[SOLVED] 6.5 Kernel BUG...Set Country Code in the 6.5 Kernel

[ddening]

I’m an inexperienced Linux user that downloaded the linuxmint-21.3-cinnamon-64bit.iso file. Then loaded it onto a new KAMRUI minicomputer while replacing the existing operating system. At which point, I started reading the forum postings because the screen display was mirrored on both monitors. One posting indicated that a change in the kernel from 5.15 to 6.5 was desirable and fairly straight forward. It worked, now a window could be dragged between monitors Yeah!!!

But, now the WiFi didn’t work. And that’s the only internet connection for this machine.

A more knowledgeable friend helped me debug the problem and narrowed it down to the country code not being set.

The command: <iw reg get>

Indicated: country 00: DFS-UNSET

And you could set the country code with <sudo iw reg set US>

So you now had <iw reg get> indicating: country US: DFS-FCC

But on reboot it was again unset and the WiFi still didn’t work.

The WiFi worked in 5.15 but not in 6.5. Can you offer any suggestions for a fix?

[xenopeek]

Does changing the country code make wifi work on 6.5? Your last line is a bit unclear about whether this is a solution or not.

This should work to set the wireless domain to US on boot:

Code: Select all

echo "options cfg80211 ieee80211_regdom=US"|sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/cfg80211.conf

If that doesn't work you can create a simple startup file that runs the iw reg set US command at boot: viewtopic.php?p=2438002#p2438002

[ddening]

I tried both approaches and the country code would be set to US until a Reboot. Then it reverted back to UNSET.

My Linux knowledgeable friend was trying to help me over the phone and had discovered that:

A <inxi –Fxxxpmez> command indicated that Network: Device-2 a Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter didn’t have a driver i.e. N/A.

He said without the country code the driver wouldn’t be loaded.
Note: without WiFi on the Linux machine this reply is being generated via a Windows 7 laptop.

[ddening]

It’s been a couple days with no further suggestions of a fix for these symptoms. This implies that there may not be an immediate solution to this problem where a Wi-Fi failure renders the computer useless.

There were two goals in posting this problem. First, someone may have known of an immediate solution. Second, to raise the issue that this may be a 6.5 kernel BUG which may be propagating forward in subsequent versions.

My friend had painfully encountered this problem before. I.e. If the country code isn’t set the Wi-Fi drivers weren’t loaded. He says that countries have differing numbers of licensed Wi-Fi channels. So, the country code determines how the Wi-Fi driver can legally operate.

In debugging the problem we had even plugged in a USB WiFi dongle and re-booted to see if the USB driver would auto-load ….

<lsusb> indicated Device 004 was a Linksys AE2500 802.11abgn Wireless Adapter [Broadcom BCM43236]

And,

<inxi -Fxzd> indicated that:
Network:
Device-1: was a Realtek Gigabit Ethernet (that was unused)
Device-2: Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter driver: N/A
Device-3 Linksys AE2500 802.11abgn Wireless Adapter [Broadcom BCM43236] type: USB driver: N/A


There was a “logical block” after changing from the 5.15 kernel to the 6.5 kernel in Mint Linux. This fixed the display problem but I couldn’t perform the indicated upgrade because there was no Wi-Fi….

After carting everything to my daughter’s house where a router based Ethernet was available the update was installed. The result was unchanged. With the system fully “up to date” <inxi -Fxzd> said the Wi-Fi driver was N/A.

The issue seems to be due to the N100 processor needing the 6.5 kernel for display and not having a Wi-Fi driver in the 6.5 kernel (while Wi-Fi worked with the 5.15 kernel in the original distribution).

After more research I discovered:

https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxquestions ... 0_mini_pc/

So, I loaded the “Ubuntu-22.04.4-desktop-amd64.iso” in place of the Mint Linux ISO. The display works with both TV’s/monitors and the Wi-Fi now works.

<inxi -Fxzd> indicates the Wi-Fi driver is a “rtw_8821ce”.

And <iw reg get> indicates US