View source for ThinkPad 11b/g/n Wireless LAN Mini-PCI Express Adapter III

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== ThinkPad 11b/g/n Wireless LAN Mini-PCI Express Adapter III ==
This is a Mini-PCI Express WiFi Adapter, supported by a driver downloadable from Realtek and in official kernels from version 2.6.38.

== Features ==
* Chipset: Realtek RTL8188CE
* IEEE Standards: 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n
* 1x2 MIMO
* PCI ID: 10ec:8176
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[[image:RealtekWiFi.jpg|ThinkPad 11b/g/n Wireless LAN Mini-PCI Express Adapter III]]<br/>
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=== Lenovo Partnumbers ===
* ?

== Linux support ==
This chip is supported by the rtlwifi/rtl8192ce driver, which was introduced [http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=0c8173385e549f95cd80c3fff5aab87b4f881d8d in kernel 2.6.38]. There are two other options available, a Linux driver available for download from Realtek, or ndiswrapper.

{{WARN|If you are not comfortable with running development code and have the option, order your ThinkPad with a different WiFi adapter. All other available WiFi options are supported by in-kernel drivers in modern Linux distributions}}

=== rtlwifi/rtl8192ce ===

The rtlwifi/rtl8192ce driver which supports this chip is included in kernel 2.6.38-rc1 and later. With earlier kernels you can install the driver from the [http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/linville/wireless-next-2.6.git wireless-next kernel tree] or, if you are running a recent stable kernel, build only the drivers from the compat-wireless branch.

See http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Download/ for instructions about installing compat-wireless.


=== Installation on Linux Mint Debian Edition ===

If you use 2.6.38 or later kernels the rtl8192ce driver is already included in the kernel.


'''Log of install steps with the 2.6.38+ and 3.x kernels:'''

''sudo aptitude install linux-image-amd64''

where you should replace 'amd64' with '686' if you run a 32-bit installation. If in doubt you can run 

''uname -r''

to find your current kernel flavor.

''sudo aptitude install firmware-realtek''

Now you can either manually load the driver with:

''sudo modprobe -v rtl8192ce''

or reboot to make the kernel load the driver automatically. 


'''Log of install steps with the 2.6.32 kernel:'''

''This section applies for most or all pre-2.6.38 kernels!''

Installed iw package as recommended on compat-wireless page.

Downloaded the latest daily compat-wireless tarball (compat-wireless-2011-02-28) from
[http://wireless.kernel.org/download/compat-wireless-2.6/] and built it:

tar xvf compat-wireless-2011-02-28.tar.bz2

cd compat-wireless-2011-02-28

./scripts/driver-select rtlwifi

make

sudo make install

sudo make wlunload

sudo modprobe -v rtl8192ce

dmesg said driver loaded but missing firmware

Downloaded rtl8192cfw.bin firmware from linux-firmware git repo [http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git;a=tree;f=rtlwifi;h=11251e0c39e90a9b1999bbd9097bf958a7331735;hb=HEAD] and copied it to /lib/firmware/rtlwifi/

from compat-wireless dir:

sudo make wlunload

sudo modprobe -v rtl8192ce


reloaded network-manager service


dmesg still mentioned missing CRDA settings but wireless worked.

Installed wireless-crda package with gdebi-gtk from ubuntu maverick (http://packages.ubuntu.com/maverick/amd64/wireless-crda/download)

from compat-wireless dir:

sudo make wlunload

sudo modprobe -v rtl8192ce

dmesg now loaded regulatory settings too and wireless still worked.

=== Realtek Linux driver ===

The Realtek Linux driver for this chip can be downloaded from the Realtek [http://www.realtek.com/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=48&PFid=48&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false&Downloads=true#2722 website]


Please note:  use of this or a similar driver on Lenovo systems may results in unpredictable fatal crashes on some systems!  It's is *not* advised to choose this driver.  

=== ndiswrapper ===
{{NOTE|The use of ndiswrapper is not recommended}}

It may be possible to use the Windows drivers with Ndiswrapper.

=== ThinkPads this card may be found in ===
* {{Edge 13"}} (Intel)

[[Category:WLAN Adapters]]