Netgear AC1200 no longer working

General system Kernel, boot, graphics & hardware
1

Moderation Note: Moved from Linux-hardened kernel hasn't internet connection

Hi Rick. I’ve been using a Netgear AC1200 wifi USB dongle for a couple of years with no issues until today. I too have had no luck getting wifi work since yesterday. I thought it might have been the Netgear dongle so went and purchased a new one. Unfortunately it too doesn’t work. Linux sees it but not sure what the heck is going on and why no wifi networks are being picked up. Strangely though an older wifi usb adapter I had which never worked is now working and picks up my wifi connections. For the moment I am connected via ethernet and will wait to see if there is some kind of update in the kernel. Seems very strange that this has just happened though.

2

Apart from your wifi not working, what changed today?

3

You need to know what chip the wifi usb dongle’s have in order to know what module it should be using.

4

Hi Jonathon. Everything else works fine… I don’t get any error’s during boot or shutdown that would indicate something has broken. The fact an older generic USB wifi adapter now works as well has me baffled. I can plug it in and it’s recognized immediately but if I try with either of the Netgear AC1200 USB adapters, they are no longer recognized (i.e. as they don’t start and show any wifi networks). If i use inxi the netgear dongle shows up under Network as:

Device-2: NetGear A6150 type: USB driver: usb-network bus ID: 3-1:14 chip ID: 0846:9055

5

Is that using inxi -n

6

inxi -Fxxxza --no-host

7

Doesn’t show what chip it is so it’s not helpful. Does it not list it under Network?

8

using lsusb it shows up as:

Bus 003 Device 014: ID 0846:9055 NetGear, Inc. A6150

9

When you say listed under Network what exactly are you referring to? I use KDE Plasma and the interface in “Network Interfaces” doesn’t show any wifi adapter or wlan0

10

Does it not list Network when you run hardware command inxi -Fxxxz --no-host

Or

inxi -n

What about lspci -k or lsusb -v

It may be a Net Gear product but looking to see the hardware it is What chip it uses? Realtek? or?

11

The Manufacturer is Realtek. Here is the output from lsusb -v:

Bus 003 Device 016: ID 0846:9055 NetGear, Inc. A6150
Couldn't open device, some information will be missing
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.10
  bDeviceClass            0 
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x0846 NetGear, Inc.
  idProduct          0x9055 
  bcdDevice            2.10
  iManufacturer           1 Realtek
  iProduct                2 A6150
  iSerial                 3 5V910870A0AC3
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength       0x0035
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0 
    bmAttributes         0x80
      (Bus Powered)
    MaxPower              500mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           5
      bInterfaceClass       255 Vendor Specific Class
      bInterfaceSubClass    255 Vendor Specific Subclass
      bInterfaceProtocol    255 Vendor Specific Protocol
      iInterface              2 
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x84  EP 4 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x05  EP 5 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x06  EP 6 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x87  EP 7 IN
        bmAttributes            3
          Transfer Type            Interrupt
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               3
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x08  EP 8 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0ode here
12

It should be using a kernel module to load it. Do you see it listed under Network in the hardware?
inxi -Fxxxz --no-host

Maybe rtl88x2bu from the AUR as i see here. It is available in the AUR

Edit: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/rtl88x2bu-dkms-git/

13

Thanks Rick. I had to reinstall the driver from the github repo you posted. That has it working again. Very odd that it stopped working overnight though as I hadn’t done anything out of the norm. Thanks again.

14

Is this the newest one you bought or the other one? Are they both the same? Or is one a different Brand?

15

I used the older one. Going to try the new one but it don’t see why I won’t work as they are exactly the same product :slight_smile:

16

Should be inxi -Fxxxz --no-host :smile:

Ya you could try the other one and see also. Not sure it has the same chip?

17

Just tried the other and both work so they are still using the same chip :slightly_smiling_face:

18

Well hopefully it keeps working as you get updates. It should as it is a dkms version so it should automatically build when you install a new kernel.