Sharing: TP-Link AC600 Nano on Raspbian Bookworm 32-Bit

[lbussy]

I figured this out, and I wanted to share how to do it.

1. Kernel headers are not (yet?) available on 32-bit v8. To get past this:

echo "arm_64bit=0" | sudo tee -a /boot/firmware/config.txt > /dev/null

2. Reboot
3. Either:

sudo apt --fix-broken install -y
sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade -y
sudo apt autoremove --purge -y
sudo apt clean

or

curl -fsSL https://gist.githubusercontent.com/lbussy/23c05d8dc8c24d8d8edddf1d381f1c8b/raw/install_aliases.sh | bash

(this will pull down a .bash_aliases, run the above updates, and add some handy aliases. More in this Gist.)

4. Reboot (if indicated)
5. Install required packages:

sudo apt-get install dkms raspberrypi-kernel-headers

6. Clone repo:

git clone -b v5.6.4.2 https://github.com/aircrack-ng/rtl8812au.git
cd rtlrtl8812au

7. Change line in dkms.conf:

MAKE="ARCH=arm 'make' -j$PROCS_NUM KVER=${kernelver} KSRC=/lib/modules/${kernelver}/build"

or

sed -i 's/^MAKE="/MAKE="ARCH=arm\ /' dkms.conf

8. Update Makefile:

CONFIG_PLATFORM_I386_PC = n
CONFIG_PLATFORM_ANDROID_ARM64 = n
CONFIG_PLATFORM_ARM_RPI = y
CONFIG_PLATFORM_ARM64_RPI = n
CONFIG_PLATFORM_ARM_NV_NANO = n

or

sed -i 's/CONFIG_PLATFORM_I386_PC = y/CONFIG_PLATFORM_I386_PC = n/g' Makefile
sed -i 's/CONFIG_PLATFORM_ARM_RPI = n/CONFIG_PLATFORM_ARM_RPI = y/g' Makefile

9. Export environment:

export ARCH=arm

10. Make and install drivers:

sudo make dkms_install

11. Reboot
12. Bask in the glory of the wlan0 being available with ip link show:

$ ip link show
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: eth0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether dc:a6:32:23:77:b4 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP mode DORMANT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether dc:a6:32:23:77:b6 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
4: wlan1: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 2312 qdisc mq state DORMANT mode DORMANT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether b0:19:21:1c:79:ab brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

[g0730n]

Trying this right now... Following instructions on readme for Raspberry Pi 1 did not work correctly. After following those instructions was able to see the device, but unable to get it to work. We'll see if this works. I am on a fresh install of the latest Raspbian OS.

[lbussy]

Did you get any errors? Are you using 32 or 64-bit? I don't have a Pi 1 here to try it on.

[g0730n]

32 bit Pi 1... It seemed to be going well until the install part. Then DKMS said something about a sanity check because the version was already installed (from when I followed Readme instructions). So I did --force. And now right back where it started. Can see the thing but it's listed as dormant and don't know how to get it working.

I installed the drivers for this exact adapter years ago on my Pi3B and got it working, and I remember it was a real headache.

[lbussy]

This thread seems to indicate that the adapter is there and available and in power save mode. Have you tried to bind a connection to it?

[g0730n]

I am typing this in on my laptop which is setting next to the pi, so i may have some types but this is what it shows up as when I run "ip link show":
3: wlan0: <NO-CARRIER, BROADCAST, MULTICAST, UP, LOWER_UP> mtu 2312 qdisc mq state DORMANT mode DORMANT group default qlen 1000

It's been a while since I messed with network adapters in linux, how would I go about binding a connection to it? Thanks!

[g0730n]

When I ran "make && make install" the first time, i saw some messages about pi64 kernel headers or something like that... I am wondering if the wrong headers got installed. This is a fresh install of rasbian OS so I may just start over.

[g0730n]

When I boot the Pi up, after logging in, a screen and a half of error messages scroll up. I was poking around some more, and I think the driver I actually need is the "RTL8821au", uninstalled the other one and trying that one from here: https://github.com/ivanovborislav/rtl8821au
Will let ya'll know if that was the issue.
8821 and 8812 is kinda confusing, at first glance I see it as the same.

[lbussy]

I probably would have shot right past that as well.

[g0730n]

Okay yeah it was a dumdum moment. The previous link I posted did not work for me. I used this driver:
https://github.com/morrownr/8821au-20210708

It took longer to compile, but no errors and works great after rebooting!

For anyone who ends up here by searching for a driver for: TP-Link AC600 (Archer T2U Plus) that uses the rtl8821au, the above link worked for me with Raspberry Pi 1, 32 bit.

Sorry for drifting this topic...