Building RTL8188EU kernel module for current kernel (5.13-MiSTer)

[vanfanel]

Hi all,

As you may have noticed, the kernel version has been updated a couple of days ago by Sorgelig to 5.13-MiSTer.

I have an rtl8188eu-based WiFi dongle I had been happily using with the MiSTer for the last months or so, but I can't get to build the rtl8188eu driver against the new 5.13-MiSTer kernel.

I have tried these two repositories:

https://github.com/ulli-kroll/rtl8188eu
https://github.com/lwfinger/rtl8188eu

...and they both fail to build against 5.13-MiSTer.
Any ideas, please?

[bootsector]

Maybe worth trying this one?

https://github.com/quickreflex/rtl8188eus

[vanfanel]

@bootsector: Thanks for that one, I hadn't tried it.

However it fails, too:

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/home/manuel/src/mister/rtl8188eus/os_dep/linux/os_intfs.c:1240:22: error: initialization of ‘u16 (*)(struct net_device *, struct sk_buff *, struct net_device *)’ {aka ‘short unsigned int (*)(struct net_device *, struct sk_buff *, struct net_device *)’} from incompatible pointer type ‘u16 (*)(struct net_device *, struct sk_buff *, struct net_device *, u16 (*)(struct net_device *, struct sk_buff *, struct net_device *))’ {aka ‘short unsigned int (*)(struct net_device *, struct sk_buff *, struct net_device *, short unsigned int (*)(struct net_device *, struct sk_buff *, struct net_device *))’} [-Werror=incompatible-pointer-types]
 1240 |  .ndo_select_queue = rtw_select_queue,
      |                      ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/home/manuel/src/mister/rtl8188eus/os_dep/linux/os_intfs.c:1240:22: note: (near initialization for ‘rtw_netdev_ops.ndo_select_queue’)

[xratedpooh]

Current 5.13.12 linux kernel has a RTL8188EU driver as staging device driver.
It's located in "/drivers/staging/rtl8188eu".
You can enable it by changing Kernel config. Then "make modules" will make r8188eu.ko.

[vanfanel]

@xratedpooh

Yep, I noticed.
So I tried to build the modules like this:

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make ARCH=arm mrproper && make ARCH=arm MiSTer_defconfig && make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabihf- EXTRAVERSION=-MiSTer modules_prepare

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make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabihf modules

Then I copied over

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drivers/staging/rtl8188eu/r8188eu.ko

to

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/lib/modules/5.13-MiSTer/

, then I do

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modprobe -a

and finally try to insert the module with

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modprobe r8188eu

, but it results in an "Exec format error".

Doing file on r8188eu.ko it reveals it's in the expected binary format:

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manuel@hp15db0:~/src/mister/Linux-Kernel_MiSTer$ file drivers/staging/rtl8188eu/r8188eu.ko
drivers/staging/rtl8188eu/r8188eu.ko: ELF 32-bit LSB relocatable, ARM, EABI5 version 1 (SYSV), BuildID[sha1]=46440349e30a8a2100fed47bd7c6f5474a868675, with debug_info, not stripped

So, any idea on what could I be doing wrong?

[zakk4223]

What does modinfo say for that file?

[vanfanel]

@zakk4223

This is what modinfo has to say on the subject:

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filename:       /lib/modules/5.13.12-MiSTer/r8188eu.ko
firmware:       rtlwifi/rtl8188eufw.bin
version:        v4.1.4_6773.20130222
author:         Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
description:    Realtek Wireless Lan Driver
license:        GPL
srcversion:     0100F39960870AF79D10D2B
alias:          usb:v0BDApFFEFd*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v7392pB811d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v0DF6p0076d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v2C4Ep0102d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v2357p0111d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v2357p010Cd*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v2001p331Bd*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v2001p3311d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v2001p3310d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v2001p330Fd*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v0B05p18F0d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v07B8p8179d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v056Ep4008d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v0BDAp0179d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
alias:          usb:v0BDAp8179d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*in*
depends:        lib80211
staging:        Y
intree:         Y
name:           r8188eu
vermagic:       5.13.12 SMP mod_unload ARMv7 p2v8 
parm:           rtw_ips_mode:The default IPS mode (int)
parm:           ifname:The default name to allocate for first interface (charp)
parm:           if2name:The default name to allocate for second interface (charp)
parm:           rtw_initmac:charp
parm:           rtw_channel_plan:int
parm:           rtw_channel:int
parm:           rtw_wmm_enable:int
parm:           rtw_vrtl_carrier_sense:int
parm:           rtw_vcs_type:int
parm:           rtw_ht_enable:int
parm:           rtw_cbw40_enable:int
parm:           rtw_ampdu_enable:int
parm:           rtw_rx_stbc:int
parm:           rtw_ampdu_amsdu:int
parm:           rtw_power_mgnt:int
parm:           rtw_smart_ps:int
parm:           rtw_wifi_spec:int
parm:           rtw_antdiv_cfg:int
parm:           rtw_antdiv_type:int
parm:           rtw_enusbss:int
parm:           rtw_hwpdn_mode:int
parm:           rtw_max_roaming_times:The max roaming times to try (uint)
parm:           rtw_fw_iol:FW IOL (int)
parm:           rtw_mc2u_disable:int
parm:           rtw_80211d:Enable 802.11d mechanism (int)
parm:           rtw_notch_filter:0:Disable, 1:Enable, 2:Enable only for P2P (uint)
parm:           debug:Set debug level (1-9) (default 1) (int)
parm:           monitor_enable:Enable monitor interface (default: false) (bool)

I don't see anything strange, which really puzzles me.

[zakk4223]

The vermagic is wrong, it doesn't match the kernel.

Here's what it looks like on a working kernel module:
vermagic: 5.13.12-MiSTer SMP mod_unload ARMv7 p2v8

Try loading it with modprobe -f

[vanfanel]

The vermagic is wrong, it doesn't match the kernel.

Here's what it looks like on a working kernel module:
vermagic: 5.13.12-MiSTer SMP mod_unload ARMv7 p2v8

Try loading it with modprobe -f

Same error with modprobe -f.

[obot]

If it ends up being a pain to build your module against the stock kernel, you may want to consider just building the whole kernel, including the modules. It doesn't take too long to do so.

[xratedpooh]

@vanfanel
vermagic of your ko file is 5.13.12 SMP blah blah.
It should be 5.13.12-MiSTer SMP blah blah
you can add that string by modifying CONFIG_LOCALVERSION.

and also to use modprobe, do the following command first.
depmod -a
modprobe r8188eu