realtek 802.11n driver RTL8188FU

    I was using libreelec with a usb wifi dongle but it broke.

    I purchased a new one that looked the same but it does not work in libreelec

    I have tested it in Windows and also Linux mint (linux mint needed me to install a driver but worked)

    Is there a way to install this driver into libreelec?


    How to install

    sudo apt-get install build-essential git dkms linux-headers-$(uname -r)

    git clone https://github.com/kelebek333/rtl8188fu

    sudo dkms add ./rtl8188fu

    sudo dkms build rtl8188fu/1.0

    sudo dkms install rtl8188fu/1.0

    sudo cp ./rtl8188fu/firmware/rtl8188fufw.bin /lib/firmware/rtlwifi/

    Configuration

    Disable Power Management

    Run following commands for disable power management and plugging/replugging issues.

    sudo mkdir -p /etc/modprobe.d/

    sudo touch /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8188fu.conf

    echo "options rtl8188fu rtw_power_mgnt=0 rtw_enusbss=0" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8188fu.conf

    The project has a long-standing and well documented hatred of Realtek WiFi chips that require out-of-tree drivers that break (or require new patches) with every kernel bump we make (often). So we stopped adding drivers on user request several years ago; the exception being when it's a simple patch to add a device ID or such to an existing in-kernel driver which we can send upstream.

    There are two ways forwards. You can either self-compile an LE image with the driver you found included - all Realtek drivers follow the same build recipe so it's never that complicated to clone/adapt the recipe for an existing card with the required details to get something to build. Or you swap to use a different USB WiFi device which is supported in the upstream kernel and doesn't need drivers. However don't ask for a list of supported devices as there isn't one; because creating one and then maintaining it would be even more work than supporting the ever-growning list of shitty realtek drivers in the first place.

    Quote from pietnlindy

    Is there a way to install this driver into libreelec?

    You could build you own LE image and include it like https://github.com/LibreELEC/Libr…12AU/package.mk

    But to be clear we will not add this driver as long it is not at the kernel, these out of tree drivers break at every kernel bump and are a pain to deal with.

    otherwise just get a Wireless Bridge adapter, done (for example TP-Link TL-WR802N N300 and enable client mode)