Arch Linux User Repository

To all having an issue with this driver: please try https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/rtl88xxau-aircrack-dkms-git alternatively.

With the old driver I also had the same txpower (12 dbm).

@Svenstaro: I have copied my analysis on the wireless Talk page: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Talk:Wireless_network_configuration#rtl8812au.2F8814au.2F8821au That should facilitate debating about this.

@Svenstaro: regarding the tx power issue, it looks it is a new problem. With 5.1.5 we had a config option to set tx power to the max, but it has changed in 5.2.9. We need to look further at the code to see where the problem is. Can you please try rtl8821au-v5-dkms-git 5.1.5-1 (it works for both 8821 AND 8812), as it provides the older firmware with the TX_POWR_TO_MAX enabled and let me know what output you get?

@Svenstaro: I agree, we need to clean up the situation. I already updated the Wiki with a table showing the currently working drivers: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wireless_network_configuration#rtl8812au.2Frtl8814au.2Frtl8821au Realtek drivers are a mess. Three things to consider: 1) the driver version (4, 5.1.5, 5.2.9). It is a fair bet that the higher the better, considering the feedbacks we see on github. However, not all chipsets are at the same level due to hal code missing (see point 3). 2) the kernel patching level. A lot of these drivers do not work anymore because the upstream maintainer (on Github mostly) do not patch their code for the latest kernels. Thankfully the solutions are available, and it is easy to patch, but we probably need to nuke all those outdated Github repositories. 3) the hal code. Realtek do not provide unified drivers. Hence the chipsets not having the same capabilities. So 8812, 8821 and 8814 have not been dispatched with the whole hal code for every chipset and versions are not in sync. Some people on github have done some work to add the various hal branches, but there is no one-for-all solution since it is not guaranteed that they all work with the same driver revision. Adding to that, I only have a 8812 dongle, so am unable to test for other chipsets before patching. As of today, and to the best of my knowledge, there are a few Github repos that have the latest possible driver AND the latest kernel patches (hence do work with a rolling release distro like ArchLinux): - 8812au: my repo (zebulon2), forked from gordboy's repo. Firmware 5.2.9, hal code for 8812 only. I just tried to change txpower but realtek have modified the config options, so there is a bit of a power issue there. Otherwise it works fine. - 8821au: my repo, forked from paspro's repo. Firmware 5.1.5, hal code for both 8821 and 8812. We are stuck at 5.1.5 because of the lack of hal code for 8821 and 5.2.9. Note this also works for 8812au and we may be able to correctly maximise power of these dongles. - 8814au: this is where it is more difficult. bsdfirst repo has firmware 4.3.21 and this is working for kernels 4.12/4.11 (AUR https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/edimax_ac1750_8814au-dkms/). There is however a 5.1.5 repo tree from astsam. It seems he has been abale to merge the 5.1.5 and hal code for 8814 from previous series. I have suggested to the maintainer he tries this. However, he would need to add the kernel patches 4.11/4.12 because astsam has not done this yet. But if it were working 8814 users would have the driver 5 series too (which is much better). I would be happy to open a repo on Github and do this. However I have no 8814 device for testing myself, so we would have to release and ask people to give feedback. Sorry for being very complicated, but it is indeed complicated. Maybe I should create a user page on the wiki to discuss this issue? or on the talk page of wireless network? Finally I'll need some guidance on how to handle the renaming scheme (I suppose we need to use 'replace' in the PKGBUILD)? Is there a guidance for naming kernel drivers?

Furthermore I only seem to be able to get 12 dbm out of my Archer T4UH. Setting txpower using iwconfig and iw doesn't seem to change anything. I verified the txpower using iw <iface> get. What's wrong here?

Ok guys to be honest the 8812/8821 situation is super confusing and I want to start nuking packages here in AUR. There are lots of unmaintained packages and I would like to start merging stuff. @zebulon you've got a lot of insight into this. What do you think should be merged into what? I think this package probably is the best but the name is weird (-v5-?).

@morosa and all 8821au owners: I think it would be unfair to the rtl8821au owners not to have their latest driver version (5.1.5). Unfortunately, the new 5.2.9 driver misses the HAL code for 8821au. Therefore I have created a new AUR package: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/rtl8821au-v5-dkms-git/ which provides the 5.1.5 driver. Note that this driver also works for 8812au users, but it is advised to use the 5.2.9 available here. Note also that although I can test compilation, I cannot guarantee it will always work and be properly updated due to the fact I do not own a 8821au chipset-based adapter.

@morosa: I think the 5.2.9 only works for 8812, not 8821 EDIT: https://github.com/gordboy/rtl8812au/issues/3#issuecomment-315737796. Do you require 8821 support? If yes, then we may need another package with the older PKGBUILD and 5.1.5 to accomodate these device owners.

I don't know why it doeen't work now (checked on linux 4.12 and 4.13) even if you patched it for thoes wifis: diff --git a/os_dep/linux/usb_intf.c b/os_dep/linux/usb_intf.c --- a/os_dep/linux/usb_intf.c +++ b/os_dep/linux/usb_intf.c @@ -198,6 +198,8 @@ {USB_DEVICE_AND_INTERFACE_INFO(USB_VENDER_ID_REALTEK, 0x0823, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff), .driver_info = RTL8821}, /* 8821AU */ /*=== Customer ID ===*/ {USB_DEVICE(0x7392, 0xA811), .driver_info = RTL8821}, /* Edimax - Edimax */ + {USB_DEVICE(0x7392, 0xA812),.driver_info = RTL8821}, /* Edimax - EW-7811UTC */ + {USB_DEVICE(0x7392, 0xA813),.driver_info = RTL8821}, /* Edimax - EW-7811UAC */ {USB_DEVICE(0x04BB, 0x0953), .driver_info = RTL8821}, /* I-O DATA - Edimax */ {USB_DEVICE(0x2001, 0x3314), .driver_info = RTL8821}, /* D-Link - Cameo */ {USB_DEVICE(0x2001, 0x3318), .driver_info = RTL8821}, /* D-Link - Cameo */