Amazon reviews say the Edimax EW-7811UTC AC600 works out of the box, but it doesn't?

Dochartaigh

@mrbwa1
I think the problem for me is the exact flavor of Jessie RetroPie is built upon. I've tried tons of those tutorials and for ones that topic you linked to say they do work – but I could never get them to work in RetroPie (but I'm not Linux terminal expert so it could surely be just me ;)

mrbwa1

@Dochartaigh said in Amazon reviews say the Edimax EW-7811UTC AC600 works out of the box, but it doesn't?:

@mrbwa1
I think the problem for me is the exact flavor of Jessie RetroPie is built upon. I've tried tons of those tutorials and for ones that topic you linked to say they do work – but I could never get them to work in RetroPie (but I'm not Linux terminal expert so it could surely be just me ;)

That does tend to be a problem with some tutorials. To be honest, I avoided wifi on the Pi because of issues. I started with an Edimax EW-7438rpn wifi "extender" set up as a wireless bridge using the manufacturer's setup instructions. It was fast, but seemed to need to be unplugged and plugged back in to reboot every few days. I ended up converting an old Linksys E1200 router to DD-WRT firmware and use that as a wireless bridge for the Pi, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Strangely the Oi3 I now have and even the Xbox one had terrible wifi speed with the built in WiFi, but both are really fast with the Edimax or my newer DD-WRT setup.

BuZz

Often solutions to things like this are found on the raspberrypi.org forum (on the RPI RetroPie is not an OS, but a package of software running on top of Raspbian Lite)

Looks like someone made an installer script here

https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1038787#p1038787

millertv79

@BuZz But it seems like they want you to have an existing internet connection on the Pi when you're trying to set up an internet connection on the Pi. That's the odd catch 22 here - there is no connection which is why I got the dongle...

BuZz

@millertv79 You will have to go somewhere where you can connect the ethernet - or purchase a known working out of the box $5 wifi dongle.

mrbwa1

This is not an uncommon thing with Linux. Some thingswill work right out of the box; most other devices require a connection to download proper drivers or configure properly. It's not just Raspbian and the Pi, but rather something that's been going for Debian for years (which is why a lot of Linux, especially Debian was bigger in academic circles on campuses with high speed internet back in the day.

cyperghost

Well I have never looked to any dedicated WLAN Raspberry page and got all of my 6 different WLAN sticks working. It is really try and error and 3 out of 6 work all out of the box.
The other 3 need some drivers but after doing this they also work.

I have never tried this but some builds like OpenElec got a wider range of drivers loaded. Usually the driver are stored in /lib/firmware/ so you may try to copy those to your actual RetroPie installation.

Welcome to the Unix world!

millertv79

@BuZz I have done numerous searches but just can't seem to find one that work out of the box yet. This is attempt #3. If you have a dongle suggestion I would be very open to it, maybe 4th time is the charm :-)

millertv79

@phiIIips same here. Think I'm ready to send it back :-(

BuZz

@millertv79 get one from the compatibility list, or buy one specifically advertised for the rpi (eg from a company that sells RPI hardware)

millertv79

@cyperghost Haha thanks! If you can recommend any of your out-of-the-box working ones, I'd appreciate it

mrbwa1

@millertv79 Look at the chart here: http://elinux.org/RPi_USB_Wi-Fi_Adapters

I'm pretty sure this is the one that works: https://www.amazon.com/FotoFo-USB-WiFi-Adapter-Raspberry/dp/B01I191N48/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1484854947&sr=1-4&keywords=official+raspberry+pi+wifi

EDIT: This is the one: https://www.amazon.com/Edimax-EW-7811Un-150Mbps-Raspberry-Supports/dp/B003MTTJOY/ref=pd_cp_147_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=AK8AZ89FD0NDE1BA6WV7

cyperghost

@millertv79
No Problem :)

LogiLink WL0084E Wireless N 150Mbps USB Adapter
Ultra-Nano WLAN-Stick EDIMAX EW-7811Un, 150Mbps
WLAN USB-Stick NETGEAR WG111, 54 Mbps

The Netgear gots the BIG advantage and it's very very cheap 2$
The Edimax is often recommended to run flawless and if I were you I would stick to this one.

With driver support:
Siemens Gigaset USB Adapter 54 (nasty!)
Sitecom WL-113 USB Adapter

millertv79

@cyperghost Thank you much! I'm going to add those to my list :-)

millertv79

@mrbwa1 Thank you very much - I think that's the one I will try next!

cyperghost

@millertv79 You're welcome but as I said above... Stick to the Edimax EW-7811Un ... That's the one most recommended

cyperghost

@phiIIips and @space-cadet Well if users say "it works on the raspberry out of the box" you should ask yourself "what system are those users running?"

On OpenElec for ex. the chances for a compatible WIFI device are much higher.

mrbwa1

@cyperghost said in Amazon reviews say the Edimax EW-7811UTC AC600 works out of the box, but it doesn't?:

@millertv79 You're welcome but as I said above... Stick to the Edimax EW-7811Un ... That's the one most recommended

That is the 2nd Edited link I gave.

Unix/Linux compatibility is such a weird thing. Older hardware is usually better supported out of the box and when something works, people usually don't put a ton of effort into adding other support unless the product goes out of production.

millertv79

@cyperghost "Edimax EW-7811un 150Mbps 11n Wi-Fi USB Adapter" ordered! I'll keep ya'll updated once arrives.

cyperghost

@mrbwa1 said in Amazon reviews say the Edimax EW-7811UTC AC600 works out of the box, but it doesn't?:

@cyperghost said in Amazon reviews say the Edimax EW-7811UTC AC600 works out of the box, but it doesn't?:

@millertv79 You're welcome but as I said above... Stick to the Edimax EW-7811Un ... That's the one most recommended

That is the 2nd Edited link I gave.

That's right but you did not test that device. AFAIK from the EW-7811Un is only one revision available.