No network when installing alongside Windows 8.1

[nguyen9173]

Windows 8.1 has network working. I used Lick to install Fatdog64 to the Windows partition. Fatdog64 doesn't have network. It doesn't detect my network card. But I know for sure my network card was supported by Linux. Before installed Windows on this PC, it's used to run MX Linux.

Today I tried Q4OS installer to install inside Windows (remember Ubuntu Wubi anyone?). I found Q4OS can't detect my network card too and thus doesn't have network working. Somehow Windows is locking the network card and keeps it only for itself. It captured the network card but I don't know how to get Windows to release it so Linux can see and use it.

[step]

A possible issue might be lack of network driver and/or lack of device firmware. https://distro.ibiblio.org/fatdog/web/f ... mware.html gives you some things to check for, especially the third paragraph from the top.

[nguyen9173]

A possible issue might be lack of network driver and/or lack of device firmware. https://distro.ibiblio.org/fatdog/web/f ... mware.html gives you some things to check for, especially the third paragraph from the top.

My network card is TP-LINK TL-WN725N V3 (a USB dongle). I think it doesn't need firmware and the driver is part of the Linux kernel.

Update: sorry everyone, it's a https://www.tp-link.com/vn/support/down ... wn722n/v3/ Somehow I messed up with my browsing history and looked at the wrong link. (I should detected this because the dongle in the image of 725n looks nothing like my dongle, my dongle has a full antenna. This is my mistake.)

[rcrsn51]

What happens if you leave the adapter UNplugged until after Fatdog has started?

[step]

A possible issue might be lack of network driver and/or lack of device firmware. https://distro.ibiblio.org/fatdog/web/f ... mware.html gives you some things to check for, especially the third paragraph from the top.

My network card is TP-LINK TL-WN725N V3 (a USB dongle). I think it doesn't need firmware and the driver is part of the Linux kernel.

According to TP-Link https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/download/tl-wn725n/
TL-725N v3 dongle uses the RTL 8188EU chipset. It seems to need firmware, and the driver was provided by TP-Link in beta source form for Linux (kernel 2.6.18 ~ 4.4.3). You didn't say what kernel you're using, so I'm going to assume its version 5.4.152, which is the default kernel in Fatdog64-812. We did include firmware and driver for RTL 8188EU in Fatdog64-812 but I don't know if anyone has ever tested it with the dongle you're using. You could be the first one to test it.

As I mentioned, TP-Link stopped providing the driver after kernel 4.4.3. So, the driver in Fatdog64-812 comes from an unofficial source. I believe it's https://github.com/lwfinger/rtl8188eu because it's the only project that has maintained its source code relatively current with new kernel updates. I have compiled the source code on Fatdog64-812 for you to test. To install, make a backup of the existing file /lib/modules/5.4.152/kernel/drivers/net/wifi/8188eu.ko then replace that file (not the backup) with the newer file in the attached archive. Reboot your system and hopefully your wifi dongle should work.

However, I'm not too hopeful, based on some notes I took, back when we were building Fatdog64-800.

Base Fatdog64 720, 721 and 800 include the rtl8188eu-lwfinger driver, which doesn‘t work well for the TP-Link 725N USB wifi adapter (slow, incomplete AP scan information, doesn’t complete speedtest.py) but works well for other adapters that use the same chipset.

I'm leaving some margin of optimistic doubt because your dongle's HW is version 3 (we only tested V2 I believe), and the driver I just compiled is the absolute latest, so perhaps it works better.

Another thing you could do, before and after you try the attached driver, is answering @rcrsn51's question. When you do, before you plug in your dongle, open a terminal window and run dmesg so you can watch how the kernel reacts to the dongle.

[rcrsn51]

@step: I checked in Fatdog-812 with my 8188eu adapter and it worked fine using the built-in driver.

By comparison, the standard Linux in-kernel driver, called r8188eu, has always been flaky for me. So I replace it with the "aircrack" driver from github and it works better. I have never tried the "lwfinger" version.

@nguyen9173: Open a terminal and run the command: lsusb

Identify the vendor:product ID codes for your adapter, like 0bda:8179.

[step]

@rcrsn51 thanks for letting me know. Did you test the TP-Link 725N or another vendor's adapter with the same chipset? I'm asking because my notes say that the lwfinger driver worked well with other adapters based on the 8188eu chipset but not so well with the TP-Link 725N.

I didn't know about the aircrack. I compiled and tested the mfruba driver for Fatdog 710 and the quickreflex driver for Fatdog 800, both from github, and they worked well for the TP-Link but they weren't updated for recent kernels.

[rcrsn51]

I have an old Netis adapter with a full-size antenna. I have built alternate 8188eu drivers from various sources and they were always better than the in-kernel r8188eu.

[nguyen9173]

Update: sorry everyone, it's a https://www.tp-link.com/vn/support/down ... wn722n/v3/ Somehow I messed up with my browsing history and looked at the wrong link (I should detected this because the dongle in the image of 725n looks nothing like my dongle, my dongle has a full antenna. This is my mistake.)

[nguyen9173]

What happens if you leave the adapter UNplugged until after Fatdog has started?

Still not detected. On Windows I think I did forced it to release my dongle by choosing to Safety Eject the device. On Fatdog after the system fully booted (no network) I inserted the dongle to see if it got detected. No, it's still not detected. lsusb doesn't even have the entry for it (or I don't know how to read it result, I will copy it here for you but it's not quick since no network on Fatdog). I think somehow Windows still not really released the device.

[mikewalsh]

@nguyen9173 :-

Probably a silly question, but.....I take it you ARE aware that simply "releasing" the dongle is not sufficient..?

When dual-booting - especially with newer versions of Windows - you MUST fully power Windows down. Hibernating Windows, then booting into Linux, half of your hardware is never going to work.

You'll just be on a hiding to nothing, since Windows hibernation maintains a 'lock' on certain critical components to ensure that FastBoot works properly.....

(*shrug*)

Mike.

[rcrsn51]

Your TL-WN722N appears to need the 8188eu driver.

lsusb doesn't even have the entry for it (or I don't know how to read it result,

With the adapter UNplugged, run "lsusb". then plug in the adapter and repeat. Identify the extra line and post it.

This is the ONLY way to know for sure what driver you need.

This would be easier if you could boot off a flash drive so Windows was not involved.