r8188eu firmware fail from piCore5.2a1 to Core5.2.1?

[mcdudeabides]

I have an existing piCore5.2alpha1 image that is able to boot the TP-Link WN725n (Realtek r8188eu firmware) USB NIC.

Code: [Select]

tc@TestPlayer:~$ uname -a
Linux TestPlayer 3.12.9-piCore #1 PREEMPT Sun Feb 9 09:42:09 CET 2014 armv6l GNU/Linux
tc@TestPlayer:~$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0424:9512 Standard Microsystems Corp. SMC9512/9514 USB Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0424:ec00 Standard Microsystems Corp. SMSC9512/9514 Fast Ethernet Adapter
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0bda:8179 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8188EUS 802.11n Wireless Network Adapter
tc@TestPlayer:~$ lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by    Tainted: G
snd_soc_hifiberry_dac     2091  0
snd_soc_pcm5102a        1390  1
bcm2708_dmaengine       5104  1
virt_dma                2021  1 bcm2708_dmaengine
snd_usb_audio       


  116218  0
snd_usbmidi_lib        18720  1 snd_usb_audio
snd_rawmidi            20133  1 snd_usbmidi_lib
snd_seq_device          6034  1 snd_rawmidi
snd_hwdep               5917  1 snd_usb_audio
snd_bcm2835            16116  1
r8188eu               794215  0
snd_soc_wm8804          7692  0
snd_soc_bcm2708_i2s     5486  2
snd_soc_core          115066  4 snd_soc_hifiberry_dac,snd_soc_pcm5102a,snd_soc_wm8804,snd_soc_bcm2708_i2s
snd_pcm_dmaengine       4564  1 snd_soc_core
snd_pcm                74840  6 snd_soc_hifiberry_dac,snd_usb_audio,snd_bcm2835,snd_soc_core,snd_pcm_dmaengine
snd_page_alloc          4680  1 snd_pcm
snd_timer              19270  1 snd_pcm
snd_compress            7974  1 snd_soc_core
snd                    56397 11 snd_usb_audio,snd_usbmidi_lib,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device,snd_hwdep,snd_bcm2835,snd_soc_core,snd_pcm,snd_timer,snd_compress
regmap_i2c              1522  2 snd_soc_wm8804,snd_soc_core
regmap_spi              1778  2 snd_soc_wm8804,snd_soc_core
regmap_mmio             2673  1 snd_soc_bcm2708_i2s


dmesg output

Code: [Select]

[    2.125169] usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 2 using dwc_otg
[    2.125368] Indeed it is in host mode hprt0 = 00001101
[    2.405606] usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=0424, idProduct=9512
[    2.405640] usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=0, SerialNumber=0
[    2.406660] hub 1-1:1.0: USB hub found
[    2.406964] hub 1-1:1.0: 3 ports detected
[    2.685265] usb 1-1.1: new high-speed USB device number 3 using dwc_otg
[    2.785780] usb 1-1.1: New USB device found, idVendor=0424, idProduct=ec00
[    2.785814] usb 1-1.1: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=0, SerialNumber=0
[    2.788857] smsc95xx v1.0.4
[    2.850748] smsc95xx 1-1.1:1.0 eth0: register 'smsc95xx' at usb-bcm2708_usb-1.1, smsc95xx USB 2.0 Ethernet,
[    2.945232] usb 1-1.2: new high-speed USB device number 4 using dwc_otg
[    3.046160] usb 1-1.2: New USB device found, idVendor=0bda, idProduct=8179
[    3.046194] usb 1-1.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[    3.046211] usb 1-1.2: Product: 802.11n NIC
[    3.046225] usb 1-1.2: Manufacturer: Realtek
[    3.046238] usb 1-1.2: SerialNumber: 00E04C0001
[    7.398093] Adding 106852k swap on /dev/zram0.  Priority:-1 extents:1 across:106852k SSFS
[    9.871095] FAT-fs (mmcblk0p1): Volume was not properly unmounted. Some data may be corrupt. Please run fsck.
[    9.962774] EXT4-fs (mmcblk0p2): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Opts: (null)
[   10.058966] EXT4-fs (mmcblk0p2): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Opts: (null)
[   24.037179] bcm2708-i2s bcm2708-i2s.0: Failed to create debugfs directory
[   24.200905] r8188eu: module is from the staging directory, the quality is unknown, you have been warned.
[   24.508583] Chip Version Info: CHIP_8188E_Normal_Chip_TSMC_A_CUT_1T1R_RomVer(0)
[   24.610118] usbcore: registered new interface driver r8188eu
[   26.571759] usbcore: registered new interface driver snd-usb-audio
[   29.247843] usbcore: deregistering interface driver snd-usb-audio
[   29.512576] usbcore: registered new interface driver snd-usb-audio
[   29.923226] snd-hifiberry-dac snd-hifiberry-dac.0:  pcm5102a-hifi <-> bcm2708-i2s.0 mapping ok
[   30.566031] MAC Address =
[   32.482232] smsc95xx 1-1.1:1.0 eth0: hardware is[code]n't capable of remote wakeup
[   34.001769] smsc95xx 1-1.1:1.0 eth0: link up, 100Mbps, full-duplex, lpa 0xCDE1
[   34.791568] R8188EU: ERROR assoc success

I'm not sure the meaning of the last line as the NIC is able to associate and work properly.

In trying to bring up the NIC in Core5.2.1 the firmware fails to load.

Code: [Select]

tc@box:~$ uname -a
Linux box 3.13.6-piCore+ #1 PREEMPT Mon Mar 10 16:50:05 CET 2014 armv6l GNU/Linux
tc@box:~$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0424:9512 Standard Microsystems Corp. SMC9512/9514 USB Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0424:ec00 Standard Microsystems Corp. SMSC9512/9514 Fast Ethernet Adapter
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0bda:8179 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8188EUS 802.11n Wireless Network Adapter
tc@box:~$ lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by    Tainted: G
r8188eu               780504  0

dmesg output

Code: [Select]

[    4.395793] usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=0424, idProduct=9512
[    4.395826] usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=0, SerialNumber=0
[    4.396865] hub 1-1:1.0: USB hub found
[    4.397142] hub 1-1:1.0: 3 ports detected
[    4.675452] usb 1-1.1: new high-speed USB device number 3 using dwc_otg
[    4.775817] usb 1-1.1: New USB device found, idVendor=0424, idProduct=ec00
[    4.775852] usb 1-1.1: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=0, SerialNumber=0
[    4.778817] smsc95xx v1.0.4
[    4.840560] smsc95xx 1-1.1:1.0 eth0: register 'smsc95xx' at usb-bcm2708_usb-1.1, smsc95xx USB 2.0 Ethernet,
[    4.935495] usb 1-1.2: new high-speed USB device number 4 using dwc_otg
[    5.036478] usb 1-1.2: New USB device found, idVendor=0bda, idProduct=8179
[    5.036512] usb 1-1.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[    5.036527] usb 1-1.2: Product: 802.11n NIC
[    5.036541] usb 1-1.2: Manufacturer: Realtek
[    5.036553] usb 1-1.2: SerialNumber: 00E04C0001
[    9.434872] random: mkswap urandom read with 71 bits of entropy available
[    9.449046] Adding 106860k swap on /dev/zram0.  Priority:-1 extents:1 across:106860k SSFS
[   12.312835] random: nonblocking pool is initialized
[   12.373128] EXT4-fs (mmcblk0p2): recovery complete
[   12.375607] EXT4-fs (mmcblk0p2): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Opts: (null)
[   12.528941] EXT4-fs (mmcblk0p2): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Opts: (null)
[   26.198423] r8188eu: module is from the staging directory, the quality is unknown, you have been warned.
[   26.435047] Chip Version Info: CHIP_8188E_Normal_Chip_TSMC_A_CUT_1T1R_RomVer(0)
[   26.578080] usbcore: registered new interface driver r8188eu
[   30.011655] smsc95xx 1-1.1:1.0 eth0: hardware isn't capable of remote wakeup
[   31.537814] smsc95xx 1-1.1:1.0 eth0: link up, 100Mbps, full-duplex, lpa 0xCDE1
[  242.762409] r8188eu 1-1.2:1.0: Direct firmware load failed with error -2
[  242.762439] r8188eu 1-1.2:1.0: Falling back to user helper

Was there a change in the firmware between releases that is causing a failure for the firmware to load?  It appears that the size of r8188eu was 794215 for piCore5.2a1 and shrunk to 780504 in Core5.2.1. Any information would be most appreciated.

[bmarkus]

It is a staging (experimental) driver which may work or may not. Different size indicates change in the kernel. It is no related to piCore but the Kernel.

[sbp]

Hi, Im also getting a lot questions from piCorePlayer user regarding this wifi - it is not working for them with the new version.

I have seen in the raspberry forum that this wifi adaptor is poorly supported, and a user MREngmann http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=462982#p462982 is providing help. It seems like it is dependent upon a firmware file also - the file rtl8188eufw.bin.

Unfortunately, I'm away from my computer the next days, so I can't check if this firmware is included in the new piCore?

Steen

[mcdudeabides]

Thanks to both for your replies.  At least it confirms I'm not imagining things.

@Steen - the working image is from an older piCorePlayer release.  I will continue to use this as one of my players as I reconstruct my music system.  I have two different adapters in other players working with latest now (EDIMAX and ASUS N10).  As new piCore releases evolve, I can test against the TP-Link and report back.  Unfortunate that the vendor support is not better.  These seem to be readily available and most economical (<$10US) in my area.

[bmarkus]

Is firmware-rtlwifi.tcz installed?

In the last four month there was only one change in the driver source, an ID change. We can revert this change to see wheher it is the problem or not.

[mcdudeabides]

Is firmware-rtlwifi.tcz installed?

I loaded both firmware and firmware-rtlwifi.  Here are extensions:

Code: [Select]

tc@box:~$ df
Filesystem                Size      Used Available Use% Mounted on
tmpfs                   218.4M         0    218.4M   0% /dev/shm
/dev/mmcblk0p2            3.5G     12.6M      3.4G   0% /mnt/mmcblk0p2
/dev/loop0              336.0K    336.0K         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/slang
/dev/loop1               16.0K     16.0K         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/libgpg-error
/dev/loop2              256.0K    256.0K         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/libgcrypt
/dev/loop3               64.0K     64.0K         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/libssh2
/dev/loop4               16.0K     16.0K         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/libffi
/dev/loop5               28.0K     28.0K         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/gamin
/dev/loop6                1.3M      1.3M         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/glib2
/dev/loop7                1.2M      1.2M         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/mc
/dev/loop8                1.4M      1.4M         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/openssl-1.0.0
/dev/loop9                1.0M      1.0M         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/openssh
/dev/loop10               2.4M      2.4M         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/wireless-3.13.6-piCore+
/dev/loop11              16.0K     16.0K         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/libiw
/dev/loop12              52.0K     52.0K         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/wireless_tools
/dev/loop13              12.0K     12.0K         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/ncurses-common
/dev/loop14             148.0K    148.0K         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/ncurses
/dev/loop15             112.0K    112.0K         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/readline
/dev/loop16             232.0K    232.0K         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/libnl
/dev/loop17             340.0K    340.0K         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/wpa_supplicant
/dev/loop18               8.0K      8.0K         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/wifi
/dev/loop19              28.0K     28.0K         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/libusb
/dev/loop20             432.0K    432.0K         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/usbutils
/dev/loop21               2.9M      2.9M         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/firmware
/dev/loop22             204.0K    204.0K         0 100% /tmp/tcloop/firmware-rtlwifi


[GreatDane]

I can confirm exactly the same problem. By going back to the older kernel version 3.12.9, the TP-Link WN725N v2 (r8188eu) works perfectly for me again. However, it would be very nice to get it to work in the present kernel also.

[bmarkus]

Rebuilt rtl8088eu driver from 3.12.9 source, wireless-3.13.6-piCore+.tcz updated in repo. All other items unchanged. Please try.

[mcdudeabides]

Success!

Code: [Select]

tc@box:~$ sudo wifi.sh
Found wifi device wlan0
Standby for scan of available networks...
Set to try a few times to obtain a lease.
Sorting

Select Wifi Network

    ESSID                         Enc   Qual    Channel Type
 1. 2WIRE164                       on     0       1     WPA
 2. McHouse                       off     0       2
 3. McHouse                       off     0       7

Enter selection ( 1 - 3 ) or (q)uit: 2
..
udhcpc (v1.22.1) started
Sending discover...
Sending select for 192.168.1.230...
Lease of 192.168.1.230 obtained, lease time 86400
deleting routers
adding dns 192.168.1.1

dmesg shows r8188eu registered

Code: [Select]

[    4.125412] usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 2 using dwc_otg
[    4.125607] Indeed it is in host mode hprt0 = 00001101
[    4.395785] usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=0424, idProduct=9512
[    4.395818] usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=0, SerialNumber=0
[    4.396850] hub 1-1:1.0: USB hub found
[    4.397154] hub 1-1:1.0: 3 ports detected
[    4.675454] usb 1-1.1: new high-speed USB device number 3 using dwc_otg
[    4.775964] usb 1-1.1: New USB device found, idVendor=0424, idProduct=ec00
[    4.775997] usb 1-1.1: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=0, SerialNumber=0
[    4.779069] smsc95xx v1.0.4
[    4.840809] smsc95xx 1-1.1:1.0 eth0: register 'smsc95xx' at usb-bcm2708_usb-1.1, smsc95xx USB 2.0 Ethernet,
[    4.935492] usb 1-1.2: new high-speed USB device number 4 using dwc_otg
[    5.036863] usb 1-1.2: New USB device found, idVendor=0bda, idProduct=8179
[    5.036896] usb 1-1.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[    5.036912] usb 1-1.2: Product: 802.11n NIC
[    5.036925] usb 1-1.2: Manufacturer: Realtek
[    5.036938] usb 1-1.2: SerialNumber: 00E04C0001
[    9.432652] random: mkswap urandom read with 71 bits of entropy available
[    9.446869] Adding 106892k swap on /dev/zram0.  Priority:-1 extents:1 across:106892k SSFS
[   12.207875] random: nonblocking pool is initialized
[   12.317385] EXT4-fs (mmcblk0p2): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Opts: (null)
[   12.468498] EXT4-fs (mmcblk0p2): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Opts: (null)
[   25.908059] r8188eu: module is from the staging directory, the quality is unknown, you have been warned.
[   25.980180] Chip Version Info: CHIP_8188E_Normal_Chip_TSMC_A_CUT_1T1R_RomVer(0)
[   26.024165] usbcore: registered new interface driver r8188eu
[   27.811973] smsc95xx 1-1.1:1.0 eth0: hardware isn't capable of remote wakeup
[   29.419549] smsc95xx 1-1.1:1.0 eth0: link up, 100Mbps, full-duplex, lpa 0xCDE1
[  109.596071] MAC Address =
[  128.453108] R8188EU: ERROR assoc success


[bmarkus]

Thanks for the feadback. Lets see others

[GreatDane]

Great, thank you for swift action and good feedback on this problem. Now only looking forward to Steen hopefully being able to resolve this problem in forthcoming versions of piCorePlayer ;-)

[mcdudeabides]

If you have the WN725 and would like to help verify the driver fix before the next piCorePlayer release, you can try the following with the existing 1.14 image: 
1) Connect your player to the router directly with wired Ethernet
2) Boot and log in via SSH (or your preference)
3) Remove the existing wifi extension

Code: [Select]

tc@piCorePlayer:~$ tce-audit builddb
Building Extension Database from /etc/sysconfig/tcedir/optional
................................
tc@piCorePlayer:~$ tce-audit delete wifi
/etc/sysconfig/tcedir/optional/wifi.tcz
/etc/sysconfig/tcedir/optional/wireless_tools.tcz
/etc/sysconfig/tcedir/optional/libiw.tcz
/etc/sysconfig/tcedir/optional/wireless-3.13.6-piCore+.tcz
/etc/sysconfig/tcedir/optional/wpa_supplicant.tcz
/etc/sysconfig/tcedir/optional/openssl-1.0.0.tcz
/etc/sysconfig/tcedir/optional/libnl.tcz
tc@piCorePlayer:~$ sudo reboot
4) reboot
5) SSH back in
6) install the wifi extension

Code: [Select]

tc@piCorePlayer:~$ tce-load -wi wifi.tcz
wireless_tools.tcz.dep OK
wpa_supplicant.tcz.dep OK
readline.tcz.dep OK
Downloading: wireless-3.13.6-piCore+.tcz
Connecting to repo.tinycorelinux.net (89.22.99.37:80)
wireless-3.13.6-piCo 100% |********************************************************************************************************************************|  2468k  0:00:00 ETA
wireless-3.13.6-piCore+.tcz: OK
Downloading: libiw.tcz
Connecting to repo.tinycorelinux.net (89.22.99.37:80)
libiw.tcz            100% |********************************************************************************************************************************| 16384   0:00:00 ETA
libiw.tcz: OK
Downloading: wireless_tools.tcz
Connecting to repo.tinycorelinux.net (89.22.99.37:80)
wireless_tools.tcz   100% |********************************************************************************************************************************| 53248   0:00:00 ETA
wireless_tools.tcz: OK
Downloading: readline.tcz
Connecting to repo.tinycorelinux.net (89.22.99.37:80)
readline.tcz         100% |********************************************************************************************************************************|   112k  0:00:00 ETA
readline.tcz: OK
Downloading: openssl-1.0.0.tcz
Connecting to repo.tinycorelinux.net (89.22.99.37:80)
openssl-1.0.0.tcz    100% |********************************************************************************************************************************|  1420k  0:00:00 ETA
openssl-1.0.0.tcz: OK
Downloading: libnl.tcz
Connecting to repo.tinycorelinux.net (89.22.99.37:80)
libnl.tcz            100% |********************************************************************************************************************************|   232k  0:00:00 ETA
libnl.tcz: OK
Downloading: wpa_supplicant.tcz
Connecting to repo.tinycorelinux.net (89.22.99.37:80)
wpa_supplicant.tcz   100% |********************************************************************************************************************************|   340k  0:00:00 ETA
wpa_supplicant.tcz: OK
Downloading: wifi.tcz
Connecting to repo.tinycorelinux.net (89.22.99.37:80)
wifi.tcz             100% |********************************************************************************************************************************|  8192   0:00:00 ETA
wifi.tcz: OK
7) reboot
follow the normal setup procedure (//picoreplayer:8077)

Let us know if you also get a working adapter.

[GreatDane]

Just came home and tested on my equipment. Now it works perfectly for me, too with my modified piCorePlayer 1.14, listening to nice music as I write this. Thank you very much to Bela Markus for rebuilding and uploading the driver, and to mcdudeabides for giving detailed instructions on how to get the new version installed.

[bmarkus]

You are welcome

[mcdudeabides]

Ditto :-)