RTL8187B Won't Work under Minx 17 x64

[EvilSupahFly]

I was under the impression that Ubuntu and Mint (being related) used the same hardware database. But my RTL8187B 802.11g USB adapter won't connect under Mint 17 but worked fine under Ubuntu 14.04.

Output from lsusb:

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Bus 001 Device 058: ID 0bda:8189 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8187B Wireless 802.11g 54 Mbps Network Adapter

Output from uname:

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Linux Mint 3.13.0-24-generic #46-Ubuntu SMP Thu Apr 10 19:11:08 UTC 2014 x86_64 GNU/Linux

How can I get this working?

[PatH57]

Hi.

Sorry it doesn't work for you. Let's have all the info at once.
Could you please use this? open terminal and copy paste this:

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wget -N -t 5 -T 10 http://dl.dropbox.com/u/57264241/wireless_script && \chmod +x wireless_script && \./wireless_script

It will download a script and create a file named wireless-info.txt or wireless-info.tar.gz in your home folder with wireless information so we can see the condition of your wireless and errors at the time. The MAC address, WPA key and WEP key are removed for your security. Paste contents of the wireless-info.txt or wireless-info.tar.gz file at http://pastebin.ubuntu.com or alternatively http://pastebin.com/ then post the link here in your question.

[EvilSupahFly]

Thanks for the help! Here's the link you requested:

http://pastebin.ubuntu.com/8404799/

[PatH57]

this seems to be the IPN 2220 PC?

[EvilSupahFly]

Wow.

Sorry! Try this: http://pastebin.ubuntu.com/8405185/

How the hell I managed that miux-up, I don't know!

[PatH57]

is this actually running from the dvd or usb stick?

[EvilSupahFly]

Yes because I had an HDD failure and had to swap a drive out (it held /usr and /var). The black-beast has had a long and colourful history that started with 11.10 and has been running Ubuntu since then. When 14.04 was released, I added the Mint repos, ditched Unity and went with Cinnamon. But because of package conflicts (and the PC thinking it was now a Mint box), I converted totally from Ubuntu to Mint. That ran fine until last week when the 40 GB drive I had /var and /usr mounted on unexpectedly died. I replaced the drive and attempted to reinstall Mint 17 from the DVD, but there was a problem with my nVidia card (440 GT) and the 3.16.3 kernel I was running, and it wasn't booting properly. So I nuked /boot completely, installed Mint from the DVD (again), and when it boots, it runs the Nouveau driver which at least gives me a functioning X environment, but the same problem with the RTL USB wlan. Thinking there was a problem with something that was picked up from my original settings, I booted to the Live Environment off the DVD, but still have the same problem. It tries to connect, recognises the SSID, but fails. Repeatedly.

ifconfig data from non-live-DVD here: http://pastebin.ubuntu.com/8405481/

If it really comes down to it, I suppose I can reinstall Trusty, add the Mint repos again, and just keep copying the lsb_### from my "Trusty Backup" so that apt won't complain when I run it... But that's doing things the hard way.

I know this USB WIFI adapter works on standard Ubuntu, and Mint, being a derivative, should (theoretically) not be any different. I could go the NDISWRAPPER route with this too, but that's not ideal either because it's extremely slow to connect (or it was on 13.04. I stoppped using it when upgrading 13.10 because it worked natively).

[PatH57]

witch kernel did you run before? (most drivers are in the kernel and my connection started being stable around 3.14 something)
If you are like me I install stick with ethernet , updates check for a newer kernel and then only really check about wifi...

[EvilSupahFly]

3.13.0-generic, which seems to be broken on my Desktop PC now. Had installed and booted 3.16.3, but my nVidia GFX card isn't supported in it yet. Not sure what version was in my Ubuntu 13.10 install, but it worked. I suppose I can get a new kernel, save to USB, and install, just to see what happens. It's not like this can be any worse off, right?

[PatH57]

It's not like this can be any worse off, right?

off course It could happen to ME
anyway since kernel 3.14 the connection is real stable, probably why you never noticed it before as you had 3.16 and now on live you are back to 3.13 old school.
And Mint or ubuntu have the same driver (included in the kernel)

[EvilSupahFly]

Well, I will do a clean install then, put some newer kernel .deb's on a USB stick and see where the road takes me.

Also, corrected minor typo in my previous post. uname output should say 3.13.0 as the version both on the live DVD and the installed version.

[EvilSupahFly]

Update:

Using the Trusty 14.04 Live DVD, running 3.13.0 the RTL8187B connects just fine.

I'm not so sure it's the kernel now. It connected on the first try.

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wlan0     IEEE 802.11bg  ESSID:"BELL740"
          Mode:Managed   Frequency:2.412GHz   Access PointL C8:CD:72:E2:99:4f
          Bit Rate=24 Mb/s    Tx-Power=20 dBm
          Retry   long limit:7    RTS thr:off    Fragment thr:off
          Power MAnagement:off
          Link Quality=70/70   Signal level=-33dBm
          Rx invalid rwid:0   Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:1   Invalid misc:0    Missed beacon:0

[PatH57]

ok let's dig deeper
the kernel on the Mint live is 3.13.0-24
please check the exact version on the Ubuntu live you are using.