Wireless adapter not seen in new Tara install [SOLVED]

[dman]

I have a new computer and a new Tara Cinnamon installation. My wireless adapter is not recognized. There are no proprietary drivers shown available for installation. I was connected via Ethernet during installation and I ticked the box to install 3rd-party software. Boot-up is via EFI.

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dman@nomotek-pavi:~$ iwconfig 
lo        no wireless extensions.
enp2s0    no wireless extensions.

Here is the adapter:

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dman@nomotek-pavi:~$ lspci -nn | grep 0280
01:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter [10ec:c821]

The computer, an HP Pavilion, runs under Intel 8th-gen. architecture.

I know the card is functional because I've set the computer up as a dual-boot system and Windows 10 Pro (also installed last night) can use the wireless adapter. (The computer came sans graphical OS.)

Here's the start of 'lshw' output:

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dman@nomotek-pavi:~$ sudo lshw
nomotek-pavi                
    description: Desktop Computer
    product: HP Pavilion Desktop 590-p0xxx (4DV79EA#ABD)

The Bluetooth adapter shows up. The installation (last night) went smoothly enough, although there are some errors in 'dmesg' that I probably will bring up in another thread. The boot-up is kind of "meh" on speed. The Live USB session boots up faster and is, indeed, the fastest I've ever seen from such. (I've tended to own hardware a few years behind the bleeding edge until now.)

I've searched around via Google and I used the search-filter feature here on this board, but I don't see a solution yet.

Help would be appreciated.

/dr

[karlchen]

Hello, dman.

Please, open a terminal window. Execute the commandline inxi -Fxz, exactly as it has been typed here. Mark the complete screen output which inxi displays. Copy it and paste it into your next reply.
This will give us a concise overview on your system specification and on the drivers which Mint loads.

Have you installed Mint 19 from the first generation of ISO image files (no "V2" in the filenames) or from the second generation of ISO image files ("V2" in the filenames). The second generation resolves a few installation issues, which else could affect you negatively depending on your hardware specifications.
Cf. <FIXED> Installing Linux Mint 19 from ISO, please read, EFI installs only

Regards,
Karl

[Pjotr]

Apparently, forum member JeremyB is working on a driver for this particular chipset:
https://github.com/jeremyb31/rtl8821ce

I advise to contact him about this:
memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=137362

[dman]

Hello, dman.

Karlchen, you are a rare and lovely person. I say this with no irony intended (okay maybe just a little). Obliquely referencing another thread here in the Open Discussion forum, let me say it makes me wondrously happy to see you use a comma for direct address, as ${DEITY} intended. That, right there, is worth friending you for.

Please, open a terminal window. Execute the commandline inxi -Fxz...

Certainly. I'll put it at the end.

Have you installed Mint 19 from the ... second generation of ISO image files ("V2" in the filenames).

I used v2 after being apprised of this issue two days ago in another thread. Thanks for checking.

Okay, here's the output:

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dman@nomotek-pavi:~$ inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: nomotek-pavi Kernel: 4.15.0-29-generic x86_64
           bits: 64 gcc: 7.3.0
           Desktop: Cinnamon 3.8.8 (Gtk 3.22.30-1ubuntu1)
           Distro: Linux Mint 19 Tara
Machine:   Device: desktop System: HP product: HP Pavilion Desktop 590-p0xxx serial: N/A
           Mobo: HP model: 843B v: 00 serial: N/A
           UEFI: AMI v: F.03 date: 05/14/2018
CPU:       6 core Intel Core i5-8400 (-MCP-) 
           arch: Skylake rev.10 cache: 9216 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 33696
           clock speeds: max: 4000 MHz 1: 2166 MHz 2: 3129 MHz 3: 3276 MHz
           4: 3554 MHz 5: 3100 MHz 6: 2763 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Device 3e92 bus-ID: 00:02.0
           Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.19.6 )
           drivers: modesetting (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1920x1080@60.00hz
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics (Coffeelake 3x8 GT2)
           version: 4.5 Mesa 18.0.5 Direct Render: Yes
Audio:     Card Intel Device a348 driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1f.3
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.0-29-generic
Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
           port: 4000 bus-ID: 01:00.0
           IF: N/A state: N/A mac: N/A
           Card-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCIE Gigabit Ethernet Controller
           driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: 3000 bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 256.1GB (3.6% used)
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 model: SK_hynix_BC501_HFM256GDJTNG size: 256.1GB
           
Partition: ID-1: / size: 25G used: 8.5G (37%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 55.0C mobo: 27.8C
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 219 Uptime: 25 min Memory: 1431.0/7836.5MB
           Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 7.3.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.4.191) inxi: 2.3.56 

/dr

[dman]

Apparently, forum member JeremyB is working on a driver for this particular chipset:
https://github.com/jeremyb31/rtl8821ce

I advise to contact him about this:
memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=137362

Thanks so much! That's great to know about.

I also liked your tips articles referenced in your .sig.

/dr

[dman]

Apparently, forum member JeremyB is working on a driver for this particular chipset:
https://github.com/jeremyb31/rtl8821ce

I advise to contact him about this:
memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=137362

Thanks so much! That's great to know about.

I also liked your tips articles referenced in your .sig.

/dr

I never heard back from Jeremy. But I just now got the wireless adapter working. I don't know what diagnostics I might run to see how well it's working, but working it is. (If someone can suggest what tests I should run, please do.)

I googled RTL8821CE and I saw a recent thread on askubuntu.com. I went there and grabbed the source offered and compiled it. There were a couple of warnings when I ran 'make', to do with a couple of apparently sloppy if-statements, but it compiled and installed. I saw no error messages on the screen on installing it.

Here's the thread.
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1021865 ... -ultrabook

After someone gives me a clue about how to test its functionality fully, assuming it passes the tests, I'll mark this thread as solved.

Regards,
/dr

[dman]

After someone gives me a clue about how to test its functionality fully, assuming it passes the tests, I'll mark this thread as solved.

I still would like to know a canonical way to test the functionality of the wireless adapter. But it seems to be working fine, so I'll mark the thread solved.

/dr

[Pjotr]

Well done! That's the true Linux spirit.

You can test its speed at www.speedtest.net

[tgwilt]

Hi dman,

I don't know what you mean by "canonical way to test the functionality of the wireless adapter". I just use the terminal command

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iwconfig

to see the channel, dropped
packets, and other information. There are a couple of apps you may wish to install via software manager,
1. "Linssid"
2.I occassionaly use "Wicd network manager" to mange my wireless connections.

You may or may not want to explore some of the options using the following terminal command

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 man -k wireless 

As always, YMMV (your mileage may vary)

[dman]

Hi dman,

I don't know what you mean by "canonical way to test the functionality of the wireless adapter". I just use the terminal command

Code: Select all

iwconfig

to see the channel, dropped
packets, and other information. There are a couple of apps you may wish to install via software manager,
1. "Linssid"
2.I occassionaly use "Wicd network manager" to mange my wireless connections.

Thanks for the app ideas, which I'll explore.

What I meant was, among other things, how I can see if it's dropped packets, etc. But also, well, using my wife's Compaq laptop as an example, the wireless adapter for that is recognized and working under Mint xfce (which is all my wife uses, and she has no easy Ethernet-cable access from where she uses the laptop). But it works badly! It's barely adequate for her. I borrowed her laptop to give a public presentation to a roomful of people, and I couldn't get a decent connection in that room to the router in the next room. However, I have Win 10 on the machine also — and when I boot into that, the wireless adapter works very well! The laptop is a low-end model bought new in spring 2015.

After my wife had ongoing connection trouble with the WLAN in our house, I finally set up a repeater near where she works downstairs. (I used an old consumer-grade D-Link router that I had retired a few years ago but still had in the closet.) In Windows, though, I wouldn't need the repeater in our house to have a good wireless connection.

It turns out that many of the peripheral manufacturers are not forthcoming about what info they let out to open-source developers as to the exact architecture of their products. So Linux tinkerers and others have to reverse-engineer the hardware to write open-source drivers that work reasonably well. But Microsoft (or Apple) has an advantage, because the OEM peripheral manufacturers share the architecture details with big commercial OS houses under mutually beneficial contracts and non-disclosure agreements.

It means that Linux and other open-source or little-guy-OS coders are at a disadvantage to Microsoft (or Apple) in some cases. I'd tend to want to boot into Windows if I know the wireless adapter functions well there, when I also know it works like crap under Linux.

So that's what I had in mind. The computer I just installed the driver on in Mint also dual-boots to Windows, and I am in Windows a lot of the time because I need to run some complex Office VBA stuff that I can't replicate well under Linux. (OK, I could run it under a Windows guest OS in a VM under Linux, and I have done that before; but won't it be relying on the host OS's connectivity anyway? And also, well, must I publicly confess that I like Windows 10 pretty well anyway, along with liking Linux? )

So I could test the wireless functionality for this adapter under both Win 10 and Linux Mint (with the driver I installed) and compare how well the Linux one actually works.

P.S. To Pjotr: thanks again for your help!

/dr