Getting Wireless on Toshiba Satellite/Realtek 8179 [SOLVED]

[Christiaan]

Hi Linux Community,

I'm still a very green Mint user and installed Linux Mint 15 XFCE on my Toshiba Satellite laptop but I can't get wireless to work. After some messing around the wired connection doesn't work anymore either.

I want to reinstall Mint and my question is: should I try to get wireless to work in a Live Session first, or is that wasted effort and should I just reinstall and try to get it to work later?

I've tried to install the Windows 8 driver through ndiswrapper in a live session, below there's some output of that.
Any help is appreciated.

~Chris

Inxi information from the Linux Mint 15 XFCE installed version (without working internet connection):

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chris@chris-SATELLITE-C70D-A ~ $ inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: chris-SATELLITE-C70D-A Kernel: 3.8.0-25-generic x86_64 (64 bit, gcc: 4.7.3) 
           Desktop: Xfce 4.10.2 (Gtk 2.24.16) Distro: Linux Mint 15 Olivia
Machine:   System: TOSHIBA product: SATELLITE C70D-A version: PSCENE-00K003DU
           Mobo: AMD model: Larne Bios: Insyde version: 1.20 date: 05/31/2013
CPU:       Dual core AMD E1-2100 APU with Radeon HD Graphics (-MCP-) cache: 2048 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm) bmips: 3992.54 
           Clock Speeds: 1: 800.00 MHz 2: 800.00 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI Kabini [Radeon HD 8210] bus-ID: 00:01.0 
           X.Org: 1.13.3 drivers: ati (unloaded: fbdev,radeon) FAILED: vesa Resolution: 1600x900@0.0hz 
           GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 3.2, 128 bits) GLX Version: 2.1 Mesa 9.1.1 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH Azalia Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:14.2
           Card-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI Device 9840 driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:01.1
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.8.0-25-generic
Network:   Card-1: Realtek Device 8179 port: 2000 bus-ID: 05:00.0
           IF: N/A state: N/A speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: N/A
           Card-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR8162 Fast Ethernet driver: alx ver: 1.2.3 port: 3000 bus-ID: 01:00.0
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 500.1GB (0.7% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: TOSHIBA_MQ01ABF0 size: 500.1GB temp: 23C 
Partition: ID: / size: 40G used: 3.3G (9%) fs: ext4 ID: /home size: 368G used: 116M (1%) fs: ext4 
           ID: swap-1 size: 1.07GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap 
RAID:      No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 40.0C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A 
Info:      Processes: 148 Uptime: 3 min Memory: 269.5/3393.4MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.7.3 Client: Shell inxi: 1.8.4 

This is what I tried on the Live session:

Installing ndiswrapper-dkms, seems ok.

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mint@mint ~ $ sudo apt-get install ndiswrapper-dkms
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  ndiswrapper-dkms
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 117 not upgraded.
Need to get 178 kB of archives.
After this operation, 779 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ raring/universe ndiswrapper-dkms all 1.58-0ubuntu1 [178 kB]
Fetched 178 kB in 0s (229 kB/s)      
Selecting previously unselected package ndiswrapper-dkms.
(Reading database ... 142676 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking ndiswrapper-dkms (from .../ndiswrapper-dkms_1.58-0ubuntu1_all.deb) ...
Setting up ndiswrapper-dkms (1.58-0ubuntu1) ...
Loading new ndiswrapper-1.58 DKMS files...
First Installation: checking all kernels...
Building only for 3.8.0-25-generic
Building initial module for 3.8.0-25-generic
Done.

ndiswrapper:
Running module version sanity check.
 - Original module
   - No original module exists within this kernel
 - Installation
   - Installing to /lib/modules/3.8.0-25-generic/updates/

depmod.........

DKMS: install completed.

Installing Windows 8 64-bit driver: (seems ok, although there's not much response)

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sudo ndiswrapper -i netrtwlane.inf

installing netrtwlane ...

Modprobe: (didn't give any response)

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sudo modprobe ndiswrapper

Some output:

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mint@mint ~/Desktop $ ndiswrapper -l
netrtwlane : driver installed
	device (10EC:8179) present

mint@mint ~/Desktop $ iwconfig
eth0      no wireless extensions.

lo        no wireless extensions.

mint@mint ~/Desktop $ lsusb
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 13d3:5606 IMC Networks 
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 0781:5530 SanDisk Corp. Cruzer                   --> I booted Linux Mint from this
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub

mint@mint ~/Desktop $ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 16h Processor Root Complex
00:01.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI Kabini [Radeon HD 8210]
00:01.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI Device 9840
00:02.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 16h Processor Function 0
00:02.2 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 16h Processor Functions 5:1
00:02.3 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 16h Processor Functions 5:1
00:10.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH USB XHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:11.0 SATA controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH SATA Controller [IDE mode] (rev 40)
00:12.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH USB OHCI Controller (rev 39)
00:12.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller (rev 39)
00:13.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH USB OHCI Controller (rev 39)
00:13.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller (rev 39)
00:14.0 SMBus: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH SMBus Controller (rev 3a)
00:14.2 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH Azalia Controller (rev 02)
00:14.3 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH LPC Bridge (rev 11)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 16h Processor Function 0
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 16h Processor Function 1
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 16h Processor Function 2
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 16h Processor Function 3
00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 16h Processor Function 4
00:18.5 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 16h Processor Function 5
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR8162 Fast Ethernet (rev 10)
05:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device 8179 (rev 01)

"dmesg | grep this" gives some error messages:

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mint@mint ~/Desktop $ dmesg | grep ndis
[ 1373.330155] ndiswrapper version 1.58 loaded (smp=yes, preempt=no)
[ 1373.403672] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisRegisterDeviceEx'
[ 1373.403699] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisDeregisterDeviceEx'
[ 1373.403719] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMSetMiniportAttributes'
[ 1373.403745] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMSendNetBufferListsComplete'
[ 1373.403790] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisOpenConfigurationEx'
[ 1373.403808] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMIndicateStatusEx'
[ 1373.403826] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMOidRequestComplete'
[ 1373.403852] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisAllocateMemoryWithTagPriority'
[ 1373.403870] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisAllocateTimerObject'
[ 1373.403887] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisSetTimerObject'
[ 1373.403904] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisCancelTimerObject'
[ 1373.403922] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisFreeTimerObject'
[ 1373.403947] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisAllocateIoWorkItem'
[ 1373.403964] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisQueueIoWorkItem'
[ 1373.403981] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisFreeIoWorkItem'
[ 1373.404009] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMAllocatePort'
[ 1373.404026] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMFreePort'
[ 1373.404056] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMGetBusData'
[ 1373.404074] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMSetBusData'
[ 1373.404108] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisAllocateNetBufferListPool'
[ 1373.404125] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisFreeNetBufferListPool'
[ 1373.404142] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisFreeNetBufferList'
[ 1373.404159] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisFreeMdl'
[ 1373.404177] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMRegisterInterruptEx'
[ 1373.404195] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMDeregisterInterruptEx'
[ 1373.404212] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMSynchronizeWithInterruptEx'
[ 1373.404360] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMRegisterScatterGatherDma'
[ 1373.404379] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMDeregisterScatterGatherDma'
[ 1373.404400] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMAllocateNetBufferSGList'
[ 1373.404430] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMRegisterMiniportDriver'
[ 1373.404460] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMDeregisterMiniportDriver'
[ 1373.404488] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisAllocateNetBufferAndNetBufferList'
[ 1373.404515] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisAllocateMdl'
[ 1373.404532] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMFreeNetBufferSGList'
[ 1373.404550] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMIndicateReceiveNetBufferLists'
[ 1373.404567] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMNetPnPEvent'
[ 1373.404595] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: ntoskrnl.exe:'PoRegisterPowerSettingCallback'
[ 1373.404610] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: ntoskrnl.exe:'PoUnregisterPowerSettingCallback'
[ 1373.404626] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: ntoskrnl.exe:'RtlUnwindEx'
[ 1373.404641] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: ntoskrnl.exe:'RtlUnicodeToMultiByteN'
[ 1373.404744] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: WDFLDR.SYS:'WdfVersionBindClass'
[ 1373.404758] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: WDFLDR.SYS:'WdfVersionUnbind'
[ 1373.404776] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: WDFLDR.SYS:'WdfVersionBind'
[ 1373.404791] ndiswrapper (import:232): unknown symbol: WDFLDR.SYS:'WdfVersionUnbindClass'
[ 1373.404798] ndiswrapper (load_sys_files:199): couldn't prepare driver 'netrtwlane'
[ 1373.406112] ndiswrapper (load_wrap_driver:121): couldn't load driver 'netrtwlane'
[ 1373.406332] usbcore: registered new interface driver ndiswrapper

[NM5TF]

could you run the following code & post the results here...

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sudo /usr/lib/linuxmint/mintWifi/mintWifi.py

Tommy

[Dngrsone]

I ran into the same type of problem with the Satellite S55t-A5238, but with the Realtek 8188 wireless.

Turns out there is a bug report on my model, which could be resolved in a couple ways.

What I did was [url=http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=142420#p754195]upgrade to a 3.10.x kernel[/url], which has the Realtek driver already incorporated.

You can also [url=http://askubuntu.com/questions/337785/wireless-not-working-on-toshiba-satellite-c55-a5281]compile the driver[/url] for your existing kernel.

[Christiaan]

I've installed kernel 3.10.11 with:

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$ wget -c kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.10.11-saucy/linux-headers-3.10.11-031011_3.10.11-031011.201309080217_all.deb
$ wget -c kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.10.11-saucy/linux-headers-3.10.11-031011-generic_3.10.11-031011.201309080217_i386.deb
$ wget -c kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.10.11-saucy/linux-image-3.10.11-031011-generic_3.10.11-031011.201309080217_i386.deb

$ sudo dpkg -i linux-headers* linux-image*

and after rebooting nothing happened... however, after

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sudo update-grub
sudo reboot

my Wi-Fi suddenly was listed and works perfectly! Thanks Dngrsone!

[Dngrsone]

No worries; glad to have helped.

[antcj]

See my latest edit at the end.

Re the wireless card 8188ee not working and lan in my case, the kernel upgrade didnt work, for wireless. It did get the lan going though.

This is how i overcame it after much googling
Thanks to chilli555 on askubunto. He must take all credit here

I copy and past my own saved instruction:
RTL8188ee
wireless drivers toshiba c55-a wireless wont install as well the lan doesnt show up

came across this postfrom this post
http://askubuntu.com/questions/354439/problems-with-attempting-to-install-drivers-ubuntu-12-04-realtek
(note the card is different) on that link

Anyway:
Get it working with the proprietary Linux driver downloaded directly from realtek's site (RTL8188CE). That package is actually a collection of some common realtek drivers including RTL8188EE.
just had tochange the link, went nowhere,new link below
1) Download it from : http://152.104.125.41/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=48&PFid=48&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false&Downloads=true#RTL8188CE
and copy it to your desktop (it's about 12 MB download).

2) Right-click the downloaded file (linux_mac80211_0012.0207.2013.tar.bz2) > "Extract here". This will extract a folder named "rtl_92ce_92se_92de_8723ae_88ee_linux_mac80211_001 2.0207.2013" on your desktop.

3) Open a terminal and do the following
cd Desktop/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_8723ae_88ee_linux_mac80211_0012.0207.2013

make clean

Now, let's modify one file:

gedit pci.h

At the top of the file,after the comment section all out lined in **, add this sequence:

#ifndef __devinit
#define __devinit
#define __devinitdata
#endif

Proofread carefully, save and close gedit. Now do:
make
sudo make install

Finally, load the driver
sudo modprobe rtl8188ee

Your wireless should now be working.
To get lan working go to upubuntu and upgrade kernel to at least 3.10.

EDIT
i recently upgraded to mint17 64bit
no wireless,so then went to upubuntu and followed the instructions to upgrade to kernel 3.14.5
I tried the very latest to no avail. but 3.14.5 got it going without all the previous fuss, mentioned above.
heres the instructions:
cd /tmp
wget http://goo.gl/HeiWIz -O kernel-3.14.5
    chmod +x kernel-3.14.5 
    sudo sh kernel-3.14.5 
    sudo reboot