Antix 8.5 Asus EEEPC 701SD rtl8187 (SOLVED)

rokytnji · posted: 2010-08-19 04:21

Figured I would start a new thread. For what I have done earlier. Please go to

========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"antix.freeforu ms.org/my-new-asus-eeepc-701sd-t2606.html"
linktext was:"antix.freeforu ms.org/my-new-asus ... t2606.html"
====================================

Running my 4 gig SD Flash Antix 8.5 Upgrade antix2usb persistent card.
Good thing to report so far. Tap works
Landline works on eth0 automatic in Wicd.
Screen Resolution is ok.

Now for the neg.
Ceni froze the desktop. Had to do a Hard reset. Which damaged the ext2 file system on /dev/sda1
Had to boot up my live USB. Open Gparted. Run a Check on /dev/sda1 antixlive and /dev/sda2 antixdata partitions making sure they were not mounted first.
That fixed all the file system error messages I got when I tried to reboot after a hard reset.

So now I am back in my persistent install.

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root@antiX1:/aufs/home/demo# inxi -F
System:    Host antiX1 Kernel 2.6.32-1-mepis-smp i686 (32 bit) Distro antiX-M8.5-686-update 27 July 2010
CPU:       Single core Intel Celeron M (-UP-) cache 512 KB flags (nx sse sse2) bmips 1796.43 clocked at 897.807 MHz 
Graphics:  Card Intel Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller tty res: 80x23 Gfx Data: N/A for root user
Audio:     Card Intel 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) High Definition Audio Controller driver HDA Intel BusID: 00:1b.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Version 1.0.21
Network:   Card-1 Realtek RTL8187SE Wireless LAN Controller at port d800 BusID: 01:00.0
           Card-2 Atheros AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 Gigabit or Fast Ethernet driver ATL1E at port ec00 BusID: 03:00.0
Disks:     HDD Total Size: 16.0GB (4.4% used) 1: USB /dev/sda Flash_Reader 4.0GB 
           2: /dev/sdb ASUS 4.0 GB 
Partition: ID:/ size: 16M used: 103K (1%) fs: rootfs 
Info:      Processes 107 Uptime 27 min Memory 148.7/1000.8MB Runlevel 5 Client Shell inxi 1.4.12 
root@antiX1:/aufs/home/demo# iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

root@antiX1:/aufs/home/demo# ps ax | grep client
13777 ?        Ss     0:00 dhclient -v -pf /var/run/dhclient.eth0.pid -lf /var/lib/dhcp/dhclient.eth0.leases eth0
14451 ?        S      0:02 /usr/bin/python -O /usr/share/wicd/gtk/wicd-client.py
16052 pts/0    S+     0:00 grep client
root@antiX1:/aufs/home/demo# ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:22:15:9c:42:47  
          inet addr:192.168.2.18  Bcast:192.168.2.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:3325 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:3522 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:2
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:2184711 (2.0 MiB)  TX bytes:849994 (830.0 KiB)
          Interrupt:27 

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:2 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:2 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:100 (100.0 B)  TX bytes:100 (100.0 B)

root@antiX1:/aufs/home/demo# modprobe rtl8187
root@antiX1:/aufs/home/demo# iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

root@antiX1:/aufs/home/demo#

Now. I know that /aufs/lib/modules/2.6.32-1-mepis-smp/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rtl818x/rtl8187.ko
is there.

Why won't it show in inxi -F as loaded and when i do a
modprobe rtl8187
I still get no wireless interface to show under iwlist or ifconfig?

And you know what kills me. Check out lsmod. It shows rtl8187 is loaded.

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demo@antiX1:/aufs/home/demo$ sux
Password: 
root@antiX1:/aufs/home/demo# lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
rtl8187                25058  0 
mac80211              123148  1 rtl8187
led_class               1717  1 rtl8187
cfg80211               86249  2 rtl8187,mac80211
eeprom_93cx6             931  1 rtl8187
i915                  191473  2 
drm_kms_helper         16943  1 i915
drm                   105416  3 i915,drm_kms_helper
i2c_algo_bit            3465  1 i915
cpufreq_userspace       1416  0 
cpufreq_stats           1928  0 
cpufreq_powersave        578  0 
cpufreq_conservative     3994  0 
parport_pc             15583  0 
ppdev                   3974  0 
lp                      5490  0 
parport                21766  3 parport_pc,ppdev,lp
fuse                   43419  3 
snd_hda_codec_realtek   163210  1 
snd_hda_intel          15529  0 
snd_hda_codec          44409  2 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep               3930  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm_oss            27741  0 
snd_mixer_oss          10241  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm                45612  3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_midi            3288  0 
snd_rawmidi            12033  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event      3564  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq                34783  2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
uvcvideo               45170  0 
videodev               25253  1 uvcvideo
snd_timer              12034  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
v4l1_compat            10146  2 uvcvideo,videodev
snd_seq_device          3625  3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
eeepc_laptop           10080  0 
i2c_core               12449  4 i915,drm,i2c_algo_bit,videodev
snd                    32475  11 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
rfkill                  9976  2 cfg80211,eeepc_laptop
video                  14589  1 i915
tpm_tis                 5344  0 
serio_raw               2884  0 
tpm                     7849  1 tpm_tis
processor              26435  0 
output                  1116  1 video
uhci_hcd               15885  0 
soundcore               3350  1 snd
pci_hotplug            17981  1 eeepc_laptop
thermal                 9118  0 
rng_core                2142  0 
atl1e                  22896  0 
psmouse                31979  0 
evdev                   5573  24 
tpm_bios                3369  1 tpm
ac                      1552  0 
battery                 3698  0 
intel_agp              20087  1 
snd_page_alloc          4773  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
button                  3506  1 i915
thermal_sys             9326  3 video,processor,thermal
aufs                  109130  1 
exportfs                2578  1 aufs
root@antiX1:/aufs/home/demo#

But when I do a

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demo@antiX1:/aufs/home/demo$ sux
Password: 
root@antiX1:/aufs/home/demo# lsmod | grep rtl
root@antiX1:/aufs/home/demo#

nothing shows?

in synaptic show
1. firmware-realtek .26 installed
2. I installed

source for RT2860 wireless adapter kernel module

RT2860 is a wireless adapter found particularly in the ASUS EeePC model
901 and above. The package contains the source of a Linux kernel module for
it.

The source is ready to be compiled using module-assistant.

Though I don't know what it means by"ready to be compiled using module-assistent" yet. Bleary eyed guys __{{emoticon}}__

3. I also installed firmware-realtek

Binary firmware for Realtek RTL8192 wireless cards

This package contains the binary firmware for wireless network cards with
the RTL8192 chips supported by the rtl8192e and rtl8192su drivers.

So I thought I would cover all bases with every damn thing this biker could think of.

I'm Lost. And I thought I knew what to do to enable card by my terminal readout above and making sure /aufs/lib/modules/2.6.32-1-mepis-smp/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rtl818x/rtl8187.ko
was there.

So OHH or the wifi gods above. Where am I going wrong. Otherwise. Except for Ceni throwing a Hissy fit (did the same on my Asus EEEPC 900 but would settle down after a few minutes. But Ctrl+Alt+Del or Ctl+Alt+Backspace got me nowhere on the 701SD and I waited a long time for Ceni to settle down. Which it wouldn't.) Hence the hard reset.

On a side note. I tried smxi also to see if maybe a newer kernel may rectify the problem. But smxi tells me I have no /boot/grub/menu.lst so it exits with that error.

Hows that for"Let's have fun" guys. __{{emoticon}}__

Puppeee has the 2.6.33 kernel but jemimah massaged the kernel for EEEPC so that is probably why Puppeee works so well on this unit. Neither here nor there though. I want AntiX 8.5 to work with rtl8187 chip so this thread is to concentrate on getting it working.

Next I am going to go into bios (Edit: it's not turned off in bios) and see to make sure wireless did not get turned off for some reason. I don't know if maybe rfkill may be the culprit either. Trying to cover all bases here. __{{emoticon}}__

Booting and running AntiX 8.5 Update Full Iso with antix2usbpy persistent install to a 4 gig Kingston external SD Flash Drive with Ext2 file system on a Asus EEEPC 701SD.

Happy Trails, Rok

oldhoghead · posted: 2010-08-19 13:46

Hey Rok,
You wrote,

Why won't it show in inxi -F as loaded and when i do a
modprobe rtl8187

How about

modprobe rtl8187se

then iwconfig

have a look here:

========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://wiki.debian.org/rtl818x#rtl8187se"
linktext was:"http://wiki.debian.org/rtl818x#rtl8187se"
====================================

cheers,
oldhoghead

rokytnji · posted: 2010-08-19 15:43

The rtl8187se.ko is not in Mepis Kernel OHH. I tried that first last night, Just did not include it
in my previous post. Was wore out by trying to get this figured. Googled my butt off.

Code: Select all

Password: 
root@antiX1:/aufs/home/demo# modprobe rtl8187se
FATAL: Module rtl8187se not found.
root@antiX1:/aufs/home/demo#

What gets me I guess is Warrens mepis kernel got stripped of that module I guess. Because
Debian says that it is included in 2.6.29 kernel. Just a uneducated guess though.

Dumb question time. Instead of Like Downloading Stevo's 2.6.34 kernel as a experiment to see
if rtl8187se.ko is in it. What if I can just find the rtl8187se.ko. And open pcmanfor rox as root.
Copy and paste that module into /aufs/lib/modules/2.6.32-1-mepis-smp/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rtl818x

I was thinking of maybe booting into puppeeee. Go to it's /aufs/lib/modules/2.6.33/kernel/drivers not sure what comes after that yet and because puppeee runs as root. Copy and paste to usb. Then inset into AntiX. Am I way off base in thinking I can do this.

Because this

========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://rtl-wifi.sourceforge.net/wiki/Download"
linktext was:"http://rtl-wifi.sourceforge.net/wiki/Download"
====================================

is just way over my head. So can I shady tree it?

oldhoghead · posted: 2010-08-19 16:02

Give it shot, can't hurt.

anticapitalista · posted: 2010-08-19 16:17

roky - the liquorix 2.6.33 kernels have it.

You could try this using the MEPIS kernel.

========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://maunal.sidux.com/index.php?module=Wikula&lang=de&tag=Msi"
linktext was:"http://maunal.sidux.com/index.php?modul ... de&tag=Msi"
====================================

rokytnji · posted: 2010-08-19 20:23

anticapitalista wrote:roky - the liquorix 2.6.33 kernels have it.

You could try this using the MEPIS kernel.

========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://maunal.sidux.com/index.php?module=Wikula&lang=de&tag=Msi"
linktext was:"http://maunal.sidux.com/index.php?modul ... de&tag=Msi"
====================================

Ok Anti. I first made a backup of /etc/apt/sources.list because I was going to edit the hell
out of oriiginal file. I tried doing one repo at a time but as you can see from my terminal readout
and my last edited sources.list that even the shotgun approach did not give favorable results.

Please look over attatched zip files and see if I tried it correctly.

No matter how I tried. I ended up with

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demo@antiX1:/aufs/home/demo$ sux
Password: 
root@antiX1:/aufs/home/demo# apt-get install rtl8187se-source
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
E: Couldn't find package rtl8187se-source
root@antiX1:/aufs/home/demo#

anticapitalista · posted: 2010-08-19 20:42

Maybe it is no longer in Debian repos.

There is a deb in Ubuntu that might work.

========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://packages.ubuntu.com/jaunty/all/rtl8187se-source/download"
linktext was:"http://packages.ubuntu.com/jaunty/all/r ... e/download"
====================================

Here is a link to the source/tarball.

========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://rtl8187se.sourcearchive.com/downloads/1023.0928.2008/"
linktext was:"http://rtl8187se.sourcearchive.com/down ... 0928.2008/"
====================================

rokytnji · posted: 2010-08-19 21:20

Well Anti. Before I got to your reply. I tried grabbing rtl8187.ko from Puppeee and copied to USB.
Then a pasted it as root into where rtl8187.ko is located in kernel.

When it asked about overwrite. I saw that the new rtl8187 was 71.3 kb (approx can't remember exact decimal
point) and original rtl8187.ko was about 35kb (approx also).

So I thought. Gee. Puppees .ko is twice the size. So I said yeah to overwrite. Dummy me was such in a hurry
I did not make a backup first. So I guessed I wrecked rt8187.ko because

Code: Select all

demo@antiX1:/aufs/home/demo$ sux
Password: 
root@antiX1:/aufs/home/demo# modprobe rtl8187
FATAL: Error inserting rtl8187 (/lib/modules/2.6.32-1-mepis-smp/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rtl818x/rtl8187.ko): Invalid module format
root@antiX1:/aufs/home/demo#

So much for my shady tree experiment. I guess now I need to boot up my live USB and see about
grabbing its rtl8187.ko and overwrite the puppeee one I installed in it's place now. So scratch using
Puppeees stuff.

I will look into the links later. If I install source. I will need build-essentials installed, correct? I already
know that answer but just double checking. LOL

Experimenting can be tedious at times. Happy Trails, Rok

oldhoghead · posted: 2010-08-19 21:48

Rok,

I was looking around and found this:

The rtl8187se driver is now included in the kernel; model 701SD users no longer need to build their own from source. (From the debian wik ihttp://wiki.debian.org/DebianEeePC/HowTo/Upgrade

and then I took a look at the /boot/ config-2.6.32-1-mepis-smp

# CONFIG_RTL8187SE is not set
may be possible to recompile the kernel and set this flag, or you might be able to use ksplice, over my head but anyway here's the article

========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/aix/library/au-spunix_ksplice/index.html?ca=dgr-lnxw07Ksplicedth-AIX"
linktext was:"http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/aix/l ... icedth-AIX"
====================================

cheers,
oldhoghead

rokytnji · posted: 2010-08-19 22:26

Ya know what guys. I tried the Ubuntu deb Anti. It installed but no joy out of ifconfig. Rebooted also. Same same.

I am starting to get frustrated with this issue. So I am thinking of throwing in the towel for now.

MY SD install is probably trashed by now anyways with all the stuff I tried. Might think of doing a Install of
Sidux instead to the card maybe. I don't know. Tired as hell here. Gotta step back and cool my jets I guess.

anticapitalista · posted: 2010-08-20 07:24

Alternatively, install the liquorix kernel.

secipolla · posted: 2010-08-20 12:48

Hi roky.
From what I read, you have two options:
1) Install the sources for the driver using module-assistant.
2) Install Liquorix kernel.

If it was a full installation I would go for number 2, but if it's for a frugal installation then number 1 is preferable since it would take less space (you can't delete the original kernel).

For number 1, install module-assistant and then either ask at mepislovers.org where stevo always answers related questions or read the manual yourself.
If you don't try other things at the same time and read the manual carefully I think you may do it without even asking for help.

rokytnji · posted: 2010-08-20 13:10

Yeah. I thought of Liquorux also. But smxi would not cooperate with a frugak install. It would basically drop out complaining
it was looking for grub and couldn't find it.

Later I am going to wipe the card and do another antiX2usb install so I can start fresh. I will go over my and your guys posts
to refresh what I have already tried. Maybe some of my problems is that the flash drive is getting corrupted.

I mention this because when I try and reinstall rtl8187.ko from live USB (copied to pendrive) pcmanfm as root user gives error
about input/output error. Yet when I did the same procedure earlier with Puppeees rtl8187.ko. I received no such error.
So time to start from scratch. If I ever have success. I will post what I did to make this all work.

secipolla · posted: 2010-08-20 15:44

Just to let you know, antiX has the liquorix repos enabled so you can install those kernels with Synaptic (open it and search for liquorix).
Pay attention, though: the packages linux-image-2.6-liquorix-686 and linux-headers-2.6-liquorix-686 are metapackages that keep the kernel always up-to-date so if you're installing in a frugal antiX you may want to just install the kernel and its headers directly (like linux-image-2.6.35-2.dmz.1-liquorix-686 and linux-headers-2.6.35-2.dmz.1-liquorix-686) so you only upgrade it when you want to.

rokytnji · posted: 2010-08-20 22:32

Thanks secipolla. I totally spaced out remembering synaptic. I am so geared in to using
smxi for problems that I totally forgot to look in synaptic.

The drive is wiped now. I think I might use a 4gig SD card for next trial. Reason is.
I was exploring Puppeee and found a program included called"PUDD" which is a puppy
linux specific application for a GUI way of running dd. Basically I might be able to use the
8 gig SD Flash to do a byte by byte copy of the internal Windows XP drive/partition to the external
8gig SD Flash. The internal NTFS partition is 8 gig SSD. So the way I figure it.

I format the external 8gig SD card as NTFS. Point pudd to it. Then see what happens.
Like I don't have enough experiments going on __{{emoticon}}__ .