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Request for Realtek rtw89_8852be driver

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Andy Smith

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Mar 26, 2023, 11:30:03 AM3/26/23
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Hi,

I've got a laptop running testing with a Realtek 8852be card in it.
This driver seems to be present in upstream kernel from 6.1:

https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/v6.1/source/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/rtw8852be.c

but doesn't seem to be in any Debian kernel package at present.

I have got it working using a DKMS built from these instructions:

https://github.com/lwfinger/rtw89

(and packaged firmware-realtek)

Will this driver make its way into a bookworm kernel at some point,
or do I need to submit a wishlist bug for this, or is there some
other procedure?

Thanks!
Andy

Vincent Blut

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Mar 26, 2023, 12:00:04 PM3/26/23
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Hi Andy,
Surely it would be wise to enable RTW89_8852BE and RTW89_8852CE for bookworm.
Salvatore, what's your take on this? I can commit some time to work on this.

> Thanks!
> Andy

Cheers,
Vincent
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Diederik de Haas

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Mar 26, 2023, 12:30:03 PM3/26/23
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On Sunday, 26 March 2023 17:55:17 CEST Vincent Blut wrote:
> Le 2023-03-26 15:12, Andy Smith a écrit :
> > I've got a laptop running testing with a Realtek 8852be card in it.
> >
> > This driver seems to be present in upstream kernel from 6.1:
> > https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/v6.1/source/drivers/net/wireless/real
> > tek/rtw89/rtw8852be.c>
> > but doesn't seem to be in any Debian kernel package at present.

While a skeleton version of that file is present, it does not seem to be a
complete driver (in 6.2 it's already 'fuller'), but more importantly, in the
Kconfig file there is no RTW89_8852BE, so it can't be enabled in Debian's 6.1
kernel.

> > I have got it working using a DKMS built from these instructions:
> > https://github.com/lwfinger/rtw89
> >
> > (and packaged firmware-realtek)
> >
> > Will this driver make its way into a bookworm kernel at some point,

No, but the DKMS built saw a recent improvement :-)

> > or do I need to submit a wishlist bug for this, or is there some
> > other procedure?

To get it enabled for *Trixie*, filing a wishlist bug seems appropriate.

> Surely it would be wise to enable RTW89_8852BE and RTW89_8852CE for
> bookworm. Salvatore, what's your take on this? I can commit some time to
> work on this.

The RTW89_8852CE module is available in the 6.1 Kconfig file, so it _could_ be
enabled, but whether that's useful without an explicit request is another Q.
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Vincent Blut

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Mar 26, 2023, 12:40:04 PM3/26/23
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Le 2023-03-26 18:24, Diederik de Haas a écrit :
> On Sunday, 26 March 2023 17:55:17 CEST Vincent Blut wrote:
> > Le 2023-03-26 15:12, Andy Smith a écrit :
> > > I've got a laptop running testing with a Realtek 8852be card in it.
> > >
> > > This driver seems to be present in upstream kernel from 6.1:
> > > https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/v6.1/source/drivers/net/wireless/real
> > > tek/rtw89/rtw8852be.c>
> > > but doesn't seem to be in any Debian kernel package at present.
>
> While a skeleton version of that file is present, it does not seem to be a
> complete driver (in 6.2 it's already 'fuller'), but more importantly, in the
> Kconfig file there is no RTW89_8852BE, so it can't be enabled in Debian's 6.1
> kernel.

Indeed, that's what I observed after having a closer look.

> > > I have got it working using a DKMS built from these instructions:
> > > https://github.com/lwfinger/rtw89
> > >
> > > (and packaged firmware-realtek)
> > >
> > > Will this driver make its way into a bookworm kernel at some point,
>
> No, but the DKMS built saw a recent improvement :-)
>
> > > or do I need to submit a wishlist bug for this, or is there some
> > > other procedure?
>
> To get it enabled for *Trixie*, filing a wishlist bug seems appropriate.

Yeah, I’ll send a MR when Linux 6.2+ hits master.

> > Surely it would be wise to enable RTW89_8852BE and RTW89_8852CE for
> > bookworm. Salvatore, what's your take on this? I can commit some time to
> > work on this.
>
> The RTW89_8852CE module is available in the 6.1 Kconfig file, so it _could_ be
> enabled, but whether that's useful without an explicit request is another Q.

I think it would be nice to have it enabled since it is available on quite a
few Lenovo Legion T series towers.

Cheers,
Vincent
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Andy Smith

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Mar 26, 2023, 1:00:03 PM3/26/23
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Hi Diederik,

On Sun, Mar 26, 2023 at 06:24:29PM +0200, Diederik de Haas wrote:
> > Le 2023-03-26 15:12, Andy Smith a écrit :
> > > This driver seems to be present in upstream kernel from 6.1:
> > > https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/v6.1/source/drivers/net/wireless/real
> > > tek/rtw89/rtw8852be.c>
> > > but doesn't seem to be in any Debian kernel package at present.
>
> While a skeleton version of that file is present, it does not seem to be a
> complete driver (in 6.2 it's already 'fuller'), but more importantly, in the
> Kconfig file there is no RTW89_8852BE, so it can't be enabled in Debian's 6.1
> kernel.

Ah, okay. I did see some comments somewhere that it would be present
in an upstream 6.2 release, so that makes sense.

> > > Will this driver make its way into a bookworm kernel at some point,
>
> No, but the DKMS built saw a recent improvement :-)

Okay, so perhaps I should wait for bookworm-backports to be a thing
and then that may include a 6.2 or later kernel package which has
this driver, since upstream should also.

I don't strongly want to run testing on this laptop and am only
doing so because release is so near, but at that time I'll keep an
eye on what the situation is for the trixie kernel.

> The RTW89_8852CE module is available in the 6.1 Kconfig file, so it _could_ be
> enabled, but whether that's useful without an explicit request is another Q.

I personally won't do this for rtw89_8852ce as I don't have the
hardware to test it.

Thanks!
Andy

Salvatore Bonaccorso

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Mar 26, 2023, 3:00:02 PM3/26/23
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Hi Vincent,
There was already some discussion following on the specific one, but
to answer the question in more general way: We are now in hard freeze.
New features would not be eligible anymore, but adding HW support
still can be considered now. But it depends (e.g. #1033504 would not
be really fine if there are no upstream patches at least in mainline
already, stuff which just needs to be enabled might be fine, New
upstream stable imports will be done similarly anyway for point
releases and are fine as well. I guess the general idea though is
clear, all other needs to go to trixie.).

Regards,
Salvatore

Diederik de Haas

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Mar 26, 2023, 5:50:03 PM3/26/23
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On Sunday, 26 March 2023 18:54:21 CEST Andy Smith wrote:
> Ah, okay. I did see some comments somewhere that it would be present
> in an upstream 6.2 release, so that makes sense.
>
> Okay, so perhaps I should wait for bookworm-backports to be a thing
> and then that may include a 6.2 or later kernel package which has
> this driver, since upstream should also.

Yep, you only need a 6.2 or later kernel version (and the module to be enabled
(by Vincent)). That should land in bookworm-backports at some point (too) :-)
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