How to install Mediatek MT7612U driver for Wifi Adapter

[PIP436]

Hi, I recently purchased a wifi-adapter from Amazon: AlfaAWUS036ACM. On the Alfa web page it says it uses the Mediatek MT7612U IC. After repeated correspondence with their tech support, I haven't been able to get clear instructions to install the driver on Debian 11, let alone get the adapter to work. Wondering if anyone has succeeded in doing this or could walk me through the steps from the beginning.

This is the Alfa instructions page: https://docs.alfa.com.tw/Support/Linux/MT7612U/#debian

This is the page they sent me to download the driver: https://www.mediatek.com/products/broad ... fi/mt7612u .

They also sent me a PDF with installation instructions for a file called RT2870, which I gather is realtek, but I don't know what this has to do with the mediatek driver and I can't get Alfa to explain.

Truly appreciate any help on this.

[PIP436]

Code: Select all

System:    Kernel: 5.10.0-18-amd64 [5.10.140-1] x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 10.2.1 
           parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.10.0-18-amd64 
           root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash 
           init=/lib/systemd/systemd 
           Desktop: Xfce 4.16.0 tk: Gtk 3.24.24 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm 4.16.1 vt: 7 
           dm: LightDM 1.26.0 Distro: MX-21.2.1_x64 Wildflower September 18  2022 
           base: Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye) 
Machine:   Type: Desktop System: HP product: HP 290 G4 Microtower PC v: N/A serial: <filter> 
           Chassis: type: 3 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: HP model: 877E v: A (SMVB) serial: <filter> UEFI: AMI v: F.23 date: 04/01/2021 
CPU:       Info: 6-Core model: Intel Core i5-10500 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Comet Lake 
           family: 6 model-id: A5 (165) stepping: 3 microcode: F0 cache: L2: 12 MiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 74399 
           Speed: 800 MHz min/max: 800/4500 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800 4: 800 
           5: 800 6: 800 7: 800 8: 800 9: 801 10: 801 11: 800 12: 800 
           Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled 
           Type: l1tf status: Not affected 
           Type: mds status: Not affected 
           Type: meltdown status: Not affected 
           Type: mmio_stale_data mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable 
           Type: retbleed mitigation: Enhanced IBRS 
           Type: spec_store_bypass 
           mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl and seccomp 
           Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
           Type: spectre_v2 
           mitigation: Enhanced IBRS, IBPB: conditional, RSB filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: SW sequence 
           Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode 
           Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel CometLake-S GT2 [UHD Graphics 630] vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: i915 
           v: kernel bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:9bc8 class-ID: 0300 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.11 compositor: xfwm4 v: 4.16.1 driver: 
           loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1 
           Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.0x11.2") 
           s-diag: 582mm (22.9") 
           Monitor-1: HDMI-1 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 94 size: 521x293mm (20.5x11.5") 
           diag: 598mm (23.5") 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 630 (CML GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 20.3.5 
           direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Comet Lake PCH cAVS vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: snd_hda_intel 
           v: kernel alternate: snd_sof_pci bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:06c8 class-ID: 0403 
           Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.10.0-18-amd64 running: yes 
           Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 14.2 running: yes 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
           vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 4000 bus-ID: 01:00.0 
           chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200 
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter 
           vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: rtl8821ce v: v5.5.2.1_35598.20191029 
           modules: rtw88_8821ce,wl port: 3000 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:c821 class-ID: 0280 
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter> 
Bluetooth: Device-1: Realtek Realtek Bluetooth 4.2 Adapter type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 
           bus-ID: 1-14:5 chip-ID: 0bda:b00a class-ID: e001 serial: <filter> 
           Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 2.1 lmp-v: 4.2 
           sub-v: 7644 hci-v: 4.2 rev: 829a 
           Info: acl-mtu: 1021:8 sco-mtu: 255:12 link-policy: rswitch hold sniff park 
           link-mode: slave accept service-classes: rendering, capturing, object transfer, audio 
RAID:      Hardware-1: Intel SATA Controller [RAID mode] driver: ahci v: 3.0 port: 5060 
           bus-ID: 00:17.0 chip-ID: 8086.2822 rev: class-ID: 0104 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 1.12 TiB used: 18.3 GiB (1.6%) 
           SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required. 
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Toshiba model: KBG40ZNV256G KIOXIA 
           size: 238.47 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 
           type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: HP00AE00 temp: 23.9 C scheme: GPT 
           ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital model: WD5000AAKX-00ERMA0 
           size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: N/A 
           serial: <filter> rev: 1H15 scheme: GPT 
           ID-3: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: KIOXIA model: EXCERIA SATA SSD size: 447.13 GiB 
           block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> 
           rev: 18.1 scheme: GPT 
Partition: ID-1: / raw-size: 230.22 GiB size: 225.54 GiB (97.97%) used: 18.3 GiB (8.1%) fs: ext4 
           dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2 
           ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 256 MiB size: 252 MiB (98.46%) used: 274 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat 
           dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1 
Swap:      Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) 
           ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 8 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 
           dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 maj-min: 259:3 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 42.0 C mobo: 27.8 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     Packages: note: see --pkg apt: 1969 lib: 986 flatpak: 0 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian buster main contrib non-free
           2: deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian buster main contrib non-free
           3: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian-security/ buster/updates main contrib non-free
           4: deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian-security/ buster/updates main contrib non-free
           5: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-updates main contrib non-free
           6: deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-updates main contrib non-free#this file is empty by default. Sources are under /etc/apt/souces.list.d
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye main contrib non-free
           2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bullseye-security main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/megasync.list 
           1: deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/meganz-archive-keyring.gpg] https://mega.nz/linux/repo/Debian_11/ ./
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 
           1: deb http://ftp.linux.org.tr/mx/repo/mx/repo/ bullseye main non-free
Info:      Processes: 288 Uptime: 1d 14m wakeups: 0 Memory: 7.6 GiB used: 3.05 GiB (40.1%) 
           Init: systemd v: 247 runlevel: 5 default: 5 tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: N/A alt: 10 
           Client: shell wrapper v: 5.1.4-release inxi: 3.3.06 
Boot Mode: UEFI

[j2mcgreg]

I have a question: Why aren't you using the HP's internal wifi card?

[PIP436]

Thanks for the question. I am using the HP's internal wifi card.

Here's the story. We recently had fiber installed. It's supposed to get a download speed of 300 mbps. With a wire connection, or with the mesh unit we have installed in another room it gets that speed or close to it. But the company that installed it insisted on making the wall connection on the other side of the room from where my PC is located. With the PC's internal wifi card (or with a standard TP link USB adapter) I get 40 mbps, at best, which is about the speed I had with adsl). For an additional monthly fee, I I can get another mesh unit to bring the wifi signal to the PC and then plug into the mesh (which would get me up to 300 mbps). I thought this Alfa usb adapter with high gain antenna, which is supposed to work with Debian Linux, would improve the signal enough to get a respectable speed without another mesh. Anyway, that was the plan.

But as I said before, Alfa doesn't have clear instructions for how to install the driver, and all attempts to get useful help from them have led nowhere. Any ideas? Is there a standard way to install this type of driver on MX Linux?

[Huckleberry Finn]

... a file called RT2870, which I gather is realtek ...

"Ralink" (which's owned by Mediatek and which's already in the kernel since 2.6.31)

Just install the 5.18 kernel with 2 clicks and try.

[Huckleberry Finn]

If still not:

Code: Select all

sudo apt update ; sudo apt install firmware-ralink -y

[gor9]

I have not updated a kernel for me is 5.10.0-18-amd64

we appear to have a number of mediatek kernel modules so plug in usb dongle and show full output of

Code: Select all

lsusb

its possible our kernel has mt76x2u.ko and that may be a match

Code: Select all

modinfo SNIP
alias:          usb:v045Ep02FEd*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v045Ep02E6d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v0846p9053d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v2C4Ep0103d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v0E8Dp7632d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v7392pB711d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v057Cp8503d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v0E8Dp7612d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v0B05p180Bd*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v0B05p17EBd*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v0B05p1833d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*

[PIP436]

I posted lsusb and this is the output

shalom@desktop:~
$ lsusb
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0e8d:7612 MediaTek Inc. MT7612U 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wireless Adapter
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 062a:4106 MosArt Semiconductor Corp. Wireless Mouse 2.4G
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 04ca:009c Lite-On Technology Corp. USB Keyboard
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 046d:c534 Logitech, Inc. Unifying Receiver
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 0bda:b00a Realtek Semiconductor Corp. Realtek Bluetooth 4.2 Adapter
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
shalom@desktop:~
$

[gor9]

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0e8d:7612 MediaTek Inc. MT7612U 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wireless Adapter
alias: usb:v0E8Dp7612d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*

match

modinfo also reveals it needs
firmware: mt7662_rom_patch.bin
firmware: mt7662.bin

both are in firmware-misc-nonfree and your alfa link suggested enabling that non-free repo.

If you are not sure, post contents of
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list

here is mine as example
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye main contrib non-free

add it then run

Code: Select all

sudo apt update
sudo install firmware-misc-nonfree

[PIP436]

Hi gor9, I see that it's a match. Can you please explain what I need to do with the firmware it also needs? At Huckleberry's suggestion I ran the command: sudo apt update ; sudo apt install firmware-ralink -y. What do I need to do now?

Here's the result:
shalom@desktop:~
$ sudo apt update ; sudo apt install firmware-ralink -y
[sudo] password for shalom:
Hit:1 http://deb.debian.org/debian buster InRelease
Get:2 http://security.debian.org/debian-security bullseye-security InRelease [48.4 kB]
Get:3 http://deb.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates InRelease [34.8 kB]
Hit:4 http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-updates InRelease
Hit:5 http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates InRelease
Hit:6 https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb stable InRelease
Hit:7 http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye InRelease
Get:8 http://deb.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates/main Sources [261 kB]
Get:9 https://mega.nz/linux/repo/Debian_11 ./ InRelease [2,959 B]
Get:10 http://deb.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates/main i386 Packages [357 kB]
Get:11 http://deb.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates/main amd64 Packages [358 kB]
Get:12 http://deb.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates/main Translation-en [194 kB]
Hit:13 http://ftp.linux.org.tr/mx/repo/mx/repo bullseye InRelease
Fetched 1,255 kB in 2s (836 kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
3 packages can be upgraded. Run 'apt list --upgradable' to see them.
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
firmware-ralink
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 3 not upgraded.
Need to get 17.7 kB of archives.
After this operation, 23.6 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://deb.debian.org/debian buster/non-free amd64 firmware-ralink all 20190114-2 [17.7 kB]
Fetched 17.7 kB in 0s (72.4 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package firmware-ralink.
(Reading database ... 294291 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../firmware-ralink_20190114-2_all.deb ...
Unpacking firmware-ralink (20190114-2) ...
Setting up firmware-ralink (20190114-2) ...