802.11N Realtek Wifi Dongle Setup for Raspberry Pi

IMPORTANT: First check the version of Linux you have. Use the command uname -a to find the version of Linux.

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pi@raspberrypi ~ $ uname -a
Linux raspberrypi 3.10.24+ #614 PREEMPT Thu Dec 19 20:38:42 GMT 2013 armv6l GNU/Linux
pi@raspberrypi ~ $

The important part is 3.10.24+ #614. This is just an example and your version may be different. Select the right driver for the version you have from the list below.

This driver supports wifi modules with the following USB IDs

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ID 2001:3310
ID 2001:330F
ID 07B8:8179
ID 0BDA:0179
ID 0BDA:8179

With the wifi dongle connected to your Pi use command lsusb to show a list of USB devices connected to your Pi. You should see your wifi module in the list and the USB ID of the device which you can check is in the list above. If it is read on to find the device driver you need and how to install it.


rtl8188eu drivers for 3.6.11+ 

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3.6.11+ #371 up to #520 inclusive    - 8188eu-20130209.tar.gz
3.6.11+ #524, #528, #532             - 8188eu-20130815.tar.gz
3.6.11+ #538, #541, #545, #551, #557 - 8188eu-20130830.tar.gz

rtl8188eu drivers for 3.10.18+ to 3.10.38+

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3.10.18+ #577       - 8188eu-20131105.tar.gz
3.10.18+ #579, #585 - 8188eu-20131106.tar.gz
3.10.18+ #587       - 8188eu-20131110.tar.gz
3.10.18+ #590, #592 - 8188eu-20131111.tar.gz
3.10.18+ #594, #596 - 8188eu-20131113.tar.gz

3.10.19+ #600       - 8188eu-20131113.tar.gz

3.10.21+ #602, #604 - 8188eu-20131113.tar.gz

3.10.22+ #606       - 8188eu-20131206.tar.gz

3.10.23+ #608       - 8188eu-20131209.tar.gz

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3.10.24+ #610       - 8188eu-20131209.tar.gz
3.10.24+ #614       - 8188eu-20131219.tar.gz

3.10.25+ #616, #618 - 8188eu-20131219.tar.gz
3.10.25+ #622, #624 - 8188eu-20131219.tar.gz

3.10.26+ #628       - 8188eu-20140110.tar.gz

3.10.27+ #630       - 8188eu-20140117.tar.gz

3.10.28+ #632, #634 - 8188eu-20140117.tar.gz

3.10.29+ #636, #638 - 8188eu-20140117.tar.gz

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3.10.30+ #640, #642 - 8188eu-20140117.tar.gz

3.10.32+ #646, #648 - 8188eu-20140117.tar.gz

3.10.33+ #654, #656 - 8188eu-20140117.tar.gz
3.10.33+ #658       - 8188eu-20140117.tar.gz

3.10.34+ #660, #661 - 8188eu-20140117.tar.gz

3.10.36+ #662, #664 - 8188eu-20140117.tar.gz
3.10.36+ #665, #666 - 8188eu-20140117.tar.gz

3.10.37+ #667, #669 - 8188eu-20140117.tar.gz

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3.10.38+ #675       - 8188eu-20140117.tar.gz

rtl8188eu drivers for 3.12.18+ to 3.12.24+

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3.12.18+ #673, #677 - 8188eu-20140425.tar.gz
3.12.18+ #679, #680 - 8188eu-20140501.tar.gz

3.12.19+ #681, #682 - 8188eu-20140509.tar.gz
3.12.19+ #684       - 8188eu-20140509.tar.gz

3.12.20+ #685, #686 - 8188eu-20140509.tar.gz
3.12.20+ #687       - 8188eu-20140509.tar.gz

3.12.21+ #688, #689 - 8188eu-20140509.tar.gz

3.12.22+ #690, #691 - 8188eu-20140616.tar.gz

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3.12.23+ #692       - 8188eu-20140626.tar.gz

3.12.24+ #693       - 8188eu-20140705.tar.gz

Link to driver files - use date code from list above to download required driver

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https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80256631/8188eu-201xyyzz.tar.gz

NOTE: If updating firmware revisions, say from 3.10.23+ to 3.10.24+, and they use the same driver, in this case 8188eu-20131209.tar.gz, you will still need to reinstall the driver on the newer version of Linux, even though the driver has not changed as it will be loaded from a different directory by the new Linux revision and you need to install it in the new directory.

The driver installation instructions expect you to be using Raspbian, either installed from a basic rasbian image or installed using NOOBS. The instructions are based on running from a Command Line Terminal, not a GUI (Graphical User Interface). If you are running using the GUI you will need to open a terminal window and run the commands from the terminal window but I can't guarantee they will work.

If you have a wired internet connection install the driver with the following commands

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wget https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80256631/8188eu-201xyyzz.tar.gz <--set above="" br="" code="" data="" driver="" for="" version="">tar -zxvf 8188eu-201xyyzz.tar.gz                                         <--set above="" br="" code="" data="" driver="" for="" version="">sudo install -p -m 644 8188eu.ko /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/net/wireless
sudo insmod /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/8188eu.ko
sudo depmod -a

If you do not have an internet connection the driver file will need to be downloaded on another computer and copied to the SD card. I use a Windows laptop and will use that as an example of how to copy and install the wifi driver.

Open a web browser on your Windows computer and download the driver. Check the name of the driver file before saving it and correct it if necessary. I have sometimes found Windows tries to save the driver file as 8188eu-201xyyzz.tar.tar when it should be 8188eu-201xyyzz.tar.gz. Substitute the correct file name for "xyyzz".

Take the SD card and load it into an SD card reader on your Windows computer. Copy the driver file, 8188eu-201xyyzz.tar.gz, from your Windows computer to the SD card. Safely remove the SD card from the card reader by clicking the safe removal icon in the task bar and install the SD card in your Raspberry Pi and power on and login.

After logging in you will need to copy the driver file to your home directory. How you do this is dependent on whether you installed rasbian using NOOBS or directly from a Rasbian image. If you are running raspbian installed using NOOBS you need to run the following commands to copy the driver file to your home directory

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sudo mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /mnt
sudo mv /mnt/8188eu-201xyyzz.tar.gz .
sudo umount /dev/mmcblk0p1

You will need the period, full stop (.), after the filename in the sudo mv command. The mount/umount commands are required as the driver file is in the NOOBS boot directory, not the rasbian boot directory, so the NOOBS boot directory needs mounting and accessing to get to the driver file.

If you installed raspbian directly from a rasbian image use the following command to copy the driver file to your home directory

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sudo mv /boot/8188eu-201xyyzz.tar.gz .

Now the driver file has been moved to your home directory the driver installation can be completed using the following commands

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tar -zxvf 8188eu-201xyyzz.tar.gz                                         <--set above="" br="" code="" data="" driver="" for="" version="">sudo install -p -m 644 8188eu.ko /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/net/wireless
sudo insmod /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/8188eu.ko
sudo depmod -a

Once the driver is loaded you will need to configure the network set up so the Pi will connect to your wifi network if it is not already done. There are some basic details on how to do that available here.

To help in installing or updating the driver @LaFambe has produced a very simple script available here which will automatically select and install the correct version of the driver for the version of Raspbian being used. I was quite impressed by it and it really does make life much simpler. To install the script look here. You will need an internet connection for the script to work.

Reference: http://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=462982#p462982