Help me choose and install USB Wireless adapter

Software PureOS
1

Hi, I am trying to get Pure working on an Lenovo X230 with a Core I5, 118 GB SSD, 16 GB RAM.

The internal WiFi is an Intel 6205 Taylor Peak. That is from memory.

I do not have at home internet, although I have a small amount from a Iphone Hot Spot. I really need to get the Wireless working, to do updates and so on.

Over time I have acquired several USB Adapters. To use the computer from the car, I need to use one of those, putting the adapter on the end of a USB extension cable, to get the adapter above the car door.

So, which of these adapters has a fairly direct install, and how to do that. I have a limited ability to research every possible option. If any of you have installed one of these, and it works well, then please, pipe up.

lsusb in Fedora32 live - Yields.

penguin - how I identify it by sight.

Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0cf3:9271 Qualcomm Atheros Communications AR9271 802.11n
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Panda Pau05 pure sees, no firmware
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 148f:5372 Ralink Technology, Corp. RT5372 Wireless Adapter
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
catacombs@catacombs-pc:~$

china-with two antenna no name

Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 0cf3:9271 Qualcomm Atheros Communications AR9271 802.11n

techkey model XHT 6B16

Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 006: ID 0bda:b812 Realtek Semiconductor Corp.

asus usb-n10

Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 007: ID 0b05:1786 ASUSTek Computer, Inc. USB-N10 802.11n Network Adapter [Realtek RTL8188SU]

edimax

Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 011: ID 7392:7811 Edimax Technology Co., Ltd EW-7811Un 802.11n Wireless Adapter [Realtek RTL8188CUS]

strange looking long ralink Dongle

Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 148f:2070 Ralink Technology, Corp. RT2070 Wireless Adapter

tp- link USB 2.0 300 mbps

Bus 001 Device 002: ID 187c:0528 Alienware Corporation AW1517
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 0bda:8179 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8188EUS 802.11n Wireless Network Adapter
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6

Thanks for any advice…

2

I would stick with that, the Intel - but you will need to find the instructions for getting the needed blob from another distro.

If you want to go “USB” then the right USB WiFi dongle is the one that works out of the box i.e. without an install. Plug it in. If it works, use it. If it doesn’t work then put it to one side. Evidently, you have inserted each one (to get the USB vendor and product ids, and some make/model info). Did you test each one while it was inserted?

I would suggest starting with either of the AR9271-based devices. Next choice might be the Realtek RTL8188CUS or RTL8188SU. In either case (Atheros or Realtek), I think you will need to grab firmware blobs from another distro.

The ones that don’t identify the chipset are the worst - since you don’t know what you will need to install.

3

Some of these adapters I purchased because websites indicated they would work in Linux - ‘out of the box,’ without installing any modules, firmware. Then those websites did not represent the Pure OS, which is put together to work with Librem laptops and not any install of Pure to strange hardware, as I have done.

I would be curious, if some of you have a Pure Laptop, if you could run the lspci command, inform us of the exact wireless installed, it would be of some interest.

I realize that generally speaking, it should be trivial to install a wireless USB Wireless, but it is harder for someone who does not have a wired internet connection, and no experience doing this. It is actually derived out of the Debian philosophy. Not just use open source software, but know what you are doing or go somewhere else.

In the last line of the adapters:

Bus 001 Device 006: ID 0bda:8179 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8188EUS 802.11n Wireless Network Adapter

I believe that 0bda:8179 is the technical identifier of the wireless adapter.

I think the term blob refers to a non-foss, third party driver, perhaps free. I had once thought it possible to copy the info from etc\wireless\ some kind of directory name from one version of linux that a particular USB Wireless adapter worked in, and it would find it. Foolish me. I found I could not copy into the OS of the target Linux. Not to say it could not be done, just first my Linux book said it would try to create a sym-link, not an actual copy, but because of file structure did not allow someone to change OS. There are commands, but they did not work for me. dpkg requires one to be online to do anything successfully. I spent hours trying to find the starting point for the CD command. and navigate around. Not sure that ever mattered.

the notes say about downloading the correct firmware, module and running commands, the second being dpkg, rebooting it would work. Never worked for me. I am tired of fooling with it. I can afford a fifteen dollar USB wireless adapter, if it would work, but as Kernels change, and the module to allow it work, ‘out of the box,’ is a moving target.

I can use a small amount of data on my Iphone hot spot to facility setting it up.

Actually i finally gave up, and put Fedora 32 on the drive.

4

The first number is the “vendor id” (i.e. globally unique identifier of the manufacturer) and the second number is the “product id” (i.e. number assigned by the manufacturer that uniquely identifies the product within the products produced by that manufacturer).

0bda identifies “Realtek” although I don’t know whether they have more than one vendor id. I expect that somewhere on the internet is a register of all vendor ids.

The above is all a USB thing.

The relevant question is really whether someone is running PureOS, more so than whether someone has a Purism laptop.

5

If I knew what wireless adapter that is standard for a librem computer, I could buy look for that wireless chip.

None of the instructions on how to install an adapter work, for whatever my mistake is. I have spend hours wading through instructions that apparently worked for earlier kernels, and Distros, but do not work for me.

6

Off the top of my head, the standard wireless adapter is an internal card using a miniPCIe interface, rather than an external USB wireless adapter. A reply here says that it’s an “Atheros AR9460 wifi/BT card”.