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I am trying to change my WiFi driver, per suggestions here. I found this repository that claims to have what I want. Upon running the install script, everything goes well, except for the last step, where it uses modinfo to check if the new drivers are being used. It says that the old driver is still being used.

After some investigation, I found that modinfo is the source of the script's report. I found that I now have two drivers with the same name, only one of which I want to use. They are located at:

The old one:

/lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtlwifi/rtlwifi.ko

and the new one:

/lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rtlwifi/rtlwifi.ko

modinfo is reporting the old one, and I am trying to use the new one instead. The man page for modinfo just says that it searches for the file name in /lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic. If I pass the more specific location, it can be made to find either driver.

I imagine that this means that the new driver is not being used, and I would like to change that. I have looked up some solutions, but they tend to include phrases like "you could end up with an unbootable system," so I have not fiddled too much. I am far from an expert on drivers...

So my question is: how do I get the new driver working in a situation like this?

In response to comments:

sudo modprobe -rv rtl8192ce

yields

rmmod rtl8192ce rmmod rtl8192c_common rmmod rtl_pci rmmod rtlwifi rmmod mac80211 rmmod cfg80211

and

sudo modprobe -v rtl8192ce

yields

insmod /lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/kernel/net/wireless/cfg80211.ko insmod /lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/kernel/net/mac80211/mac80211.ko insmod /lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtlwifi/rtlwifi.ko insmod /lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtlwifi/rtl8192c/rtl8192c-common.ko insmod /lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtlwifi/rtl_pci.ko insmod /lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtlwifi/rtl8192ce/rtl8192ce.ko ips=0 fwlps=0 swenc=1

Incidentally, running those commands killed the wifi, necessitating a reboot (this is probably a manifestation of the issue I was trying to solve by changing drivers?).

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5
  • What is the output of modprobe -rv rtl8192ce and modprobe -v rtl8192ce? please edit here Commented Nov 18, 2017 at 21:32
  • I added the info in an edit. Commented Nov 18, 2017 at 21:44
  • Remove the firmware-realtek package then run modprobe -rv rtl8192ce Commented Nov 18, 2017 at 21:55
  • Does the output of modprobe -rv rtl8192ce changed? Commented Nov 18, 2017 at 22:00
  • I tried removing firmware-realtek using apt (I am running Ubuntu), and it did not find anything. Also, "locate firmware-realtek" did not return anything. Any hints on where else I could be looking for that package? Commented Nov 18, 2017 at 22:08

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

To load the kernel modules installed from the git repo:

unload the modules :

sudo modprobe -rv rtl8192ce

Load the modules from

/lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rtlwifi/:

sudo insmod /lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/kernel/net/wireless/cfg80211.ko sudo insmod /lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/kernel/net/mac80211/mac80211.ko sudo insmod /lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rtlwifi/rtlwifi.ko sudo insmod /lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rtlwifi/rtl8192c/rtl8192c-common.ko sudo insmod /lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rtlwifi/rtl_pci.ko sudo insmod /lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rtlwifi/rtl8192ce/rtl8192ce.ko ips=0 fwlps=0 swenc=1
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  • I followed this advice, and it might have worked, but I am not sure. Bumps: - changed to _ in rtl8192c-common.ko and rtl_pci.ko did not exist. The internet turned on and off when I did this and is working. Modinfo still reports the old driver. I'll try restarting to see if that changes anything. Should the changes you suggested be persistent across reboots? Commented Nov 18, 2017 at 22:33
  • Same thing happened after a reboot. I'm assuming that this means that modinfo is not the correct way to tell what driver is being used in this case? Commented Nov 18, 2017 at 22:46
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    @ZachBoyd and modinfo /lib/modules/4.13.0-16-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rtlwifi/rtl8192ce/rtl8192ce.ko it will show you the required info about the new kernel module. Commented Nov 18, 2017 at 22:48
  • That gives the new driver, as expected. When I do modinfo rtl8192ce, if gives the old one. Commented Nov 18, 2017 at 22:56
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    I agree. Eventually I decided to make the old driver a sym link to the new one and put your answer in a startup script, which fixed most of the issues. Modinfo is still not working but this is not a big deal. Thanks for your help! Commented Nov 19, 2017 at 21:13

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