Arch Linux User Repository

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

a patch to make it work for rpi and may be other ARM device:

--- PKGBUILD.old    2019-03-15 20:08:05.345042676 +0100
+++ PKGBUILD    2019-03-15 20:04:24.390294977 +0100
@@ -32,4 +32,10 @@
         sed -e "s/@_PKGBASE@/${_pkgbase}-dkms/" \
                         -e "s/@PKGVER@/${pkgver}/" \
                         -i "${pkgdir}"/usr/src/${_pkgbase}-${pkgver}/dkms.conf
+
+   # patch Makefile for RPI
+   sed -i '/^CONFIG_PLATFORM_I386_PC/s/y/n/' ${pkgdir}/usr/src/${_pkgbase}-${pkgver}/Makefile
+   sed -i '/^CONFIG_PLATFORM_ARM_RPI/s/n/y/' ${pkgdir}/usr/src/${_pkgbase}-${pkgver}/Makefile
+   # disable debug code with __DATE__ macro (TODO: proper fix ?)
+   sed -i '/__DATE__/s/^/\/\//' ${pkgdir}/usr/src/${_pkgbase}-${pkgver}/core/rtw_debug.c
 }

Note: I am seeing the interface of the usb wifi key marketed as DEEPOW dongle (from amazon) changing MAC address at every boot even though I have not set up anything like that in netctl, here.

I don't know if it's a hardware problem or driver problem. However, it's the same with rtl88xxau-aircrack-dkms-git driver

I have tested it, so far it works very well. Performance is much better on my setup. After prolonged usage the LED light may stop (or after recovering from sleep, sometimes) but this does not affect its usage.

Isn't that the case for a manual building of the package with makepkg -i? pacman would not update either. One way is to uninstall the old one, and reinstall the new.

I've added 4.3.20 to my github repo but yaourt or aura won't update it automatically if you have 4.3.22_beta installed. I guess this is an use-case for the "epoch" variable?

@Grawp: I had a look at both archives 4.3.20 and 4.3.21. I am not certain you can use 4.3.21 for the rtl8812A support. Firstly, please note the big size difference. This is because the 4.3.20 archive is much more complete, with Linux and Android drivers. The 4.3.21 archive has only Linux driver, and the folder has to be compared with a tar which is in driver directory in 4.3.20. Also, 4.3.20 has a PDF with a Changelog (ReleaseNotes.pdf). It confirms that they fixed some kernel panic in 4.3.20 (dated 31st Dec 2015), possibly the issue we have with the beta driver (dated September 2015). Finally, I compared both Makefiles in 4.3.20 and 4.3.21. Be aware that 4.3.20 activates CONFIG_RTL8812A, but not CONFIG_RTL8814A, whereas it is the contrary in the 4.3.21 archive. RTL8814A is indeed the chipset for Edimax AC1750, whereas RTL8812A is for the AC1200 device. I initially thought that maybe the difference was only in the CONFIG switches. However 4.3.20 has a sub-directory named hal/rtl8812a with files, but an empty hal/rtl8814a. Whereas in 4.3.21 it is the contrary: hal/8812a is empty, whereas hal/rtl8814a contains files. Hence, I am not sure you can use 4.3.21 archive for rtl8812A after all. It looks they have tailored both versions .20 and .21 for these specific devices, strangely. It would be better if they had a universal driver archive.

@Grawp: sounds great. Indeed, I suspect 4.3.21 being compatible with 4.3.20 (Edit: not anymore, see my post above), possibly adding the AC1750 ID. I'll look at a diff between those two. Now, 4.3.22_beta looks dated from end of 2015 and may be a development branch they never released. Looks like Edimax have improved their website, but a changelog would be great.

@zebulon I'm going to add 4.3.21 and 4.3.20 to my github repo, create the patches from scratch (and then compare them to yorkedork's) and then I'll make 4.3.21 default in the PKGBUILD if it is working with rtl8812 and rtl8821, otherwise I'll use 4.3.20 Btw. Both .20 and .21 seem to have newer date in rtw_version.h than the .22_beta

Yes, 4.3.21 is listed on the page for adapter EW-7833UAC (AC1750). The EW-7822UAC (AC1200) still has 4.3.20 listed, maybe there is a reason for this? I just tried your PKGBUILD but sourcing https://github.com/yorkedork/rtl8812au_rtl8821au.git#branch=4.3.20. It is a fork of your repository, but updated with driver 4.3.20 and only patched for compiling with kernel version 4.6 and 4.7. Close to vanilla, it is quite behind compared to your master in term of patch numbers. It works perfectly, much better than the old 4.2.2 driver, which had a lot of packet loss for me (using EW-7822UAC). Maybe this driver is much more stable than 4.3.22, which freezes for some (including me). After all it is not tagged beta for nothing!

.....and now I've even found 4.3.21 driver on the Edimax webpage. Funny.

@zebulon The description is incorrect. I'll have to make some time to do a complete overhaul of the package & test it. Btw. regarding the source of the driver... it's a never-ending story. I don't understand why Realtek can't provide the driver directly (and not via vendors who randomly update it). https://github.com/Grawp/rtl8812au_rtl8821au/issues/3

Description says it is based on v4.3.14 driver, but actually it clones the 4.3.22_beta branch of the repository. Has anyone with difficulties tried to source the 4.3.14 (master) branch? I suppose by editing on lines 5 and 6: _pkgver=master pkgver=4.3.14 Also, on Edimax website: http://www.edimax.com/edimax/download/download/data/edimax/global/download/for_home/wireless_adapters/wireless_adapters_ac1200_dual-band/ew-7822uac the latest stable driver version seems to be 4.3.20. It could be worth integrating this one, but I am unsure it does compile with linux kernel 4.7 out of the box.