Realtek RTL8180, RTL8185, RTL8187, RTL8187B, RTL8187SE devices
This page describes how to enable support for WiFi devices based on Realtek 802.11b/g chipsets on Debian systems.
Contents
Drivers
rtl-wifi is a project to develop drivers for Realtek wireless LAN chipsets, a fork of the rtl8180-sa2400 project. These drivers were introduced into the mainline Linux kernel at various stages.
The driver modules are:
rtl8180 (PCI devices) - supported devices
- Support for RTL8180 chipsets was introduced in Linux 2.6.25.
- Support for RTL8185 chipsets was introduced in Linux 2.6.25.
rtl8187 (USB devices) - suported devices
- Support for RTL8187 chipsets was introduced in Linux 2.6.23.
- Support for some RTL8187B chipsets was introduced in Linux 2.6.27.
The RTL8187SE chipset is not supported by the project at this time. An experimental vendor driver is available, which is included in the mainline Linux kernel since 2.6.29-rc1. It is present in Debian kernel images since 2.6.29.1
Realtek 802.11n devices are supported by different drivers.
Installation
Lenny users:
For RTL8187B chipset support, install a backported kernel image package from Debian Backports. Restart your system with this kernel before continuing.
Etch users:
For RTL8180 and RTL8185 chipset support, install a 2.6.26 kernel from Debian Backports. Once your sources are configured: apt-cache search linux-image-2.6.26 and install a package appropriate for your system. Restart your system with this kernel before continuing.
For RTL8187 chipset support, install an EtchAndAHalf kernel: apt-cache search linux-image-2.6- | grep etchnhalf and install a package appropriate for your system. Restart your system with this kernel before continuing.
Install the wireless-tools package:
$ su # aptitude update && aptitude install wireless-tools
- If your device uses USB or PC Card (PCMCIA), physically connect it to your system.
The necessary kernel module should be automatically loaded. If necessary, it can be manually loaded via either:
# modprobe rtl8180
or
# modprobe rtl8187
Verify your device has an available interface:
# iwconfig
Raise the interface to activate the radio, for example:
# ifconfig wlan0 up
Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.
Supported Devices
rtl8180
The page HowToIdentifyADevice/PCI explains how to identify a PCI device.
The following list is based on the alias fields of modinfo rtl8180 in Debian 2.6.26 kernel images.
PCI: 10EC:8180 Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8180L 802.11b MAC PCI: 10EC:8185 Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8185 IEEE 802.11a/b/g Wireless LAN Controller PCI: 1186:3300 D-Link System Inc DWL-510 2.4GHz Wireless PCI Adapter PCI: 1799:6001 Belkin Wireless PCI Card - F5D6001 PCI: 1799:6020 Belkin Wireless PCMCIA Card - F5D6020 PCI: 1799:700F Belkin (Device name unknown) PCI: 1799:701F Belkin (Device name unknown)
rtl8187
The page HowToIdentifyADevice/USB explains how to identify a USB device.
The following list is based on the alias fields of modinfo rtl8187 in Debian 2.6.26 kernel images.
USB: 03F0:CA02 Hewlett-Packard (Device name unknown) USB: 0846:6100 NetGear, Inc. (Device name unknown) USB: 0846:6A00 NetGear, Inc. WG111v2 54 Mbps Wireless [RealTek RTL8187L] USB: 0BDA:8187 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8187 Wireless Adapter USB: 0DF6:000D Sitecom Europe B.V. WL-168 Wireless Network Adapter 54g
The following list is based on the alias fields of modinfo rtl8187 in Debian 2.6.32 kernel images.
USB: 03F0:CA02 Hewlett-Packard (Device name unknown) USB: 050D:705E Belkin Components F5D7050 Wireless G Adapter v5000 [Realtek RTL8187B] USB: 0769:11F2 Surecom Technology Corp. EP-9001-g 802.11g 54M WLAN Adapter USB: 0789:010C Logitec Corp. Realtek RTL8187 Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps Network Adapter USB: 0846:4260 NetGear, Inc. WG111v3 54 Mbps Wireless [realtek RTL8187B] USB: 0846:6100 NetGear, Inc. (Device name unknown) USB: 0846:6A00 NetGear, Inc. WG111v2 54 Mbps Wireless [RealTek RTL8187L] USB: 0B05:171D ASUSTek Computer, Inc. (Device name unknown) USB: 0BDA:8187 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8187 Wireless Adapter USB: 0BDA:8189 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8187B Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps Network Adapter USB: 0BDA:8197 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8187B Wireless Adapter USB: 0BDA:8198 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8187B Wireless Adapter USB: 0DF6:000D Sitecom Europe B.V. WL-168 Wireless Network Adapter 54g USB: 0DF6:0028 Sitecom Europe B.V. (Device name unknown) USB: 0DF6:0029 Sitecom Europe B.V. (Device name unknown) USB: 114B:0150 Sphairon Access Systems GmbH Turbolink UB801RE Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps Network Adapter [RTL8187] USB: 1371:9401 CNet Technology Inc. CWD-854 Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps Network Adapter [RTL8187] USB: 13D1:ABE6 A-Max Technology Macao Commercial Offshore Co. Ltd. Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps Network Adapter [RTL8187] USB: 1737:0073 Linksys WUSB54GC v2 802.11g Adapter [Realtek RTL8187B] USB: 18E8:6232 Qcom Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps Network Adapter [RTL8187] USB: 1B75:8187 Ovislink Corp. (Device name unknown)
RTL8187SE
The Realtek RTL8187SE is an IEEE 802.11b/g single-chip wireless LAN integrated circuit, with a PCI Express interface. This can be found in the Asus EeePC 701SD.
A driver from Realtek is available for initial device support on Linux systems. This is included in the mainline Linux kernel since 2.6.29-rc1. It is present in Debian kernel images since 2.6.29.
The vendor driver is experimental. Expect stability, performance and/or latency issues.
Installation
Lenny
Add the Debian Backports repository to /etc/apt/sources.list, for example:
# Backported packages for Debian Lenny deb http://backports.debian.org/debian lenny-backports main
Update the list of available packages:
# aptitude update
Install a 2.6.32 kernel image appropriate for your system, along with the wireless-tools package. For example:
# aptitude -t lenny-backports install linux-image-2.6-$(uname -r | sed 's,.*-,,') wireless-tools
- Restart your system and boot with the newly installed kernel.
The necessary kernel module should be automatically loaded. If necessary, it can be manually loaded via:
$ su # modprobe rtl8187se
Verify your device has an available interface:
# iwconfig
Raise the interface to activate the radio, for example:
# ifconfig wlan0 up
Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.
Squeeze
Install the wireless-tools package:
$ su # aptitude update && aptitude install wireless-tools
The necessary kernel module should be automatically loaded. If necessary, it can be manually loaded via:
# modprobe rtl8187se
Verify your device has an available interface:
# iwconfig
Raise the interface to activate the radio, for example:
# ifconfig wlan0 up
Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.
Supported Devices
The page HowToIdentifyADevice/PCI explains how to identify a PCI device.
The following list is based on the alias fields of modinfo rtl8187se in Debian 2.6.32 kernel images.
PCI: 10EC:8199 Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8187SE Wireless LAN Controller
See Also
External Links
http://rtl-wifi.sf.net/ - project homepage
http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/rtl8187 - driver page on Linux Wireless
http://rtl8180-sa2400.sf.net/ - old project homepage