How do I know which modules to blacklist and how to do so correctly, in order to then install a wifi driver?

Question

I run Ubuntu 22.04 to a on "hp probook 455 g9". I want to install a driver for rtl8852be from here https://github.com/lwfinger/rtw89, but I'm having troubles understanding how to do so correctly. The repository says:

You must blacklist the in-tree kernel versions of this driver

and

If your system has ANY conflicting drivers installed, you must blacklist them as well.

but I don't know how to do it, despite rereading the attached link How to blacklist kernel modules? and googling around.

I will highly appreciate any support regarding this matter.

wireless info:

"sudo lshw -class network":

  *-network                 
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
       logical name: enp1s0
       version: 15
       serial: 7c:57:58:21:81:ca
       size: 100Mbit/s
       capacity: 1Gbit/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=6.2.0-33-generic duplex=full firmware=rtl8168h-2_0.0.2 02/26/15 ip=192.168.0.105 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=100Mbit/s
       resources: irq:56 ioport:3000(size=256) memory:fb604000-fb604fff memory:fb600000-fb603fff
  *-network DISABLED
       description: Wireless interface
       product: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
       logical name: wlp2s0
       version: 00
       serial: 10:b1:df:6b:09:11
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=rtw89_8852be driverversion=6.2.0-33-generic firmware=N/A latency=0 link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
       resources: irq:78 ioport:2000(size=256) memory:fb500000-fb5fffff

"lsusb":

Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 0408:5483 Quanta Computer, Inc. HP HD Camera
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 04f3:0c7e Elan Microelectronics Corp. ELAN:ARM-M4
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0bda:b85c Realtek Semiconductor Corp. Bluetooth Radio
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

"lspci":

00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Renoir/Cezanne Root Complex
00:00.2 IOMMU: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Renoir/Cezanne IOMMU
00:01.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Renoir PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
00:01.2 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Renoir/Cezanne PCIe GPP Bridge
00:01.3 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Renoir/Cezanne PCIe GPP Bridge
00:02.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Renoir PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
00:02.4 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Renoir/Cezanne PCIe GPP Bridge
00:08.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Renoir PCIe Dummy Host Bridge
00:08.1 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Renoir Internal PCIe GPP Bridge to Bus
00:14.0 SMBus: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SMBus Controller (rev 51)
00:14.3 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH LPC Bridge (rev 51)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Cezanne Data Fabric; Function 0
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Cezanne Data Fabric; Function 1
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Cezanne Data Fabric; Function 2
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Cezanne Data Fabric; Function 3
00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Cezanne Data Fabric; Function 4
00:18.5 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Cezanne Data Fabric; Function 5
00:18.6 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Cezanne Data Fabric; Function 6
00:18.7 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Cezanne Data Fabric; Function 7
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 15)
02:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device b852
03:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd NVMe SSD Controller 980
04:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Barcelo (rev c2)
04:00.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Renoir Radeon High Definition Audio Controller
04:00.2 Encryption controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 10h-1fh) Platform Security Processor
04:00.3 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Renoir/Cezanne USB 3.1
04:00.4 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Renoir/Cezanne USB 3.1
04:00.5 Multimedia controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Raven/Raven2/FireFlight/Renoir Audio Processor (rev 01)
04:00.6 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 17h (Models 10h-1fh) HD Audio Controller

edit1: "lspci -nnk -d ::0280":

02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device [10ec:b852]
    Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:88e3]
    Kernel driver in use: rtw89_8852be
    Kernel modules: rtw89_8852be, rtw_8852be

"rfkill list":

0: hci0: Bluetooth
    Soft blocked: yes
    Hard blocked: no
1: phy0: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: yes
    Hard blocked: no

(My old driver still somewhat works, but it stops working in a matter of minutes after rebooting and is no longer maintained.)

Your device is supported in Linux 6.2 or later. Did you try just using a default driver? — R A, Oct 01 '23 at 15:36
When I installed ubuntu, the wifi wasn't even showing up as an option. Then I found out I have to install one manually https://askubuntu.com/questions/1412450/network-driver-for-realtek-10ecb852 . — laketax, Oct 01 '23 at 15:55
@R A I got this laptop in January and 22.04.3 came out this summer, so I probably had an update since then. Are you implying that the default driver of this version could work with my wifi card now? — laketax, Oct 01 '23 at 16:31
Your results showed wifi disabled by rfkill, the easy way to unblock is that command — Jeremy31, Oct 01 '23 at 16:36
It seems rtw89_8852be is the default. Further action depends on if it unblocks and works or not — R A, Oct 01 '23 at 16:38
@Jeremy31 thank you, could that be why it regularly stops working until rebooted? — laketax, Oct 01 '23 at 16:39
Stop working might be because of power management, run sudo sed -i 's/wifi.powersave = 3/wifi.powersave = 2/' /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/default-wifi-powersave-on.conf then reboot — Jeremy31, Oct 01 '23 at 16:47
sadly it didn't help. should i start a new question then? (i tried to ask about this issue specifically some weeks ago here https://askubuntu.com/questions/1482167/manually-installed-wifi-driver-for-realtek-b852-stops-working-until-restarting-t) — laketax, Oct 01 '23 at 17:05

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 01 '23 at 15:40

2

You can blacklist your current driver by executing this command:

sudo sh -c 'echo "blacklist rtw89_8852be" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf'

The command just adds a single line to the /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf file. Removing the last line would revert the changes.

Reboot after making the change.

answered Oct 01 '23 at 15:40

R A

551

thank you so much! – laketax Oct 01 '23 at 16:25

How do I know which modules to blacklist and how to do so correctly, in order to then install a wifi driver?

1 Answers1