RTL8821CE driver for FreeBSD 14

L

lgol04

NOTE: I'm new to the FreeBSD world.

Hello,

I will try to install FreeBSD on my Dell Vostro 15 3515 machine, which contains the RTL8821CE WiFi device, however, it seems to me that this driver does not work properly or does not exist on BSD systems. This driver exists and works normally on Linux systems. Is there a possibility of there being some port or modification to make it work on BSD?

Apparently FreeBSD makes the driver available through the rtw88 module, which covers my device. I assume that once the kernel is working, it probably won't even recognize the Wi-Fi device as an interface. Should I use kldload rtw88?
I found the open-source driver for the RTL8821CE on GitHub (link https://github.com/tomaspinho/rtl8821ce), but it probably won't be compatible with FreeBSD.
Any suggestion? I'm not thinking about buying a USB WiFi card, since there is the possibility of connecting my Laptop to the internet via USB Tethering, but honestly, I have no idea how to do that.
Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Greetings!
 
rtw88 should support this, but you might need to install firmware before it will work. I think that firmware is still there for 14 though (it's missing in 15).

I have a RTL8821b in my laptop, but whille it works first boot, it doesn't after suspend/resume.

But if you are new to FreeBSD, I'd suggest a usb dongle will generally work better for you.
 
bsdimp said:
rtw88 should support this, but you might need to install firmware before it will work. I think that firmware is still there for 14 though (it's missing in 15).

I have a RTL8821b in my laptop, but whille it works first boot, it doesn't after suspend/resume.

But if you are new to FreeBSD, I'd suggest a usb dongle will generally work better for you.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the support! I really appreciate your help!

How I can install the firmware? Should I use pkg_add?

About USB Tethering, apparently FreeBSD supports it natively. Do you have any ideas on how to configure it? I tried to use USB Tethering on OpenBSD and NetBSD but it didn't work.
 
Have you tried this?
rtw88(4)
Code: 
LOADER TUNABLES
     compat.linuxkpi.skb.mem_limit
             If you are running a 64bit system with more than 4GB of main
             memory you need to set this tunable to 1 in loader.conf(5) and
             reboot once to make it effective.  This tunable will work around
             a problem with DMA and limit allocations for network buffer
             memory to the lower 32bit of physical memory and make the driver
             work.

BUGS
     Does not seem to work (reliably) on machines with more than 4GB of main
     memory.  See in the LOADER TUNABLES section above.
 
Charlie_ said:
Have you tried this?
Click to expand...
I had read the rtw88 manual, but I have no idea how to install the firmware and activate it. On Linux, just compile the source code and run the module (.ko) with modprobe, but in FreeBSD I have no how to this.
Unfortunately, according to the rtw88 wiki, this module appears to have been deactivated from the main repositories in 2023. As bsdimp mentioned, this module is and will only be available in FreeBSD 14.0. By installing the firmware and activating it in the kernel, simply configure the firmware for machines that have memories above 4 GB, as specified in the manual.

History:
1705581006514.png


I will enter the world of FreeBSD, however, it seems to me that this system is not so friendly with drivers and hardware and is therefore only compatible with consolidated (older) hardware.

PS: The main point to do is: Install the firmware, run it in the kernel and make the WiFi interface recognized in FreeBSD with the ifconfig command. After these procedures, just configure WiFi and voilà!
 

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I always suggest replacing your wifi cards with supported chipsets or USB supported chipsets. I personally went with USB and purchased about 14 dongles for various systems that didn't have supported chipsets.
 
LibreQuest said:
I always suggest replacing your wifi cards with supported chipsets or USB supported chipsets. I personally went with USB and purchased about 14 dongles for various systems that didn't have supported chipsets.
Click to expand...
Hehehe, is a good option for my problem. I will consider purchasing.

If I has the possibility to use USB Tethering, why not use it?

Thanks for the suggestion! :)
 
pkg install wifi-firmware-rtw88-kmod
Code: 
Firmware files for Realtek WiFi NICs supported by the rtw88 driver.

Currently supported chipsets:
- RTL8822BE
- RTL8821CE
- RTL8822CE
- RTL8723DE
 
USB tethering works on FreeBSD as well. I have used it for an extended time on FreeBSD. You do need to add your device as a network device. I don't recall the exact steps to take but can confirm it works nicely.
 
LibreQuest said:
USB tethering works on FreeBSD as well. I have used it for an extended time on FreeBSD. You do need to add your device as a network device. I don't recall the exact steps to take but can confirm it works nicely.
Click to expand...
Hope it works.

I tried using USB Tethering in NetBSD (i386) on my old computer, but doesn't work. There are no manuals. So, I think the USB Tethering supports in only available for FreeBSD.

Thanks for support! :)
 
sudo kldload if_urndis if_cdce if_ipheth
dhclient ue0
https://forums.ghostbsd.org/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=374&p=11320&hilit=ue0#p11320
My writeup on tethering USB cable from cell phone to computer for an internet connection.

A simpler solution for cellphone USB tethering an internet connection, may be a simple GUI application for the commands "dhclient ue0" and "ifconfig ue0 down/up". I guess I could learn to python. Lol

How to manually configure a Wifi Network connection. Networkmgr python app does most of the file editing work for you.
3 files to edit/create /boot/loader.conf /etc/rc.conf /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
https://forums.ghostbsd.org/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=526 EDIMAX EW-7811un USB interface
https://forums.ghostbsd.org/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=570 rtl8188ce PCI interface

Read both posts to learn different hints and tips. Use these 2 post as a template to direct your questions for the next step to perform with your wifi device.

https://github.com/ghostbsd/networkmgr Here is Networkmgr software
pkg install Networkmgr Maybe this works for your FreeBSD Operating System?

https://www.ccammack.com/posts/configure-a-wifi-client-on-freebsd/ © 2018-2023 Chris Cammack FreeBSD Networking explanation

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQxReyTmtiE
GaryH Tech Video about Networking
 
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