16

So I've been experimenting with Ubuntu on and off for a while, but I honestly have no idea what the hell I'm doing. So I have a realtek RTL8812bu WiFi dongle that I'm hoping to get working. I did some research, and came across this driver on GitHub that a couple people across two threads said worked for them:

At the bottom it said there is a new version here. So somewhere it said it was confirmed to work on kernels up to 4.16, so I checked and I'm on 4.15.0. But the problem I'm having, is what am I supposed to do? There is some installation guide at the bottom that is about as clear as mud to me since I don't know much.

Kulfy
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yeah_oh_yeah
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3 Answers3

17

Almost all of the instructions are in the README on the second site you linked. I’ll fill in a few blanks.

With a working internet connection by ethernet, tethering or whatever means possible, open a terminal and do:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential dkms git
git clone https://github.com/cilynx/rtl88x2BU_WiFi_linux_v5.2.4.4_26334.20180126_COEX20171012-5044.git

Now, from the README:

cd rtl88x2BU_WiFi_linux_v5.2.4.4_25643.20171212_COEX20171012-5044
VER=$(cat ./version)
sudo rsync -rvhP ./ /usr/src/rtl88x2bu-${VER}
sudo dkms add -m rtl88x2bu -v ${VER}
sudo dkms build -m rtl88x2bu -v ${VER}
sudo dkms install -m rtl88x2bu -v ${VER}
sudo modprobe 88x2bu

Please be aware that the ‘build’ process takes a few moments; please be patient.

Your wireless should now be working.

chili555
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  • This one is for Kernel 5.3 but my installation either, thru dkms and sudo make install, both fails. https://github.com/cilynx/rtl88x2BU_WiFi_linux_v5.3.1_27678.20180430_COEX20180427-5959 – Infinite Loops Nov 27 '19 at 20:29
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    @InfiniteLoops Please start a new question and we'll be glad to help. – chili555 Nov 27 '19 at 20:35
  • will do, later. – Infinite Loops Nov 27 '19 at 22:05
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    Works with new firmware version rtl88x2BU_WiFi_linux_v5.3.1_27678.20180430_COEX20180427-5959 in Linux Mint 19.3 – lordneru Jan 02 '20 at 16:33
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    Confirmed it works on Ubuntu 16.04 for some cheap chinese card descibed as AC1200 dual band 5GHz 2.4GHz USB3.0 802.11AC RTL8812BU. Minor corrections were needed. Current repository is: https://github.com/cilynx/rtl88x2BU_WiFi_linux_v5.3.1_27678.20180430_COEX20180427-5959 and first two lines from README now are cd rtl88x2BU_WiFi_linux_v5.3.1_27678.20180430_COEX20180427-5959 and VER=$(sed -n 's/\PACKAGE_VERSION="\(.*\)"/\1/p' dkms.conf) (as also seen in DKMS installation section on GitHub page) – quetzalcoatl Mar 14 '20 at 20:23
8

I tried several different drivers, but the one I finally got it working was from this repo: https://github.com/morrownr/88x2bu

In short, the steps you should take are:

  1. Test that your dongle actually needs RTL8812BU drivers:

    • In a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) run:

      lsusb

      This will give you something like:

      Bus 001 Device 002: ID 2357:0115

    • Google the ID number, e.g. "wiki 2357:0115", and you will find out which Realtek driver you need.

  2. If you indeed need RTL8812BU and you are on Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, or 20.10, run the following:

    sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y dkms git
mkdir src
cd src
git clone https://github.com/morrownr/88x2bu.git
cd 88x2bu
sudo ./install-driver.sh
sudo reboot
BeastOfCaerbannog
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mjkvaak
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  • Best answer in 2021. Note that you don't need to reboot. Do modprobe 88x2bu and the module will be loaded. – Déjà vu Aug 16 '21 at 16:30
  • Confirmed, still working on Linux 5.11.0-37-generic #41~20.04.2-Ubuntu SMP Fri Sep 24 09:06:38 UTC 2021 - Thank you. – Lost_In_Library Oct 07 '21 at 16:00
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    I was able to get the Asus USB AC53 nano working on ubuntu 22.04 with the above instructions. Only difference was git clone https://github.com/morrownr/88x2bu-20210702 – venvar Apr 27 '22 at 04:29
2

You could try the next:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential dkms git
git clone https://github.com/cilynx/rtl88x2BU_WiFi_linux_v5.3.1_27678.20180430_COEX20180427-5959
cd rtl88x2BU_WiFi_linux_v5.3.1_27678.20180430_COEX20180427-5959
VER=$(sed -n 's/\PACKAGE_VERSION="\(.*\)"/\1/p' dkms.conf)
sudo rsync -rvhP ./ /usr/src/rtl88x2bu-${VER}
sudo dkms add -m rtl88x2bu -v ${VER}
sudo dkms build -m rtl88x2bu -v ${VER}
sudo dkms install -m rtl88x2bu -v ${VER}
sudo modprobe 88x2bu
Gryu
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