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Thread: Realtek Wireless PCIe - Not working / Constant disconnects

  1. #1
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    Realtek Wireless PCIe - Not working / Constant disconnects

    Hi Everyone,

    I am trying to get my Realtek wireless card up and running but I am having some issues. I have done quite a bit of research via the internet and in Ubuntu and other forums and keep coming up short on getting my card to work (as it would in Windows, without any problems). So I am seeking your expertise!

    The problem: With a clean install of the Linux OS, the wireless works well for about 10 minutes. After that, it disconnects frequently or cannot connect at all. A lot of times when it is connected, I cannot load a webpage.

    Here is the output from some commands I have run for you:

    Code:
    * I. scanning WIFI PCI devices...
      -- Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter (rev 01)
          ==> PCI ID = 10ec:8178 (rev 01)
    -------------------------
    * II. querying ndiswrapper...
    -------------------------
    * III. querying iwconfig...
    eth0      no wireless extensions.
    
    lo        no wireless extensions.
    
    wlan0     IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:"Friedman"  
              Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated   
              Tx-Power=20 dBm   
              Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr=2347 B   Fragment thr:off
              Encryption key:off
              Power Management:off
              
    -------------------------
    * IV. querying ifconfig...
    eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 80:ee:73:53:f8:eb  
              UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
              RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
              RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
    
    lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
              inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
              inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
              UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
              RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
              RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
    
    wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 68:1c:a2:16:14:25  
              UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
              RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
              RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
    
     *-network
           description: Wireless interface
           product: RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter
           vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
           physical id: 0
           bus info: pci@0000:06:00.0
           logical name: wlan0
           version: 01
           serial: 68:1c:a2:16:14:25
           width: 64 bits
           clock: 33MHz
           capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
           configuration: broadcast=yes driver=rtl8192ce driverversion=3.5.0-17-generic firmware=N/A latency=0 link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bgn
           resources: irq:16 ioport:d000(size=256) memory:f7c00000-f7c03fff
    One strange thing I noticed is that it says this is a Realtek RTL8188CE that is installed, but the driver is RTL8192CE?

    As I have mentioned, I have tried a bunch of things, but I am very eager to hear what you all have to suggest. I am excited to get started with Linux and this is holding me back quite a bit! Please let me know if you need anymore information.

    Thank you!
    Last edited by meebix; May 15th, 2013 at 04:11 AM.

  2. #2
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    Re: Realtek Wireless PCIe - Not working / Constant disconnects

    Just check to make sure the firmware is installed, run

    Code:
    sudo apt-get install firmware-realtek

  3. #3
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    Re: Realtek Wireless PCIe - Not working / Constant disconnects

    Thanks cortman - something I have not tried, but probably should have.

    When I run the code, I get "Unable to located package firmware-realtek"

    I am assuming this is bad, or maybe I just need to grab the .bz2 firmware package online and try the code again?

  4. #4
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    Re: Realtek Wireless PCIe - Not working / Constant disconnects

    My mistake- I forgot that I was writing/testing that on my Crunchbang (Debian) machine last night.
    For Ubuntu there indeed is not any such package as firmware-realtek.
    You may need to install a different driver- see here and here for info on that- the first link includes a link to the driver download.

  5. #5
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    Re: Realtek Wireless PCIe - Not working / Constant disconnects

    Quote Originally Posted by meebix View Post
    Code:
    * I. scanning WIFI PCI devices...
      -- Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter (rev 01)
          ==> PCI ID = 10ec:8178 (rev 01)
    One strange thing I noticed is that it says this is a Realtek RTL8188CE that is installed, but the driver is RTL8192CE?
    First of all, welcome to the forums meebix !

    The driver is correct for your card. The proper way to find that out is to make sure the VID (Vendor ID, highlighted in Blue above) and PID (Product ID, highlighted in brown) combination is supported by it.

    This information (+ a lot more) about a driver can be extracted with modinfo command. For example, modinfo rtl8192ce yields following -
    Code:
    ~$ modinfo rtl8192ce
    filename:       /lib/modules/3.2.0-36-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rtlwifi/rtl8192ce/rtl8192ce.ko
    firmware:       rtlwifi/rtl8192cfwU_B.bin
    firmware:       rtlwifi/rtl8192cfwU.bin
    firmware:       rtlwifi/rtl8192cfw.bin
    description:    Realtek 8192C/8188C 802.11n PCI wireless
    license:        GPL
    author:         Larry Finger	<Larry.Finger@lwfinger.net>
    author:         Realtek WlanFAE	<wlanfae@realtek.com>
    author:         lizhaoming	<chaoming_li@realsil.com.cn>
    srcversion:     DA52BF758B7683607AFCB85
    alias:          pci:v000010ECd00008176sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
    alias:          pci:v000010ECd00008177sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
    alias:          pci:v000010ECd00008178sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
    alias:          pci:v000010ECd00008191sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
    depends:        rtlwifi,rtl8192c-common,mac80211
    intree:         Y
    vermagic:       3.2.0-36-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 
    parm:           swenc:Set to 1 for software crypto (default 0)
     (bool)
    parm:           ips:Set to 0 to not use link power save (default 1)
     (bool)
    parm:           swlps:Set to 1 to use SW control power save (default 0)
     (bool)
    parm:           fwlps:Set to 1 to use FW control power save (default 1)
     (bool)
    parm:           debug:Set debug level (0-5) (default 0) (int)
    Note that the VID and PID are included in its 'alias' list, meaning it is meant to support that device, besides three others that are listed.

    At the bottom of the output are some parameters (parm) that can be used withe this driver. Let's try one of these to stabilize your connection.
    In a terminal, do -
    Code:
    sudo modprobe -rfv rtl8192ce
    sudo modprobe -v rtl8192ce swenc=Y
    .. then retry connecting and see if it helps.
    The above parameter is temporary and will be reset to default on restart, so don't restart after the above two commands. If it helps, we can make it permanent.
    Varun
    Help others by marking threads as [SOLVED], if they are. (See how)
    Wireless Script | Use Code Tags

  6. #6
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    Re: Realtek Wireless PCIe - Not working / Constant disconnects

    Varun,

    Thanks for the welcome! I ran both of the codes you suggested and then opened up my browser. It was running quicker than ever. I was watching youtube and surfing. I started to try and break it, and unfortunately I did :/

    (I am using WICD by the way).

    Same story, worked really well for about 8 minutes, and then stopped connecting altogether. It did not "disconnect" though. Just stopped working. Wouldn't connect to webpages anymore. When I went into WICD, it wouldn't even find any networks.


    What should we do now?
    Last edited by meebix; March 13th, 2013 at 01:40 AM.

  7. #7
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    Re: Realtek Wireless PCIe - Not working / Constant disconnects

    Quote Originally Posted by meebix View Post
    What should we do now?
    Let's try another available parameter now -
    Code:
    sudo modprobe -rfv rtl8192ce
    sudo modprobe -v rtl8192ce swenc=Y fwlps=N
    Even if that doesn't help, please follow the Wireless Script link in my signature and do what the linked post asks to do. Run the script when wireless is connected.
    Varun
    Help others by marking threads as [SOLVED], if they are. (See how)
    Wireless Script | Use Code Tags

  8. #8
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    Re: Realtek Wireless PCIe - Not working / Constant disconnects

    Varun,

    You did it! Those last two codes you posted have been working for the last 25 minutes, and trust me I am trying to break it !

    How can I make this change permanent?

    Thanks!

  9. #9
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    Re: Realtek Wireless PCIe - Not working / Constant disconnects

    Quote Originally Posted by meebix View Post
    Varun,

    You did it!

    /me wonders how to respond

    Those last two codes you posted have been working for the last 25 minutes, and trust me I am trying to break it !
    A word of wisdom - 25 minutes or even 2.5 hours are too soon to become excited. I can't explain in a few words, but I highly doubt its consistency. But if you think it even slightly improves the situation, then -
    How can I make this change permanent?
    Do the following -
    Code:
    echo "options rtl8192ce swenc=Y fwlps=N" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8192ce.conf
    It will create a file named "rtl8192ce.conf" in /etc/modprobe.d/ directory that will contain a single line - options rtl8192ce swenc=Y fwlps=N
    This file will ensure that on next reboot, the rtl8192ce driver is pre-loaded with these parameters.

    I suggest you wait for at least 2 days (with at least 2-3 hours usage cycle) to see if it remains stable. If it starts acting funny again, post back (not that I have many ideas in that case ).
    If it does remain stable, then give us your - (I wish, I hope, I pray..) Final feedback at the end of testing period !

    Thanks!
    You're welcome, but you should have reserved it until your final feedback

    Feel free to break my heart as soon as you can, I've become used to it.
    Varun
    Help others by marking threads as [SOLVED], if they are. (See how)
    Wireless Script | Use Code Tags

  10. #10
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    Re: Realtek Wireless PCIe - Not working / Constant disconnects

    All valid points! This better work otherwise this is me --->

    I will test for the next couple days, and post some final thoughts.

    Much appreciate the help thus far!
    -Meebix

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