Recently, I built a PC from scratch. But why PC? Why not get a laptop since it's 2024 already, and most people are into mobile devices? Well, I have two laptops at home:
- MacBook M1 with 16Gb
- and a backup Lenovo i7 with 12Gb RAM powered by Windows 11
I wanted a home server that could act as a proxy (powered by Squid). So, I decided to build a PC instead of a laptop. Here are the specs:
-
AMD Ryzen 5 5600G with Radeon Graphics
-
MSI motherboard MS-7C52
-
NVMe M.2 SSD 256GB
-
Kingston 16Gb RAM
-
TP-Link AC600 wireless Realtek RTL8811AU [Archer T2U Nano]
I decided to install the Manjaro operating system since the review is fantastic, and I've been an Ubuntu guy since 2006. Yay!
The installation went fine except for one: the TP-Link adapter was not working. So, I checked Manjaro's forum, and I found several threads related to the issue that I had. However, the steps outlined in those threads didn't work on my end. So, I asked Google for more help and stumbled on this repository that could solve my problem.
Let's go ahead and start the installation. Here are the steps.
Step 1: Install the necessary dependencies.
These commands update your system and install essential development tools.
$ sudo pacman -Syu
$ sudo pacman -S base-devel
Step 2: Check if the system recognizes the wireless adapter.
The below command will verify that your system recognizes your TP-Link AC600 adapter:
$ lsusb
It should output something like this:
$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 2357:011e TP-Link AC600 wireless Realtek RTL8811AU [Archer T2U Nano]
Bus 001 Device 003: ID c0f4:0201 Hengchangtong HCT USB Entry Keyboard
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0a12:0001 Cambridge Silicon Radio, Ltd Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode)
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 214b:7250 Huasheng Electronics USB2.0 HUB
Bus 003 Device 004: ID 05e3:0610 Genesys Logic, Inc. Hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 006 Device 002: ID 1058:0748 Western Digital Technologies, Inc. My Passport (WDBKXH, WDBY8L)
The one that you would be interested in is the TP-Link AC600 wireless Realtek RTL8811AU [Archer T2U Nano]
Step 3: Download the driver from Github.
$ git clone https://github.com/aircrack-ng/rtl8812au.git
Step 4: Build the driver and install it.
$ cd rtl8812au
$ make
$ sudo make install
Take note of the output of the make install, specifically the line similar to this one:
install -p -m 644 88XXau.ko /lib/modules/6.6.8-2-MANJARO/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/
Step 5: Load the driver module.
$ sudo modprobe 8812au
If you get this error below:
modprobe: FATAL: Module 8812au not found in directory /lib/modules/6.6.8-2-MANJARO
Manually copy the module to the kernel modules directory. Get the filename from the sudo make install output, e.g.:
install -p -m 644 88XXau.ko /lib/modules/6.6.8-2-MANJARO/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/
The filename would be 88XXau.ko. Then copy the filename manually:
$ sudo cp 88XXau.ko /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/net/wireless
Replace 88XXau.ko with the actual module name if it's different.
After copying the module, update the module dependencies:
$ sudo depmod -a
Load the module again:
$ sudo modprobe 88XXau
After following these steps, you can load the Realtek RTL8812AU driver module without encountering the "not found" error. If you encounter any issues during this process, please check the documentation or README file in the rtl8812au repository for any specific instructions related to your kernel version or Manjaro.
Step 6: Recheck the adapter.
Ensure that it is recognized.
$ iwconfig
If you get this error command not found: iwconfig, the wireless_tools package still needs to be installed. To solve that, run the command below:
$ sudo pacman -S wireless_tools
At this point, the wireless should be ready to use. You can either confirm that by navigating to the network UI
Or through the terminal.
$ nmcli device wifi list
I hope this documentation helps.
Comments