Tuesday 23 May 2017

Mainline kernel v4.12-rc2 now with RTL8723BS WiFi/BT driver

UpdateThis work is superseded by my 'isorespin.sh' script which can respin an official ISO suitable for use on Intel Atom devices.

The newly released Ubuntu build of the latest and second release candidate of the mainline v4.12 kernel now includes the driver for the RTL8723BS chip.

As the current Ubuntu distro releases don't include the required WiFi firmware you will need to install it in order to get a working WiFi connection when using for the first time.

There are several ways including:

1. Installing the latest 'linux-firmware' package from Canonical
2. Installing the firmware from Bastien Nocera's 'rtl8723bs' GitHub (hadess)
3. Installing the package I've created for this purpose

And although the driver supports bluetooth similarly the required BT firmware and software needs to be installed from:

1. Compiling and installing from Larry Finger's 'rtl8723bs_bt' GitHub (lwfinger)
2. Installing the package I've created for this purpose

The package is useful as it can be included when respinning an ISO meaning WiFi/BT will be immediately available.


The package can be downloaded from 'rtl8723bs_4.12.0-041200rc2_amd64.deb'
and installed with 'sudo dpkg -i rtl8723bs_4.12.0-041200rc2_amd64.deb'



10 comments:

hurior said...

Trying just now!!
(Chuwi LapBook + isorespin.sh + linuxmint-18.1-kde-64bit.iso + rtl8723bs_4.12.0-041200rc2_amd64.deb)

I'll tell you soon :D

hurior said...

The combination Chuwi LapBook + isorespin.sh + linuxmint-18.1-kde-64bit.iso + rtl8723bs_4.12.0-041200rc2_amd64.deb is not working, I don't know why not...

But Chuwi LapBook + isorespin.sh + kubuntu-17.04-desktop-amd64.iso + rtl8723bs_4.12.0-041200rc2_amd64.deb works fine!! :D

In a few moments I'm installing my new Kubuntu 17.04 :D

Thanks for your work!!!

Unknown said...

Tried respinned ubuntu-17.04-desktop-amd64.iso with rtl8723bs_4.12.0-041200rc2_amd64.deb on stck1a32wfc.

HDMI audio works. WiFi chip detected, but association with access point fails.

dmesg ouput:
RTL8723BS: auth success, start assoc
RTL8723BS: nolinked power save enter
RTL8723BS: nolinked power save leave

Linuxium said...

It can be temperamental so try rebooting from cold.

hurior said...

Hi again, I can't start any live or installation linux iso. I can enter to the grub, but before I can read "error: file '/boot/' not found" and after the grub, I only have a black screen...
I've tryed whith respined isos and no respined, and always the same problem, can you help me about that?
I have a Chuwi Lapbook 15.6 and Win10 works fine.
Thanks!

Linuxium said...

Try my latest script version (v6.02.0) and add the '-b rEFInd' option.

billP said...

I've been running the iso you provided from 3/1, the 17.04 ubuntu, on my T100HA. In combination with the broadcom and UCM scripts I get wireless, sound and a shaky bluetooth connection. Great work!

I have also used multiple (multiple, multiple) respins and subsequent iso's you have provided, but only as a live boot from a USB 3.0 stick. All, including the recent 17.10, still require the broadcom for wireless (btw, it's the load provided *in* the script I need, not the upstream Android stuff) and the UCM for sound, but the UCM and bluetooth do not come up on the liveboots.

Do you know if it needs to be an install for some of these scripts to work (requiring a reboot for example with installed drivers)? It isn't true for the wireless which comes up after running the script. I'm a bit leary of re-installing over something that mostly works.

Thanks again for all the help.

Anonymous said...

How can I update kernel if already running lubuntu 17.04?
I'm running on Morefine M1+

Thanks for your work!

Linuxium said...

For UCM use the wrapper script and '-c' option I show in my later posts. For bluetooth you often have to start/restart the service using 'systemctl'.

Linuxium said...

Just download the required kernel and install manually.

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