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Re: [LUG] Getting a USB AC68 dongle to work in Mint 19.3

 

On 06/04/2020 20:29, Julian Hall wrote:
(base) julian@CERCE:~$ ifconfig -a
enp0s10: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 192.168.1.2  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 192.168.1.255
        inet6 fe80::1110:fb2e:baa6:2ceb  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        ether 00:19:66:f7:4b:1c  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 100958  bytes 87817528 (87.8 MB)
        RX errors 1  dropped 0  overruns 1  frame 0
        TX packets 61437  bytes 10249154 (10.2 MB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING>  mtu 65536
        inet 127.0.0.1  netmask 255.0.0.0
        inet6 ::1  prefixlen 128  scopeid 0x10<host>
        loop  txqueuelen 1000  (Local Loopback)
        RX packets 12760  bytes 1179933 (1.1 MB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 12760  bytes 1179933 (1.1 MB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

Nothing from wlan0 or whatever Mint has called it.

dmesg -wT output:

[Mon Apr  6 15:44:53 2020] usb 1-1.4: USB disconnect, device number 4 [Unplugged it and got this] [Mon Apr  6 15:45:03 2020] usb 1-1.4: new high-speed USB device number 5 using ehci-pci [plugged back in and got this] [Mon Apr  6 15:45:03 2020] usb 1-1.4: New USB device found, idVendor=0b05, idProduct=1853, bcdDevice= 0.00 [Mon Apr  6 15:45:03 2020] usb 1-1.4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[Mon Apr  6 15:45:03 2020] usb 1-1.4: Product: 802.11ac NIC
[Mon Apr  6 15:45:03 2020] usb 1-1.4: Manufacturer: Realtek
[Mon Apr  6 15:45:03 2020] usb 1-1.4: SerialNumber: 123456 [this genuinely is the serial number]
[Mon Apr  6 15:46:15 2020] usb 1-1.4: USB disconnect, device number 5
[Mon Apr  6 15:46:25 2020] usb 1-1.4: new high-speed USB device number 6 using ehci-pci [Mon Apr  6 15:46:25 2020] usb 1-1.4: New USB device found, idVendor=0b05, idProduct=1853, bcdDevice= 0.00 [Mon Apr  6 15:46:25 2020] usb 1-1.4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[Mon Apr  6 15:46:25 2020] usb 1-1.4: Product: 802.11ac NIC
[Mon Apr  6 15:46:25 2020] usb 1-1.4: Manufacturer: Realtek
[Mon Apr  6 15:46:25 2020] usb 1-1.4: SerialNumber: 123456

I also tried with the device out of the cradle supplied with it. As expected the output was identical as it's essentially just a fancy USB port on the end of a metre lead.

It seems then the system recognises it being plugged in, and identifies it correctly. It just won't use the driver to load it.

This appears to be /why/..

(base) julian@CERCE:~$ dmesg | grep 8812au
[    6.474688] 8812au: loading out-of-tree module taints kernel.
[    6.476208] 8812au: module verification failed: signature and/or required key missing - tainting kernel
[    6.477961] usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8812au
(base) julian@CERCE:~$

I'm guessing that means the kernel doesn't like it so won't allow anything to use it?

Kind regards,

Julian

Hmm.. Mint wanted to update the kernel and headers etc to 4.15.0-96-generic, and seemed to do it, but I spotted this in the middle..

Processing triggers for linux-image-4.15.0-96-generic (4.15.0-96.97) ...
/etc/kernel/postinst.d/dkms:
  * dkms: running auto installation service for kernel 4.15.0-96-generic

Kernel preparation unnecessary for this kernel.  Skipping...

Building module:
cleaning build area...
'make'....(bad exit status: 2)
Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 4.15.0-96-generic (x86_64)
Consult /var/lib/dkms/rtl8814AU/4.3.21/build/make.log for more information.
    ...done.

This is what make.log said:

cc1: some warnings being treated as errors
scripts/Makefile.build:288: recipe for target '/var/lib/dkms/rtl8814AU/4.3.21/build/core/rtw_cmd.o' failed
make[2]: *** [/var/lib/dkms/rtl8814AU/4.3.21/build/core/rtw_cmd.o] Error 1
Makefile:1655: recipe for target '_module_/var/lib/dkms/rtl8814AU/4.3.21/build' failed
make[1]: *** [_module_/var/lib/dkms/rtl8814AU/4.3.21/build] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-5.3.0-45-generic'
Makefile:1699: recipe for target 'modules' failed
make: *** [modules] Error 2


There are still all kinds of things not right here, but no reason to panic and do a reinstall. In no particular order:

The dmesg "tainting kernel" message isn't what you think it is - read it more carefully. The module is tainted because it's out of tree and you built it yourself without properly signing it, hence "tainted". The kernel is complaining about _that_: note in the next lines it clearly tells you it's then loaded it anyway and registered the interface. You would have been better served by googling "tainted module" so you knew what that was first and then doing "lsmod | grep 8812au" to see if it was _actually_loaded instead of jumping to random conclusions about what you _think_ it's telling you...

Another case of "read carefully what the computer is telling you" comes with the dkms build:

Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 4.15.0-96-generic

Quoth the dkms error - note the kernel version 4.15.0-96-generic. However when you then show the log spot the difference:

> make[1]: *** [_module_/var/lib/dkms/rtl8814AU/4.3.21/build] Error 2
> make[1]: Leaving directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-5.3.0-45-generic'

Note the linux-header version "5.3.0-45". What the hell is going on here? I genuinely have no idea how your Mint box is trying to compile for 4.15.0-96 against headers 5.3.0-45 (it's obviously not going to work).

I'm also guessing that you may have followed the commands I gave you but didn't mention that you've done so. Otherwise linux-headers-5.3.0-45-generic has somehow snuck onto your system without you knowing. Do you have the matching kernel to go with it? I'm presuming not otherwise your PC should have booted up from it.

You're in enough of a tangle here that it's getting tricky to even understand what you've done, what you haven't done and why your Mint box is such a mess. There are enough issues here that I would stop whatever you're doing and get to the bottom of it because that machine isn't going to be very happy until you sorted it out.

My advice is to first of all get the kernel sorted out - you _need_ to be on the latest distro supplied 5 series version which is (checks VM) as of today 5.3.0-46-generic. Force install it manually with the correct headers as well:

sudo apt install linux-image-5.3.0-46-generic linux-headers-5.3.0-46 linux-headers-5.3.0-46-generic --reinstall -y

Post any error messages from that, they'll probably be very interesting. DKMS should automatically build the realtek module for the new kernel.

Reboot immediately and make absolutely sure that (i.e., interrupt Grub and specifically check the boot stanzas) you are booting the new 5.3 kernel.

Not going to go any further than that for now because that's probably quite enough for something to go wrong at your end already. Report back when you've got your system up and running cleanly on 5.3.0-46.

Good luck...

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