How to install Realtek wifi driver in Fossapup64?

[Marcolimuxx]

• Just one question.
  How can i install on Puppy64 the drivers for a Realtek RTL8821ce card?
  Thank you

[mikeslr]

Hello, Marcolimuxx, and to the Kennels.

Always tell us the exact name of the Puppy involved. Get it either from the ISO you downloaded -- e.g. bionicpup64-8.0-uefi.iso-- or from the name used by the Dev in his/her opening post -- e.g. Fossapup64 9.5.

Puppy is NOT a distribution but rather a FAMILY of distributions. All have some of their infra-structure in common. Each has somethings unique to that Puppy. At the moment there are about a dozen 64-bit Puppys actively maintained.

Drivers have to be compiled* under and for the kernel, one of the essential, foundation structures of any Linux operating system. ozsouth has compiled the Realtek RTL8821ce driver for the 'stock' Fossapup64 and the 'stock' Bionicpup64.
You can download** them from here viewtopic.php?p=35232&sid=5f11432759586 ... 06c#p35232
and just Left-Click the downloaded pet to install it.
After installing, Menu>Exit>Restart-Graphical Server (AKA 'x') for Puppy to re-catalog what makes up its operating system. You'll need to Save to your SaveFile/Folder to make anything 'persistent'. [Sometimes you have to reboot creating or writing to a Save for Puppy to use some application. Wifi-drivers may fall into that category].

Note my use of the term 'stock'. I use to mean what the Puppy Dev included: what is there out-of-the-box. The kernels ozsouth compiled against were K 5.4.53 and k4.19.23.

Puppys are modular. If your Puppy's current kernel can not use an available driver, you can swap it's kernel for one which can. Ask how if you will need to do that; or if you are uncertain that you have one of the Puppys for which ozsouth has already provided drivers.

For future reference, you should bookmark this website, https://rockedge.org/psearch/. Although you can use the Forum's Search engine from one of the links on any page of the Forum, psearch is a dedicated Search Engine into both this and the 'old-archived' Forum. Plugging 'Realtek RTL8821ce' into its Search Box was how I found ozsouth's offering.

-=-=-=-=-
Compiled: If not already compiled, you or someone else will have to. This is not Windows where manufacturers of hardware provide drivers for Windows.
** Downloading a wifi driver presents a 'Catch-22': you need to have web-access to download; and you may need the driver to have web-access. The escape from that is to download using ethernet or a different operating system, such as the one you used to download the Puppy ISO.

[Marcolimuxx]

Thank you for your answer.
Yes, i dowoaded Fossapup64, soi will try your suggestion.
On my pc, a HP laptop, i have already Linux Mint, but it doesn't work properly.
It is really too slow.
I use my smartphone for downloading the ISO file and, now, the WiFi driver.
Thank you again

[Marcolimuxx]

Just another question.
The file is not a PET, but an XZ
Is it the same?

[Phoenix]

I believe its mistakenly marked as such in the browser, you should try using the built in file manager and then try 'running' the PET.

[mikewalsh]

@Marcolimuxx :- Hallo, and to the "kennels".

The Fossapup64 'stock' k5.4.53 kernel certainly supports the rtl8822befw chip/driver. I believe the rtl8821 chip that IS supported is the "ae" variant - not the "ce" one - so you'll probably need Oz's driver .pet.

He very kindly knocked me together a .pet for the rtl8822 which this HP desktop rig has in addition to its standard Ethernet. The wifi chip functions OOTB under Fossapup64.....not so under Bionicpup64.

His stuff definitely works, so you need have no worries in that respect.

Mike.

[Marcolimuxx]

Ok, thank you.