[Solved] RPi2 and TP-Link dongle support

    Good day,


    I recently purchased a TP-Link wifi dongle originally for my PC, therefore I trashed the box and couldn't remember the model name anymore as it was working flawlessly. However I tried to hunt down which dongle it could be (device manager / lsusb doesn't tell the exact model name) some research on tp-link's website showed me that I should have an Archer T3U dongle: Archer T3U | AC1300 Mini Wireless MU-MIMO USB Adapter | TP-Link

    Here is a dmesg part when I attach the device:

    Code
    [  171.083027] usb 1-1.4: new high-speed USB device number 4 using dwc_otg
[  171.174857] usb 1-1.4: New USB device found, idVendor=2357, idProduct=012d, bcdDevice= 2.10
[  171.174888] usb 1-1.4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[  171.174905] usb 1-1.4: Product: 802.11ac NIC
[  171.174921] usb 1-1.4: Manufacturer: Realtek
[  171.174936] usb 1-1.4: SerialNumber: 12345

    lsusb:

    Code
    Bus 001 Device 004: ID 2357:012d TP-Link
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0424:ec00 Standard Microsystems Corp. SMSC9512/9514 Fast Ethernet Adapter
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0424:9514 Standard Microsystems Corp. SMC9514 Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

    While here is a verbose lsusb output: http://ix.io/2xsI

    What I am experiencing is that the wireless connections are not showing up in the network list like how it happens with my other dongle. The light also doesn't get green on it indicating that there would be any progress. I am still at 9.2.0 LE on the Pi, but I could update to the latest release if that would maybe solve my issue.

    Or is the module not compiled? Seemingly it would need the one called rtl88x2bu yet I couldn't find that compiled in by default. So I am asking, if it wouldn't be compiled in, what are my options? I would like to keep the OS as it is on my Pi and not to recompile the whole LE. I saw there is a way to package the module as an addon like how it was done with the dvb. That would be nice. But what happens if I upgrade LE? Do I have to recompile the module always because there is a chance that the magic header will change and the kernel won't accept the module anymore? Or do you keep the same kernel tree always?

    Thanks

    Well, I would have appreciated some confirmation that it's indeed a plan I can make something real but I assume its doable so I will try my best and come back here with the result.

    I got it compiled and it works flawlessly. If someone needs the same module as I did, I uploaded it here. Works on Pi2 with the latest 9.2.6 LE if the uname -a output is also similar to (the compile date can differ):

    Linux LibreELEC 4.19.127 #1 SMP Sun Oct 25 08:49:28 EDT 2020 armv7l GNU/Linux

    You just need to run the following commands to load it, and the compatible wifi sticks will start working:

    modprobe cfg80211

    insmod /storage/downloads/88x2bu.ko

    (Correct the path if you got it downloaded elsewhere.)

    It is also possible to load the module with every restart, just put the lines above to /storage/.config/autostart.sh.

    Cheers