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Posts: 3
in Getting Started with Linux

Yeah, I downloaded linux a while ago after hearing how great it would be. And it is great! But I can't do much on it because my wireless internet card won't work with it. I think I need a driver, but how do I get one of those without access to the internet while on Ubuntu? It's dual-booted with windows 7 right now though eventually I'd like to just use Linux.

I don't know what other information would be helpful so I'll just throw in some probably irrelevant stuff. It's a gateway desktop with wireless LAN 802.11 b/g/N. Windows 7. AMD Phenom II processor. 810 Quad Core. I don't know what else would even sort of be useless to you linux Gods, but please help if you can.

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  • Posts: 1,114
    Type "lspci" in a terminal and copy the output of the line that has the word wifi or wireless in it.

    This is what mine looks like:
    06:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4322 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller (rev 01)

    We need to know what wireless chip it has before we can recommend a driver.
  • Posts: 3
    I don't see any line that says wifi or wireless. But I know I have wireless. I have a "network controller" ?

    EDIT: I found through windows what it is (I think). Microsoft virtual WiFi miniport Adapter then a device below it is Realtek RTL9190 802.11n Wireless LAN (mini-)PCI NIC

    Is there more you need?
  • Posts: 1,114
    That should have been what I needed, but, searches aren't giving me any info on the rtl 9190. How about trying again in the terminal, but this time give me the output of: 
    1. lspci | grep -i net
    and 
    1. lsusb | grep -i net
    Just to make sure we're not missing something.

    I found one very old thread saying that the rtl9190 uses the rtl8180 drivers, but that was only one hit in all of Googleland. If we don't find anything else in the outputs you give us, then we'll look for the rtl8180 drivers in Ubuntu.
  • Posts: 3
    The first code, the lspci etc, gave me

    03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell technology group ltd. 88E8071 PCI-E gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 16)

    05:05.0 network controller: realtek semiconductor co., ltd. Device 8190

    The lsusb code didn't give me anything.
  • Posts: 88
    RTL8180 drivers for ubuntu it is, GoinEasy9 will have to reply with the guide he found for installation.
  • Posts: 1,114
    Hey Mike
    The guide I found is very old and requires compiling from source, but, the source has remarks about how it is not working properly. I also found references that the 8187SE driver, which is based on the rtl8180 driver is the driver that has had success with this card. I just don't want to steer Harrison in the wrong direction.
    I know Tim and Matt have Ubuntu installs up and running. I'm hoping one of them sees this thread and looks at the Ubuntu PPA repos to see if this driver is available. It seems it is problematic. I also thought that these Realtek drivers were already in the kernel.
    It's also interesting, lspci is showing an 8190 device. Heh, if it's anything like my 8187 wifi adapter, it could be a challenge.

    I'm wondering if lshw or iwconfig can pull up more info on this card, or do we need the driver working first?

    @Harrison Be patient, there are others here that might have better info. I'm hoping they'll take a look at this soon.
  • Posts: 777
    try lshw again and look for a section named ethernet or network controller and see of it shows you the driver the device is using to make sure that the device is working properly.

    I usually download the drivers for my devices than trying to find them online. When you download a driver for ubuntu, the driver you get is the driver designed to work with your system which is what I like. And, they work better. If you can connect your laptop to an ethernet connection with internet service try to download the driver from there.

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