My wifi network card does not detect me

Installing and Using OpenWrt Network and Wireless Configuration
1

I have recently bought a realtek aw7916 wifi network card with an intel n100 mini pc router but it does not detect it nor does it appear from luci wireless or anything and I installed the kmod-mt7916-firmware package and I have done the lspci and I get this


root@OpenWrt:~# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Device 461c
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N [UHD Graphics]
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N PCH USB 3.2 xHCI Host Controller
00:14.2 RAM memory: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N PCH Shared SRAM
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N PCH HECI Controller
00:17.0 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Device 54d3
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device 54ba
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device 54bb
00:1c.6 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device 54be
00:1d.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device 54b0
00:1d.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Device 54b1
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N PCH eSPI Controller
00:1f.3 Audio device: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-N PCH High Definition Audio Controller
00:1f.4 SMBus: Intel Corporation Device 54a3
00:1f.5 Serial bus controller: Intel Corporation Device 54a4
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Controller I226-V (rev 04)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Controller I226-V (rev 04)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Controller I226-V (rev 04)
04:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Controller I226-V (rev 04)
05:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: Silicon Motion, Inc. SM2263EN/SM2263XT (DRAM-less) NVMe SSD Controllers (rev 03)

I'm totally new to this, it's the first time I've installed Wi-Fi and I don't know if I need to install a package or something, the truth is, but I'm already blocked, I don't know what to do, here I'll give you an lsmod

root@OpenWrt:~# lsmod
amd_xgbe              110592  0
bnx2                   73728  0
button_hotplug         12288  0
cfg80211              286720  4 mt7915e,mt76_connac_lib,mt76,mac80211
chacha_x86_64          24576  1 libchacha20poly1305
cmac                   12288  0
compat                 12288  2 mac80211,cfg80211
crc_ccitt              12288  1 ppp_async
crypto_acompress       12288  2 lzo,lzo_rle
curve25519_x86_64      32768  1 wireguard
drbg                   24576  0
e1000                  98304  0
e1000e                176128  0
ena                    73728  0
fat                    61440  1 vfat
forcedeth              61440  0
hmac                   12288  0
i2c_dev                12288  0
igb                   159744  0
igc                    90112  0
ip6_udp_tunnel         12288  1 wireguard
ixgbe                 217088  0
jitterentropy_rng      12288  0
kpp                    12288  1 curve25519_x86_64
libchacha              12288  1 chacha_x86_64
libchacha20poly1305    12288  1 wireguard
libcrc32c              12288  1 nf_tables
libcurve25519_generic   45056  2 wireguard,curve25519_x86_64
lzo                    12288  0
lzo_compress           12288  2 lzo,lzo_rle
lzo_decompress         12288  2 lzo,lzo_rle
lzo_rle                12288  0
mac80211              548864  3 mt7915e,mt76_connac_lib,mt76
mdio                   12288  1 ixgbe
mii                    12288  0
mt76                   53248  2 mt7915e,mt76_connac_lib
mt76_connac_lib        45056  1 mt7915e
mt7915e               118784  0
nf_conntrack           77824  7 nft_redir,nft_nat,nft_masq,nft_flow_offload,nft_ct,nf_nat,nf_flow_table
nf_defrag_ipv4         12288  1 nf_conntrack
nf_defrag_ipv6         16384  1 nf_conntrack
nf_flow_table          28672  4 nf_flow_table_ipv6,nf_flow_table_ipv4,nf_flow_table_inet,nft_flow_offload
nf_flow_table_inet     12288  0
nf_flow_table_ipv4     12288  0
nf_flow_table_ipv6     12288  0
nf_log_syslog          16384  0
nf_nat                 28672  4 nft_redir,nft_nat,nft_masq,nft_chain_nat
nf_reject_ipv4         12288  2 nft_reject_ipv4,nft_reject_inet
nf_reject_ipv6         12288  2 nft_reject_ipv6,nft_reject_inet
nf_tables             180224267 nft_fib_inet,nf_flow_table_ipv6,nf_flow_table_ipv4,nf_flow_table_inet,nft_reject_ipv6,nft_reject_ipv4,nft_reject_inet,nft_reject,nft_redir,nft_quota,nft_objref,nft_numgen,nft_nat,nft_masq,nft_log,nft_limit,nft_hash,nft_flow_offload,nft_fib_ipv6,nft_fib_ipv4,nft_fib,nft_ct,nft_counter,nft_chain_nat
nfnetlink              16384  1 nf_tables
nft_chain_nat          12288  2
nft_counter            12288 23
nft_ct                 16384  5
nft_fib                12288  3 nft_fib_inet,nft_fib_ipv6,nft_fib_ipv4
nft_fib_inet           12288  0
nft_fib_ipv4           12288  1 nft_fib_inet
nft_fib_ipv6           12288  1 nft_fib_inet
nft_flow_offload       12288  0
nft_hash               12288  0
nft_limit              12288  5
nft_log                12288  0
nft_masq               12288  2
nft_nat                12288  0
nft_numgen             12288  0
nft_objref             12288  0
nft_quota              12288  0
nft_redir              12288  0
nft_reject             12288  3 nft_reject_ipv6,nft_reject_ipv4,nft_reject_inet
nft_reject_inet        12288  2
nft_reject_ipv4        12288  0
nft_reject_ipv6        12288  0
nls_cp437              16384  1
nls_iso8859_1          12288  1
nls_utf8               12288  0
poly1305_x86_64        24576  1 libchacha20poly1305
ppp_async              16384  0
ppp_generic            32768  7 pppoe,ppp_async,pppox
pppoe                  16384  2
pppox                  12288  1 pppoe
r8169                  77824  0
realtek                24576  0
seqiv                  12288  0
sha512_generic         12288  1 sha512_ssse3
sha512_ssse3           45056  0
slhc                   16384  1 ppp_generic
tg3                   155648  0
udp_tunnel             16384  1 wireguard
vfat                   16384  1
wireguard              61440  0

If you need to know anything else, let me know and I'll pass along what you tell me.
I would really appreciate your help because I'm blocked and I don't know what to do.

2

Given that it doesn't show up via lscpi, there must be a quite essential issue:

  • not plugged in properly, debris in the connector
  • M.2 slot not having PCIe lanes (there are multiple flavours of M.2 keyings and features, not all carry PCIe)
  • not enough power (these cards tend to by very thirsty, often beyond spec, as in 10W at 3.3V and more, subsequently they also get very hot)
  • some quite major BIOS vs PCIe level issues
  • card broken

Checking if the USB (bluetooth) side of it gets detected (lsusb) might be interesting, even though that won't solve anything on its own.

3 Likes
3

It is mini pci express I will check the connections and I will try it on a PC to see if it is dead thanks for the clarifications I will say whatever here with what I find out but the minipc is from last year I doubt they are compatibility problems with the bios or power supply

4

Sadly that doesn't change the background (nor the power issues). Yes, there are no different keyings with mini-PCIe, but still quite a few (board-) vendors who don't wire up the PCIe lanes, if the slot is marketed for 4/ 5g card connectivity.

1 Like
5

That slot is supposed to be used to insert Wi-Fi. The mini PC is a router type and has an antenna output. That's what surprises me that the problem is power, but there is nothing impossible, of course.
Let's see if I can try it on a more powerful mini PC to see if it works.
The first thing is to clean the connectors with isopropyl alcohol and check that there is connectivity. I will check that today.
You have given me light in the darkness because I was blocked and this opens up a range of possibilities for me.
thx

6

I've been doing PCs since the early 80ies, and never done this, to get hw going.

1 Like
7

A client-centric WLAN card (e.g. ax210 or mt7921/ mt7922) needs a lot less power than an AP centric one (e.g. mt7915/ mt7916), the later tend to require a cooler (and some ventilation, the former not necessarily - but they also lack a lot of the features needed).

1 Like
8

What network card do you recommend that is compatible with OpenWRT that does not consume much and so I can try that as another possibility? I want that Wi-Fi only to connect smart devices to avoid Ziggbe because Ziggbe devices are more expensive and in the end it is more expensive... ..

9

we don't.

get an external router/access point, something in the $20 range on eBay,
or visit your local thrift store.

if it's low traffic, check out https://github.com/morrownr/USB-WiFi.

10

Something like that and I read in the forum that there are AP drivers for that chipset, right?

11

if the forum sais it works, it probably does.
you can cross reference it with the driver list on the github page provided earlier.

perhaps you've also found USB Wi-Fi that work in OpenWrt. Please add to list ?

just a side note
everything that requires kernel > 5.16 will require a snapshot image to be installed.
everything that requires kernel > 6.6 will not be supported at all, today, or in the coming release.

1 Like
12

I strongly recommend something like dap-x1860, covr-x1860, wsm20 (either of them starting in the 15-20 buck range) or better (the sky is the limit, but the above are already pretty reasonable in a dumb-AP role).

1 Like
13

and the RT1800 is $30 on US eBay.

1 Like
14

or that, yes - the above was only meant as a starting point for very reasonable devices for this purpose.

1 Like
15

no worries, just name dropping cheap devices.

1 Like
16

I have looked at the bios and it has the mini pcie port deactivated and the activation is blocked. Furthermore, when I made sure it was installed correctly, I observed that it gets quite hot which means that it receives a lot of current.
I'm going to take it to a very good computer store nearby that has a technical service specialized in installing components so they can solve the bios issue for me.
I have also seen that it has a ton of configurations for the mini pcie of things that don't even come on the internet and it's better not to touch the bios if you don't know what you're touching...
By the way, the board has a SIM built-in, so that port is specific to connect a Wi-Fi AP.
At least I know it can be fixed and I haven't wasted money.
I don't think they will charge me much for such an issue, which is resolved.
Thanks for the help

17

it could mean it's designed to carry a LTE modem, which would also be the reason why the wifi card isn't found, the connector is wired for USB, as @slh suggested in an earlier post.

18

The man has to put 3 antennas in it, the logic is that this is for Wi-Fi and it has a built-in 4G modem that I have searched for on the Internet, so it is crystal clear.
And the bios has the mini pcie connection disabled for some reason that I don't know.
This is the one in question, for the price it has, I don't think it's that bad either.
Mine is the n100 version.

The port may be disabled so that it doesn't get hot, but that's what I put a fan on and keep going.

19

Have you checked for a bios update?

20

This topic was automatically closed 10 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.