On Tue, Nov 22, 2011 at 03:29:44PM +0100, Paul Isambert wrote: > Hello, > > I've just installed Debian next to Windows 7, with the first DVD > (i.e. debian-6.0.3-amd64-DVD-1.iso). It was not without trouble, but > now it works. > > The problem is the wifi. My card (Realtek RTL8191SE Wireless LAN > 802.11n PCI-E NIC, says Windows) is apparently not recognized. I've > tried various solutions explained here and there, I have installed > firmware-realtek and ndiswrapper and wpa_supplicant and I don't know > what, nothing worked.
Hi Paul, Fellow RTL8191SE sufferer here (in a ThinkPad T410.) In my case, lspci says: 03:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8191SEvB Wireless LAN Controller (rev 10) The ndiswrapper approach never worked for me. I compiled kernel 2.6.36 with the driver source I downloaded from Realtek. http://www.realtek.com/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=48&PFid=48&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false&Downloads=true#RTL8191SE-VA2 (Actually, the driver sources are also in the staging directory of the Debian 2.6.36 kernel sources. Maybe I did something stupid, but being in "staging" seemed to interfere with the driver loading in the compiled kernel. Is it enough just to move it elsewhere in the tree?) You also need to install the firmware. I have these files: /lib/firmware/RTL8192SE /lib/firmware/RTL8192SE/Realtek-Firmware-License.txt /lib/firmware/RTL8192SE/rtl8192sfw.bin /lib/firmware/RTL8192SE/rtl8192sfw492.bin /lib/firmware/RTL8192SE/rtl8192sfw74.bin /lib/firmware/rtl8192sfw.bin Now you're ready for: modprobe r8192se_pci In my case, I can see the driver has loaded successfully because the wireless indicator LED on the laptop turns on. Then I can start wpa_supplicant and wpa_gui. ifconfig wlan0 up wpa_supplicant -B -iwlan0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf & At the moment, there is just this one line in /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf: ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant Then start wpa_gui Click on SCAN, then when a smaller window pops up, click on *its* SCAN button. A list of APs will show up. You can choose an entry from the list by double-clicking. This gives you a menu to enter a password and/or other parameters. Finally issue: dhclient -x wlan0 I find '-x' helpful, as without it multiple dhclient commands may cause problems with multiple dhclient processes hanging around. It took me an embarrassing amount of trial and error to get this far. Hope it will go easier for you! > The hard part is that I have to switch to Windows to get an internet > connection, gather info and material, restart with Debian, try, > fail, switch to Windows again, an so on and so forth. Plus those > stuff I'm instructed to do, modprobe, iwconfig, you name it ... are > ancient Greek to me, so I apply them blindly, and perhaps what I've > done before has gotten in the way, etc. So I'm a bit tired, but I > really would like to switch to Debian -- and have an internet > connection to find online documentation and start learning how to > use it. I currently don't need to use iwconfig or iw at all. Modprobe I need in order to install the driver. I've heard good things about wicd, but I've only spent about 30 minutes (unsuccessfully) playing with it. HTH, Joel -- Joel Roth -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/20111122195217.GB6775@sprite