WiFi dongle not seen by USBridge Sig

[odonnell]

I just attached the WiFi dongle (https://www.allo.com/sparky/usb-wifi-dongle.html)

to my USBridge Signature (eMMC memory) in its new case.

 

I enabled WiFi with dietpi-config. dietpi-config does not see the dongle, and reports:

 

     WiFi        : Not Found | [On] | Disconnected

 

lsusb finds the dongle:

 

     Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0bda:818b Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8192EU 802.11b/g/n WLAN Adapter

 

There are modules that appear to be appropriate:

 

     /lib/modules/4.19.73+/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl8192cu/8192cu.ko

     /lib/modules/4.19.73-v7+/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl8192cu/8192cu.ko

     /lib/modules/4.19.73-v7l+/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl8192cu/8192cu.ko

 

The download from the Allo product page provides an "install.sh" which claims to be for PC-Linux, and which fails when I run it.

 

Instructions would be real helpful.

[odonnell]

I just noticed that the installed modules are all of the form "rtl8192cu" while my dongle appears to be "RTL8192EU" ("CU" vs. "EU"). Not clear how to take care of that. Maybe the download allows me to compile the driver for the *EU version, if I can figure out how.

 

[odonnell]

In order to compile the driver for the RPI 3 computer module, it seems that I should fix the Makefile to show:

 

CONFIG_PLATFORM_ARM_RPI = y

 

(all other CONFIG_PLATFORM* variables set to n)

 

and there should be a section starting with:

 

ifeq ($(CONFIG_PLATFORM_ARM_RPI), y)

 

I have no idea what should go in the conditional section for ARM_RPI.

 

[odonnell]

I found plausible settings for CONFIG_PLATFORM_ARM_RPI, except for the KSRC variable. It appears that the Makefile for the RealTek driver changes directory to a kernel source directory and runs another Makefile there.

 

      modules:
    $(MAKE) ARCH=$(ARCH) CROSS_COMPILE=$(CROSS_COMPILE) -C $(KSRC) M=$(shell pwd)  modules

 

/lib/modules/<version>/build is a common choice for KSRC, but there are others, such as /usr/src/<version>. The DietPi installation does not appear to have any appropriate directory with a Makefile for kernel modules.

 

Perhaps there is a very different way to approach this problem, and perhaps I need a different WiFi dongle?

[ALLOsupport]

on RPI RTL8xxxu driver available , but its blacklisted by default in dietpi. comment the line on 

 

/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-rtl8xxxu.conf

#blacklist rtl8xxxu

 

 

 

[odonnell]

7 hours ago, ALLOsupport said:

on RPI RTL8xxxu driver available , but its blacklisted by default in dietpi. comment the line on 

 

/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-rtl8xxxu.conf

#blacklist rtl8xxxu

 

 

Thanks. With that advice, I got the dongle recognized and configureed as wlan0. I found my two local wireless networks on a scan in dietpi-config. So far, I can't get them to configure their IP addresses, but I expect to solve that. I will post my final result here in case someone else has similar issues.

[odonnell]

Wireless success:

 

Although multiple restarts of the wireless networking failed to configure the DHCP lease, when I rebooted the USBridge Sig, I got a fully configured wireless connection, but DNS was still trying to connect through the Ethernet, even when I disconnected it. A second reboot with the Ethernet disconnected got me full Internet service, including DNS, through the wireless.

 

[Cundis]

I guess I have big problems installing this wifi dongle myself. On Allo website it says plug and run or something. 

I'm not deep into the shh thing, so my question is: is it possible for someone not so familiar with shh to get this wifi dongle up and running on the USbridge Signature? 

[odonnell]

I think that, when you write "shh" you mean "ssh", which is a particular program for logging in to a UNIX or Linux system from another system.

 

In order to get your USBridge running, you need to connect to it and control it in some way. There are a number of approaches. I don't know how to get wireless working properly without using another connection first. So, I started with a wired Ethernet from the USBridge to my laptop. I had to work hard to configure the laptop for a good connection. If you can run the Ethernet wire directly to any sort of network hub, typically a wireless hub that also has a wired Ethernet port, then everything will probably connect automatically. It may be worth sitting near your wireless hub while doing the initial steps, but I was unwilling to do so.

 

If you need to configure the wired network connection, for example from a laptop or desktop, it al depends on the system running there. I might be able to help if it is UNIX/Linux, and other people have posted about tools on Microsoft and Apple systems.

 

Given the wired network connection, there are some fairly simple things to configure the wireless, which I think I wrote about before, but I don't remember them in detail. If you achieve a remote login to the USBridge, then the "dietpi-config" program is pretty good for working out that sort of configuration.

 

It is also possible to connect a keyboard and screen directly to the USBridge, but you must have the hardware for that. I did so with another Raspberry Pi before the USBridge.

 

Once you have a wireless network connection, you may do most configuration and control through  a Web page that the USBridge provides on your local network. From there, you may choose a number of ways to play music. I use the pre-installed "mpd" system, controlled across the network by "Cantata." It looks like the O!MPD Web-based control might be good for someone who doesn't want to configure as much as I did.

[Cundis]

Thank you @odonnell for your time. I have ethernet up and running, and I have remote access to dietpi-config via Termius on my android phone. And yes I meant ssh. I always mix those letters up for some reason.

 

But I really would love if I could get wifi on the USbridge Signature to work to be able to minimize wires. At least try and test out sound quality. 

 

Even if I enable wireless on the dietpi-config page, it reports that no wifi hardware is found. 

From there it's starting to be pretty hard for me to understand what others have done to succeed. I'm not a lot into the ssh thing so that's why it's all chaos for from that point on. 

 

On the Digione Signature it was alot easier, just enable wireless in dietpi-config and every step from there was easy to follow. 

[odonnell]

I looked back at my notes regarding wireless. I can't reconstruct everything, but I noticed that there is more wireless configuration available in dietpi-config than appears at first look. There is a menu item under wireless:

 

     WiFi        : Available | [On] | Connected

 

This probably says "Disconnected" in some cases. But even when this item seems to indicate that wireless is on, there may be further configuration. If you select the item, it takes you to a further detailed menu:

 

WiFi Details:                                                                                                        │
           │ Usage   : Sent = N/A | Recieved = N/A                                                                                │
           │ SSID    : CenturyLink4107 | 1 Mbit | Strength: -80 dBm                                                               │
           │ Address : IP = 192.168.0.24 | Mask = 255.255.255.0 | Gateway = 192.168.0.1 | DNS = 192.168.0.1                       │
           │                                                                                                                      │
           │                                              ●─ Basic Options ───────────────────────●                               │
           │                               Scan           : Scan and configure SSID                                               │
           │                               Auto Reconnect : [Off]                                                                 │
           │                                              ●─ DHCP/STATIC IP ──────────────────────●                               │
           │                               Change Mode    : [DHCP]                                                                │
           │                                              ●─ Additional Options ──────────────────●                               │
           │                               Country        : [US]                                                                  │
           │                                              ●─ Toggle State ────────────────────────●                               │
           │                               Disable        : Disable WiFi adapter                                                  │
           │                                              ●─ Apply ───────────────────────────────●                               │
           │                               Apply          : Save all changes and restart networking                               │

 

It was important for me to set "DHCP" mode, and also "US" for the country. I think that the US employs different frequencies for the dongle than some other countries. If you do not set "DHCP", then you have to configure your router to recognize the USBridge's Dongle, and provide a specific IP number. Almost all routers are performing DHCP, which assigns the IP number automatically. The "Usage, SSID, Address" information at the top was not set by me, but describes the connection to my house wireless router.

 

I think that there may have been a place where I had to tell the USBridge which local wireless signal to try. I will look some more for that.

 

[odonnell]

On 10/22/2019 at 1:24 AM, ALLOsupport said:

on RPI RTL8xxxu driver available , but its blacklisted by default in dietpi. comment the line on 

 

/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-rtl8xxxu.conf

#blacklist rtl8xxxu

 

 

 

For the WiFi Dongle that Allo now sells, I think that this step (from an earlier post in this thread) was also crucial. I had to use a text editor to add the "#" symbol at the beginning of the only line in the file /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-rtl8xxxu.conf. The "xxx" is part of the actual name of the file, not something for you to fill in.

 

If you have a different WiFi dongle, this step will not apply, but there might be something else to do.

[Cundis]

Thank you so much. I will take a look at this and see if I can find those extended settings I haven't seen yet. 

I guess most of the answer lies there. 

 

The wifi dongle is the new Allo is selling now, so I'll try and add that information you provided. 

I'll report back how things are going. 

[odonnell]

I found in my notes that I also had to select

 

          Scan           : Scan and configure SSID

 

Within the resulting submenu, I was able to select my house wireless network. I don't remember exactly how those steps went, but they were similar to selecting a network and entering a password on a laptop.

 

[Cundis]

2 minutes ago, odonnell said:

I found in my notes that I also had to select

 

          Scan           : Scan and configure SSID

 

Within the resulting submenu, I was able to select my house wireless network. I don't remember exactly how those steps went, but they were similar to selecting a network and entering a password on a laptop.

 

 

I recognize this from the DigiOne Signature. But I haven't been able to get this far with the USbridge. I'll try for an hour or two this night and see how things work out. 

[Audio_Allo]

9 hours ago, Cundis said:

I guess I have big problems installing this wifi dongle myself. On Allo website it says plug and run or something. 

I'm not deep into the shh thing, so my question is: is it possible for someone not so familiar with shh to get this wifi dongle up and running on the USbridge Signature? 

Forwarded PM please check

[Cundis]

All is working now, the wifi dongle driver was installed, but blacklisted. When that was fixed I was able to go through the normal process of choosing the network and password. As @odonnell mentioned the solution was to add ## in front of a file and save it.

 

A big thanks to @odonnell and @Audio_Allo for their kindness and help. 

[Cundis]

Not been testing audio quality yet after I got wifi working, but i notice that DSD (DoP) leaves me with an error message in Roon saying the file is loading slowly, while PCM works fine. Tried changing governor to performance, but it did not improve anything. Could the wifi dongle be less efficient with DSD somehow? Both PCM and DSD works fine over ethernet.

[Cundis]

1 hour ago, Cundis said:

Not been testing audio quality yet after I got wifi working, but i notice that DSD (DoP) leaves me with an error message in Roon saying the file is loading slowly, while PCM works fine. Tried changing governor to performance, but it did not improve anything. Could the wifi dongle be less efficient with DSD somehow? Both PCM and DSD works fine over ethernet.

 

Now both PCM and DSD are lagging a lot over wifi. Ethernet is fine. I guess this must be a case of needing the better wifi dongle, as my network should be fast enough and my router is placed 50 centimeters away from the USbridge. 

[Cundis]

On further investigation it seems fine as long as I don't upsample. So I guess the wifi dongle can't handle higher sampling frequencies. Maybe I should try the USB 3.0 dual band dongle instead. 

[Cundis]

... and upon even further investigation it seems like this wifi dongle has its limits on 96 kHz or dsd 64. Go beyond that and it messes up. Anyone here who got it to work with higher sampling frequencies? 

[Cundis]

It is now confirmed that there is some sort of rpi driver issue preventing this dongle above to work with anything higher than 96 kHz or dsd 64. The more expensive Comfast wifi dongle sold on Allo website should work. 

 

Just wanted to share in case anyone needs this information. 

[Mark Dirac]

On 1/21/2020 at 8:21 AM, Cundis said:

All is working now, the wifi dongle driver was installed, but blacklisted. When that was fixed I was able to go through the normal process of choosing the network and password. As @odonnell mentioned the solution was to add ## in front of a file and save it.

 

A big thanks to @odonnell and @Audio_Allo for their kindness and help. 

@Cundi what was the magic advice in Allo's secret PM which was so helpful please - would you be able to post it for all to see please? (I too cannot get the Allo wifi dongle (https://www.allo.com/sparky/usb-wifi-dongle.html) to work with USBridge Sig. Under Moode.)  Thanks.

[Mark Dirac]

Allo sent me the fix by PM. It's simple. What's the big secret? Is there any reason I should not post it here for all to see?

[techboy]

Can you pls send to me too?