Install drivers for a 2.5gb usb nic to a router

Hardware Questions and Recommendations
1

Hi all.

Sorry.. but in this field i'm a proper newbie/noob

I have a router that when i plug in the adapter...It detects but doesn't have the drivers (no link)

Is there a way to install the drivers? they all seem to be the realtek 2.5gb adapter...but i can try to find out what chip each one uses but safe to assume all will be 8156

I have very little knowledge in this os/environment so some proper hand holding would be really appreciated.

So far the router def detects the presence of the usb adapter.. but shows no link instead of 0mbps if unplugged or 1000 or 2500 mbps when a cable is in.

if up doesn't do anything either.. its def missing the drivers.

Thanks in advance.

2

Hi and welcome :slightly_smiling_face:

Could you share a bit more info so we can help you better?

  • What router model are you using?

  • Which OpenWrt version is installed?

  • Can you run lsusb and paste the output? (to confirm the chipset)

  • Have you already installed the driver package (kmod-usb-net-rtl8152)?

Also, please share the output of:

lsmod | grep 8152
dmesg | grep -i usb

That will help us see if the driver is missing or just not loading properly.

3

look for packages with this in the name

  • r8169 if it is a pci express card (this one covers different realtek chips including the 2.5 gbit)
  • r8125 if it is a Realtek 2.5gbit usb dongle
  • dont pick any 815x packages, those also cover 2.5gbit, but are based on proprietary vendor code and may cause issues with the other 2 proper opensource modules)

there might be 2 packages you need: 1 kernel module and 1 firmware loadable binary

4

Same as USB Ethernet adapter not recognized - #6 by frollic, but diff package?

5

The adapter needs dedicated driver. On my x86/64 router I used these packages with 25.12.2:

kmod-usb3 kmod-usb-net-rtl8152 kmod-usb-net-asix-ax88179 kmod-usb-core kmod-usb2 kmod-usb-net kmod-mii usbutils kmod-libphy kmod-usb-xhci-hcd

Try to install these packages, you should be able to have the adaper recognized (my suggestion is to create a custom image and add these packages directly in the custom built).

6

Hi...and thank you

It is a Vodafone Ultrahub II - DGM4980VDF

ubus call system board results

"kernel": "4.19.208",
"hostname": "vodafone.ultrahub",
"model": "Broadcom-v8A",
"board_name": "brcm,brcm-v8A",
"release": {
	"distribution": "OpenWrt",
	"version": "SNAPSHOT",
	"revision": "r13277-3060763d7c",
	"target": "brcmbca/bcm963158",
	"description": "OpenWrt SNAPSHOT r13277-3060763d7c"

lsusb

Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002
Bus 006 Device 002: ID 0bda:8156
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002

opkg install kmod-usb-net-rtl8152 gives -

Unknown package 'kmod-usb-net-rtl8152'.
Collected errors:

  • opkg_install_cmd: Cannot install package kmod-usb-net-rtl8152.

lsmod | grep 8152 gives nothing

dmesg | grep -i usb

root@vodafone:~# dmesg | grep -i usb
bcm-bca-usb-ctrl 8000c200.usb_ctrl: ---- Powering up USB blocks
bcm-bca-usb-xhci 8000d000.usb0_xhci: registered successfully
ehci_hcd: USB 2.0 'Enhanced' Host Controller (EHCI) Driver
ehci-platform 8000c300.usb0_ehci: EHCI Host Controller
ehci-platform 8000c300.usb0_ehci: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
ehci-platform 8000c300.usb0_ehci: irq 15, io mem 0x8000c300
ehci-platform 8000c300.usb0_ehci: USB 2.0 started, EHCI 1.00
hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
ehci-platform 8000c500.usb1_ehci: EHCI Host Controller
ehci-platform 8000c500.usb1_ehci: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 2
ehci-platform 8000c500.usb1_ehci: irq 17, io mem 0x8000c500
ehci-platform 8000c500.usb1_ehci: USB 2.0 started, EHCI 1.00
hub 2-0:1.0: USB hub found
ohci_hcd: USB 1.1 'Open' Host Controller (OHCI) Driver
ohci-platform 8000c400.usb0_ohci: Generic Platform OHCI controller
ohci-platform 8000c400.usb0_ohci: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 3
ohci-platform 8000c400.usb0_ohci: irq 14, io mem 0x8000c400
hub 3-0:1.0: USB hub found
ohci-platform 8000c600.usb1_ohci: Generic Platform OHCI controller
ohci-platform 8000c600.usb1_ohci: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 4
ohci-platform 8000c600.usb1_ohci: irq 16, io mem 0x8000c600
hub 4-0:1.0: USB hub found
xhci-hcd xhci-hcd.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 5
hub 5-0:1.0: USB hub found
xhci-hcd xhci-hcd.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 6
xhci-hcd xhci-hcd.0: Host supports USB 3.0 SuperSpeed
hub 6-0:1.0: USB hub found
usbcore: registered new interface driver usblp
usbcore: registered new interface driver uas
usb 6-2: new SuperSpeed Gen 1 USB device number 2 using xhci-hcd
usbnet_thread created successfully
cdc_ncm 6-2:2.0 eth4: register 'cdc_ncm' at usb-xhci-hcd.0-2, CDC NCM, 00:e0:4c:68:01:7d

7

Hi.

This is what i get from the device when plugged into a windows device to tell me about it

  • Windows Description - Realtek Gaming USB 2.5GbE Family Controller

  • Hardware ID - VID_0BDA&PID_8156

  • Device Category (Class) - Net

  • Enumerator - USB

  • Detected Chip Vender - Realtek Semiconductor

  • Detected Chip Device - <unknown, id=8156>

  • Detected Vender - <unknown, id=>

  • Detected Device - <unknown, id=>

8

You’re using an ancient version of OpenWrt from before 2.5GbE adapters were available. So of course it doesn’t have an available kernel module. No official version of OpenWrt ever used kernel 4.19. OpenWrt 19.07 series used the 4.14 kernel and OpenWrt 21.02 used kernel 5.4.

9

is there any supportable openwrt i can apply to this device somehow that would allow it to support what i need.

having it fully open and stock openwrt or ddwrt would be great... but most of all .. having a single 2.5gb port on lan side is a must...

11

ddwrt never picked up BCM AX.
openwrt seldom support BCM in general, due to lack of FOSS wifi drivers.