A problem configuring the WiFi interface on an ASUS notebook

[Харбин Хэйлунцзян]

My Windows 11 on an ASUS notebook went to hell and I am trying to install FreeBSD 15 on it.

The notebook only has a WiFi network interface - REALTEK RTL8821CE which is supported by the 15th according to:

FreeBSD 15.0 Hardware Notes

www.freebsd.org

During the installation FreeBSD detects it and configures but it fails to download some firmware for it from the Internet, namely wifi-firmware-rtw88-kmod-rtw8821c. After the installation I run:

sysctl net.wlan.devices

which gives an empty list.

Ok, I went to a local store and purchased a 100 Mbit/sec USB network adapter. With that the installation of FreeBSD manages to download the firmware but does not give me an opportunity to configure the WiFi interface. After the installation the list of wlan devices contains rtw880 and I configure it according to the Handbook:

Chapter 7. Network

This chapter delves into the topic of network configuration and performance, showcasing the robust networking capabilities of the FreeBSD operating system.

docs.freebsd.org

I only do not try to tinker with regdomain because I do not know the correct settings.

Now the most interesting thing. While I was composing this meassage it managed to configure the wlan0 interface and after disconnecting the USB network adapter I can ping other hosts on the network. But at first it said ssid "" and once in a while reported error 95 while transitioning to some state.

What do I do to facilitate this connection. It has taken about 15 minutes this first time.

 

[LibreQuest]

Did you run
fwget
?

fwget(8)

man.freebsd.org

 

[Харбин Хэйлунцзян]

Did you run
fwget
?

No I didn't but as I have reported in the original posting, the firmware was installed during the installation of FreeBSD.

 

[LibreQuest]

Would you consider running fwget?

 

[Харбин Хэйлунцзян]

Would you consider running fwget?

What for? During the normal FreeBSD installation these two packages were installed:

gpu-firmware-intel-kmod-tigerlake
wifi-firmware-rtw88-kmod-rtw8821c

Firthermore, after it managed to connect to my WiFi router everything runs smoothly. Apparently it's the question of configuration.

 

[SirDice]

I would suggest doing the install without configuring the wireless interface, and do the configuration afterwards. Much easier to do.

 

[Харбин Хэйлунцзян]

I would suggest doing the install without configuring the wireless interface, and do the configuration afterwards. Much easier to do.

That's what I have done! To be able to do that I purchased a USB network adapter (the cheapest to be honest) and it did the job.

Now when restarting it says:

rtw880: lkpi_iv_newstate: error 95 during state transition 2 (AUTH) -> 3 (ASSOC)

After about 5 minutes it finally manages to connect to my WiFi router. I would rather it did it faster and without running into errors.