after a wi fi dongle

What I have already purchased, in the hope that it will be suitable, is an Edimax EW-7811UN Wireless 802.11b/g/n 150Mbps Nano USB Adaptor which is claimed to be the "world's smallest!" although similar sized models are available from other manufacturers.

It is quoted as being Linux compatible, and cost me just under £10 from Amazon (UK).

Unfortunately I shant be able to check out full compatability until I actually receive my Raspberry Pi computer, but it certainly is small!

I have a Pi and Edimax EW-7811UN and the bad news is that I have been struggling all weekend to get it working. As far as I can tell there is very patchy linux support for this chipset. I would be interested to know if anyone gets this working.

I suggest you look at http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Devices/USB to get an idea of which wireless chipsets are supported in Linux in general. A subset of these will work on the R-Pi, since it is ARM architecture, which excludes i386 binaries.

I have had success with TP-Link TL-WN722n. It's detected by the kernel and Ath9k_htc firmware loads fine on Arch, but needs firmware file with the Debian image. However, it still needs a bit of set up, and won't work directly from the Pi USB port, probably due to power requirements.

I have a Pi and Edimax EW-7811UN and the bad news is that I have been struggling all weekend to get it working. As far as I can tell there is very patchy linux support for this chipset. I would be interested to know if anyone gets this working.

I suggest you look at http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Devices/USB to get an idea of which wireless chipsets are supported in Linux in general. A subset of these will work on the R-Pi, since it is ARM architecture, which excludes i386 binaries.

I have had success with TP-Link TL-WN722n. It's detected by the kernel and Ath9k_htc firmware loads fine on Arch, but needs firmware file with the Debian image. However, it still needs a bit of set up, and won't work directly from the Pi USB port, probably due to power requirements.

Hi - it looks like this is the adapter, right?  http://wikidevi.com/wiki/Edimax_EW-7811Un

Not sure if you seen this, but check out this thread for that chipset: http://www.raspberrypi.org/forum/troubleshooting/trying-to-get-an-rtl8188cus-wireless-usb-nic-working/#p67851

ajtag compiled the kernel module and provides a link to download 8192cu.ko.

Looking at modinfo, it looks like it should support the device per the USB ID on the WikiDev entry (if that is the same model as what you have):

afustini@lappy486:~/Downloads$ modinfo 8192cu.ko  |grep 7811

alias:          usb:v7392p7811d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*

Cheers,

Drew

Thanks, I'll give it a go and report back.

Sounds like I have the same adapter, the USB ID matches.

Recompiling the kernel sounds a bit daunting, but hopefully the kernel module will do the job.

To the OP: Another good resource for checking wi-fi dongle compatability is here http://linux-wless.passys.nl/

I don't think you should have to recompile the kernel.  Just download 8192cu.ko and copy to the path on the SD card as user ajtag demonstrates in that post.

Drew, are you going to test the wifi adapter listed as a R-Pi accessory to check it works?

http://uk.farnell.com/micronext/mnwd152b/adaptor-wireless-n-usb/dp/2081765

Hi Paul, a colleague in the UK (user ajtag in fact) had compiled that 8192cu.ko module to get the Micronext MNWD152B working.  I'll ask if he can chime in with some additional details of testing, but to my knowledge, it did work ok.

Thanks,

Drew

Arch does not boot with my Edimax EW-7811Un dongle inserted. I have to blacklist the standard module.

I tried:

install -p -m 644 8192cu.ko /lib/modules/3.1.9+/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/

followed by:

depmod -a

and added the file rtl8712u.bin as per http://www.raspberrypi.org/forum/troubleshooting/trying-to-get-an-rtl8188cus-wireless-usb-nic-working to:

/lib/firmware/rtlwifi/rtl8712u.bin

and it still fails.

If anyone has any success with Arch I'd love to hear from you.

Felix

Is there any related errors in the kernel log?

Quick update. I managed to get the Edimax EW-7811Un working by following the instructions above.

The process worked for me on Debian but not Arch images.

In the process, I discovered that the dongle would *only* work if it was connected directly to the R-Pi usb port and would *not work* through a powered usb hub.

This is surprising since I was attempting to protect the Pi from excessive power drain, but in fact it was actually the cause of the problem.

Perhaps this is an incompatability with this particular hub.

For the record the hub in question is a (lsusb)

05e3:0608 Genesys Logic, Inc. USB-2.0 4-Port HUB

Anyway, thanks for the help. I can confirm Edimax EW-7811Un as working (on Debian)

glad this works as i just brought one for my Pi.

The WiFi document here: http://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-44703 and at least three other people on the raspberrypi forum have made the same observation: a WiFi adaptor works directly on the Pi, but NOT from a powered hub, even with a fully adequate power supply to the hub.

http://www.raspberrypi.org/forum/troubleshooting/usb-power-hub-wifi/page-3

Based on other reports about USB packet loss http://www.raspberrypi.org/forum/troubleshooting/usb-packet-loss

and the USB and Network issues reported here: https://github.com/raspberrypi/firmware/issues/9

I think there is a software problem that is causing many or most WiFi adaptors to fail when connected through a hub.