Rtl8812au support and maintaince

I am the owner of a TP-Link Archer T2U that has the rtl8812au chipset. Currently the kmod package does not seem to be maintained and it does not support my wireless adapter. (package link) However, the Air Crack NG one supports my device and also includes features such as package capture. I have used it with other Linux machines and it seems pretty stable. It can be found here: https://github.com/aircrack-ng/rtl8812au. (Note: There is a regression with the AC600. You need commit 63cf0b4)

Would it make sense to replace the old version of this package with the Air crack NG one? If not, how would two similar kmod packages be shipped? I am looking to get OpenWRT working with my adapter and I would like to stick with premade packages.

Hello,

The wiki information "OpenWrt release" is not up to date regarding the package. This package is available in the latest OpenWRT 23.05.3. You need to install the package :

opkg update
opkg install kmod-rtl8812au-ct

After the installation, the module is loaded and enabled at startup.

This package is still maintained : https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/tree/main/package/kernel/rtl8812au-ct

If this don't work, please try with OpenWRT version 22.03.0 and send output of dmesg.

Sorry I did not realize that the page was out of date. I already tried getting this to work on OpenWRT but the dmesg did not show anything useful from what I could see. I will post the logs in a bit.

[    4.375924] NET: Registered PF_PPPOX protocol family
[    4.379873] RTL871X: module init start
[    4.381104] RTL871X: rtl8812au v4.3.14_13455.20150212_BTCOEX20150128-51
[    4.382175] RTL871X: rtl8812au BT-Coex version = BTCOEX20150128-51
[    4.383228] usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8812au
[    4.384196] RTL871X: module init ret=0

So it seems that it is detected and I must of missed when I looked before. However, there is still no interface listed under luci, iw dev or ip a. Maybe I need to install another package?

Do you see anything useful in logread command ?

You can also try cat /proc/modules | grep 8812 to see if module is used

It shows up in /etc/modules but the logread doesn't have anything listed.

I think this is a kernel issue as it is not in /sys/class/net/

I seems that this module only supports the AC1200 not AC600. The kernel module is working correctly but simply does not support my device.

This chipset will soon be added to the rtw88 driver in the kernel. Hopefully also in OpenWrt.

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That is excellent news

I created an OpenWrt module for rtw88-usb. You can find it here: https://github.com/henkv1/rtw88-usb-openwrt. It should support rtl8812au as well, but I only tested it with rtl8812bu and rtl8811cu.

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How do I prove it?

Hello! I tried to include this in a build but it failed on "no rule to make target '/home/knas/openwrt/staging_dir/target-arm_cortex-a7+neon-vfpv4_musl_eabi/usr/include/mac80211-backport/backport/autoconf.h'"

Would really like to try rtl8812au functionality. Do you know how to fix this error or know when rtw88-usb will be included in main repo?

You should open a new topic

hello, Is the KMOD-RTL8812AU-CT a general-purpose driver or is it COMFAST 912-AC specific?

I would strongly suggest not to consider this to be a real driver, it's a slightly hacked up vendor driver with neither a future, nor any maintenance for the last two years. It's the problem, not a solution - you shouldn't rely on it, nor specifically buy hardware using this chipset, until it is supported by a proper mainline driver.

To your original question, no it is not specific to the COMFAST 912-AC. https://github.com/greearb/rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux/tree/master?tab=readme-ov-file#known-supported-devices already mentions two other (apparently tested) devices, and https://github.com/greearb/rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux/blob/master/os_dep/linux/usb_intf.c#L311 gives you the full rundown (for what's supported to which extent, see above).

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it's in 6.13, according to https://github.com/morrownr/USB-WiFi/blob/main/home/USB_WiFi_Chipsets.md.

meaning it's probably at least two releases away in openwrt.

Given that OpenWrt relies on backports, probably 'only' one - but that doesn't tell us how well this device works in AP mode, for which it hasn't been designed, and which is rarely tested for these devices (if offered at all).

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Support for the RTL8812AU was added last week on the main branch https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/commit/ac8d30a645965ad4e1f1ca9b71e49613166b8a29

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.. ok so it's in the snapshots, and stable in the release after upcoming 24.10, I guess, unless it gets cherrypicked.