Rtw89 - Revision history

TpUser0: /* Kernel patches */ tf

2022-01-16T14:51:01Z

‎Kernel patches: tf

TpUser0: /* Firmware */ writing convention

2022-01-11T21:43:19Z

‎Firmware: writing convention

TpUser0: kernel release dates added

2022-01-11T21:41:52Z

kernel release dates added

TpUser0: 5.16.0 is available, the driver is now included...

2022-01-11T21:37:34Z

5.16.0 is available, the driver is now included...

TpUser0: /* Firmware */ tf

2022-01-09T18:09:28Z

‎Firmware: tf

TpUser0: /* Firmware */ dot

2022-01-09T18:08:41Z

‎Firmware: dot

TpUser0: firmware added

2022-01-09T18:08:23Z

firmware added

TpUser0: /* Kernel patches */ modules loaded on 5.12.0...

2022-01-09T17:56:27Z

‎Kernel patches: modules loaded on 5.12.0...

TpUser0: initial page for rtw89

2022-01-09T17:52:28Z

initial page for rtw89

New page

'''rtw89''' is the Linux driver for Realtek 802.11ax WiFi devices starting with the Realtek 8852AE ASIC. Rather than updating the exiting rtw88 driver, Realtek engineers wrote and contributed a completely rewritten one for their redesigned wireless chipset of the 8852AE, which will be used in future Realtek WiFi chips as well.

The driver is part of wireless-drivers-next and will be included in Linux kernel 5.16. Patches for kernels 5.4 to 5.15 are available.

For example, the Lenovo ThinkPad {{P14s}} Gen2 series from 2021 requires the new driver.

== Kernel patches ==
The patch series to get the rtw89 driver into the kernel sources requires the kernel and/or its modules to be compiled by the end-user, alternatively some distributions may provide a pre-compiled DKMS package for the driver as well.

One way to patch an existing kernel is to download the v6 patch from [https://lore.kernel.org/all/482cc641-7ba1-7d7a-f2eb-5d39aea9a5cd@lwfinger.net/T/ lore.kernel.org]; It is sufficient to copy&paste the whole message into one files, e.g. rtw89v6.patch.

Alternatively, using links or lynx (example with links) the v6 patch series can be downloaded from lore.kernel.org from the shell:
# links -dump "https://lore.kernel.org/all/482cc641-7ba1-7d7a-f2eb-5d39aea9a5cd@lwfinger.net/T/" > /tmp/rtw89v6.patch

Applying the whole patch series to an existing kernel source tree:
$ cd /usr/src/linux
$ patch -p1 < /tmp/rtw89v6.patch

After patching the kernel the rtw89 driver is available for selection in the kernel configuration (example: make menuconfig):
-> Device Drivers
-> Network device support (NETDEVICES [=y])
-> Wireless LAN (WLAN [=y])
-> Realtek devices (WLAN_VENDOR_REALTEK [=y])
-> Realtek 802.11ax wireless chips support (RTW89 [=m])
-> Realtek 8852AE PCI wireless network adapter (RTW89_8852AE [=m])

After booting this kernel, the driver will be automatically loaded on compatible hardware.
$ lspci -d :8852 -nn
03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8852AE 802.11ax PCIe Wireless Network Adapter [10ec:8852]

== External links ==
* [https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Realtek-802.11ax-rtw89 Phoronix] article about initial rtw89 development
* [https://github.com/lwfinger/rtw89 rtw89] GitHub repository

[[Category:Drivers]]

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 The patch series to get the rtw89 driver into the kernel sources requires the kernel and/or its modules to be compiled by the end-user, alternatively some distributions may provide a pre-compiled DKMS package for the driver as well.
-One way to patch an existing kernel is to download the v6 patch from [https://lore.kernel.org/all/482cc641-7ba1-7d7a-f2eb-5d39aea9a5cd@lwfinger.net/T/ lore.kernel.org]; It is sufficient to copy&paste the whole message into one files, e.g. rtw89v6.patch. Alternatively, using links or lynx (example with links) the v6 patch series can be downloaded from the shell:
+One way to patch an existing kernel is to download the v6 patch from [https://lore.kernel.org/all/482cc641-7ba1-7d7a-f2eb-5d39aea9a5cd@lwfinger.net/T/ lore.kernel.org]; It is sufficient to copy&paste the whole message into one file, e.g. rtw89v6.patch. Alternatively, using links or lynx (example with links) the v6 patch series can be downloaded from the shell:
   # links -dump "https://lore.kernel.org/all/482cc641-7ba1-7d7a-f2eb-5d39aea9a5cd@lwfinger.net/T/" > /tmp/rtw89v6.patch

@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 == Firmware ==
-The driver requires specific firmware, which should be supplied by the general (non-free) firmware package of your Linux distribution. If a firmware blob is missing, it can be downloaded manually and put in the required path (normally /lib/firmware).
+The driver requires specific firmware, which should be supplied by the general (non-free) firmware package of any Linux distribution. If a firmware blob is missing, it can be downloaded manually and put in the required path (normally /lib/firmware).
 For the Realtek 8852AE the firmware binary file is rtw89/rtw8852a_fw.bin (in freedesktop.org [https://cgit.freedesktop.org/drm/drm-firmware/commit/?h=tgl_rkl_dmc_updates&id=e576a1bd790b10f9400f05db7d6729f10bd4c410 drm-firmware] since Feb 2021).

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 '''rtw89''' is the Linux driver for Realtek 802.11ax WiFi devices starting with the Realtek 8852AE ASIC. Rather than updating the exiting rtw88 driver, Realtek engineers wrote and contributed a completely rewritten one for their redesigned wireless chipset of the 8852AE, which will be used in future Realtek WiFi chips as well.
-The driver is included in Linux kernel 5.16, patches for kernels 5.4 to 5.15 are available.
+The driver is included in Linux kernel 5.16 (released Jan 2022), patches for kernels 5.4 (Nov 2019) to 5.15 are available.
 For example, the Lenovo ThinkPad {{P14s}} Gen2 series from 2021 requires the new driver.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 '''rtw89''' is the Linux driver for Realtek 802.11ax WiFi devices starting with the Realtek 8852AE ASIC. Rather than updating the exiting rtw88 driver, Realtek engineers wrote and contributed a completely rewritten one for their redesigned wireless chipset of the 8852AE, which will be used in future Realtek WiFi chips as well.
-The driver is part of wireless-drivers-next and will be included in Linux kernel 5.16. Patches for kernels 5.4 to 5.15 are available.
+The driver is included in Linux kernel 5.16, patches for kernels 5.4 to 5.15 are available.
 For example, the Lenovo ThinkPad {{P14s}} Gen2 series from 2021 requires the new driver.
 == Kernel patches ==
@@ Line 15: / Line 27: @@
   $ patch -p1 < /tmp/rtw89v6.patch
-After patching the kernel, the rtw89 driver is available for selection in the kernel configuration (example: make menuconfig):
+After patching the kernel, the rtw89 driver is available for selection in the kernel configuration.
-After booting this kernel, the driver will be automatically loaded on compatible hardware.
+The driver will be automatically loaded on compatible hardware (example where rtw89 was build as a loadable module), for proper function the required firmware files have to be provided.
   $ uname -r
 .12.0

@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 == Firmware ==
-The driver requires specific firmware, which should be supplied by the general (non-free) firmware package of your Linux distribution. It a firmware blob is missing, it can be downloaded manually and put in the required path (normally /lib/firmware).
+The driver requires specific firmware, which should be supplied by the general (non-free) firmware package of your Linux distribution. If a firmware blob is missing, it can be downloaded manually and put in the required path (normally /lib/firmware).
 For the Realtek 8852AE the firmware binary file is rtw89/rtw8852a_fw.bin (in freedesktop.org [https://cgit.freedesktop.org/drm/drm-firmware/commit/?h=tgl_rkl_dmc_updates&id=e576a1bd790b10f9400f05db7d6729f10bd4c410 drm-firmware] since Feb 2021).

@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
   rtw89_pci              45056  0
   rtw89_core            880640  1 rtw89_pci
 == External links ==