# [SOLVED] problems with rtl8818ce

## SleepinCell

After upgrading from hdd to ssd, i decided to install gentoo instead of debian(like before).

I own a Lenovo Thinkpad x220 with a Realtec RTL8818CE wireless network card.

The problem is that ifconfig recognices my wireless card but iwconfig says "no wireless extension".

I have been searching for people with the same issue but they were already able to connect to a network - i'm not.

output of lspci:

```
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller (rev 09)

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09)

00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)

00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection (rev 04)

00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 04)

00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)

00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev b4)

00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev b4)

00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev b4)

00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 5 (rev b4)

00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 04)

00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation QM67 Express Chipset Family LPC Controller (rev 04)

00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 04)

00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 04)

03:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter (rev 01)

0d:00.0 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd PCIe SDXC/MMC Host Controller (rev 04)
```

relevant output of ifconfig:

```

....

sit0: flags=193<UP,RUNNING,NOARP>  mtu 1480

        inet6 ::127.0.0.1  prefixlen 96  scopeid 0x90<compat,host>

        sit  txqueuelen 0  (IPv6-nach-IPv4)

        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

wlp3s0: flags=4099<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500

        ether 74:de:2b:0d:f0:bd  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)

        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

```

output of iwconfig>

```
enp0s25   no wireless extensions.

wlp3s0    no wireless extensions.

lo        no wireless extensions.

sit0      no wireless extensions.

```

"linux-firmware" is installed (20130728). kernel version: 3.11.7-hardened-r1

the wireless just worked fine with debian - i dont want to "downgrade"   :Sad: Last edited by SleepinCell on Fri Mar 07, 2014 1:49 pm; edited 1 time in total

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## bbgermany

Hi,

did you compile you kernel with "genkernel"? As I compiled it with genkernel the first time, there were several options for wireless missing by default. You should check your kernelconfig for missing CONFIG_CFG80211 and CONFIG_MAC80211 options, as these are needed for working wireless extentions.

bb

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## SleepinCell

no, i didn't. i took the normal hardened kernel from portage.

```
 cat .config | grep "CONFIG_CFG80211"

CONFIG_CFG80211=y

 cat .config | grep "CONFIG_MAC80211"

CONFIG_MAC80211=y
```

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## SirRobin2318

You'll also need: CFG80211_WEXT. 

This is an old interface, iw should be able to configure your wifi card with your current config.

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## SleepinCell

CONFIG_CFG80211_WEXT is not set

i'll recompile my kernel with the option. thanks for the advice.

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## SleepinCell

THANKS   :Very Happy: 

wireless is working now  - i'm writing this post using my wireless interface.

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## Gusar

Just a FYI - wireless was already working before!

As SirRobin2318 said, wext is an old interface. No modern driver actually uses it. By using iw instead of wireless_tools (iwconfig, iwlist and company), you can do everything even without CFG80211_WEXT in the kernel - iw does everything wireless_tools does and more. wpa_supplicant supports both the old (wext) and the new (nl80211) interface.

The above is why CFG80211_WEXT is not activated by default - because it's completely unnecessary. "no wireless extensions" doesn't mean "no wireless", it just means an old interface that's not actually used by your driver isn't there. The problem is, iwconfig is so entrenched in people's brains as "the one true way" to see if wireless is working that they think there's a problem if iwconfig doesn't work.

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## SirRobin2318

Yeah you only need it if you want to be compatible with the old interface. The only thing on my system that uses it is conky.

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