rtl8852au Linux Driver (Community Fork)

CI Status: Automated builds are tested against Linux kernels 6.8, 6.13, 6.14, 6.15 and 6.16

This project is a community-maintained fork of the original Realtek USB WiFi driver RTL8852AU_WiFi_linux_v1.15.0.1-0-g487ee886.20210714, which was initially maintained by Larry Finger. After Larry's passing, this fork (maintained at pulponair/rtl8852au) continues to modernize and improve the driver for current Linux kernels.

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Key Improvements

• Dropped outdated kernel and platform support (Linux 5.15+ required, tested up to 6.16).
• Fixed various array out-of-bounds issues and improved overall code safety.
• Improved USB initialization and streamlined module structure.
• Extended station information and debug logging.
• Removed legacy Realtek code for a cleaner, more maintainable driver.

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Supported Chipsets

• rtl8832au
• rtl8852au

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Known Supported Devices

• BUFFALO WI-U3-1200AX2(/N) – 0411:0312
• ASUS USB-AX56 – 0b05:1997, 0b05:1a62
• EDUP EP-AX1696GS – 0bda:8832
• Fenvi FU-AX1800P – 0bda:885c
• Realtek Demo Boards – 0bda:8832, 0bda:885a, 0bda:885c
• D-Link DWA-X1850 – 2001:3321, 2001:0141
• TP-Link AX1800 – 2357:013f, 2357:0140
• TP-Link Archer TX20UH – 2357:0141
• TP-Link (vendor 0x35bc) – 35bc:0100
• ipTIME AX2000U – 0bda:8832
• ELECOM WDC-X1201DU3 – 056e:4020

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USB Modeswitch (D-Link DWA-X1850)

Some DWA-X1850 devices appear as a USB disk (0bda:1a2b) with Windows drivers. To avoid this, add the following rule to either /usr/lib/udev/rules.d/40-usb_modeswitch.rules or /lib/udev/rules.d/40-usb_modeswitch.rules:

# D-Link DWA-X1850 WiFi Dongle
ATTR{idVendor}=="0bda", ATTR{idProduct}=="1a2b", RUN+="usb_modeswitch '/%k'"

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Installation

Requirements

Install make, gcc, kernel headers, and git.

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y make gcc linux-headers-$(uname -r) build-essential git

Fedora:

sudo dnf install kernel-headers kernel-devel
sudo dnf group install "C Development Tools and Libraries"

openSUSE:

sudo zypper install make gcc kernel-devel kernel-default-devel git libopenssl-devel

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S --needed base-devel linux-headers git

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Manual Build & Install

git clone git://github.com/pulponair/rtl8852au.git
cd rtl8852au
make
sudo make install

After kernel updates:

cd rtl8852au
git pull
make
sudo make install

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DKMS Installation (Recommended)

DKMS automatically rebuilds this driver when your kernel updates.

git clone https://github.com/pulponair/rtl8852au.git
cd rtl8852au

# Add the module using its current version (auto-read from dkms.conf)
version=$(grep PACKAGE_VERSION dkms.conf | cut -d"=" -f2 | tr -d '"')
sudo dkms add .
sudo dkms build rtl8852au/${version}
sudo dkms install rtl8852au/${version}

To verify:

modinfo 8852au

Updating via DKMS:

cd rtl8852au
git pull
version=$(grep PACKAGE_VERSION dkms.conf | cut -d"=" -f2 | tr -d '"')
sudo dkms remove rtl8852au/${version} --all
sudo dkms add .
sudo dkms build rtl8852au/${version}
sudo dkms install rtl8852au/${version}

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Secure Boot (Optional)

If Secure Boot is enabled, sign the module:

make
sudo make