On Wednesday, 16-10-2024 at 02:27 Lee wrote:
> Hi,
>
> On Mon, Oct 14, 2024 at 7:30 PM George at Clug wrote:
> >
> > Lee,
> >
> > I do not have a solution for you, but as you likely found via Internet
> > searches, you are not alone in having issues with this Realtek
> > device/driver.
> >
> > Like you suggested, I too once installed Linux Mint Ubuntu to a laptop to
> > get over hardware issues.
> >
> > Hopefully the Realtek driver developers will rectify the issue.
>
> It seems like somebody has fixed whatever-it-is because if I boot up
> Ubuntu I don't have any problems with wi-fi.
>
> > All I can suggest is to try backports to get the latest Debian package (but
> > I saw that others have already suggested this):
>
> I'm trying but it's not working for me :(
>
> > If backports is not in your apt sources, then add the following lines:
>
> Backports _is_ in my /etc/apt/sources.list. Unless there's a typo,
> but I'm not seeing it..
>
> root@laptop:/home/lee# cat /etc/apt/sources.list
> #deb cdrom:[Debian GNU/Linux 12.7.0 _Bookworm_ - Official amd64
> NETINST with firmware 20240831-10:38]/ bookworm contrib main
> non-free-firmware
>
> deb https://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main non-free-firmware
> deb-src https://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm main non-free-firmware
>
> deb https://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main
> non-free-firmware
> deb-src https://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security
> main non-free-firmware
>
> # bookworm-updates, to get updates before a point release is made;
> # see
> https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-reference/ch02.en.html#_updates_and_backports
> deb https://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm-updates main non-free-firmware
> deb-src https://deb.debian.org/debian/ bookworm-updates main non-free-firmware
>
> # backports so I can get the latest Realtek wifi drivers
> deb https://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-backports main non-free-firmware
> deb-src https://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-backports main
> non-free-firmware
>
> # This system was installed using small removable media
> # (e.g. netinst, live or single CD). The matching "deb cdrom"
> # entries were disabled at the end of the installation process.
> # For information about how to configure apt package sources,
> # see the sources.list(5) manual.
> root@laptop:/home/lee#
>
> but if I had a typo I should get an error msg or at least a warning??
>
> root@laptop:/home/lee# apt update
> Hit:1 https://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm InRelease
> Get:2 https://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates InRelease [55.4 kB]
> Get:3 https://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security
> InRelease [48.0 kB]
> Get:4 https://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-backports InRelease [59.0 kB]
> Fetched 162 kB in 1s (118 kB/s)
> Reading package lists... Done
> Building dependency tree... Done
> Reading state information... Done
> 6 packages can be upgraded. Run 'apt list --upgradable' to see them.
>
>
> root@laptop:/home/lee# apt search firmware-realtek
> Sorting... Done
> Full Text Search... Done
> firmware-realtek/stable,now 20230210-5 all [installed]
> Binary firmware for Realtek wired/wifi/BT adapters
>
> firmware-realtek-rtl8723cs-bt/stable 20181104-2 all
> Bluetooth firmware for Realtek RTL8723CS
>
> root@laptop:/home/lee#
>
> It seems like I should see the 2024 version of firmware-realtek but no.
>From my own personal experience, Debian backports are not always at the latest
>version, so I am not surprised you did not find "the 2024 version of
>firmware-realtek".
Sadly I don't know of a way to have Debian safely use the latest version for
you to test.
I had an issue with a fairly new RADEON video card, for which I had to use
AMD's Ubuntu drivers in Debian, or install Arch Linux. I was unable to get
Debian drivers to work for this Video card. Maybe by the time Trixie gets into
Stable, my RADEON video card will be supported? I am currently using Arch Linux
on this PC and using it as a test case, until Trixie is released to stable.
If you are able to do this, I could suggest installing Arch Linux (a rolling
distribution that tends to use the latest drivers) as a test. It seemed quite
stable from my usage, however I do favour whatever is the current stable
version of Debian. Just sometimes I have had to use Linux Mint Ubuntu or Arch
Linux to get a particular piece of hardware to work with Linux. I expect if I
was smarter, I would have succeeded in getting Debian to work with my hardware.
If you do try Arch Linux to see if WIFI works well in different rooms, then I
recommend using the archinstall script. Even using archinstall it took me a few
installations before I worked out what to select for the installation. But I
think you may have tried this with Ubuntu already? (and found WIFI works from
all your rooms?) If you have that would be proof the latest version of the
Linux Realtek drivers do work.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Archinstall
(During the archinstall script I added "kde-applications packagekit-qt6 fwupd
firewalld" in the "Additional Packages" step. And when the installation was
complete, I ran "pacman -Syu")
George.
>
> > # apt install -t bookworm-backports firmware-realtek
>
> apt install sees it, so clearly I'm not understanding something fairly
> important :(
>
> root@laptop:/home/lee# apt install -t bookworm-backports firmware-realtek
> Reading package lists... Done
> Building dependency tree... Done
> Reading state information... Done
> The following package was automatically installed and is no longer required:
> linux-image-6.1.0-25-amd64
> Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove it.
> The following additional packages will be installed:
> firmware-intel-graphics firmware-intel-misc firmware-mediatek
> firmware-misc-nonfree firmware-nvidia-graphics
> The following NEW packages will be installed:
> firmware-intel-graphics firmware-intel-misc firmware-mediatek
> firmware-nvidia-graphics
> The following packages will be upgraded:
> firmware-misc-nonfree firmware-realtek
> 2 upgraded, 4 newly installed, 0 to remove and 109 not upgraded.
> Need to get 60.3 MB of archives.
> After this operation, 96.0 MB of additional disk space will be used.
> Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
> Get:1 https://deb.debian.org/debian
> bookworm-backports/non-free-firmware amd64 firmware-misc-nonfree all
> 20240709-2~bpo12+1 [4,249 kB]
> Get:2 https://deb.debian.org/debian
> bookworm-backports/non-free-firmware amd64 firmware-intel-graphics all
> 20240709-2~bpo12+1 [5,208 kB]
> Get:3 https://deb.debian.org/debian
> bookworm-backports/non-free-firmware amd64 firmware-intel-misc all
> 20240709-2~bpo12+1 [322 kB]
> Get:4 https://deb.debian.org/debian
> bookworm-backports/non-free-firmware amd64 firmware-mediatek all
> 20240709-2~bpo12+1 [8,917 kB]
> Get:5 https://deb.debian.org/debian
> bookworm-backports/non-free-firmware amd64 firmware-nvidia-graphics
> all 20240709-2~bpo12+1 [39.5 MB]
> Get:6 https://deb.debian.org/debian
> bookworm-backports/non-free-firmware amd64 firmware-realtek all
> 20240709-2~bpo12+1 [2,163 kB]
> Fetched 60.3 MB in 3s (19.6 MB/s)
> Reading changelogs... Done
> (Reading database ... 135396 files and directories currently installed.)
> Preparing to unpack .../0-firmware-misc-nonfree_20240709-2~bpo12+1_all.deb ...
> Unpacking firmware-misc-nonfree (20240709-2~bpo12+1) over (20230210-5) ...
> Selecting previously unselected package firmware-intel-graphics.
> Preparing to unpack .../1-firmware-intel-graphics_20240709-2~bpo12+1_all.deb
> ...
> Unpacking firmware-intel-graphics (20240709-2~bpo12+1) ...
> Selecting previously unselected package firmware-intel-misc.
> Preparing to unpack .../2-firmware-intel-misc_20240709-2~bpo12+1_all.deb ...
> Unpacking firmware-intel-misc (20240709-2~bpo12+1) ...
> Selecting previously unselected package firmware-mediatek.
> Preparing to unpack .../3-firmware-mediatek_20240709-2~bpo12+1_all.deb ...
> Unpacking firmware-mediatek (20240709-2~bpo12+1) ...
> Selecting previously unselected package firmware-nvidia-graphics.
> Preparing to unpack
> .../4-firmware-nvidia-graphics_20240709-2~bpo12+1_all.deb ...
> Unpacking firmware-nvidia-graphics (20240709-2~bpo12+1) ...
> Preparing to unpack .../5-firmware-realtek_20240709-2~bpo12+1_all.deb ...
> Unpacking firmware-realtek (20240709-2~bpo12+1) over (20230210-5) ...
> Setting up firmware-intel-graphics (20240709-2~bpo12+1) ...
> Setting up firmware-misc-nonfree (20240709-2~bpo12+1) ...
> Setting up firmware-nvidia-graphics (20240709-2~bpo12+1) ...
> Setting up firmware-intel-misc (20240709-2~bpo12+1) ...
> Setting up firmware-mediatek (20240709-2~bpo12+1) ...
> Setting up firmware-realtek (20240709-2~bpo12+1) ...
> <======================= this
> Processing triggers for initramfs-tools (0.142+deb12u1) ...
> update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-6.10.11+bpo-amd64
> Scanning processes...
> Scanning processor microcode...
> Scanning linux images...
>
> Running kernel seems to be up-to-date.
>
> The processor microcode seems to be up-to-date.
>
> No services need to be restarted.
>
> No containers need to be restarted.
>
> No user sessions are running outdated binaries.
>
> No VM guests are running outdated hypervisor (qemu) binaries on this host.
> root@laptop:/home/lee#
>
>
>
> > # export PATH=$PATH:/usr/sbin
> > # update-initramfs -u
>
> looks like "apt install -t ..." did that for me
>
> > # systemctl reboot
> >
> > However if the Debian backports realtek network driver version is still
> > currently faulty, then this will not solve your network issues.
>
> yup.. _something_ is still faulty :(
>
> root@laptop:/home/lee# dmesg | grep 8822 |more
> [ 5.090849] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0003)
> [ 5.101264] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: WOW Firmware version 9.9.4,
> H2C version 15
> [ 5.101386] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: Firmware version 9.9.15, H2C version
> 15
> [ 5.176552] Bluetooth: hci0: RTL: examining hci_ver=0a hci_rev=000c
> lmp_ver=0a lmp_subver=8822
> [ 5.180780] Bluetooth: hci0: RTL: loading rtl_bt/rtl8822cu_fw.bin
> [ 5.185928] Bluetooth: hci0: RTL: loading rtl_bt/rtl8822cu_config.bin
> [ 5.200833] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0 wlp2s0: renamed from wlan0
> [ 59.766737] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: firmware failed to leave lps state
> [ 59.770487] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: failed to send h2c command
> [ 61.774979] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: firmware failed to leave lps state
> [ 63.752576] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: firmware failed to leave lps state
> [ 65.732105] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: firmware failed to leave lps state
> [ 65.735894] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: failed to send h2c command
> [ 67.744341] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: firmware failed to leave lps state
> [ 67.748099] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: failed to send h2c command
> [ 69.725595] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: firmware failed to leave lps state
> [ 71.739514] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: firmware failed to leave lps state
> [ 71.743295] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: failed to send h2c command
> [ 73.721918] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: firmware failed to leave lps state
> [ 75.736617] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: firmware failed to leave lps state
> [ 75.740374] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: failed to send h2c command
> ... etc.
>
> > https://backports.debian.org/Instructions/
> >
> > https://forums.opensuse.org/t/realtek-8822ce-randomly-not-available/175390
> > Realtek 8822ce randomly not available
> >
> > https://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=157874
> > WiFi frequently disconnects. Using rtw8822ce
> >
> > https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=278866
> > [SOLVED] High Wifi Latency with rtw_8822ce
>
> That issue I haven't noticed. If the laptop is within 6 feet of the
> AP it's able to stay connected to wifi.
> with or without the power cord connected
> Take the laptop into a different room and wi-fi is mostly
> non-functional. Again, with or without the power cord connected.
> The laptop gets a DHCP address, says it's connected, etc. but I can't
> ping anything .. including the AP
>
> > https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/rtw-8822ce-wlan-not-working-since-kernel-5-17-turn-off-location-services/62344
> > Rtw_8822ce Wlan not working since Kernel 5.17 | Turn off location services!
> >
> > https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/wifi-keeps-disconnecting-using-rtw-8822ce/100963
> > Wifi keeps disconnecting. Using rtw_8822ce
> >
> > "It seems you have done quite a bit of searching.
> > What you may not have noted is that there are several threads here about
> > problems with the rtw_8822ce driver and the cards it supports (poorly it
> > seems) in linux.
>
> I mostly missed them.. very little of what I've seen was for Debian
>
> > Most seem to have replaced that card for a fix.
>
> With something other than a realtek - correct?
> I _really_ don't want the hassle of using a USB dongle for wifi and
> this laptop doesn't look like _anything_ inside the case is easily
> accessible.
>
> I called Lenovo tech support - they offered to help me get Windows
> reinstalled and troubleshoot from there, but they flat out don't
> support Linux in any way, shape or form.
>
> > I would strongly suggest that you either replace that card or get a second
> > card (maybe even a usb dongle) that is better supported so you do not have
> > to fight with the realtek issues."
>
> You might be right, but I'm not willing to give up just yet.
Er, that is not my suggestion, it was a comment I quoted from link I found from
a Fedora site. I quoted that comment as it seems Debian is not the only
distribution that has issues with that particular RealTek driver. RealTek
hardware and drivers have been an issue to me on many an occasion over the
years, in both Windows and Linux. I prefer to use Intel hardware where
possible, sadly sometimes RealTeck is what is provided and we have no choice.
All the best with your issue, it is a difficult one. Maybe patience and wait
for a fixed RealTek driver to filter down to the current version of Debian
Stable will end up being the solution? But that does not sound like a great
solution.
George.
>
> Thanks
> Lee
>
> >
> >
> >
> > George.
> >
> >
> > On Monday, 14-10-2024 at 22:09 Lee wrote:
> > > I have a Lenovo G3 laptop running Debian 12 with wi-fi that works for
> > > minutes at a time.
> > >
> > > I've tried a lot of suggested changes to /etc/modprobe.d but none have
> > > fix my wi-fi problem.
> > > One post I saw said their laptop worked when they tried Ubuntu Live.
> > > Same here!
> > >
> > > My laptop is set to do a UEFI boot [?? I really don't know the proper
> > > terms].
> > > Is there a "proper" place to get firmware from or should I just get it
> > > off the
> > > Ubuntu USB stick?
> > > And once I get the firmware, what do I have to do to get Debian to use
> > > that instead of
> > > the most probably broken firmware it's using now?
> > >
> > > For comparision, log messages for the wireless card when running
> > > Ubuntu list the firmware
> > > as version 9.9.15
> > >
> > > ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo dmesg | grep -i 8822ce
> > > [ 20.205438] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0003)
> > > [ 20.239352] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: WOW Firmware version 9.9.4,
> > > H2C version 15
> > > [ 20.243721] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: Firmware version 9.9.15, H2C
> > > version 15
> > > [ 20.297759] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0 wlp2s0: renamed from wlan0
> > >
> > > and the log messages when running Debian and wireless is mostly
> > > unusable show the
> > > firmware as 9.9.14
> > >
> > > ----- Debian
> > > [ 4.206179] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0003)
> > > [ 4.208338] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: firmware: direct-loading
> > > firmware rtw88/rtw8822c_wow_fw.bin
> > > [ 4.208346] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: Firmware version 9.9.4, H2C
> > > version 15
> > > [ 4.208366] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: firmware: direct-loading
> > > firmware rtw88/rtw8822c_fw.bin
> > > [ 4.208368] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: Firmware version 9.9.14, H2C
> > > version 15
> > > [ 4.326996] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0 wlp2s0: renamed from wlan0
> > >
> > > I don't know if there's some other difference, but it'd be nice to see
> > > if just upgrading to
> > > Firmware version 9.9.15 fixes my wifi. But how to do that?
> > >
> > > TIA
> > > Lee
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
