TP-Link TL-WN725N V2 works out of the box on Raspbian

[mooselord]

Hi Mr Engman, I have two versions of Wheezy Raspbian on my SD card with BerryBoot, the version downloaded by BerryBoot (2012.12) and the latest version (2013-02-09). Oddly enough when I boot into either of these OSs I get the same output from "uname -a":

Linux raspberrypi 3.6.11-rpi-aufs #1 PREEMPT Sun Mar 10 23:42:15 CET 2013 armv6l GNU/Linux

That gives credence to the claim that BerryBoot uses some common set of modules when it boots an OS.

Normally when I boot the 2013-02-09 version with a standalone SD card I see this:

Linux raspberrypi 3.6.11+ #371 PREEMPT Thu Feb 7 16:31:35 GMT 2013 armv6l GNU/Linux

[mooselord]

Hi Mr Engman, I like my new blinky, blue LED. Thanks a bunch.

[MrEngman]

Hi mooselord,

Just to let you know I've got the TP-Link TL-WN725N V2 (8188eu driver) running with Raspbian with Berryboot but unfortunately not with the BerryBoot GUI.

Just need to sort out a few things with installation and then I'll add the driver to dropbox and post some instructions.


MrEngman

[mooselord]

Yay! I'd be interested in how you got it working.

[Lekensteyn]

I guess you can tell the difference between v1 and v2 based on the text on the USB adapter.

The v1 adapter has the text "8853A-WN725N" written on the USB metal.
The v2 adapter has the text "TL-WN725N 122TE1".

Another (Chinese) resource that mentions 122TE1 and the rtl8188eu driver: http://blog.csdn.net/zzz_mraz/article/details/8806253

I am planning to buy the v2 and have just sent an inquiry to the seller of this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/TP-Link-150Mbps ... 0948243674 to be sure what version I get. The v2 device has device ID (0bda:8179) and is mainlined:

Code: Select all

commit f0eb856e0b6cbd21244afc0f252cec718ecf88fb
Author: Larry Finger <Larry.Finger@lwfinger.net>
Date:   Sun Mar 24 22:06:42 2013 -0500

    rtlwifi: rtl8188ee: Add new driver
    
    Signed-off-by: Larry Finger <Larry.Finger@lwfinger.net>
    Cc: jcheung@suse.com
    Cc: machen@suse.com
    Cc: mmarek@suse.cz
    Cc: page_he@realsil.com.cn
    Signed-off-by: John W. Linville <linville@tuxdriver.com>

It will end up in 3.10 (which is in development).

Code: Select all

$ git describe f0eb856e0b6cbd21244afc0f252cec718ecf88fb
v3.9-rc1-608-gf0eb85
$ git branch -ra --contains f0eb856e0b6cbd21244afc0f252cec718ecf88fb
* master
  remotes/origin/master
$ git describe master
v3.9-10936-g51a26ae
$ git remove -v
origin  git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git (fetch)
origin  git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git (push)
stable  git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git (fetch)
stable  git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git (push)

Those who have this v2 device, can you please compile Linux from git and test this new driver?[/size]
Scratch that, that driver seems to target PCIe devices.

[jimmymcmahon]

Hi mooselord,

Just to let you know I've got the TP-Link TL-WN725N V2 (8188eu driver) running with Raspbian with Berryboot but unfortunately not with the BerryBoot GUI.

Just need to sort out a few things with installation and then I'll add the driver to dropbox and post some instructions.


MrEngman

]

Hi mate, would be very interested as to how you got this working on Raspian.
Im failing at the modprobe command stage.


Many thanks in advance

[pi3g]

I guess you can tell the difference between v1 and v2 based on the text on the USB adapter.

The v1 adapter has the text "8853A-WN725N" written on the USB metal.
The v2 adapter has the text "TL-WN725N 122TE1".

Not correct - I have both adapter versions, and both have the same text "IC: 8853A-WN725N" written on the USB metal.

I have compiled a blog post (in German) on the differences here:
http://blog.pi3g.com/2013/05/tp-link-15 ... pberry-pi/

The photos should be of some value, though. And of course there always is Google Translate

As I am trading with Raspberrys and these WiFi adapters, I could compare several boxes to obtain these results.

[pi3g]

I have written a blog post summarising the installation procedure for MrEngman's compiled driver for the TL-WN725N v2

http://blog.pi3g.com/2013/05/tp-link-tl ... pi-driver/

I also have created a Raspbian image which already includes this driver (you can download it through the post) - this should be the easiest way for folks which are new to Linux.

Thank you, MrEngman for making people's lifes (including mine) easier. If you ever come to Munich, you're invited for a beer

Max

[MrEngman]

I've added an 8188eu driver for berryboot to dropbox. The driver works with installed images but I haven't figured out how to get the image installed in the BerryBoot GUI so it can be used to load new images. I have tried the driver with berryboot-20121229, berryboot-20130311 and a new image I compiled myself and it works with all of them. NOTE:I've only tried it on berryboot with Raspbian 2012-12.

To install on an already running berryboot SD card first setup the wifi config files. File /etc/network/interfaces should look like

Code: Select all

auto lo

iface lo inet loopback
iface eth0 inet dhcp

allow-hotplug wlan0
iface wlan0 inet manual
wpa-roam /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
iface default inet dhcp

and should not need changing. File /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf if already setup should look something like

Code: Select all

ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
update_config=1

network={
        ssid="NETWORK_NAME"
        psk="NETWORK_PASSWORD"
}

If not already setup you will need to edit it to add the last section network={..} inserting your own network name and password.

Now download and install the driver file.

Code: Select all

wget https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80256631/8188eu-berryboot201212.tar.gz
tar -zxvf 8188eu-berryboot201212.tar.gz
sudo install -p -m 644 8188eu.ko /lib/modules/3.6.11-rpi-aufs/kernel/drivers/net/wireless
sudo insmod /lib/modules/3.6.11-rpi-aufs/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/8188eu.ko
sudo depmod -a

With any luck your wifi should now automatically start and give you a working connection.

It is also possible to add the driver to the base berryboot image so it is automatically installed whenever you load a new image although I have found you will still need to manually load the driver and setup /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf in each new image installed.

There is a file in the berryboot boot directory shared.tgz This contains all the driver modules and other files that are shared between the different images that get loaded. Adding the driver to this file will automatically load it into any image you install. I initially tried to update this file on my Windows laptop but when I ran the berryboot image on the Pi berryboot complained about the file format. May depend on the program you use in widows to update file shared.tgz. I now update the file using the Pi.

I usually save all the different RaspberryPi images I have on my Windows laptop as I use it to generate new SD cards, so to update the shared.tgz file I copy it, and the 8188eu.ko driver, from my laptop to the Pi via ssh, using Putty, with pscp. On the Pi I then create a temporary directory, extract the tgz file into the temp directory, load the driver, delete the old tgz file, and then write a new tgz file with the new driver included then copy it back to the berryboot image on my laptop, again using Putty and pscp, so I can use it when I make a new berryboot SD card. So with the files in my Pi's home directory I generate a new shared.tgz file using

Code: Select all

mkdir temp
cd temp
tar -xzvf ../shared.tgz
sudo install -p -m 644 ../8188eu.ko lib/modules/3.611-rpi-aufs/kernel/drivers/net/wireless
rm ../shared.tgz
tar -cpzf ../shared.tgz *
cd ..
sudo rm -r temp

and then copy them back to my laptop using putty and pscp.

After generating a new SD card with Berryboot and the updated shared.tgz file and running it to load a new image the driver is automatically installed in the module directory tree of the image but the wifi still requires setting up. First edit the file /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa-supplicant.conf as detailed above and then install the driver.

Code: Select all

sudo install -p -m 644 8188eu.ko /lib/modules/3.6.11-rpi-aufs/kernel/drivers/net/wireless
sudo insmod /lib/modules/3.6.11-rpi-aufs/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/8188eu.ko
sudo depmod -a

You should now find your wifi will automatically start and run, I hope so anyway. It does for me.

Have fun and let me know how you get on. Now, must try and find how to get the wifi working in the BerryBoot GUI. That would be good.


MrEngman

[MrEngman]

I have written a blog post summarising the installation procedure for MrEngman's compiled driver for the TL-WN725N v2

http://blog.pi3g.com/2013/05/tp-link-tl ... pi-driver/

I also have created a Raspbian image which already includes this driver (you can download it through the post) - this should be the easiest way for folks which are new to Linux.

Thank you, MrEngman for making people's lifes (including mine) easier. If you ever come to Munich, you're invited for a beer

Max

Hi Max,

Thanks for that. As you say makes life a little easier. And thank you for the offer of a beer - however, I haven't drunk alcohol since 1975 so I'll give it a miss this time. Mind you would be nice to visit Munich again. Last time I was there was sometime in the 80's. A really lovely place.

MrEngman

[Rendres]

Hi, I'm trying to make the WN725N V2 on Xbian, but after following every step of this post, I havent been able to make it run.
If anyone has been able to, please post the steps

Thank you

[jimmymcmahon]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the blog post. I attempted to follow this tonight. I opened an SSH session to my pi running RASPBMC (which I assume is raspian?? ). All commands were issued as root...

I am still however getting the format error on the last step ? Any ideas please as I am still stumped. Please see the output below.

Code: Select all

root@raspbmc:~# wget --no-check-certificate  https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80256631/8188eu-20130209.tar.gz
--2013-05-08 19:32:09--  https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80256631/8188eu-20130209.tar.gz
Resolving dl.dropboxusercontent.com (dl.dropboxusercontent.com)... 54.225.128.201
Connecting to dl.dropboxusercontent.com (dl.dropboxusercontent.com)|54.225.128.201|:443... connected.
WARNING: The certificate of `dl.dropboxusercontent.com' is not trusted.
WARNING: The certificate of `dl.dropboxusercontent.com' hasn't got a known issuer.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 238327 (233K) [application/x-tar]
Saving to: `8188eu-20130209.tar.gz'

100%[=========================================================================>] 238,327      257K/s   in 0.9s

2013-05-08 19:32:11 (257 KB/s) - `8188eu-20130209.tar.gz' saved [238327/238327]

root@raspbmc:~# tar -zxvf 8188eu-20130209.tar.gz
8188eu.ko
root@raspbmc:~# sudo install -p -m 644 8188eu.ko /lib/modules/3.6.11/kernel/drivers/net/wireless
root@raspbmc:~# sudo depmod -a
root@raspbmc:~# sudo modprobe 8188eu
ERROR: could not insert '8188eu': Exec format error
root@raspbmc:~#

[Lekensteyn]

@pi3g Thanks for the clarification on v1 vs v2. Can you express your experience with these adapters? How well do they perform? There is only one antenna, what performance drop can be expected with two floor levels or some walls? What is the throughput/latency on 5 meter to an access point in clear air?

Sorry for the many questions, hopefully you have time to consider testing these.

People with "Exec format" errors, "disagreement on module version" and other errors related to loading .ko files from the interwebs, consider installing a toolchain and cross-compile the modules for the kernel as used on your Pi.

[lwfinger]

I have received an offer of a free TL-WN725N V2 from user pi3g. In exchange for that, I will be modifying the latest Realtek driver for inclusion in the staging tree of the kernel. In the meantime, I have placed a copy of the source in a git repo at http://github.com/lwfinger/rtl8188eu.git.

This one has the LED and excessive DEBUG message fixes noted in an earlier comment. It will also build correctly for any kernel version, including 3.10.

If bugs are found, please inform me via this thread, or by PM.

Thanks,

Larry

[MrEngman]

Hi, I'm trying to make the WN725N V2 on Xbian, but after following every step of this post, I havent been able to make it run.
If anyone has been able to, please post the steps

Thank you

You will probably have to compile it against the Xbian source.

MrEngman

[MrEngman]

I have received an offer of a free TL-WN725N V2 from user pi3g. In exchange for that, I will be modifying the latest Realtek driver for inclusion in the staging tree of the kernel. In the meantime, I have placed a copy of the source in a git repo at http://github.com/lwfinger/rtl8188eu.git.

This one has the LED and excessive DEBUG message fixes noted in an earlier comment. It will also build correctly for any kernel version, including 3.10.

If bugs are found, please inform me via this thread, or by PM.

Thanks,

Larry

That's a great deal. I've already seen several Linux repositories with that driver included. Copy the source and maybe change one line in three other files. Can't be bad.

MrEngman

[Rendres]

Hi, I'm trying to make the WN725N V2 on Xbian, but after following every step of this post, I havent been able to make it run.
If anyone has been able to, please post the steps

Thank you

You will probably have to compile it against the Xbian source.

MrEngman

Mi problem is that Im nearly a noob so I dont know how to do those steps...
Even though thanks

[MrEngman]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the blog post. I attempted to follow this tonight. I opened an SSH session to my pi running RASPBMC (which I assume is raspian?? ). All commands were issued as root...

I am still however getting the format error on the last step ? Any ideas please as I am still stumped. Please see the output below.

Code: Select all

root@raspbmc:~# wget --no-check-certificate  https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80256631/8188eu-20130209.tar.gz
--2013-05-08 19:32:09--  https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80256631/8188eu-20130209.tar.gz
Resolving dl.dropboxusercontent.com (dl.dropboxusercontent.com)... 54.225.128.201
Connecting to dl.dropboxusercontent.com (dl.dropboxusercontent.com)|54.225.128.201|:443... connected.
WARNING: The certificate of `dl.dropboxusercontent.com' is not trusted.
WARNING: The certificate of `dl.dropboxusercontent.com' hasn't got a known issuer.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 238327 (233K) [application/x-tar]
Saving to: `8188eu-20130209.tar.gz'

100%[=========================================================================>] 238,327      257K/s   in 0.9s

2013-05-08 19:32:11 (257 KB/s) - `8188eu-20130209.tar.gz' saved [238327/238327]

root@raspbmc:~# tar -zxvf 8188eu-20130209.tar.gz
8188eu.ko
root@raspbmc:~# sudo install -p -m 644 8188eu.ko /lib/modules/3.6.11/kernel/drivers/net/wireless
root@raspbmc:~# sudo depmod -a
root@raspbmc:~# sudo modprobe 8188eu
ERROR: could not insert '8188eu': Exec format error
root@raspbmc:~#

You will need to compile it using the raspBMC source. It's not the same as Raspbian.

MrEngman

[MrEngman]

Hi, I'm trying to make the WN725N V2 on Xbian, but after following every step of this post, I havent been able to make it run.
If anyone has been able to, please post the steps

Thank you

You will probably have to compile it against the Xbian source.

MrEngman

Mi problem is that Im nearly a noob so I dont know how to do those steps...
Even though thanks

Take a look at the Xbian forums. They're quite helpful. I'd have a look at it but I'm rather tied up with other stuff at the moment.

MrEngman

[Rendres]

I discovered that my problem appears when I write: sudo modprobe 8188eu, console shows me
"ERROR: could not insert '8188eu': Exec format error.
So I cant install the driver. Does anybody know how to install it? Even I've been looking for in Xbian forums I havent found an answer.

Please help me ! Thanks !!

[Lekensteyn]

I have received an offer of a free TL-WN725N V2 from user pi3g. In exchange for that, I will be modifying the latest Realtek driver for inclusion in the staging tree of the kernel. In the meantime, I have placed a copy of the source in a git repo at http://github.com/lwfinger/rtl8188eu.git.

Great news, your work is appreciated! Can this be expected to end up in the staging tree or drivers/net/wireless/realtek in 3.11?

@Rendres, I have opened an xbian issue related to your problem. You need to build the kernel module yourself, but that is not easy on xbian because you actually need to build the whole xbian kernel again. Their kernel build instructions are incorrect (`sudo cd ..`, really...?). I suggest you to try another kernel (say, from raspbian). Copy /boot/kernel.img and /lib/modules/3.... The initramfs of xbain does not contain kernel modules, so this should be sufficient. (make a backup of the kernel image and modules/3.6.11+ directory by renaming it).

[MrEngman]

For anyone using the TL-WN725N V2 (rtl8188eu driver).

I've been able to make a BerryBoot image that includes the rtl8188eu driver. Allows the BerryBoot GUI to use the TL-WN725N to install new images and whatever. I've used it to install Raspbian, OpenElec and Puppy.

Raspbian came up automatically with the wifi installed - brilliant - but had to go through the network setup in OpenElec and Puppy to get them working. Must say Puppy was a real pain to set up - but I've never used it before.

If you're interested in trying it let me know and I can probably put the image on dropbox for downloading.


MrEngman

[Emerge]

Hi,

thanks all people for support this dongle.

I'm trying to use v2 driver with Openelec 3.0.2 but I can't write filesystem to install the *.ko file:

openelec:~ # install -p -m 644 8188eu.ko /lib/modules/3.6.11/kernel/drivers/net/wireless
install: can't create '/lib/modules/3.6.11/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/8188eu.ko': Read-only file system

Also I have had to modify path from '/lib/modules/3.6.11+/...' to '/lib/modules/3.6.11/...' without + sign.

What can I do?

Thanks!

[MrEngman]

Hi,

thanks all people for support this dongle.

I'm trying to use v2 driver with Openelec 3.0.2 but I can't write filesystem to install the *.ko file:

openelec:~ # install -p -m 644 8188eu.ko /lib/modules/3.6.11/kernel/drivers/net/wireless
install: can't create '/lib/modules/3.6.11/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/8188eu.ko': Read-only file system

Also I have had to modify path from '/lib/modules/3.6.11+/...' to '/lib/modules/3.6.11/...' without + sign.

What can I do?

Thanks!

First when using the install command you need to use sudo - e.g. sudo install ....etc unless you are logged in as root.

HOWEVER, you will also need a driver module that has been compiled for OpenElec 3.0.2 using their kernel source code. A driver compiled for a different image will very likely not be compatible.

The drivers I have compiled are for Raspbian and BerryBoot and will not work with raw OpenElec. Having said that, BerryBoot supports various images including a version of OpenElec and the BerryBoot driver will work with OpenElec installed using Berryboot. This is because an image installed with BerryBoot uses the BerryBoot kernel and not it's own kernel.


MrEngman

[mooselord]

hi MrEngman, I'd be interested in your BerryBoot image with the 8188eu driver preinstalled. Is it just the BerryBoot image? I'm currently broadband "challenged" and don't have a very big pipe to the internet, so a complete image with Raspbian, et al, would probably be too big for me to download.

thanks for your hard work and dedication.