WiFI card not working or not found

Support Driver and Hardware
1

HI, I’m new to parrot and installing drivers so I’m a bit disoriented to this.
I can’t figure out why mi WiFi card isn’t detected on my laptop with dual boot, on WIndows 11 it works perfectly.

Laptop:
Gateway GWNR71517-BL

Parrot version:
VERSION_ID=“5.2”
VERSION=“5.2 (Electro Ara)”
VERSION_CODENAME=ara

Kernel version:
6.0.0-12parrot1-amd64

Tried to use this command to check its name but does not appear

inxi -F

and got this output

Network:
  Message: No PCI device data found.
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8153 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter type: USB driver: r8152
  IF: enx44ed570011bb state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full
    mac: 44:ed:57:00:11:bb
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Realtek 802.11ac NIC type: USB driver: btusb
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 state: up address: B8:4D:43:7B:55:5B bt-v: 2.1

enx44ed570011bb is an Ethernet adapter i bought to plug to internet

Researching a bit, I discovered that some chipsets include WiFi and Bluetooth in the same device, but I do not know if that is the problem

2

Hi, the best inxi for determining your network is inxi -Nn
ensure if you are using external adaptors, they are plugged in run inxi -Nn and paste back the results,

[I am expecting to see a RTL88**** series wi-fi adaptor, if correct you will need to download the correct drivers and install them]

1 Like
3

Brian, you are indeed correct, that model does have an realtek adapter…

First thing is to sort out the build environment;

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install make gcc linux-headers-$(uname -r) build-essential git

Then follow this;

1 Like
4

Hi Fred
I find the 88*** series the worse, you have to get the right driver from gilt hub there are subtle differences depending on the letters that follows the chip number.

5

That repo has them all rolled up together, and it is up to date, quite a simple build set up.

I have had Macs for years, so Linux and Broadcom have always been a pain point, so I find Realtek set up quite straight forward by comparison, at least the Realtek WiFi firmware is already in the latest Linux v 6.0 kernels!

I don’t need them, but I downloaded the gateway drivers pack and had a look in the wireless drivers .ini files to see what chipset was in it, and it could be one of about 3, but that repo will work for all of them.

1 Like
6

HI, Brian.

Sorry for late response.

Here are the results for the given command:

Network:
 Message: No PCI device data found.
 Device-1: Realtek RTL8153 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter type: USB driver: r8152
 IF: enx44ed570011bb state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full
  mac: 44:ed:57:00:11:bb
 Device-2: Realtek 802.11ac NIC type: USB driver: btusb

Maybe is obvious, but I need to make an emphasis again on Device-1 which is an external adapter

7

Hi, Fred.

I followed the steps you gave, and WiFI card works now, but it sometimes “randomly” disconnects from it to finally disconnect permanently and not giving options to connect again

This is the output for inxi -Nn now:

Network:
  Message: No PCI device data found.
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8153 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter type: USB driver: r8152
  IF: enx44ed570011bb state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full
    mac: 44:ed:57:00:11:bb
  Device-2: Realtek 802.11ac NIC type: USB driver: btusb

I tried to make install the drivers again and WiFI backed to work after that and reboot, but the final results were the same.

It seems it went undetected again.

8

For wireless, this;

Device-2: Realtek 802.11ac NIC type: USB driver: btusb

looks like a combined WiFi and Bluetooth adapter, so you will may need to disable Bluetooth for it to be stable on WiFi… however random disconnects are, in my experience, usually a driver or firmware issue on any platform, Linux just tends to be worse, as the drivers are often reverse engineered from closed source.

For an internal WiFi card;

lspci

Will tell you what chipset you have, and if a USB adapter;

lsusb

Will do the same, then we can check which drivers may be best. Make sure you have all the needed firmware installed;

sudo apt install firmware-realtek

One other thing to note too, many USB plug in adapters have a ‘virtual CD’ that gets seen by Windblows when it’s plugged in to install any drivers needed, obviously this is not needed by Linux, but it does sometimes cause issues…

To solve that issue, if it is there, you need to install usb mode switcher…

sudo apt install usb-modeswitch usb-modeswitch-data

Then using your lsusb info (I’ve shown only the relevant data for one of my own adapters below)

lsusb
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 0e8d:7612 MediaTek Inc. MT7612U 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wireless Adapter

Find your own adapter in list, ID is 2 x 4 digit codes separated by a colon : these are the -v (vendor) and -p (product) ID codes, make a note of these.

change -v {your device} and -p {your device} to your own in the format below;

Comfast / Mediatek example model MT7612U adapter

sudo usb_modeswitch -K -W -v 0e8d -p 7612

Realtek example model 9271 adapter

sudo usb_modeswitch -K -W -v 0cf3 -p 9271

This will disable the virtual CD and stop it from trying to launch.
I hope this helps!

2 Likes
9

Sadly, nothing worked.

The first thing i thought was that Bluetooth was interfering with WiFi, so its has been disabled all this time. I disabled by OS GUI.

I’m pretty sure it’s no pci, but i’ll show the results for not going on a mistake.

lspci resluts:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Root Complex
00:00.2 IOMMU: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 IOMMU
00:01.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-1fh) PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
00:08.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 00h-1fh) PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
00:08.1 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Internal PCIe GPP Bridge 0 to Bus A
00:08.2 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Internal PCIe GPP Bridge 0 to Bus B
00:14.0 SMBus: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SMBus Controller (rev 61)
00:14.3 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH LPC Bridge (rev 51)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Device 24: Function 0
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Device 24: Function 1
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Device 24: Function 2
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Device 24: Function 3
00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Device 24: Function 4
00:18.5 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Device 24: Function 5
00:18.6 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Device 24: Function 6
00:18.7 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2 Device 24: Function 7
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Picasso (rev c1)
01:00.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Raven/Raven2/Fenghuang HDMI/DP Audio Controller
01:00.2 Encryption controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 10h-1fh) Platform Security Processor
01:00.3 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven USB 3.1
01:00.4 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven USB 3.1
01:00.5 Multimedia controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2/FireFlight/Renoir Audio Processor
01:00.6 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 10h-1fh) HD Audio Controller
02:00.0 SATA controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 61)

lsusb results:

Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 003: ID 0bda:c820 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. 802.11ac NIC
Bus 003 Device 004: ID 2808:9338 Focal-systems.Corp FT9201Fingerprint.̚
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 05e3:0608 Genesys Logic, Inc. Hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0bda:8153 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8153 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0edc:5830 HRY USB Camera
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0000:3825   USB OPTICAL MOUSE
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0bda:0129 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTS5129 Card Reader Controller
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hu

So, my adapter is USB, as you stated.

Bus 003 Device 003: ID 0bda:c820 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. 802.11ac NIC

Also, seems I have the needed firmware installed and usb nodeswitch:

sudo apt install firmware-realtek results:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
firmware-realtek is already the newest version (20210818-1).
firmware-realtek set to manually installed.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

sudo apt install usb-modeswitch usb-modeswitch-data results:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
usb-modeswitch is already the newest version (2.6.1-1).
usb-modeswitch set to manually installed.
usb-modeswitch-data is already the newest version (20191128-3).
usb-modeswitch-data set to manually installed.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgrade

Checking about the virtual CD, and based on my adapter data, i got this error:

adapter data;

Bus 003 Device 003: ID 0bda:c820 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. 802.11ac NIC

sudo usb_modeswitch -K -W -v 0bda -p c820 results:

Take all parameters from the command line


 * usb_modeswitch: handle USB devices with multiple modes
 * Version 2.6.1 (C) Josua Dietze 2017
 * Based on libusb1/libusbx

 ! PLEASE REPORT NEW CONFIGURATIONS !

DefaultVendor=  0x0bda
DefaultProduct= 0xc820

StandardEject=1

Look for default devices ...
  found USB ID 1d6b:0003
  found USB ID 0bda:c820
   vendor ID matched
   product ID matched
  found USB ID 2808:9338
  found USB ID 05e3:0608
  found USB ID 1d6b:0002
  found USB ID 0bda:8153
   vendor ID matched
  found USB ID 1d6b:0003
  found USB ID 0edc:5830
  found USB ID 0000:3825
  found USB ID 0bda:0129
   vendor ID matched
  found USB ID 1d6b:0002
 Found devices in default mode (1)
Access device 003 on bus 003
Get the current device configuration ...
Current configuration number is 1
Use interface number 0
 with class 224
Error: can't use storage command in MessageContent with interface 0; interface class is 224, expected 8. Abort

Thanks for helping.

EDIT: WiFI intensity also tends to vary from 50% to 80% when I’m close to my router/modem and connection is very slow. This does not happen on WIndows 11

10 
Bus 003 Device 003: ID 0bda:c820 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. 802.11ac NIC

that device ID c820 is a generic device ID not an actual hardware ID it should be ‘all numbers’ for the last bit…

lsusb -v

is the verbose output, it will be more to look through, but should give you more information.
that generic ID does mean it needs to be modeswitched, but we need an actual chipset ID for that to be successful.

I have been there with many Realtek chipsets and Linux, thats how I know thats not a ‘real’ ID

Thje best repo I know of for Realtek linux drivers is

and in that repo I suspect this is the most likely candidate for your system in that out of kernel drivers list;

Not to mention Nick makes it easy to install or remove as he has a set up shell script, so you just need to follow the instructions he gives.

1 Like
11

Hi again, Fred, and huge thanks for helping.

It finally worked with no more problems. The last driver did solve the all the issues, such as speed and connectivity.

I have one doubt; now the adapter shows two drivers. Doing a research, I found that btusb is for bluetooth and rtl8821cu is for WiFI, is that correct?

And if it not, should I disable btusb?

Network:
  Message: No PCI device data found.
  Device-1: Realtek 802.11ac NIC type: USB driver: btusb,rtl8821cu
  IF: wlx20579e49c8ab state: up mac: 20:57:9e:49:c8:ab

Again, thanks for all the help.

12

I said I expected a RtL88*** series yes that is the wi-fi

2 Likes
13

Bluetooth and Wifi should happily coexist, the WiFi adapter is designed to suport both tyogether, and if its working properly, then no need to disable anything. Glad its sorted now.

1 Like
14

I was having this issue and after beating my head against a wall and trying basically everything I googled I finally stumbled upon[ what fixed it for me.

Download the full linux-firmware driver folder from the Linux Git Kernel Website](kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git - Repository of firmware blobs for use with the Linux kernel)

Once I downloaded it I opened file manager as admin with the following command: su -c “nautilus” :open file manager as admin

Then copying and pasting the contents of the folder into lib/firmware - I skipped all the duplicate files so only what was missing was installed.

I know this may sound round about to those that actually know what they’re doing haha. But it’s not stupid if it works!

15

I meant to say as well that I needed to do this because for some reason Parrot (or through operator error) did not fully download firmware packages. It turned out wifi didn’t work for me because the drivers it was looking for were missing.

16

If you have the same wi-fi [rtl88** series] then it’s best to download them from GitHub and get the exact ones you need

17

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