Netgear AC600 WiFi not working on Bela

mpc

Hi I'm trying to upgrade my WiFi dongle from RTLINK RT5370 to instead use the Netgear AC600 for better performance. I've installed the required linux drivers and I know that the network is setup properly (I've been successfully using it with the RTLink dongle for a while). Unfortunately when using the Netgear AC600, the network no longer shows up on my laptop to connect. I've double checked the network settings on Bela which all is correct and nothing has been altered. So I was bit perplexed. When calling ip a in the terminal I get the following:

RTLINK (Ralink Technology, Corp. RT5370 Wireless Adapter):

wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 1c:bf:ce:bf:47:7c brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 192.168.30.1/24 brd 192.168.30.255 scope global wlan0
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 fe80::1ebf:ceff:febf:477c/64 scope link 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

NETGEAR A600:

 wlan0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 38:94:ed:bd:cd:1c brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 192.168.30.1/24 brd 192.168.30.255 scope global wlan0
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

So it's clear that the Netgear AC600 isn't functioning as intended from the output. I thought maybe some of the settings need altering within the /etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf file. The current content of this file (network name and password have been removed for this post) can be seen below:

        interface=wlan0
        hw_mode=g
        channel=1
        wmm_enabled=1
        ssid=write_network_name_here
        auth_algs=1
        wpa=2
        wpa_passphrase=password_to_network
        wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
        rsn_pairwise=CCMP
        ieee80211d=1
        country_code=DK
        ieee80211n=1

Any suggestions for what might be causing the issue?

giuliomoro

I think we have seen this before ... see if the hint here helps: https://forum.bela.io/d/546-wifi-dongle/39

basically, it would seem that the driver broke hostapd at some point and you may need an earlier version of the driver ...

mpc

giuliomoro

Ah ok thanks Giulio, I'll give this a try.

I originally installed it with the following command: ssh root@192.168.7.2 "cd rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux && make ARCH=arm && make ARCH=arm install".

Just to clarify I can use the following command:

cd rtl8812AU_rtl8821AU_linux
sudo make uninstall

to completely remove the previous version from the system?

mpc

giuliomoro

A quick update, I tried instead installing the linux driver from a different repository: https://github.com/morrownr/8821au

This seems to have worked better as it is now showing:

wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 38:94:ed:bd:cd:1c brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 192.168.30.1/24 brd 192.168.30.255 scope global wlan0
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 fe80::3a94:edff:febd:cd1c/64 scope link 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

Unfortunately though the network does not show up on my laptop unless I enter the following commands: ifdown wlan1; ifup wlan1;. After the network shows on my laptop it cannot connect to it. Then the network disappears (from the list on my laptop). With the other wifi dongle the network shows up soon after the Bela boots up and my laptop is able to connect to it.

I'll come back to this soon and try another approach. It is quite difficult to know which version in the rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux github repository will make it function correctly.

giuliomoro

mpc I'll come back to this soon and try another approach. It is quite difficult to know which version in the rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux github repository will make it function correctly.

According to the last post in the linked thread, the following worked on Bela Image v0.3.7.b :

rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux-4d1726146fd96552c9fa5af05c75187027d6885b

To get that version you should - inside the folder - do git checkout 4d1726146fd96552c9fa5af05c75187027d6885b , followed by the usual build and install procedure

mpc

giuliomoro

Thanks Giulio, I'll have a look at it again on the weekend and hopefully get it functioning.

giuliomoro To get that version you should - inside the folder - do git checkout 4d1726146fd96552c9fa5af05c75187027d6885b

Ok great, this will save me a lot of time trying to find it.

I'll give this a try as it will be good to use a version of the driver that is known to work. I think my bela image is the one that come after v0.3.7.b but will double check.

giuliomoro

mpc I think my bela image is the one that come after v0.3.7.b but will double check.

v0.3.8 has a newer kernel. Let's hope the driver still works!

mpc

giuliomoro v0.3.8 has a newer kernel. Let's hope the driver still works!

The bela image I'm currently using is v0.3.8rc3, 14 May 2020. As I remember being advised to install it back then to resolve an issue I had. I'm just going through this now so will let you know how it goes.

mpc

giuliomoro

So it seems that this driver does not work with v0.3.8. I tried the following procedure:

root@bela:~/rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux# git checkout 4d1726146fd96552c9fa5af05c75187027d6885b
Note: checking out '4d1726146fd96552c9fa5af05c75187027d6885b'.

You are in 'detached HEAD' state. You can look around, make experimental
changes and commit them, and you can discard any commits you make in this
state without impacting any branches by performing another checkout.

If you want to create a new branch to retain commits you create, you may
do so (now or later) by using -b with the checkout command again. Example:

  git checkout -b <new-branch-name>

HEAD is now at 4d17261... Add USB Device T4U AC1300 with 2357:0115 (#274)
root@bela:~/rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux# make ARCH=arm && make ARCH=arm install

I'm not too sure if it specifically installed that version but I'm assuming it did based on the fact it mentions that the HEAD is now at that version. The driver proceeds to install and after reboot. I tried the following to check:

root@bela:~# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 0781:5571 SanDisk Corp. Cruzer Fit
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 0846:9052 NetGear, Inc. A6100 AC600 DB Wireless Adapter [Realtek RTL8811AU]
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 2109:2813 VIA Labs, Inc. 
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
root@bela:~# ip a
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 ::1/128 scope host 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: eth0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/ether a8:10:87:c2:4c:54 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
4: usb0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether be:1a:87:c2:4c:56 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 192.168.6.2/24 brd 192.168.6.255 scope global usb0
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 fe80::bc1a:87ff:fec2:4c56/64 scope link 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
5: usb1: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether be:1a:87:c2:4c:59 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 192.168.7.2/24 brd 192.168.7.255 scope global usb1
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 fe80::bc1a:87ff:fec2:4c59/64 scope link 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
6: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 38:94:ed:bd:cd:1c brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 192.168.30.1/24 brd 192.168.30.255 scope global wlan0
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 fe80::3a94:edff:febd:cd1c/64 scope link 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
root@bela:~# ifdown wlan0; ifup wlan0 --verbose

ifup: configuring interface wlan0=wlan0 (inet)
/bin/run-parts --exit-on-error --verbose /etc/network/if-pre-up.d
run-parts: executing /etc/network/if-pre-up.d/hostapd
hostapd: /usr/sbin/hostapd -B -P /run/hostapd.wlan0.pid /etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf
Configuration file: /etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf
wlan0: interface state UNINITIALIZED->COUNTRY_UPDATE
run-parts: executing /etc/network/if-pre-up.d/wireless-tools
run-parts: executing /etc/network/if-pre-up.d/wpasupplicant
/bin/ip addr add 192.168.30.1/255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.30.255 	  dev wlan0 label wlan0
/bin/ip link set dev wlan0   up

/bin/run-parts --exit-on-error --verbose /etc/network/if-up.d
run-parts: executing /etc/network/if-up.d/avahi-daemon
run-parts: executing /etc/network/if-up.d/openssh-server
run-parts: executing /etc/network/if-up.d/upstart
run-parts: executing /etc/network/if-up.d/wpasupplicant
root@bela:~#

Upon using the final command ifdown wlan0; ifup wlan0 --verbose the network shows up to connect to from the laptop but unfortunately fails to connect or assign the address for the laptop which would be 192.168.30.2 in this case.