about rtl8188ee driver on Ubuntu 18.04

Question

I've seen a pro github link in the comments for the following question on how to get the Wi-Fi in Ubuntu 18.04 to work. Using the following command:

lspci | grep Wireless

I saw that my driver was rtl8188ee. Whereas my Wi-Fi does not work,connecting by cable works flawlessly. I used the following commands from the README from the github site:

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic build-essential git
git clone https://github.com/lwfinger/rtlwifi_new.git
cd rtlwifi_new
sudo make install
sudo modprobe -r rtl8188ee

and it worked, but only once! After a reboot, typing:

sudo modprobe rtl8188ee

gives the following error:

$ sudo modprobe rtl8188ee
modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'rtl8188ee': Exec format error

How should I proceed?

Yes, I did. That's what you ask in the README, before installing. — João Ricardo, Aug 27 '18 at 20:09
Isn't rtl8188ee included by default in Ubuntu 18.04? Why did you decide to compile a different driver from git? Welcome to Ask Ubuntu. — chili555, Aug 27 '18 at 20:15
I had installed ubuntu 16.x, and then upgraded to 18.04. I think it was after I updated to 18.04 that it did not work. So I installed the git driver. I'm thinking of formatting and reinstalling Ubuntu if it does not. — João Ricardo, Aug 28 '18 at 16:36
ok problem solved. Okay, problem solved. It was with the following commands: cd rtlwifi_new make clean make sudo make install — João Ricardo, Aug 28 '18 at 21:43

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 10 '18 at 10:58

you probably need to replace old buggy kernel module with your newly compiled one and make system aware of it

Try the following:

lsmod | grep rtl8188ee - see if the module is loaded
sudo modprobe -rv rtl8188ee - unload old module
cd ~/path/to/compiled/module -
sudo cp rtl8188ee.ko /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/- copy new module to current kernel lib directory so you dont accidentally delete it in your home folder
sudo modprobe -v rtl8188ee- enable module again. This should suffice since the module is in default kernel lib directory, however I recommend issuing sudo update-initramfs -u at last.
Reboot and see if this helps

Hope this helps

Update: Just noticed the last comment that you solved it yourself. Anyways I'll just leave this answer in case at can help anyone else

Joshua Besneatte · Answer 2 · 2019-06-26T14:31:40.140

My rtl8188ee Started Working After Updating & Installing net-tools

After installing Ubutnu 18.04 on Toshiba laptop with rtl8188ee wireless card I could see wifi networks but could not connect. However,I was able to connect via ethernet and solve my issue. This step is the simplest possible fix to get you connected to WiFi.

Update and Install net-tools and reboot:

sudo apt update && sudo apt -y dist-upgrade
sudo apt install net-tools
sudo reboot

I have found that with a current 4.15 Kernel, my rtl8188ee is working perfectly.

Above steps have upgraded you to 18.04.02 and your WiFi should now connect. If not, proceed to the next step using Ethernet connection.

Linux Kernel 4.17+ Has Latest Drivers

This question has led me to a newer and improved answer (found here) for installing the latest Realtek drivers.

Kernels above 4.17 have the newest RTL drivers, so to upgrade to the latest drivers just install the HWE Kernel.

Note: Upgrading to the latest kernel made it impossible to install the amdgpu drivers downloaded from AMD... DKMS on the amdgpu/amdgpu-pro install seems to only work with stock Ubuntu kernel. This may affect other DKMS installs as well!

Let's see what kernel you have:

uname -r

If you kernel version is less than 4.17 you need to install the HWE kernel:

sudo apt install linux-generic-hwe-18.04
sudo reboot

Now you should be good to go!

about rtl8188ee driver on Ubuntu 18.04

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