[Solved] Help - Will my WiFi card work?

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BooMan
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[Solved] Help - Will my WiFi card work?

Post#1 by BooMan » 20 Oct 2019, 17:26

So, let me start off by saying I'm really a newb to using linux. There's so little that I actually know how to use correctly, but I'm experimenting for the purpose to learn more. Anyway, I started looking at portable distros that I could put on a USB stick to test out, and I narrowed them down to two - Slax or Porteus. In the end, I decided to go for porteus, since it just looked more appealing :D Right now I'm using the flash drive on an old HP laptop of mine from probably around 2013. It's a HP Envy Sleekbook that had Windows 8 on it, but linux just works so much better, especially Porteus. Most things are working fine, with an exception of one thing: my wireless. I can hook it up with an ethernet cable, but with the way things are set up it would be so much easier for me to get the wireless card working. I've tried desperately to find a solution to my problem online before making a post, but I can't figure it out for the life of me. Porteus doesn't really seem to even want to detect the wireless card, and I don't even know if it's a card that will work.

I've tried using pns-tool but it just fails, and afterward I can't figure out how to re-enable network services without restarting.

I've tried a few commands I found online to see what my card is through the terminal: here's what I got.

lspci -knn

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00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Root Complex [1022:1410]
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1995]
00:01.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Richland [Radeon HD 8610G] [1002:990f]
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1995]
        Kernel driver in use: radeon
        Kernel modules: radeon
00:01.1 Audio device [0403]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Trinity HDMI Audio Controller [1002:9902]
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1995]
        Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
        Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel
00:04.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Root Port [1022:1414]
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
        Kernel modules: shpchp
00:05.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Root Port [1022:1415]
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
        Kernel modules: shpchp
00:07.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Root Port [1022:1417]
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
        Kernel modules: shpchp
00:10.0 USB controller [0c03]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB XHCI Controller [1022:7814] (rev 09)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1995]
        Kernel driver in use: xhci_hcd
00:11.0 SATA controller [0106]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SATA Controller [AHCI mode] [1022:7804]
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1995]                                                                                                                                   
        Kernel driver in use: ahci                                                                                                                                                              
00:12.0 USB controller [0c03]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB OHCI Controller [1022:7807] (rev 11)                                                                                  
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1995]                                                                                                                                   
        Kernel driver in use: ohci-pci                                                                                                                                                          
00:12.2 USB controller [0c03]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller [1022:7808] (rev 11)                                                                                  
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1995]                                                                                                                                   
        Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci                                                                                                                                                          
00:13.0 USB controller [0c03]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB OHCI Controller [1022:7807] (rev 11)                                                                                  
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1995]                                                                                                                                   
        Kernel driver in use: ohci-pci                                                                                                                                                          
00:13.2 USB controller [0c03]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller [1022:7808] (rev 11)                                                                                  
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1995]                                                                                                                                   
        Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci                                                                                                                                                          
00:14.0 SMBus [0c05]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SMBus Controller [1022:780b] (rev 16)                                                                                              
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1995]
        Kernel modules: i2c_piix4
00:14.2 Audio device [0403]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH Azalia Controller [1022:780d] (rev 01)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1995]
        Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
        Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel
00:14.3 ISA bridge [0601]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH LPC Bridge [1022:780e] (rev 11)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1995]
00:14.4 PCI bridge [0604]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH PCI Bridge [1022:780f] (rev 40)
00:18.0 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 0 [1022:1400]
00:18.1 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 1 [1022:1401]
00:18.2 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 2 [1022:1402]
00:18.3 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 3 [1022:1403]
        Kernel driver in use: k10temp
        Kernel modules: k10temp
00:18.4 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 4 [1022:1404]
00:18.5 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 15h (Models 10h-1fh) Processor Function 5 [1022:1405]
01:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller [10ec:8168] (rev 0c)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1995]
        Kernel driver in use: r8169
        Kernel modules: r8169
02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Ralink corp. RT3290 Wireless 802.11n 1T/1R PCIe [1814:3290]
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Ralink RT3290LE 802.11bgn 1x1 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 Combo Adapter [103c:18ec]
        Kernel driver in use: rt2800pci
        Kernel modules: rt2800pci
02:00.1 Bluetooth [0d11]: Ralink corp. RT3290 Bluetooth [1814:3298]
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Ralink RT3290LE 802.11bgn 1x1 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 Combo Adapter [103c:18ec]
03:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5229 PCI Express Card Reader [10ec:5229] (rev 01)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1995]
        Kernel driver in use: rtsx_pci
        Kernel modules: rtsx_pci
lsusb -t

Code: Select all

/:  Bus 06.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/2p, 5000M
/:  Bus 05.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/2p, 480M
    |__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 0, Class=, Driver=usb-storage, 480M
/:  Bus 04.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ohci-pci/5p, 12M
/:  Bus 03.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ohci-pci/5p, 12M
/:  Bus 02.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ehci-pci/5p, 480M
    |__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 0, Class=, Driver=uvcvideo, 480M
    |__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 1, Class=, Driver=uvcvideo, 480M
/:  Bus 01.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ehci-pci/5p, 480M
So, can anybody help me to see if there's any way I can get this working? Again, I really am a newb to linux, so I'd probably need some pretty step-by-step instructions. Thanks!
Last edited by BooMan on 03 Nov 2019, 18:27, edited 1 time in total.

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ncmprhnsbl
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Help - Will my WiFi card work?

Post#2 by ncmprhnsbl » 27 Oct 2019, 01:54

hi, welcome to porteus :)
so.. this:

Code: Select all

02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Ralink corp. RT3290 Wireless 802.11n 1T/1R PCIe [1814:3290]
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Ralink RT3290LE 802.11bgn 1x1 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 Combo Adapter [103c:18ec]
        Kernel driver in use: rt2800pci
        Kernel modules: rt2800pci
is the info for your wifi card ... detected and assigned a driver .. but apparently doesn't work :(
here suggests that a proprietary driver is available, though it looks a bit tricky(looking at the comments and the patches)
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jssouza
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Help - Will my WiFi card work?

Post#3 by jssouza » 27 Oct 2019, 04:36

Could be that the firmware is missing.

From the kernel source code of the driver:
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/ ... t2800pci.c

Code: Select all

/*
 * Firmware functions
 */
static char *rt2800pci_get_firmware_name(struct rt2x00_dev *rt2x00dev)
{
	/*
	 * Chip rt3290 use specific 4KB firmware named rt3290.bin.
	 */
	if (rt2x00_rt(rt2x00dev, RT3290))
		return FIRMWARE_RT3290;
	else
		return FIRMWARE_RT2860;
}
Is the rt3290.bin present in the /lib/firmware/ directory?

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ncmprhnsbl
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Help - Will my WiFi card work?

Post#4 by ncmprhnsbl » 27 Oct 2019, 05:14

jssouza wrote:
27 Oct 2019, 04:36
Could be that the firmware is missing.
indeed, looking at the kernel module for 4(and 5) it is missing..
here's a module with it: rt3290.xzm
stick it in the modules folder to test..
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BooMan
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[Solved] Help - Will my WiFi card work?

Post#5 by BooMan » 03 Nov 2019, 18:27

Sorry, I was gone for a few days, but I've had a chance to read your replies.

So, if I check /lib/firmware, it looks like rt3290.bin is nowhere to be found.

ls -al /lib/firmware | grep rt

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-rw-r--r--  1 root root    2115 Apr 21  2018 LICENCE.rtlwifi_firmware.txt
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root      94 Apr 21  2018 edgeport/
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root     348 Apr 21  2018 libertas/
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    8192 Apr 21  2018 rt2561.bin
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    8192 Apr 21  2018 rt2561s.bin
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    8192 Apr 21  2018 rt2661.bin
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    8192 Apr 21  2018 rt2860.bin
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    8192 Apr 21  2018 rt2870.bin
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root      10 Apr 21  2018 rt3070.bin -> rt2870.bin
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root      10 Apr 21  2018 rt3090.bin -> rt2860.bin
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    2048 Apr 21  2018 rt73.bin
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root       3 Apr 21  2018 rtl_bt/
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root     411 Apr 21  2018 rtl_nic/
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root     560 Apr 21  2018 rtlwifi/
So, the next thing I did was try the module that ncmprhnsbl offered - and I'm happy to say that it worked! Immediately from booting up porteus, I'm able to to connect to internet without ethernet. When I check the /lib/firmware directory again, it looks like rt3290.bin was actually added. So, thank you guys so much! :)

ls -al /lib/firmware | grep rt

Code: Select all

-rw-r--r--  1 root root    2115 Apr 21  2018 LICENCE.rtlwifi_firmware.txt
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root      94 Apr 21  2018 edgeport/
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root     348 Apr 21  2018 libertas/
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    8192 Apr 21  2018 rt2561.bin
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    8192 Apr 21  2018 rt2561s.bin
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    8192 Apr 21  2018 rt2661.bin
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    8192 Apr 21  2018 rt2860.bin
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    8192 Apr 21  2018 rt2870.bin
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root      10 Apr 21  2018 rt3070.bin -> rt2870.bin
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root      10 Apr 21  2018 rt3090.bin -> rt2860.bin
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    4096 Mar 13  2019 rt3290.bin
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    2048 Apr 21  2018 rt73.bin
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root       3 Apr 21  2018 rtl_bt/
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root     411 Apr 21  2018 rtl_nic/
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root     560 Apr 21  2018 rtlwifi/

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ncmprhnsbl
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[Solved] Help - Will my WiFi card work?

Post#6 by ncmprhnsbl » 04 Nov 2019, 23:50

very good
for reference: this firmware comes from: https://mirrors.slackware.com/slackware ... arch-1.txz
a lot of this package is already included in 000-kernel.xzm, but not all, in the interests of keeping the size down
so what i did to make rt3290.xzm
get and (as root user) extract kernel-firmware-20191030_9e194c7-noarch-1.txz (some archive manager will do)
find the required file (in lib/firmware) (or subfolder)
make a fakeroot: <name of module>/lib/firmware (and subfolder if necessary)
copy firmware to <name of module>/lib/firmware/ (or subfolder if necessary)
dir2xzm <name of module> <name of module>.xzm
in future we should probably include this one in our kernel module..
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BooMan
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[Solved] Help - Will my WiFi card work?

Post#7 by BooMan » 09 Nov 2019, 00:50

Wow, that's awesome - thank you so much! :celebrate14:

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