Compile Realtek rtl8812AU/8821AU USB WiFi driver on Debian Jessie

Install the driver first from github:

sudo apt-get install git
git clone https://github.com/abperiasamy/rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux
cd rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux
sudo cp -R . /usr/src/rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux-1.0
sudo dkms add -m rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux -v 1.0
sudo dkms build -m rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux -v 1.0
sudo dkms install -m rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux -v 1.0

Test and load the driver:

dkms status
modinfo rtl8812au | egrep 'filen|vers|0811'
sudo modprobe -rfv rtl8812au
sudo modprobe -v rtl8812au
iwconfig
iwlist chan
sudo iwlist scan | egrep -i 'cell|chan|essid|wpa|cipher|qual'

If you are going to compile this driver on Raspberry Pi the steps are a bit different. First in driver directory open Makefile and change:

CONFIG_PLATFORM_I386_PC = y
CONFIG_PLATFORM_ARM_RPI = n

to

CONFIG_PLATFORM_I386_PC = n
CONFIG_PLATFORM_ARM_RPI = y

Then you can do following:

sudo make clean
sudo make
sudo make install
sudo modprobe -a rtl8812au

14 Replies to “Compile Realtek rtl8812AU/8821AU USB WiFi driver on Debian Jessie”

  1. Hello, can this driver code be modified (configured) to build on the 3.10.105-0-pine64-longsleep kernel for Debian? I need support for the RTL8821AU chipset ID 0bda:0823.

    Thanks for the help!

    1. I am afraid this is not possible since Raspberry Pi is using armv7l architecture which is supported in this driver, on the other hand Pine64 uses aarch64 architecture which is not supported in this driver source code. I also own Pine64 and tried to see if it is possible without success.

    1. Yes without issues. Here is my iwconfig output:

      iwconfig
      lo no wireless extensions.

      wlan0 IEEE 802.11AC ESSID:"XXXXXXXXX" Nickname:""
      Mode:Managed Frequency:5.18 GHz Access Point: 44:1C:A8:8D:78:D5
      Bit Rate:200 Mb/s Sensitivity:0/0
      Retry:off RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
      Power Management:off
      Link Quality=100/100 Signal level=99/100 Noise level=0/100
      Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
      Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

      eth0 no wireless extensions.

  2. How did you configure it? I am not able and it is sopported by my USB:

    iwconfig
    eth0 no wireless extensions.

    lo no wireless extensions.

    wlan0 IEEE 802.11bgn ESSID:”Odroid_WiFi” Nickname:””
    Mode:Master Frequency:2.442 GHz Access Point: 16:88:11:C3:73:07
    Bit Rate:72.2 Mb/s Sensitivity:0/0
    Retry:off RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
    Encryption key:off
    Power Management:off
    Link Quality=55/100 Signal level=55/100 Noise level=0/100
    Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
    Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

  3. I’ve successfully installed in Kali Linux 4.14.0, and it makes my USB adapter Meross AC600 works well, but it is not able to put it in monitor mode.
    Regards

  4. Just bought an AC600 nano dongle (goes under the name Plexgear but of course lsusb unmasks it as 0bda:a811 Realtek Semiconductor Corp.). Didn’t work out of the box on Debian 9, but with your excellent guide above got it going (5 GHz too). Thanks.

  5. Hi,
    thanks for your tutorial, but for me it does not work.

    In file included from /var/lib/dkms/rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux/1.0/build/include/drv_types.h:35,
    from /var/lib/dkms/rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux/1.0/build/core/rtw_ioctl_set.c:22:
    /var/lib/dkms/rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux/1.0/build/include/wifi.h:980: error: “IEEE80211_MAX_AMPDU_BUF” redefined [-Werror]
    #define IEEE80211_MAX_AMPDU_BUF 0x40

    ==> step to build the module fails.

    Any help?

    Thanks so much!

    1. I’m sorry for late reply, but I would need more information what platform are you trying to compile this. I personally stopped using this USB WiFi device since I switched to Pi 3B+ which has 5G WiFi, but last time I checked which was one month ago this was compiling on Raspberry pi.

  6. Ok I’m not new, but I’m curious, I’m trying to use this Netgear AC600 / A6100 USB-WiFi dongle on a desktop, that is not connected to the internet. So exactly HOW am I supposed to download / install DKMS?..or anything else for that matter?

    1. Hi. Thanks for the comment. But it’s pretty obvious you need to download packages on some other PC or use wired connection.

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