Wifi Adapter CF-958AC - issues installing driver

Regalia776

Hello everyone,

first of all thanks for making this awesome distribution that is Solus! Unfortunately, though, there is one big obstacle to my enjoyment of it since I have two wifi dongles that both don't work too well with Solus. The first one is working, but I get speeds of only about 500 kb/s (when its advertised speed is 300 mbp/s and my connection offers 750) and the second one, the one mentioned in the title, is not working at all.

I have already found two drivers, previously installed them fine on Zorin via DKMS, but I'm unable to install them via make on Solus. The issue seems to be with missing linux-headers which I have been unable to install via eopkg.

The github link to the driver is here: https://github.com/aircrack-ng/rtl8814au
The error I'm getting is the following:

regalia776@regalia776 ~ $ cd rtl8814au regalia776@regalia776 ~/rtl8814au $ make && make install make ARCH=x86_64 CROSS_COMPILE= -C /lib/modules/5.13.1-187.current/build M=/home/regalia776/rtl8814au modules make[1]: *** /lib/modules/5.13.1-187.current/build: No such file or directory. Stop. make: *** [Makefile:2353: modules] Error 2

There's another driver that could work, too.
https://github.com/aircrack-ng/rtl8812au

But this one also fails. Does anyone know how I can get either of these drivers installed? I'd hate to have to dish out another 30$ for yet another wifi dongle when this one is working great on Windows and other Linux distros.

Thanks for any help in advance!

tomscharbach

Realtek drivers are a persistent problem child, because a number of them are not natively supported for Linux.

A number of threads might be of help:

(1) ASUS Wireless USB Adapter \ Realtek \ RTL8812AU - RTL8814AU Question discusses a script for installing the driver. The script may be of help.

(2) Need help with drivers points to a number of resources for the RTL chipsets in question.

Regalia776

tomscharbach

Unfortunately, the script didn't work. Some syntax error. However I managed to install this driver now:
https://github.com/aircrack-ng/rtl8812au

I just used the commands
make clean
make
sudo make install
sudo reboot

And it works now. Thanks for the help!

tomscharbach

Regalia776 And it works now. Thanks for the help!

Good for you! I read between the lines that you are an experienced Linux user but might be new to Solus. You might find that you have to reinstall the driver each time the kernel is updated with a new version. I don't know if that is still the case, but it was a few years ago when I was using a wifi adapter with an RTL driver.

Regalia776

tomscharbach Not necessarily advanced, but certainly experienced 😀 I am not completely new to Solus, but I only ran it in VMs before since Zorin was my main distro. Always loved the elegance and simplicity, though, so if the WiFi had been a dealbreaker that would have been a real darn shame.

Reinstallation won’t be a problem. I moved the folder to a secure place on my Windows D drive, just in case 🙂

tomscharbach

Regalia776 I only ran it in VMs before since Zorin was my main distro. Always loved the elegance and simplicity ...

I think that you will enjoy the experience of running Solus on bare metal. Solus shines on bare metal because the OS was developed ground-up for desktop use -- very clean, quick and efficient.

I use the Budgie DE. For me, the combination of Solus and Budgie is near-perfect. Ubuntu Budgie 22.04 LTS is a superb implementation as well. With that exception (to my mind), the other Budgie implementations are, well, meh, for the most part, just not 100% for one reason or another. I'm hoping that will change now that the Budgie project is idenpendent of the Solus project -- the other implementations might get up to speed a bit.

I hope you'll check into the forum from time to time and if something comes up that your experience might help, chime in to help.

Regalia776

tomscharbach
I’m already enjoying it. Now that Wi-Fi is working, it’s one smooth ride. Super responsive, quick startup and shutdown, focus on what’s important when it comes to software choices.

I also enjoy the very focused customizability of Budgie. I’m usually a fan of MacOS like layouts, so Ubuntu Budgie looked interesting, but Solus Budgie is just beautiful in its standard layout. Ubuntu was lacking that elegance for me. I just wish I would find a more satisfying place to locate the power button. Would be great if Raven had more options than just logging out there.

Solus is definitely one of the best and most interesting Linux distros I know and I’m constantly recommending it along with Zorin OS to newcomers and longtime Linux users alike.

As I said, I’m more experienced than knowledgeable. I’ve been using Linux on and off since Ubuntu 10.04 (love MATE to this day!) but only switched to it as my 90% daily driver recently thanks to Proton, since I do like to game from time to time. Anyway, if there’s ever anything I surely know how to handle, I will be glad to help of course 🙂

tomscharbach

Regalia776 I also enjoy the very focused customizability of Budgie. I’m usually a fan of MacOS like layouts, so Ubuntu Budgie looked interesting, but Solus Budgie is just beautiful in its standard layout. Ubuntu was lacking that elegance for me.

I use Solus Budgie and Ubuntu 22.04 Budgie (using the Traditional Budgie layout) more or less in equal parts, and I can't tell the difference. Both are at Budgie 10.6.1, and that is what makes them so similar. Until a couple weeks ago, when 22.04 was released, Ubuntu Budgie was using a different Budgie build than Solus, and I felt the same way about Ubuntu Budgie at that time -- it lacked the elegance, always seeming about 10% off. That's changed now.

Regalia776 Solus is definitely one of the best and most interesting Linux distros I know and I’m constantly recommending it along with Zorin OS to newcomers and longtime Linux users alike.

I feel the same way, and I financially support Solus for that reason. I'll continue to support Solus going forward, although I'm considering morphing over to Ubuntu Budgie if Microsoft doesn't get its act together by the end of the year and distribute Edge as a Snap so that I can use Edge on Solus. I have a lot of experience with Zorin 16 Core and I have no reservations about recommending it to others. But Solus Budgie is my preference. It is the best distro I've ever seen.

Regalia776 Anyway, if there’s ever anything I surely know how to handle, I will be glad to help of course 🙂

That's great. You will be a welcome addition.