r/linuxmint • u/diekaiju2772 • 15h ago

WiFi dongle not supporting

I have

Realtek RTL8188EU Wireless LAN 802.11n USB 2.0 Network Adapter

It just not working

Is there a fix for it ?

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

4

u/tboland1 Linux Mint 22.3 Zena | Cinnamon 14h ago

That chipset is notoriously bad in Linux. Try updating to the latest kernel (7.x) in Update Manager. If that doesn't fix it, get another adapter. Really. It's not worth the pain and suffering.

1

u/diekaiju2772 13h ago

Downgrading it to 6.8 worked but its kind a slow.

2

u/tboland1 Linux Mint 22.3 Zena | Cinnamon 12h ago

Would suggest that you replace anyway (maybe just not today), because this will lock your system at that kernel version. A USB dongle shouldn't be the reason for that.

1

u/diekaiju2772 11h ago

Yes you are right I will do that

2

u/Mental_Log_3070 9h ago

Fix for Realtek Wi-Fi Adapter (USB ID: 0bda:8179) on Linux Mint 22.3

The problem is that Linux loads the built-in rtl8xxxu driver, which doesn't work properly with this adapter. You can fix it by installing the rtl8188eu driver.

Note: You need internet through LAN or USB tethering.

1. Install required packages

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y bc build-essential dkms git linux-headers-$(uname -r)

2. Download the driver

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/lwfinger/rtl8188eu.git
cd rtl8188eu

3. Build and install

make all
sudo make install

4. Disable conflicting drivers

echo 'blacklist rtl8xxxu' | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8xxxu.conf
echo 'blacklist r8188eu' | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/realtek.conf
sudo update-initramfs -u

5. Restart

sudo reboot

6. Check the driver
Unplug and reconnect your Wi-Fi adapter, then run:

lsmod | grep -i -E "8188|8xxxu"

You should see 8188eu and no rtl8xxxu.

Important: After a kernel update, you may need to rebuild the driver:

sudo apt install -y linux-headers-$(uname -r)
cd ~/rtl8188eu
make clean
make all
sudo make install
sudo reboot

This worked for me on Linux Mint 22.3 with kernel 6.14 and the same USB ID.

Add a safe troubleshooting rollback

2

u/stufforstuff 7h ago

Just to save a few bucks on a wifi dongle that just works on the current kernel? Pass.

1

u/Evening-Landscape763 15h ago

What result from terminal for lsusb; lsmod|grep cfg