wifi dongle not detected by desktop

[runfox]

I have an rtl8188c_8192c wifi dongle that came with this refurbished desktop computer I bought. It says it is compatible with Linux in the packaging, but my computer is not detecting it with lspci or lsusb.

I have tried to find an answer online, I have installed a couple different drivers I have found on github that are supposed to work with this dongle, but so far I am having no luck.

Has anyone been able to get one of these generic wifi dongles to work with Sparky?

Can someone please point me in the right direction?

[paxmark1]

That you are not getting any info via lusb or lspci there is the possibility that the dongle does not work; anymore, does not work with any OS - hardware malfunction of the dongle or hardware malfunction of the USB port or the usb itself.   

You can try the dongle in a windows os.  You can try a different dongle from a friend in the usb port.   

You do not say how long ago the sources you looked up are from.   Things 3, 4, 5, 6 years ago should be strenuously avoided.   

You do not say how you installed sparky, it would have needed to pull binaries down.  DId you install via ethernet?

As always posting  output of "inxi -b" is quite helpful.  Mark up as code via the # button.   

If it is an Edimax or Hawking, it should be supported by now.   
   

[bin]

Realtek..............shudder!!!!!!!! I had a little USB with aerial thing - worked for about 10 seconds and that was that. I used to get much better connectivity using a Belkin gaming adapter - wifi box connecting to ethernet port. Browser interface to Belkin and it connected to Wifi easy peasy. Not sure if they are stil around but worked fine.

Other than that look for a pci or pcie card - depending on hardware. Preferably atheros or intel - stuff that works. Even broadcom is better than Realtek.

Edimax as said are not too bad.

Best thing to check is after you've inserted the card open a terminal and do 'sudo dmesg'

You should see some stuff about connection to a USB port. If there's nothing there try different ports. If still nothing the adapter is probably bad.

[runfox]

That you are not getting any info via lusb or lspci there is the possibility that the dongle does not work; anymore, does not work with any OS - hardware malfunction of the dongle or hardware malfunction of the USB port or the usb itself.   

You can try the dongle in a windows os.  You can try a different dongle from a friend in the usb port.   

You do not say how long ago the sources you looked up are from.   Things 3, 4, 5, 6 years ago should be strenuously avoided.   

You do not say how you installed sparky, it would have needed to pull binaries down.  DId you install via ethernet?

As always posting  output of "inxi -b" is quite helpful.  Mark up as code via the # button.   

If it is an Edimax or Hawking, it should be supported by now.   

I don't think it's the usb port because I have tried it on several which I know to work with other usb devices. I installed sparky multimedia edition from a usb stick and had the computer connected to the web with ethernet, and I am currently still using ethernet. The wifi isn't a make or break thing, but It would be nioe to have so I could use my wifi mouse and keyboard.

I don't know how old the dongle's software is, the sources I tried to build were included on a cd that came with the dongle, the dongle itself is a generic dongle without any really useful information on the packaging, the only information I have about it or the driver came from the cd that was in the packaging with the dongle. Going to try it on my wife's windows laptop to see if it works on windows.

here's my inxi -b output:

#
System:
  Host: sparky-3 Kernel: 5.8.0-11.1-liquorix-amd64 x86_64
  bits: 64 Desktop: LXQt 0.14.1 Distro: SparkyLinux 6 (Po-Tolo)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Dell product: OptiPlex 9020 v: 00
  serial: <superuser/root required>
  Mobo: Dell model: 00V62H v: A01
  serial: <superuser/root required> UEFI: Dell v: A23
  date: 06/25/2018
CPU:
  Info: Quad Core Intel Core i7-4790 [MT MCP] speed: 3592 MHz
  min/max: 800/3601 MHz
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor
  Integrated Graphics
  driver: i915 v: kernel
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.8 driver: modesetting
  unloaded: fbdev,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 4600 (HSW GT2)
  v: 4.5 Mesa 20.1.8
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Ethernet I217-LM driver: e1000e
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 476.94 GiB used: 33.93 GiB (7.1%)
Info:
  Processes: 267 Uptime: 5h 01m Memory: 31.27 GiB
  used: 3.14 GiB (10.0%) Shell: Bash inxi: 3.1.06

[runfox]

Realtek..............shudder!!!!!!!! I had a little USB with aerial thing - worked for about 10 seconds and that was that. I used to get much better connectivity using a Belkin gaming adapter - wifi box connecting to ethernet port. Browser interface to Belkin and it connected to Wifi easy peasy. Not sure if they are stil around but worked fine.

Other than that look for a pci or pcie card - depending on hardware. Preferably atheros or intel - stuff that works. Even broadcom is better than Realtek.

Edimax as said are not too bad.

Best thing to check is after you've inserted the card open a terminal and do 'sudo dmesg'

You should see some stuff about connection to a USB port. If there's nothing there try different ports. If still nothing the adapter is probably bad.

Everywhere online there is horror stories of realtek drivers and linux. Learning the hard way I guess. Thanks for the suggestions, I may end up getting an intel card because almost all of the components are intel also.

[runfox]

This is the infamous dongle. The driver installed on my wife's laptop, but the dongle itself wasn't recognized. The qrcomputers.com site is just a blank page. I think it may be a lost cause.

[paxmark1]

So, you did not install via ethernet, therefore you had a working binary in place during the install.   

This is not the early 2000's.  You really did not need to

the sources I tried to build were included on a cd that came with the dongle

I could be wrong, but reading refurbished computer and dongle that came along with it, I strongly doubt a 2 or more year old dongle would need  to be built.   

Life is short Since it is a desktop, for now using ethernet temporarily is not the end of the world.   When you ran inxi, I noticed it only showed ethernet. 

For newer users using 2 year old or older computers, I strongly recommend going with the Stable version of Sparky. But you seem up for a challenge.  If you have friends with dongles, see if you can try theirs in your computer and then buy the same one.  There is still the possibility that the dongle is  dead.   Trying it out in windoze will let you determine that.  And then there is the possibility that the dongle starts up, but then the reception degrades due to hardware problems or the binary has a rate of errors that rises up. 

BTW   the # button will mark up your inxi as code which looks nicer.