Recent Kernel Install (K5.4.0-71) kills rtl8821ce (Solution)

[galeforce]

Past couple of kernel updates have disregarded the rtl8821ce driver.
If you use the package updater for the 5.4.0-71 and did not update the rtl8821ce driver there was no way to get on-line after the suggested reboot.
One way around this is to close the updater and open Synaptic and locate the rtl8821ce-dkms and re-install before going offline.
The other way is to maintain the latest rtl8821ce-dkms package somewhere safe and using dpkg re-install it if offline.
One of the messages received/viewed when doing the install with dpkg is the rtl8821ce is blacklisted, removed and re-installed.
Apparently there is some glitch but both methods work.
Also if the driver does not show initially when you reboot it should.
Had to do this the past three kernel updates. Good luck

[DisturbedDragon]

I have the same chipset on my Lenovo 720S laptop I am typing on right now. This was an issue before, likely 5.4 but I honestly do not remember. I do know that after leaving that kernel series it builds without issue when updating. Currently on 5.8.0-49 and working good. Did have one issue yesterday but that was because BIOS update enabled secure boot. Once I disabled it, WiFi once again works.

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 5.4.0-53-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 4.8.6 wm: muffin dm: LightDM 
  Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 81BR v: Lenovo ideapad 720S-13ARR 
  serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 10 v: Lenovo ideapad 720S-13ARR 
  serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: LENOVO model: LNVNB161216 v: SDK0J40709 WIN serial: <filter> 
  UEFI: LENOVO v: 6KCN45WW date: 03/26/2020 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 36.8 Wh condition: 41.4/48.0 Wh (86%) volts: 8.0/7.7 
  model: LGC 11 L16L4PB3 serial: <filter> status: Discharging 
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: AMD Ryzen 5 2500U with Radeon Vega Mobile Gfx 
  bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen L2 cache: 2048 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm 
  bogomips: 31939 
  Speed: 1544 MHz max: 1600 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1551 2: 1454 3: 1407 
  4: 1596 5: 1458 6: 1416 7: 1406 8: 1465 
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Raven Ridge [Radeon Vega Series / Radeon Vega Mobile Series] 
  vendor: Lenovo driver: amdgpu v: kernel bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 1002:15dd 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: amdgpu,ati 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: AMD RAVEN (DRM 3.35.0 5.4.0-53-generic LLVM 11.0.0) 
  v: 4.6 Mesa 20.2.6 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD Raven/Raven2/Fenghuang HDMI/DP Audio vendor: Lenovo 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 03:00.1 chip ID: 1002:15de 
  Device-2: AMD Raven/Raven2/FireFlight/Renoir Audio Processor 
  vendor: Lenovo driver: N/A bus ID: 03:00.5 chip ID: 1022:15e2 
  Device-3: AMD Family 17h HD Audio vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 03:00.6 chip ID: 1022:15e3 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-53-generic 
[b]Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter 
  vendor: Lenovo driver: rtl8821ce v: v5.5.2.1_35598.20191029 port: 2000 
  bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:c821 
  IF: wlp1s0 state: up mac: <filter> [/b]
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 476.94 GiB used: 91.82 GiB (19.3%) 
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Samsung model: MZVLB512HAJQ-000L2 
  size: 476.94 GiB speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 serial: <filter> 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 295.81 GiB used: 91.79 GiB (31.0%) fs: ext4 
  dev: /dev/nvme0n1p6 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 46.5 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 46 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:
  Processes: 259 Uptime: 18m Memory: 6.65 GiB used: 3.00 GiB (45.1%) 
  Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 7/9 
  Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.38 

[galeforce]

One system is operating on the 5.8 kernel but does not use the rtl8821ce.
Another system is held on the 5.4 kernel until either the 5.8 extends it's EOL or another becomes available.
EOL for 5.8 is shown as sometime in the Summer 2021.
Most recent 5.4 update on the one system needed the additional install of the driver.