I tried for days to get this configured. Here is so much conflicting information out there. Finally I found a script to automatically install it. Here are the instructions:
Installing your rtl8188cus wireless adapter:
--------------------------------------------
If you are installing your first wifi adapter or adding a new wifi adapter to a Pi that
already has a different one installed the driver should be installed BEFORE plugging in the
new wifi adapter.
DO NOT PLUG IN THE WIFI ADAPTER UNTIL ASKED TO - LOOK AT THE SCREEN OUTPUT FOR INSTRUCTIONS.
So connect up your Pi then power on and wait for it to boot and initialise. Log in and then
you can start to install the software/firmware for the wifi adapter.
Some images need configuring when they are first run so go through the configuration before
running the sript. After the image is configured you can start the script to install the wifi.
If you have an internet connection to your Pi you can now download the script. Use the
command:
sudo wget http://dl.dropbox.com/u/80256631/install-rtl8188cus-latest.sh -O /boot/install-rtl8188cus-latest.sh
This will install the script in the /boot directory of the SD card ready to run.
If you are NOT logged in as root start the script using the command:
sudo /boot/install-rtl8188cus-latest.sh
If you are logged in as root use the command:
/boot/install-rtl8188cus-latest.sh (no sudo!)
If you are connected to the Pi using ssh, and not logged in as root user then you may need
to use the command
sudo bash /boot/install-rtl8188cus-latest.sh
or if logged in as the root user.
bash /boot/install-rtl8188cus-latest.sh
The script should now start running. I have written the script so it will output messages to
the screen so you can see what it is doing as a lot of the time there is no output to the
display.
If you have not used the script before it will make an update to the kernel configuration
to allow you to run with the wifi adapter plugged in before the driver is loaded. This
configuration change will disable a built in driver that does not work and causes problems
if the wifi adapter is plugged in before the working driver is installed. After making the
change it will shutdown the Pi. You can then plug in the wifi adapter and power on again
and thePi should run without problems. You can then run the acript to install the wifi
driver and configure the wifi.
At the beginning of the installation the script will make several checks. It will check if
you have an internet connection, wired or wireless, and you have access to the internet. It
will try and determine if you already have a wifi adapter configured.
If you do not have an internet connection to your Pi it will check it has all the necessary
files to install and run the wifi driver. If it does not have all the files it needs it will
output a list of files it does not have and will abort the installation. You will have to
download the files it requires and copy them to the /boot directory of the SD card and
restart the script.
For some images it may be necessary to install some additional applications to allow the
wifi to operate correctly. The script will install these before configuring and installing
the wifi driver. If your Pi doesn't have an internet connection and these files are not
copied to the SD card the script will list the files it needs and then abort. You will need
to download and copy these files to the /boot directory of the image.
To copy missing files to the Pi there are basically two ways to do it. You can shutdown the
Pi, remove the SD card and plug it into the computer used to generate the image in the first
place. Then download the missing files on that computer and copy them to the SD card.
Alternatively you can download the files needed on another computer with internet access and
then copy them to a USB stick. You can then install the USB stick in the Pi and copy them from
the USB stick to the SD card. To copy files to the /boot directory you will need to run the
commands as root user. As I understand it a USB stick would normally be automatically mounted
in the directory /media. The command
ls /media
should then show the device name. You can then copy the files using the command format
sudo cp /media/device-name/filename /boot
I have, however, found that devices are not always mounted automatically so you must first
mount the device manually. Using the command
sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
will mount the device in the /mnt directory rather than /media. The files can then be displayed
with the command
ls /mnt
You can then copy the files using the command format
sudo cp /mnt/filename /boot
When finished copying the necessary files do not forget to unmount the USB stick -
sudo umount /dev/sda1
Once all the files are copied to the SD card restart the script. It will again check all the
files needed are available on the SD card and then start the install.
If you already have a wifi adapter installed it will ask if you want to update the driver or
add a new wifi adapter. If you are using an image that already has the rtl8188cus driver
installed and it no longer works because you have made a software update you can update the
driver to repair the driver installation. If a wifi driver is already installed, either
using a different driver or the rtl8188cus driver, you can add another wifi adapter. You can
then use either adapter or even use both. You can use this option to install a new wifi
adapter if you don't want to use your old adapter, although the Pi will still be configured
to run the older adapter if necessary.
After the driver and any other files needed are installed the script will then configure the
files needed to use the wifi. It will first ask you the type of security the network uses if
any. eg unsecured, WEP or WPA/WPA2. It uses this to determine some of the settings needed
for the installation and whether you need to input a PASSWORD. The script will not ask for a
password if you selected unsecured as the network security.
The script will then ask you to input the network SSID and a PASSWORD if it is required.
Type in the SSID and then the PASSWORD. These values will be copied to the file
/etc/network/interfaces as part of the setup. When inputting the SSID and PASSWORD the
script will ask you to verify that they are correct before using then.
A recent addition to the script is a check to see if the wifi network you want to connect to
is visible by the wifi adapter - that is it is transmitting it's ssid. With the basic setup
used by the script a wifi adapter will not be able to connect to a network that does not
transmit it's ssid. When the script gets to the point where it asks for the ssid of the
network you want to connect to it will check the name is in this list. If it is not it will
let you know. To get a connection you should reconfigure your wireless network to transmit
the ssid.
Once the SSID and PASSWORD have been input and verified OK the remaining files will be
configured to ensure the driver module is automatically loaded whenever the Pi is restarted.
The wifi driver should now be installed and configured. The script will output a message
asking you to plug in the wifi adapter. Plug in the wifi adapter and press any key to
continue.
It will wait for the wifi to connect then output some information about the network
connection. It will show details on the wireless setup and should show you the IP address
assigned to the wireless adapter. You can terminate the installation at this point by
pressing Cntl-C.
If you do not terminate the script it will then continue on and update the software packages
list and upgrade the installed software packages. This can take a long time especially if
you are using any of the older images.
The script will then install rpi-update if it is not already installed. The rpi-update
script, developed by Hexxeh, updates the Pi firmware/software.
The script will now check if the driver that is loaded is the latest available or not. If
the installed driver is the latest the script will terminate and the wifi should be working.
If the driver is not the latest version rpi-update will be run to update the Pi's
firmware/software and then the final stage of the installation is to update the wifi driver
to the latest version.
If rpi-update is run by the script when the script terminates the Pi will reboot. If rpi-
update does not run the script will just terminate and you can continue to use the Pi.
When it has rebooted, login - AND START TO HAVE SOME FUN.
HAVE FUN WITH YOUR RASPBERRY PI.
| Wireless Type | 802.11n, 802.11b, 802.11g |
|---|---|
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 1 |
| Number of USB 3.0 Ports | 1 |
