Sitecom Wireless adapter WLA-2102 not being recognised

[Soeren]

Hi folks,
apparently there is a new USB-device out and not being recognised by the latest updated images.
Similar thread here: http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewt ... om#p265949
where the poster guessed it were compatible to rtl8192cu
I do have those drivers on my RPi, see

sudo ls -DaR | grep rtl8192
rtl8192sfw.bin
rtl8192cfw.bin
rtl8192cfwU_B.bin
rtl8192cfwU.bin
rtl8192cufw.bin
rtl8192defw.bin
rtl8192sefw.bin
rtl8192cu
./lib/modules/3.2.27+/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rtl8192cu:
rtl8192cu
./lib/modules/3.2.27-busware+/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rtl8192cu:
rtl8192cu
./lib/modules/3.2.27-cutdown+/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rtl8192cu:

but it is apparently not being loaded and no wlan0 device creation is being logged in dmesg.

Could anyone help me to add these device IDs
ID 0df6:0070 Sitecom Europe B.V.
to some config file to load rtl8192cu? It might even be the wrong driver, but I would give it a try. I've seen similar files for debian, but was unlucky to find their complements on my RPi image.

Rgds. Soeren.

P.S. Be aware, that the adapters packaging has printed N300 onto it like the wifi adapter on the compat list, but indeed turns out to have different USB VID:DID.

[Spid]

Presuming you are using the 16-12-2012 Raspbian Distro, have you undertaken a full system update ?

Go into Command Prompt and type following pressing enter after each command

sudo su
apt-get update
apt-get dist-upgrade
sync
reboot

after reboot login and at the command prompt

lsusb

should hopefully show adaptor

[Soeren]

Hi Spid & all,

I've followed your advice, but no luck so far.
The adapter shows up as before in lsusb @bus1:dev006

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Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0424:9512 Standard Microsystems Corp.
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0424:ec00 Standard Microsystems Corp.
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 05e3:0608 Genesys Logic, Inc. USB-2.0 4-Port HUB
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 05e3:0608 Genesys Logic, Inc. USB-2.0 4-Port HUB
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 0df6:0070 Sitecom Europe B.V.

but isn't installed as wlan0 device.
That's all I can see in dmesg about the adapter:

Code: Select all

[    3.242379] usb 1-1.3.4.3: new high-speed USB device number 6 using dwc_otg
[    3.354310] usb 1-1.3.4.3: New USB device found, idVendor=0df6, idProduct=0070
[    3.358962] usb 1-1.3.4.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[    3.371927] usb 1-1.3.4.3: Product: 802.11n WLAN Adapter
[    3.374372] usb 1-1.3.4.3: Manufacturer: Realtek
[    3.376758] usb 1-1.3.4.3: SerialNumber: 00e04c000001

What worries me is, that after apt-get unames -a did not change and is still reading:
Linux [xxxx] 3.2.27+ #250 PREEMPT Thu Oct 18 19:03:02 BST 2012 armv6l GNU/Linux
This should be something else, right? Shall I try to set it up complete anew?

Kind regards, Soeren.

[Twiggy]

I am also trying to get this adapter working, thus far no luck.

Any info regarding this particular adapter would be appreciated!

Thanks

[Cloudcentric]

Try the latest version of Raspbian "wheezy" http://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads it has the later 3.6.11+ Kernel and many other changes..

[Soeren]

Hi,

I installed 3.6.11+ a few days ago. 0DF6:0070 is still not recognised.
I have added the USB ID to the generic Realtek driver and compiled it.
Since then I have wlan0 and it connects to the access point. Unfortunately, the connection is unreliable, pings are dropped and dmesg is filled with entries like

Code: Select all

[    6.904100] Chip Version ID: VERSION_NORMAL_TSMC_CHIP_92C.
[    6.910863] RF_Type is 2!!
[    6.915313] EEPROM type is E-FUSE
[    6.919901] ====> ReadAdapterInfo8192C
[    6.925113] Boot from EFUSE, Autoload OK !
[    6.931261] reg 0x32, usb read 1 fail, status:-71 value=0x0, vendorreq_times$
[    6.973279] reg 0x30, usb read 4 fail, status:-71 value=0x0, vendorreq_times$
[    7.018788] reg 0x33, usb read 1 fail, status:-71 value=0x0, vendorreq_times$
[    7.073038] reg 0x33, usb read 1 fail, status:-71 value=0x0, vendorreq_times$
[    7.098924] reg 0x32, usb read 1 fail, status:-71 value=0x0, vendorreq_times$
[    7.144774] EEPROMVID = 0x0df6
[    7.149108] EEPROMPID = 0x0070
[    7.153409] EEPROMCustomerID : 0x00
[    7.158116] EEPROMSubCustomerID: 0x00
[    7.163021] RT_CustomerID: 0x00

plus it's logging every power-save-mode entry.
I might have chosen the wrong chip in the driver, this needs to be confirmed by Sitecom/Realtek, the latter have not answered for a week now, Sitecom was contacted just today.
I'll keep you posted, but if anyone has a better idea meanwhile, let us know.
Rgds. Soeren

[Soeren]

Hi folks,

I managed to get it working. Here are the steps:

- as a prerequisite you should have all stuff installed to compile a kernel and modules.
There's plenty of threads for this in this forum and before I forget sth. please stick to the informations given there.
I used 3.6.11+

Leech the driver for RTL8192CU from Realtek's page and uncompress it.
My version is RTL8188C_8192C_USB_linux_v3.4.4_4749.20121105
You might want to run the install.sh script, which will uncompress the inner archives. Theoretically, after you ran the script you have a full driver module installation by now, but it still won't work because of the missing VID DID, so you just save the time to uncompress everything manually and you'll see, if your compilation environment needs some adjustments to work properly.

Add VID and DID to usb_intf.c in the os_dev/driver as described in the "HowTo_support_more_VidPids" PDF coming with the driver.

Be sure, that you add it in the correct if-section,
/****** 8192CUS Dongle ********/
is the right one.
Your added entry should look like this:

Code: Select all

        {USB_DEVICE(0x0DF6, 0x0070)},//Sitecom - WLA2102 v1

Caution! When you run install.sh from the driver root directory again, your changes might become overwritten by a newly uncompressed archive. You either comment the respective unzip command in the script or you do the rest manually, it's not too complicated.

If you want to see, how your wifi dongle behaves on the system, you can now skip the next section and compile the module. That's where I ended up in my last post, musing about a bucketful of messages in dmesg, which are in fact just debug messages. Anyway, they drove me nuts, so I went to get rid of them. That's what to do next.
In the include directory you will find a file called autoconf.h
Using nano or whatever you want, go nearly to EOF and comment one line out

Code: Select all

//#define CONFIG_DEBUG_RTL819X

That's really it, so simple.
the next steps are

Code: Select all

rmmod -f 8192cu (optional,if you have the module running and a wifi dongle attached)
make clean && make && make install

Reboot or for those who are fans of long uptime counters

Code: Select all

insmod /lib/modules/3.6.11+/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/8192cu.ko

will keep your server running and the USB dongle will be recognised automatically.

You should now have a wlan0 device, when you run iwconfig.

Please follow the existing threads to configure the interface and wpa_supplicant according to your needs.

Have phun, Soeren.

P.S. Looks like one cannot post binaries... I tried to add the ko file for those of you with the same environment, but ended always up with "The uploaded file is empty"... well, bad luck

[frank16]

That helped a lot!

I had some problems in finding the proper headers for 3.6.11+
In the end I found them here:

http://www.gtkdb.de/index_7_2152.html

Also, I had some problems in getting the proper files from the realtek site (somehow I got an old version), make sure you select the driver for rtl8192
Even then it wouldn't download in Midori. I copied the ftp: string from the error I got and downloaded in a shell using the wget command, so:
wget ftp://WebUser:r3iZ6vJI@95.130.192.218/c ... 121105.zip

I also had an issue in finding the headers. This is what I changed in the Makefile:

CONFIG_PLATFORM_I386_PC = n

I made my own entry:
CONFIG_PLATFORM_ARM_raspi = y

then added these lines with the other platforms:
ifeq ($(CONFIG_PLATFORM_A_raspi), y)
EXTRA_CFLAGS += -DCONFIG_LITTLE_ENDIAN
ARCH := arm
CROSS_COMPILE :=
KVER :=
KSRC = /usr/src/linux-headers-3.6.11+
MODDESTDIR = /lib/modules/3.6.11+/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rtl8192cu/
endif


After that it went better.

[Shorack]

Allow me to dig up this topic again.
I did everything you said and it started working. (tyvm!)
But after i reboot, it no longer detects any wlan interface. (i redid the install twice by now)
I did add the module to /etc/modules to boot at startup, but that did not do the trick either.

I tried with a different usb wifi dongle that also required this kind of fiddling (the tp-link wn8200nd) and there i get exactly the same behavior.

So apparently something is not happening at boot that should happen?
Already invested half my weekend on these wifi issues.

*EDIT*
Actually, removing (rmmod) and inserting (insmod) the module after boot works as well instead of reinstalling. Remains a pain in the ... though.

[Soeren]

Hi Shorack,

does the dongle show up in dmesg after the reboot?
Please check my initial post in this thread to compare, what is expected to appear in dmesg.
If the VID:PID is not recognised, please power the hub earlier than the RPi, try another USB hub or attach the dongle directly to the RPi to check, if this behaviour changes.

Best of luck, Soeren.

[FrankieDee]

Hi All,

I have an alternative way to activate the Sitecom Wireless adapter WLA-2102 on Raspberry PI:
First:
echo 'install 8192cu modprobe --ignore-install 8192cu; /bin/echo "0df6 0070" > /sys/bus/usb/drivers/rtl8192cu/new-id' | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/8192cu.conf
Check by:
sudo modprobe -v 8192cu
followed by :
sudo iwconfig
, if everthing works, then:
sudo touch /etc/udev/rules.d/10-wlan_stick.rules
nano /etc/udev/rules.d/10-wlan_stick.rules
Type in:
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="0df6", ATTR{idProduct}=="0070", RUN+="/sbin/modprobe 8192cu"
Save and exit.
Automatically loading the driver during startup:
echo 8192cu | sudo tee -a /etc/modules

That's it, it works for me!!!

[0xd020]

I landed on this topic via Google, so I don't know if it's discussed somewhere else.

Tried this same adapter on the latest Raspbian distro and it worked straight out of the box. Thanks!

And what a difference the external antenna makes.