CC [M]  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/rtl8187/rfkill.o

  CC [M]  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/rtl8180/grf5101.o

  LD [M]  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/rtl8187/rtl8187.o

  CC [M]  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/rtl8180/rtl8225se.o

  LD [M]  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/rtl8180/rtl818x_pci.o

  CC [M]  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl8xxxu/rtl8xxxu_core.o

  CC [M]  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl8xxxu/rtl8xxxu_8192e.o

  CC [M]  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl8xxxu/rtl8xxxu_8723b.o

  CC [M]  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl8xxxu/rtl8xxxu_8723a.o

  CC [M]  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl8xxxu/rtl8xxxu_8192c.o

  LD [M]  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl8xxxu/rtl8xxxu.o

  CC      drivers/net/usb/rtl8150.mod.o

  CC      drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/rtl8180/rtl818x_pci.mod.o

  CC      drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/rtl8187/rtl8187.mod.o

  CC      drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl8xxxu/rtl8xxxu.mod.o

  LD [M]  drivers/net/usb/rtl8150.ko

  LD [M]  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/rtl8180/rtl818x_pci.ko

  LD [M]  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/rtl8187/rtl8187.ko

  LD [M]  drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl8xxxu/rtl8xxxu.ko

  INSTALL drivers/net/usb/rtl8150.ko

  INSTALL drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/rtl8180/rtl818x_pci.ko

  INSTALL drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl818x/rtl8187/rtl8187.ko

  INSTALL drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl8xxxu/rtl8xxxu.ko
```

Looks like rtl8192ce isnt being installed. I dont understand.

```
cat /usr/src/linux/.config | grep -i rtl

CONFIG_USB_RTL8150=m

CONFIG_USB_RTL8152=m

CONFIG_RTL8180=m

CONFIG_RTL8187=m

CONFIG_RTL8187_LEDS=y

CONFIG_RTL_CARDS=m

CONFIG_RTL8192CE=m

# CONFIG_RTL8192SE is not set

# CONFIG_RTL8192DE is not set

# CONFIG_RTL8723AE is not set

# CONFIG_RTL8723BE is not set

# CONFIG_RTL8188EE is not set

# CONFIG_RTL8192EE is not set

# CONFIG_RTL8821AE is not set

# CONFIG_RTL8192CU is not set

CONFIG_RTLWIFI=m

CONFIG_RTLWIFI_PCI=m

CONFIG_RTLWIFI_DEBUG=y

CONFIG_RTL8192C_COMMON=m

CONFIG_RTL8XXXU=m

# CONFIG_RTL8XXXU_UNTESTED is not set

# CONFIG_SERIAL_UARTLITE is not set

# CONFIG_RTL8192U is not set

CONFIG_RTLLIB=m

CONFIG_RTLLIB_CRYPTO_CCMP=m

CONFIG_RTLLIB_CRYPTO_TKIP=m

CONFIG_RTLLIB_CRYPTO_WEP=m

# CONFIG_RTL8192E is not set

# CONFIG_IBM_RTL is not set
```

----------

## NeddySeagoon

genstoopid,

What does

```
zgrep RTL8192CE /proc/config.gz
```

return?

Does /proc/config.gz exist ?

----------

## genstoopid

```
$ zgrep RTL8192CE /proc/config.gz

# CONFIG_RTL8192CE is not set
```

Y tho?

Edit: Im manually building the kernel now with make (hope Im able to boot into my LUKS rootfs) , we'll see if that helps tomorrow. A friendly desktop's distcc is chugging away at it, but it's still going to be 2 hours from now.

----------

## NeddySeagoon

genstoopid,

That's from your running kernel, which may not be the kernel you just built.

----------

## genstoopid

Yeah, I'm at a loss. I just ran genkernel again with --no-oldconfig (even though OLDCONFIG="no" in genkernel.conf) and verbose=2 and it seems to still be pulling silentoldconfig. Could that be the issue?

----------

## NeddySeagoon

genstoopid,

I've never used genkernel.  Run it with the --menuconfig option and check the settning before you let it build.

You can change the settings there too.

----------

## xaviermiller

Hi!

Once you will have done with kernel configuration, if wpa_supplicant still cannot be started, try to change the default driver (wext) to (nl80811), in /etc/conf.d/wpa_supplicant

```
# conf.d file for wpa_supplicant

#

# Please check man 8 wpa_supplicant for more information about the options

# wpa_supplicant accepts.

#

wpa_supplicant_args="-Dnl80811"
```

But do that only if the error message is that you cannot associate, and that the module is well loaded, with the firmware.

----------

## genstoopid

I'm an idiot. I had to be a special snowflake and rename my .config something else, and of course I didnt set --config when calling genkernel. I hate myself for wasting everybodys time. 

If anybody finds their way to this thread googling their problem: save your config as .config

Will donate 5 clams to gentoo.   :Embarassed: 

Edit: xaviermiller thanks for the tip! Im sure that'll be my next problem =p Right now Im trying to wrangle booting into LUKS. Seems like Im missing something (always).

----------

## NeddySeagoon

genstoopid,

Don't be too hard on yourself. Unless you repeat the mistake :)

----------

