Ubuntu – How to install ndiswrapper support for an unsupported RTL8723DE wireless module?

ndiswrapperwireless

I have not much experience with ndiswrapper but some vague memory of using it with some broadcom module long back. Now, here is the problem. Realtek RTL8723DE wireless module is used in my new HP 15-BS576TX laptop. I haven't installed Linux yet. But, would like to check if Ndiswrapper can help use the Windows driver to work in Linux. Here is the Windows 10/8/7 driver for this RTL8723DE wlan module: ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp80501-81000/sp80963.html

I extracted the exe and can see a folder /RTWLANE_Driver/Wind7X86/ which has rtwlane.sys and few other files which I presume is related to the wireless driver. Is there any chances of luck with ndiswrapper considering the driver executable actually contains win8/win7 drivers.

Thank you.

Best Answer

To install the module for the RTL8723DE chipset, first determine your kernel using uname -r if your kernel is lower than 4.11, do 

sudo apt-get install build-essential dkms git
git clone -b 4.10-down https://github.com/jeremyb31/rtl8723de.git
sudo dkms add ./rtl8723de
sudo dkms install rtl8723de/5.1.1.8_21285.20171026_COEX20170111-1414
Then reboot

If you have kernel 4.11 and newer do 

sudo apt-get install build-essential dkms git
git clone https://github.com/jeremyb31/rtl8723de.git
sudo dkms add ./rtl8723de
sudo dkms install rtl8723de/5.1.1.8_21285.20171026_COEX20170111-1414
Then reboot

If you wish to stop power management for the device and change the logging level to minimum 

echo "options 8723de rtw_power_mgnt=0 rtw_drv_log_level=0" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/8723de.conf

If you have UEFI, Secure Boot will need to be disabled for the module to load.

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