RTL8188FU driver for Linux kernel 4.15.x ~ 6.7.x (Linux Mint, Ubuntu or Debian Derivatives)

info: rtl8188fu support added to rtl8xxxu module of Linux kernel with version 6.2.

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How to install

sudo apt-get install build-essential git dkms linux-headers-$(uname -r)

git clone https://github.com/kelebek333/rtl8188fu

sudo dkms install ./rtl8188fu

sudo cp ./rtl8188fu/firmware/rtl8188fufw.bin /lib/firmware/rtlwifi/

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Configuration

Disable Power Management

Run following commands for disable power management and plugging/replugging issues.

sudo mkdir -p /etc/modprobe.d/

sudo touch /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8188fu.conf

echo "options rtl8188fu rtw_power_mgnt=0 rtw_enusbss=0 rtw_ips_mode=0" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8188fu.conf

Disable MAC Address Spoofing

Run following commands for disabling MAC Address Spoofing (Note: This is not needed on Ubuntu based distributions. MAC Address Spoofing is already disable on Ubuntu base).

sudo mkdir -p /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/

sudo touch /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/disable-random-mac.conf

echo -e "[device]\nwifi.scan-rand-mac-address=no" | sudo tee /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/disable-random-mac.conf

Blacklist (alias) for kernel 5.15 and 5.16 (No needed for kernel 5.17 and up)

If you are using kernel 5.15 and 5.16, you must create a configuration file with following command for preventing to conflict rtl8188fu module with built-in r8188eu module.

echo 'alias usb:v0BDApF179d*dc*dsc*dp*icFFiscFFipFFin* rtl8188fu' | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/r8188eu-blacklist.conf

Blacklist (alias) for kernel 6.2 and up

If you are using kernel 6.2 and up, you must create a configuration file with following command for preventing to conflict rtl8188fu module with built-in rtl8xxxu module.

echo 'alias usb:v0BDApF179d*dc*dsc*dp*icFFiscFFipFFin* rtl8188fu' | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8xxxu-blacklist.conf

Then you must update initramfs

For initramfs

sudo update-initramfs -u

For dracut

sudo dracut -q --force

Enable rtl8188fu module

Run following command for up to kernel 6.1

sudo modprobe rtl8188fu

Run following commands for kernel 6.2 and up

sudo modprobe -r rtl8188fu

sudo modprobe rtl8188fu

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How to uninstall

sudo dkms remove rtl8188fu/1.0 --all

sudo rm -f /lib/firmware/rtlwifi/rtl8188fufw.bin

sudo rm -f /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8188fu.conf

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How to install from PPA repository

You can install rtl8188fu driver with following commands from PPA.

for xUbuntu 16.04-18.04-20.04-22.04-23.04-23.10 / Linux Mint 20.x-21.x

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kelebek333/kablosuz

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt install rtl8188fu-dkms

You can purge packages with following commands

sudo apt purge rtl8188fu-dkms

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