No wifi with Realtek RTL8821CE

02 November 2020, 17:33:56

Hi all.

I've just installed Artix linux on a laptop.
Then   I installed from AUR:
5 aur/rtl8821ce-dkms 1.0.5.r110.gd95376d-1 (+2 0.75) (Installed)
rtl8821CE driver with firmware

But I have no wireless.

This is the situation at the moment:

lspci:
07:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter

uname -r:
5.9.2-artix1-1

ifconfig:
wlan0: flags=4099<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
ether f2:87:cd:9d:1b:9d txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet)
RX packets 0 bytes 0 (0.0 B)
RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 0 bytes 0 (0.0 B)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0

lsmod | grep 8821
8821ce    1974272 0
rtw88_8821ce    16384 0
rtw88_8821c 77824 1 rtw88_8821ce
rtw88_pci 28672 1 rtw88_8821ce
rtw88_core 192512 2 rtw88_pci,rtw88_8821c
cfg80211 913408 3 rtw88_core,mac80211,8821ce

rc-service NetworkManager status
* status: started

... obviously I'm doing something wrong, any hints?

Re: No wifi with Realtek RTL8821CE

Reply #1 – 02 November 2020, 17:55:38

Just wanted to add that ifconfig shows eth0 and lo normally, of course.

Rmoving the AUR rtl8821CE driver and rebooting doesn't solve anything, ifconfig still shows wlan0 and

Code: [Select]

lsmod | grep 882   gives:

rtw88_8821ce           16384  0
rtw88_8821c            77824  1 rtw88_8821ce
rtw88_pci              28672  1 rtw88_8821ce
rtw88_core            192512  2 rtw88_pci,rtw88_8821c

Re: No wifi with Realtek RTL8821CE

Reply #2 – 02 November 2020, 19:30:35

hi, i have same card

Quote

04:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter

Code: [Select]

[picasso etc]# lsmod | grep 8821
8821ce               1978368  0
rtw88_8821ce           16384  0
rtw88_8821c            77824  1 rtw88_8821ce
rtw88_pci              28672  1 rtw88_8821ce
rtw88_core            204800  2 rtw88_pci,rtw88_8821c
cfg80211              925696  3 rtw88_core,mac80211,8821ce

i tested now newest kernel (linux-zen-5.9.3) and newest driver rtl8821ce-dkms-git 1.0.5.r112.gda13a5b-1 and all works without problem . Networkmanager under KDE works!

some info about driver https://github.com/tomaspinho/rtl8821ce/blob/da13a5be26889c8040b1db9b9e3e27bf2eb1b438/README.md

Re: No wifi with Realtek RTL8821CE

Reply #3 – 02 November 2020, 19:40:07

Quote from: mikalzet – on 02 November 2020, 17:55:38

lsmod | grep 882 gives:

rtw88_8821ce 16384 0
rtw88_8821c 77824 1 rtw88_8821ce
rtw88_pci 28672 1 rtw88_8821ce
rtw88_core 192512 2 rtw88_pci,rtw88_8821c

seems, that driver 8821ce !! missing in lsmod. Please check it again, or try load it manually

Code: [Select]

modprobe 8821ce

or check dkms build

Re: No wifi with Realtek RTL8821CE

Reply #4 – 02 November 2020, 20:35:40

I did as Alium suggested and I am also using kde plasma.
So now I have the 5.9.3 zen kernel - but the system doesn't boot, because grub looks for the wrong kernel, so how do I update grub on an artix system when I change kernel?

I booted by editing the kernel on the command line, so for the moment that's ok.

Code: [Select]

uname -r

Quote

5.9.3-zen1-1-zen

But although I have the right modules, I believe:

Code: [Select]

lsmod | grep 8821

Quote

8821ce 1978368 0
rtw88_8821ce 16384 0
rtw88_8821c 77824 1 rtw88_8821ce
rtw88_pci 28672 1 rtw88_8821ce
rtw88_core 204800 2 rtw88_pci,rtw88_8821c
cfg80211 925696 3 rtw88_core,mac80211,8821ce

And although ifconfig shows wireless:

Code: [Select]

ifconfig

Quote

eth0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
inet 192.168.1.162 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.1.255
inet6 fe80::3ae6:127c:942f:3198 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x20<link>
ether f8:75:a4:d6:5c:12 txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet)
RX packets 699 bytes 110762 (108.1 KiB)
RX errors 0 dropped 418 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 311 bytes 54833 (53.5 KiB)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0

lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING> mtu 65536
inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 255.0.0.0
inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128 scopeid 0x10<host>
loop txqueuelen 1000 (Local Loopback)
RX packets 714 bytes 55296 (54.0 KiB)
RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 714 bytes 55296 (54.0 KiB)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0

wlan0: flags=4099<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
ether 5e:13:5b:f5:55:5e txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet)
RX packets 0 bytes 0 (0.0 B)
RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 0 bytes 0 (0.0 B)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0

Wireless doesn't work, even though:

Code: [Select]

rfkill list

Quote

0: ideapad_wlan: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
1: ideapad_bluetooth: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: yes
Hard blocked: no
2: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no

rc-service NetworkManager status
started

So, it looks like some configuration option is wrong somewhere .. but why and where?

Re: No wifi with Realtek RTL8821CE

Reply #5 – 03 November 2020, 14:59:42

manual scanning (like iwconfig wlan0 scan) works?

Re: No wifi with Realtek RTL8821CE

Reply #6 – 03 November 2020, 20:21:24

Code: [Select]

iwconfig wlan0 scan

iwconfig: unknown command "scan"

iwconfig
eth0 no wireless extensions.

lo no wireless extensions.

wlan0    unassociated Nickname:"<WIFI@REALTEK>"
Mode:Managed Frequency=2.412 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
Sensitivity:0/0
Retry:off   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

By the way, I downgraded the kernel to LTS and reinstalled the rtl8821ce module, but still no joy.

Re: No wifi with Realtek RTL8821CE

Reply #7 – 03 November 2020, 21:14:54

Not very clear what you meant by "no wifi" ? You were not able to configure the wireless connection or not able to connect?

Seems that the driver is loaded and your wireless card is activated. Did you check your wpa_supplicant service?

Code: [Select]

rc-service wpa_supplicant status

Re: No wifi with Realtek RTL8821CE

Reply #8 – 04 November 2020, 11:50:08

No wifi .. means that Wifi networks are not seen, so there is no way to connect to them. At the same time, no bluetooth - it says that no adapter was found at all. The RTL8821CE is a dual WiFi - bluetooth chip.

So I reformatted my hard disk and installed Manjaro to see what happened; same thing: bluetooth adapter "doesn't exist" and Wifi theoretically exists ( wlan0 is present) but no Wifi is seen. I also tried deactivating and then reactivating the wifi from the Bios without luck.

At this point I'm sure it's a hardware problem, the laptop is almost brand new ( may 2020 ) so I'll try to see if I can get it repaired and how long it would take. Otherwise I'll try an external wifi dongle.

Re: No wifi with Realtek RTL8821CE

Reply #9 – 04 November 2020, 11:51:01

Quote

iwconfig wlan0 scan

my bad, sorry

Code: [Select]

iwlist wlan0 scan

EDIT: to your situation, I had a similar problem with wifi. Then it suddenly started working ... (I'm currently using another card, 8821ce I have for Soft-AP). Should be more driver problem. 8821ce should recieve driver in future versions of the kernel (next months) - it's planned. You have a very new card - you could say. (My comp is from Jan 2020)

Re: No wifi with Realtek RTL8821CE

Reply #10 – 04 November 2020, 13:43:41

Quote from: mikalzet – on 04 November 2020, 11:50:08

No wifi .. means that Wifi networks are not seen, so there is no way to connect to them. At the same time, no bluetooth - it says that no adapter was found at all. The RTL8821CE is a dual WiFi - bluetooth chip.

So I reformatted my hard disk and installed Manjaro to see what happened; same thing: bluetooth adapter "doesn't exist" and Wifi theoretically exists ( wlan0 is present) but no Wifi is seen. I also tried deactivating and then reactivating the wifi from the Bios without luck.

At this point I'm sure it's a hardware problem, the laptop is almost brand new ( may 2020 ) so I'll try to see if I can get it repaired and how long it would take. Otherwise I'll try an external wifi dongle.

Might be the driver issue. Try this one,

rtl8821ce (aur/rtl8821ce-dkms-git 1.0.5.r36.gca4abd8-1)

There's a link inside regarding the bluetooth issue as well.

Re: No wifi with Realtek RTL8821CE

Reply #11 – 05 November 2020, 13:11:05

Quote from: calvinh – on 04 November 2020, 13:43:41

Might be the driver issue. Try this one,

rtl8821ce (aur/rtl8821ce-dkms-git 1.0.5.r36.gca4abd8-1)

There's a link inside regarding the bluetooth issue as well.

this is the SAME driver that describes the beginning of the topic

Re: No wifi with Realtek RTL8821CE

Reply #12 – 05 November 2020, 14:49:09

Quote from: alium – on 05 November 2020, 13:11:05

this is the SAME driver that describes the beginning of the topic

different version

Re: No wifi with Realtek RTL8821CE

Reply #13 – 05 November 2020, 19:18:42

Quote from: calvinh – on 05 November 2020, 14:49:09

different version

did you saw the changelog? nothin important. It works for me (have same card). but he can use newest version, if he not used