Arch Linux User Repository

With the in-kernel rtw88 drivers being more stable as of the latest kernel version (6.16), I'd recommend to use them over these external drivers. For me, the new drivers worked well and I no longer use this package personally. See Issue #175 in regards to the kernel driver developer's comments on updating this driver.

To use the new in-kernel drivers. load the module rtw_8821cu by placing it on /etc/modules-load.d and reboot to replace it with the new drivers. Don't forget to uninstall this package and the config /etc/modprobe.d/8821cu.conf to prevent future conflicts.

example command to load the in-kernel drivers: echo "rtw_8821cu" | sudo tee /etc/modules-load.d/rtw_8821cu.conf

With the in-kernel rtw88 drivers being more stable as of the latest kernel version (6.16), I'd recommend to use them over these external drivers. For me, the new drivers worked well and I no longer use this package personally. See Issue #175 in regards to the kernel driver developer's comments on updating this driver.

To use the new in-kernel drivers. load the module rtw_8821cu by placing it on /etc/modules-load.d and reboot to replace it with the new drivers. Don't forget to uninstall this package and the config /etc/modprobe.d/8821cu.conf to prevent future conflicts.

example command to load the in-kernel drivers: echo "rtw_8821cu" | sudo tee /etc/modules-load.d/rtw_8821cu.conf

OK I went with "rtw88-dkms-git", installed and added to the kernels without a hitch. I'll remove this one.

Edit: in discussions upstream it is suggested to move to either in-kernel drivers or rtw88. I tried rtw88-dkms-git and it seems to work fine in station and AP at 2.4GHz.

this worked for me as an ugly fix until upstream updates the code.

diff --git a/PKGBUILD b/PKGBUILD
index 1f52050..6325976 100755
--- a/PKGBUILD
+++ b/PKGBUILD
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ package() {
         cp -pr * ${pkgdir}/usr/src/${_pkgbase}-${pkgver}
    cp ${srcdir}/8821cu-${repoversion}/8821cu.conf ${pkgdir}/etc/modprobe.d/8821cu.conf 
         cp ${srcdir}/dkms.conf ${pkgdir}/usr/src/${_pkgbase}-${pkgver}
+        sed -i "58 i #define from_timer(var, callback_timer, timer_fieldname) container_of(callback_timer, typeof(*var), timer_fieldname)" ${pkgdir}/usr/src/${_pkgbase}-${pkgver}/include/osdep_service_linux.h
         # Set name and version
         sed -e "s/@PKGBASE@/${_pkgbase}-dkms/" \
                         -e "s/@PKGVER@/${pkgver}/" \

I see that the last time the maintainer mikl-ls last logged in was: 2024-09-21 (UTC) that's almost a year ago. Is this package out-of-date?

As per my post below with the current (6.16) linux-zen kernel and current linux-zen-headers I get this

==> WARNING: `dkms install --no-depmod rtl8821cu/5.12.0.4.203.945c687 -k 6.16.0-zen2-1-zen' exited 10

If anyone can advise that'll be great. Thanks.

I get this error when upgrading to the newest Linux Kernel 6.16 both 'linux' and 'linux-zen'.

==> dkms install --no-depmod rtl8821cu/5.12.0.4.203.945c687 -k 6.16.0-zen2-1-zen Deprecated feature: CLEAN (/usr/src/rtl8821cu-5.12.0.4.203.945c687/dkms.conf) Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 6.16.0-zen2-1-zen (x86_64) Consult /var/lib/dkms/rtl8821cu/5.12.0.4.203.945c687/build/make.log for more information. ==> WARNING: `dkms install --no-depmod rtl8821cu/5.12.0.4.203.945c687 -k 6.16.0-zen2-1-zen' exited 10 (The installed dkms module is: rtl8821cu-morrownr-dkms-git 5.12.0.4.203.945c687-1)

I've rolled the kernel (zen) and kernel (zen) headers back to 6.15

with the current linux kernel and current linux-headers the dkms module will not build successfully. instead of building dkms module rtl8821cu-morrownr-dkms-git (which won't build), I had to resort to removing rtl8821cu-morrownr-dkms-git and then installing rtl8821cu-dkms-git which does build correctly

This is the only driver witch works with my USB WiFi stick and after the updrage to the 6.5.2 kernel & header dont compile anymore.

Here you can find the DKMS make.log: https://pastebin.com/FERgHXxu

Later edit: reinstalled the kernel and headers, now I could compile for the 6.5.2-arch1-1 kernel. God knows what was wrong at the first time.

@mozlima Repo has been updated. Thanks for informing!