Hi and welcome.
Having looked at the specs, it appears Realtek wifi uses USB 4.0 [Source: MSI MAG X870E Tomahawk WiFi Review: Exceptional Performance and Value for Gamers (Page 2)]. What do you get when entering the following command in a terminal?
lsusb
I also used Brave A.I. to find out unsupported WiFi-7 info in the Linux kernel, which came back with this:
" Chipsets Lacking Mainline Support
Realtek USB Chipsets (RTL8922AU, RTL8912AU) The most prominent gap remains in Realtek's USB-based Wi-Fi 7 adapters . While the PCIe variants (like the RTL8852BE) have seen driver merges into recent kernels (6.17+), the RTL8922AU and RTL8912AU USB chipsets found in many consumer dongles (e.g., ASUS ROG USB-BE92) do not yet have stable, mainline USB drivers . Users must currently rely on out-of-tree drivers maintained by the community (such as the rtw89 repository by morrownr ) which require manual installation via DKMS.
Intel BE200/BE202 (AMD Platform Compatibility) While the Intel BE200 and BE202 are supported in the mainline kernel (via the iwlwifi driver since kernel 6.5/6.7), they suffer from a critical hardware-level incompatibility with many AMD Ryzen platforms (specifically those lacking certain PCIe signaling features). On these unsupported AMD systems, the cards often fail to initialize or function entirely, effectively leaving them without working support on a significant segment of desktop hardware despite the driver being present in the kernel.
Broadcom Wi-Fi 7 Chipsets Broadcom continues to have poor mainline support for its newer Wi-Fi 7 silicon. Unlike Intel and MediaTek, Broadcom does not provide open-source firmware or drivers for its latest Wi-Fi 7 chips (often found in high-end laptops and routers). Users are typically forced to use the proprietary broadcom-sta (wl) driver, which frequently breaks with newer kernel versions (e.g., kernel 6.17+ compilation issues) and lacks support for modern Wi-Fi 7 features like Multi-Link Operation (MLO) in the Linux stack.
MediaTek MT7996 (Filogic 880) While the MT7925 and MT7927 have gained traction, the higher-end MediaTek MT7996 (often used in 4x4 configurations and routers) still lacks widely available, stable mainline driver support for client devices. Driver availability for this chipset remains sparse compared to its lower-end siblings, often requiring specific vendor kernels or remaining unsupported on standard distributions."
If this is the issue, then unfortunately you may have to resort to ethernet connection to the router (if some distance away, using powerline adapters), or purchase a USB-dongle until the Linux kernel includes a driver for your motherboard's WiFi.
You could try this but advise you use Timeshift to take a snapshot of your system and backup your /home folder if you don't have it on a separate partition:
"To install morrownr DKMS drivers for Realtek WiFi adapters, follow these steps. This process ensures the driver rebuilds automatically upon kernel updates.
1. Prerequisites
Ensure your system has the necessary build tools and kernel headers matching your running kernel.
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y build-essential git dkms linux-headers-$(uname -r)
morrownr Realtek driver GitHub repositories list
View all
2. Clone the Correct Repository
Identify your chipset (e.g., via lsusb ) and clone the corresponding morrownr repository. Common repositories include:
- WiFi 7 (RTL8922AU/RTL8912AU):
git clone https://github.com/morrownr/rtw89
Note: For WiFi 7 and newer WiFi 6 chips, the rtw89 repository often consolidates support.
3. Run the Installation Script
Navigate to the cloned directory and execute the automated installation script. This script handles compilation, DKMS registration, and module signing for Secure Boot.
cd <repository-name>
sudo ./install-driver.sh
The script will:
-
Check for conflicting drivers and remove them.
-
Compile the module against your current kernel.
-
Install the module into the DKMS tree (e.g., /usr/src/rtl88x2bu-<version> ).
-
Sign the module if Secure Boot is enabled (you may need to enroll the MOK key upon reboot).
morrownr Realtek driver installation issues site:reddit.com
View all
4. Finalize and Verify
Reboot your system to load the new driver. After rebooting:
- Verify the module is loaded:
lsmod | grep <module_name>
# Examples: 88x2bu, 8812au, rtw89_8922au_git
- Check the interface:
ip link show
# Look for a new wireless interface (e.g., wlan0, wlx...)
Troubleshooting
-
Secure Boot: If the driver fails to load, ensure you enrolled the Machine Owner Key (MOK) during the reboot following installation.
-
Multi-state Devices: If the adapter is not recognized, it may be stuck in "Windows driver mode" (appearing as a CD drive). Install usb-modeswitch and reboot, or check dmesg for mode-switching errors.
-
Kernel Updates: If the driver stops working after a kernel update, run sudo ./install-driver.sh again in the driver directory to rebuild the module for the new kernel."
[Have omitted links to WiFi-5 and -6 and commands for other OS's based on Arch and RedHat]