How to install RTL8187 driver to Ubuntu 13.04?

[tom14]

Hello,I'm a new Ubuntu user and don't know how to install RTL8187 wireless driver which I've downloaded as a tar.gz file.I have no idea what to do with it,which place to unpack it?Commands for terminal?Any help would be greatly appreciated...

[chili555]

It's present by default in 13.04:

$ modinfo rtl8187
filename:       /lib/modules/3.8.0-27-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rtl818x/rtl8187/rtl8187.ko
license:        GPL
description:    RTL8187/RTL8187B USB wireless driver
author:         Larry Finger <Larry.Finger@lwfinger.net>
author:         Hin-Tak Leung <htl10@users.sourceforge.net>
author:         Herton Ronaldo Krzesinski <herton@mandriva.com.br>
author:         Andrea Merello <andreamrl@tiscali.it>
author:         Michael Wu <flamingice@sourmilk.net>
srcversion:     4EC70451284400E93948C00

Is it not working for you? What are your symptoms? Tell the doctor where it hurts.

[kurt18947]

I have an 'old warhorse' adapter (TrendNet TEW424UB V3.0R) based on RealTek's 8187B chipset. It's been plug 'n' play since Ubuntu 9.xx. I just plugged it into 13.10. The LED immediately started flashing and looking for wifi networks. I think there are other 8187x variants out there that may be problematic but my 8187B has been as close to bulletproof as I can imagine. What happens if you just plug it in? This is one of the things different about linux. With Windows you frequently have to install drivers before plugging in hardware. Oftentimes with linux I just unwrap, plug in and be happy. Of course some hardware devices challenge even Chili555's considerable skills. I try to find out what those are and leave them on the store shelf.

[chili555]

Of course some hardware devices challenge even Chili555's considerable skills. I try to find out what those are and leave them on the store shelf.

LOL!

There is rtl8187 and also its cousin r8187se. Which do you need, tom14?

[tom14]

Thank you so much doc ,here are my symptoms:machine that I use with Ubuntu 13.04 is HP Compaq nc8000,and it has it's own wifi adapter.But in my case,it's internal antenna is not sufficient to catch my neighbor's signal with whom I share internet costs,and he's place is 200 yards or so away from mine.So I need to use external antenna/adapter which happens to be RTL8187.And it works very well with my other pc which has windows xp on it,it also worked good with this HP for a while I had windows on it too.What I've noticed,led diode on wifi antenna goes on and off nice and smoothly only with windows,but with Ubuntu it blinks very fast all the time,and connection is very bad,breaks too very often.And also,I have no control anymore over wifi/bluetooth switch on my HP (there's a button for that purpose only).Blue light comes and goes all the time regardless external antenna connected or not,messages "wifi connected" or "wifi disconnected" come and go all the time regardless I want wifi on or not.Something in conflict?Now I don't have to worry about how to install driver,I checked also and it's already in.Thanks a lot for your help....

[tom14]

Rtl8187

[tom14]

Thanks a lot Kurt18947,yes,I've just checked the chip,it's RTL8187L,could that make a difference?Probably yes....

[tom14]

I've just checked the chip,it's RTL8187L,I didn't have a chance yet to check if there's a driver for that in Ubuntu,but I will now...

LOL!

There is rtl8187 and also its cousin r8187se. Which do you need, tom14?

[kurt18947]

Thanks a lot Kurt18947,yes,I've just checked the chip,it's RTL8187L,could that make a difference?Probably yes....

Yes, that could make a difference and I'm of no help. Doctor Chili will be along shortly. This sort of thing happens frequently with linux. As an example, D-Link has a WiFi adapter, DWA-131. The original model worked perfectly with linux, used an RTL-8192SU chip and was plug & play, very good speed and range. There appeared a DWA-131 ver. B which was entirely different and difficult if not impossible to get working on linux when it first appeared. There was no way to tell which was which without taking the device out of the packaging and reading the label. Linux support usually appears but it may take a few weeks or months. Some chipset manufacturers are better than others about cooperating with linux users.

[chili555]

Thank you so much doc ,here are my symptoms:machine that I use with Ubuntu 13.04 is HP Compaq nc8000,and it has it's own wifi adapter.But in my case,it's internal antenna is not sufficient to catch my neighbor's signal with whom I share internet costs,and he's place is 200 yards or so away from mine.So I need to use external antenna/adapter which happens to be RTL8187.And it works very well with my other pc which has windows xp on it,it also worked good with this HP for a while I had windows on it too.What I've noticed,led diode on wifi antenna goes on and off nice and smoothly only with windows,but with Ubuntu it blinks very fast all the time,and connection is very bad,breaks too very often.And also,I have no control anymore over wifi/bluetooth switch on my HP (there's a button for that purpose only).Blue light comes and goes all the time regardless external antenna connected or not,messages "wifi connected" or "wifi disconnected" come and go all the time regardless I want wifi on or not.Something in conflict?Now I don't have to worry about how to install driver,I checked also and it's already in.Thanks a lot for your help....

First, let's verify which of the 8187 cousins you have and also, let's find and blacklist the internal device so it doesn't conflict by fighting for domination. Please post:

lsusb
lsmod

After that, we'll see if there is any improvement and see what next steps we may need to undertake.