AP mode with EDIMAX EW-781UN V2

[lucien.miara]

Hello,

I am trying to setup my StemLab 125-14 as a wifi access point using a EW-781UN V2 wifi dongle (recommanded by the doc here).
I tried with OS versions 1.04-18 and 2.00-30 and was unable to launch the access point mode, neither from the web server app or by uploading my own hostapd.conf file to /opt/redpitaya and trying to launch the service.
With OS 1.04-18 :

Code: Select all

root@rp-f09132:~# systemctl restart hostapd@wlan0.service
Job for hostapd@wlan0.service failed because the control process exited with error code. See "systemctl status hostapd@wlan0.service" and "journalctl -xe" for details.
root@rp-f09132:~# systemctl status hostapd@wlan0.service
● hostapd@wlan0.service - Hostapd IEEE 802.11 AP, IEEE 802.1X/WPA/WPA2/EAP/RADIUS Authenticator
   Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/hostapd@.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Fri 2021-04-02 02:54:05 UTC; 11s ago
  Process: 1847 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/hostapd /etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf -P /run/hostapd.pid -B (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)

Apr 02 02:54:05 rp-f09132 hostapd[1847]: nl80211: Driver does not support authentication/association or connect commands
Apr 02 02:54:05 rp-f09132 hostapd[1847]: nl80211: deinit ifname=wlan0 disabled_11b_rates=0
Apr 02 02:54:05 rp-f09132 hostapd[1847]: nl80211 driver initialization failed.
Apr 02 02:54:05 rp-f09132 hostapd[1847]: wlan0: interface state UNINITIALIZED->DISABLED
Apr 02 02:54:05 rp-f09132 hostapd[1847]: wlan0: AP-DISABLED
Apr 02 02:54:05 rp-f09132 hostapd[1847]: hostapd_free_hapd_data: Interface wlan0 wasn't started
Apr 02 02:54:05 rp-f09132 systemd[1]: hostapd@wlan0.service: Control process exited, code=exited status=1
Apr 02 02:54:05 rp-f09132 systemd[1]: Failed to start Hostapd IEEE 802.11 AP, IEEE 802.1X/WPA/WPA2/EAP/RADIUS Authenticator.
Apr 02 02:54:05 rp-f09132 systemd[1]: hostapd@wlan0.service: Unit entered failed state.
Apr 02 02:54:05 rp-f09132 systemd[1]: hostapd@wlan0.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.

With OS 2.00-30 :

Code: Select all

root@rp-f09132:~# systemctl restart hostapd@wlan0.service
Job for hostapd@wlan0.service failed because the control process exited with error code.
See "systemctl status hostapd@wlan0.service" and "journalctl -xeu hostapd@wlan0.service" for details.
root@rp-f09132:~# systemctl status hostapd@wlan0.service
× hostapd@wlan0.service - Hostapd IEEE 802.11 AP, IEEE 802.1X/WPA/WPA2/EAP/RADIUS Authenticator
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/hostapd@.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Wed 2024-01-10 09:21:05 UTC; 7s ago
    Process: 652 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/hostapd /etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf -P /run/hostapd.pid -B (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
        CPU: 25ms

Jan 10 09:21:05 rp-f09132 hostapd[652]: nl80211: Driver does not support authentication/association or connect commands
Jan 10 09:21:05 rp-f09132 hostapd[652]: nl80211: deinit ifname=wlan0 disabled_11b_rates=0
Jan 10 09:21:05 rp-f09132 hostapd[652]: nl80211 driver initialization failed.
Jan 10 09:21:05 rp-f09132 hostapd[652]: wlan0: interface state UNINITIALIZED->DISABLED
Jan 10 09:21:05 rp-f09132 hostapd[652]: wlan0: AP-DISABLED
Jan 10 09:21:05 rp-f09132 hostapd[652]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-TERMINATING
Jan 10 09:21:05 rp-f09132 hostapd[652]: hostapd_free_hapd_data: Interface wlan0 wasn't started
Jan 10 09:21:05 rp-f09132 systemd[1]: hostapd@wlan0.service: Control process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Jan 10 09:21:05 rp-f09132 systemd[1]: hostapd@wlan0.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Jan 10 09:21:05 rp-f09132 systemd[1]: Failed to start Hostapd IEEE 802.11 AP, IEEE 802.1X/WPA/WPA2/EAP/RADIUS Authenticator.

From what I understand here, it is a problem with the r8188eu driver.

I also tried with Pavel Demin's Alpine linux, and it works fine. But I can't use this solution as I need to be able to use the SCPI server for my application.

I found online that the rtl8188eu driver should work (it also seems to be the driver used by Pavel as it shows up in /sys/bus/usb/drivers when I plug in the dongle), but I have been unable to compile and install it on my board.

Is there a way to install this driver or any other way to use the RedPitaya as an access point with this dongle ? Or is there another dongle that would work better ?

Thanks,
Lucien

[33dnp]

Hello. The problem is in the kernel. On the old Linux kernel before 5.00 (old ecosystem), this mode worked. Then for some reason the kernel developers decided to abandon driver support in this mode. There are some patches on the Internet, but they work as an alternative.
In the Linux kernel 6.3, as I remember, these devices were transferred to another driver and everything works there. Only for now the latest xilinx kernel version 6.1. We are waiting for updates.

I can advise
https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/real ... iew.77532/
on this chipset the latest version of the ecosystem works in AP mode