RTL8188FTV Frustrations!

trurune · Feb 19, 2025

I recently attempted to purchase an RLT8188CUS after recommendation in this post. I went to purchase it. To my horror, after a very long wait, it eventually arrived, I tested it under Linux, Windows and FreeBSD, and all said it was instead an RTL8188FTV! Do I need to go out and get an RTL8188CUS, or is there any way to make my RTL8188FTV function at all under FreeBSD? bsdconfig didn't seem to like it much and just didn't recognise it. usbconfig reports it as an FTV but doesn't specify any driver or anything

I've seen some posts on this, but a lot are from quite a long time ago and I want to see if anything has changed since.

I'd be grateful for help on this! Thank you!

SDK Chan · Feb 19, 2025

trurune said:
Do I need to go out and get an RTL8188CUS, or is there any way to make my RTL8188FTV function at all under FreeBSD? bsdconfig didn't seem to like it much and just didn't recognise it. usbconfig reports it as an FTV but doesn't specify any driver or anything

First of all I had quite similar issues two weeks ago, and a lot of trouble getting the right adapter to work.
Can you boot a FreeBSD live system, and show me the output of dmesg ?
The live system is the third option of the first bsdinstall screen if I am not wrong.

My recommendation would be a USB ethernet adapter based on the AX88179A chip since they are very well supported on FreeBSD.
After that go to the last message of my Thread Interface flapping on ethernet USB adapter to see how to load up the cdce driver instead of the axge one since axge has bugs right now.

trurune · Feb 19, 2025

Booted into the live system and it was just
ugen0.5: <Realtek 802.11n> at usbus0

SDK Chan · Feb 19, 2025

Realtek 802.11n

This is the real chipset inside your device.
Looking at the hardware notes of FreeBSD 14.2 your device should support the rtw88 driver.
The problem is you need this package installed or build as a port in order to get your pcie device recognized as the driver itself does not seem to be integrated into the FreeBSD base system directly.

Can you somehow download the wifi-firmware-rtw88-kmod pkg or port files on another OS?
If yes, you could just install the pkg without having internet access, and then setting up the internet access after installation.

nxjoseph · Feb 19, 2025

LillieNB said:
This is the real chipset inside your device.

It seems to be a usb device, i think this is the usb wifi dongle. I assume internal wifi is an pci-e device, it should not show as usb device.

LillieNB said:
Looking at the hardware notes of FreeBSD 14.2 your device should support the rtw88 driver.

I couldn't find a mention about the RTL8188FTV.

LillieNB said:
The problem is you need this package installed or build as a port in order to get your pcie device recognized.

Isn't OP talking about usb wifi dongle which is rtl8188FTV?

What does the command below show for the usb wifi dongle? assuming you are on freebsd and it is called ugen0.5.

Code:

# usbconfig -d ugen0.5 dump_device_desc

SDK Chan · Feb 19, 2025

I couldn't find a mention about the RTL8188FTV.

Look at his dmesg output.
His chipset is recognized as an Realtek 802.11n.
This chipset is supported in the hardware notes.

I had a similar problem.
lsusb was always showing AX88179 no matter the ethernet adapter, but dmesg showed the right chipset inside my ethernet adapter.

miscreant · Feb 19, 2025

trurune said:
I recently attempted to purchase an RLT8188CUS after recommendation in this post. I went to purchase it. To my horror, after a very long wait, it eventually arrived, I tested it under Linux, Windows and FreeBSD, and all said it was instead an RTL8188FTV! Do I need to go out and get an RTL8188CUS, or is there any way to make my RTL8188FTV function at all under FreeBSD? bsdconfig didn't seem to like it much and just didn't recognise it. usbconfig reports it as an FTV but doesn't specify any driver or anything

I've seen some posts on this, but a lot are from quite a long time ago and I want to see if anything has changed since.

I'd be grateful for help on this! Thank you!

Try the rtwn driver seeing as it is the driver for RTL8188CUS and you have the RTL8188FTV. If the rtwn driver does not work then I would return it, you should get the product you paid for. I recently purchased a TP-Link Archer T2U Plus, very affordable and it works great with FreeBSD. I am using the rtwn driver with it.

trurune · Feb 20, 2025

miscreant said:
Try the rtwn driver seeing as it is the driver for RTL8188CUS and you have the RTL8188FTV. If the rtwn driver does not work then I would return it, you should get the product you paid for. I recently purchased a TP-Link Archer T2U Plus, very affordable and it works great with FreeBSD. I am using the rtwn driver with it.

Could you by any chance link me to the TP-Link adapter? Beginning to lose hope with this RTL.

miscreant · Feb 20, 2025

For sure, don't know what country you're in but the one I have is

https://www.amazon.ca/TP-Link-Arche...40087591&sprefix=acher+t2u+pls,aps,149&sr=8-1

but this one looks more like what you purchased, if you don't want the antenna

https://www.amazon.ca/TP-Link-Arche...591&sprefix=acher+t2u+pls,aps,149&sr=8-2&th=1

both are listed in the 14.2 hardware notes under rtwm\_usb

FreeBSD 14.2 Hardware Notes

FreeBSD is an operating system used to power modern servers, desktops, and embedded platforms.

www.freebsd.org

Andriy · Feb 21, 2025

LillieNB said:
His chipset is recognized as an Realtek 802.11n.

No. That's how the USB device is recognized.
It does not tell anything about chipset (and there is no such Realtek chipset, they use a different nomenclature).

SDK Chan · Feb 21, 2025

Andriy said:
No. That's how the USB device is recognized.
It does not tell anything about chipset (and there is no such Realtek chipset, they use a different nomenclature).

Strange, my USB ethernet adapter shows me a AX88179A chipset, when prompting dmesg.

I found these lines in the FreeBSD 14.2 hardware notes
"
The rtw88 driver supports PCIe devices with the following chipsets:

Realtek 802.11n wireless 8723de (RTL8723DE)
Realtek 802.11ac wireless 8821ce (RTL8821CE)
Realtek 802.11ac wireless 8822be (RTL8822BE)
Realtek 802.11ac wireless 8822ce (RTL8822CE)

"
If I understand it correctly the first item in the list is a chipset from realtek.

Phishfry · Feb 21, 2025

Andriy said:
No. That's how the USB device is recognized.
It does not tell anything about chipset (and there is no such Realtek chipset, they use a different nomenclature).

And it could be a problem as simple as the device VID and PID is not present in FreeBSD USB drivers.

nxjoseph said:
# usbconfig -d ugen0.5 dump_device_desc

So you do this and look for VID and PID. This is called idVendor and idProduct. Then you check FreeBSD source to see if it is supported.

The file to look at for the "idProduct" is /usr/src/sys/dev/usb/usbdevs.
If your Product ID is not found in this file it will not work.

This is the way I check to see if a USB device might be supported on FreeBSD.
Check the source tree for the idProduct.

If it is not present you can add it to the list and recompile kernel and then check results.
It is also possible it is not present because it is not a supported chipset. RTL8188FTV

Phishfry · Feb 21, 2025

Just in case you do not have source tree installed here is relevant part:

Code:

/* Realtek products */
/* Green House and CompUSA OEM this part */
product REALTEK DUMMY           0x0000  Dummy product
product REALTEK USB20CRW        0x0158  USB20CRW Card Reader
product REALTEK RTL8188ETV      0x0179  RTL8188ETV
product REALTEK RTL8188CTV      0x018a  RTL8188CTV
product REALTEK RTL8821AU_2     0x0811  RTL8821AU
product REALTEK RTW8821CU_CD    0x1a2b  RTW8821CU_CD
product REALTEK RTL8188RU_2     0x317f  RTL8188RU
product REALTEK USBKR100        0x8150  USBKR100 USB Ethernet
product REALTEK RTL8152         0x8152  RTL8152 USB Ethernet
product REALTEK RTL8153         0x8153  RTL8153 USB Ethernet
product REALTEK RTL8156         0x8156  RTL8156 USB Ethernet
product REALTEK RTL8188CE_0     0x8170  RTL8188CE
product REALTEK RTL8171         0x8171  RTL8171
product REALTEK RTL8172         0x8172  RTL8172
product REALTEK RTL8173         0x8173  RTL8173
product REALTEK RTL8174         0x8174  RTL8174
product REALTEK RTL8188CU_0     0x8176  RTL8188CU
product REALTEK RTL8191CU       0x8177  RTL8191CU
product REALTEK RTL8192CU       0x8178  RTL8192CU
product REALTEK RTL8188EU       0x8179  RTL8188EU
product REALTEK RTL8188CU_1     0x817a  RTL8188CU
product REALTEK RTL8188CU_2     0x817b  RTL8188CU
product REALTEK RTL8192CE       0x817c  RTL8192CE
product REALTEK RTL8188RU_1     0x817d  RTL8188RU
product REALTEK RTL8188CE_1     0x817e  RTL8188CE
product REALTEK RTL8188RU_3     0x817f  RTL8188RU
product REALTEK RTL8187         0x8187  RTL8187 Wireless Adapter
product REALTEK RTL8187B_0      0x8189  RTL8187B Wireless Adapter
product REALTEK RTL8188CUS      0x818a  RTL8188CUS
product REALTEK RTL8192EU       0x818b  RTL8192EU
product REALTEK RTL8188CU_3     0x8191  RTL8188CU
product REALTEK RTL8196EU       0x8196  RTL8196EU
product REALTEK RTL8187B_1      0x8197  RTL8187B Wireless Adapter
product REALTEK RTL8187B_2      0x8198  RTL8187B Wireless Adapter
product REALTEK RTL8712         0x8712  RTL8712
product REALTEK RTL8713         0x8713  RTL8713
product REALTEK RTL8188CU_COMBO 0x8754  RTL8188CU
product REALTEK RTL8812AU_1     0x8812  RTL8812AU Wireless Adapter
product REALTEK RTL8812AU_2     0x881a  RTL8812AU Wireless Adapter
product REALTEK RTL8821AU_1     0xa811  RTL8821AU
product REALTEK RTL8723BU       0xb720  RTL8723BU
product REALTEK RTL8192SU       0xc512  RTL8192SU
product REALTEK RTW8821CU       0xc811  RTW8821CU

Charlie_ · Feb 21, 2025

By the way, the ID is

Code:

$ grep -i rtl8188ftv /usr/src/share/misc/usb_vendors
        f179  RTL8188FTV 802.11b/g/n 1T1R 2.4G WLAN Adapter

$ pkg install usbids
$ grep -i rtl8188ftv /usr/local/share/usbids/usb.ids
        f179  RTL8188FTV 802.11b/g/n 1T1R 2.4G WLAN Adapter

Phishfry · Feb 21, 2025

~~That is the same PID as our RTL8188ETV.~~
Is it mixup possible? Wrong letter?

We need original users actual VID/PID output.

Charlie_ · Feb 21, 2025

As written in #1, if it is displayed as RTL8188FTV in FreeBSD, then this is probably a match.

Code:

$ find /usr/src/ -type f|xargs grep -i 8188ftv
/usr/src/share/misc/usb_vendors:        f179  RTL8188FTV 802.11b/g/n 1T1R 2.4G WLAN Adapter

Phishfry · Feb 21, 2025

So Charlie_ isn't there a way to spoof a VID/PID with devd and a conf file? Make the FTV look like ETV without modifying kernel?

Since this model appears so close to the RTL8188ETV I would consider adding the PID and see if it works or at least throw some horseshoes.

They both use the RTL8188eu driver on Linux

Realtek Semiconductor RTL8188FTV 802.11b/g/n 1T1R 2.4G WLAN Adapter

A database of all the hardware that works under linux

linux-hardware.org

Realtek Semiconductor RTL8188ETV Wireless LAN 802.11n Network Adapter

A database of all the hardware that works under linux

linux-hardware.org

Charlie_ · Feb 21, 2025

Phishfry said:
So Charlie_ isn't there a way to spoof a VID/PID with devd and a conf file? Make the FTV look like ETV without modifying kernel?

Sorry. I don't know.

Realtek

www.realtek.com

Realtek

www.realtek.com

They look very similar, but the chip sizes are different, so I wonder if the process rules have changed.

nxjoseph · Feb 21, 2025

PID of ETV and FTV seems to be same and i wonder if changing the line in /usr/src/sys/dev/usb/usbdevs and recompiling the kernel would make it work. Also, is it possible for products to have same PID with one or more product?

Diff:

diff --git a/sys/dev/usb/usbdevs b/sys/dev/usb/usbdevs
index 66695c19549..45a50e28542 100644
--- a/sys/dev/usb/usbdevs
+++ b/sys/dev/usb/usbdevs
@@ -4058,6 +4058,7 @@ product RATOC REXUSB60F           0xb020  USB serial adapter REX-USB60F
 product REALTEK DUMMY          0x0000  Dummy product
 product REALTEK USB20CRW       0x0158  USB20CRW Card Reader
 product REALTEK RTL8188ETV     0x0179  RTL8188ETV
+product REALTEK RTL8188FTV     0x0179  RTL8188FTV
 product REALTEK RTL8188CTV      0x018a  RTL8188CTV
 product REALTEK RTL8821AU_2    0x0811  RTL8821AU
 product REALTEK RTW8821CU_CD   0x1a2b  RTW8821CU_CD

T

Post in thread 'Adding MultiModem-USB Support'

Aug 29, 2021

The product ID (F103) of modem is missing:

usbdevs « usb « dev « sys - src - FreeBSD source tree

cgit.freebsd.org

Without product ID the device driver, if supports the device, can't attach to device.

You could try adding the product ID neneath line 3371 in
/usr/src/sys/dev/usb/usbdevs

Code:

product MULTITECH MT5634MU 0xf103  MT5634MU MultiMobileUSB

and build and install new kernel.

Charlie_ · Feb 21, 2025

It's f179, not 0179.

Code:

/usr/src/sys/dev/usb/usbdevs
@@ -4058,6 +4058,7 @@
 product REALTEK DUMMY          0x0000  Dummy product
 product REALTEK USB20CRW       0x0158  USB20CRW Card Reader
 product REALTEK RTL8188ETV     0x0179  RTL8188ETV
+product REALTEK RTL8188FTV     0xf179  RTL8188FTV
 product REALTEK RTL8188CTV      0x018a  RTL8188CTV
 product REALTEK RTL8821AU_2    0x0811  RTL8821AU
 product REALTEK RTW8821CU_CD   0x1a2b  RTW8821CU_CD

/usr/src/sys/dev/rtwn/usb/rtwn_usb_attach.h
@@ -123,6 +123,7 @@
        RTWN_RTL8188EU_DEV(TPLINK,              WN722NV2),
        RTWN_RTL8188EU_DEV(TPLINK,              WN727NV5),
        RTWN_RTL8188EU_DEV(REALTEK,             RTL8188ETV),
+       RTWN_RTL8188EU_DEV(REALTEK,             RTL8188FTV),
        RTWN_RTL8188EU_DEV(REALTEK,             RTL8188EU),
        RTWN_RTL8188EU_DEV(MERCUSYS,            MW150US),
 #undef RTWN_RTL8188EU_DEV

nxjoseph · Feb 21, 2025

Charlie_ said:

It's f179, not 0179.

Code:

/usr/src/sys/dev/usb/usbdevs
@@ -4058,6 +4058,7 @@
 product REALTEK DUMMY          0x0000  Dummy product
 product REALTEK USB20CRW       0x0158  USB20CRW Card Reader
 product REALTEK RTL8188ETV     0x0179  RTL8188ETV
+product REALTEK RTL8188FTV     0xf179  RTL8188FTV
 product REALTEK RTL8188CTV      0x018a  RTL8188CTV
 product REALTEK RTL8821AU_2    0x0811  RTL8821AU
 product REALTEK RTW8821CU_CD   0x1a2b  RTW8821CU_CD

/usr/src/sys/dev/rtwn/usb/rtwn_usb_attach.h
@@ -123,6 +123,7 @@
        RTWN_RTL8188EU_DEV(TPLINK,              WN722NV2),
        RTWN_RTL8188EU_DEV(TPLINK,              WN727NV5),
        RTWN_RTL8188EU_DEV(REALTEK,             RTL8188ETV),
+       RTWN_RTL8188EU_DEV(REALTEK,             RTL8188FTV),
        RTWN_RTL8188EU_DEV(REALTEK,             RTL8188EU),
        RTWN_RTL8188EU_DEV(MERCUSYS,            MW150US),
 #undef RTWN_RTL8188EU_DEV

Oh, I couldn't figure out that if f is included in PID, thanks. Also I seem to missed /usr/src/sys/dev/rtwn/usb/rtwn_usb_attach.h.