[Help]: Alfa AWUS036ACH does not initialize a WiFi interface

[149segolte]

Checklist

• I acknowledge that support is provided on a best-effort basis.
• I acknowledge that the authors and contributors to this repository cannot be held responsible for the results of my use of any information contained in or linked from this repository.

uname

Linux novasking 6.17.7-300.fc43.x86_64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Sun Nov 2 15:30:09 UTC 2025 x86_64 GNU/Linux

lsusb

Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 1532:008a Razer USA, Ltd RZ01-0325, Gaming Mouse [Viper Mini]
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 048d:c936 Integrated Technology Express, Inc. ITE Device(8910)
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 048d:c935 Integrated Technology Express, Inc. Corsair Gaming K95 RGB PLATINUM Keyboard
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 5986:2113 Bison Electronics Inc. SunplusIT Integrated Camera
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 8087:0aaa Intel Corp. Bluetooth 9460/9560 Jefferson Peak (JfP)
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub

rfkill

0: ideapad_wlan: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
1: ideapad_bluetooth: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
2: hci0: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
3: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no

dkms

sudo: dkms: command not found

iw

phy#0
        Unnamed/non-netdev interface
                wdev 0x2
                addr 5c:87:9c:27:26:5d
                type P2P-device
        Interface wlp0s20f3
                ifindex 2
                wdev 0x1
                addr 96:d4:0d:e1:40:6c
                ssid SETUP-7046
                type managed
                channel 44 (5220 MHz), width: 80 MHz, center1: 5210 MHz
                txpower 22.00 dBm
                multicast TXQ:
                        qsz-byt qsz-pkt flows   drops   marks   overlmt hashcol tx-bytes        tx-packets
                        0       0       0       0       0       0       0       0               0

What happened?

I have been trying to get this Alfa Network AWUS036ACH working as a router for a while now. But I have not been able to get this device to initialize at all.

Currently my system is running Fedora Kinoite 43 and has a intel WiFi chip builtin providing the phy#0 interface. As I plug the USB adapter in the system, it immediately disconnects, the dmesg logs state:

[166576.478174] usb 1-2: new high-speed USB device number 8 using xhci_hcd
[166576.601724] usb 1-2: New USB device found, idVendor=0bda, idProduct=8812, bcdDevice= 0.00
[166576.601742] usb 1-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[166576.601750] usb 1-2: Product: 802.11n NIC
[166576.601756] usb 1-2: Manufacturer: Realtek
[166576.601762] usb 1-2: SerialNumber: 123456
[166576.820449] rtw88_8812au 1-2:1.0: Firmware version 52.14.0, H2C version 0
[166576.942879] usbcore: registered new interface driver rtw88_8812au
[166576.943014] usb 1-2: USB disconnect, device number 8

As I wanted to use the adapter with OpenWrt anyway, I blacklisted the rtw88 drivers on the host and passed through the USB device to a qemu/libvirt VM running OpenWrt 24.10. Since, that does not have the rtw88 drivers just yet the device stayed connected, but as soon as I installed kmod-rtw88 and rest of the packages the device disconnected in a similar fashion. Also I tried the kmod-rtl8812au-ct drivers but that package hung the entire OS everytime. I am also looking into the aircrack-ng/rtl8812au as it has the same device at top of their readme running but haven't found any kmod package for OpenWrt yet.

Debugging this I saw that in this repo, the file home/USB_WiFi_Adapters_that_are_supported_with_Linux_in-kernel_drivers.md mentions a review for this exact device stating that its plug and play on Ubuntu 25.04, so I grabbed the latest Ubuntu ISO (25.10) and booted in live ISO mode. There as well the device immediately disconnects.

Also the image of the device in the above mentioned file matches my device except the port, which is USB C in the image but is a fatter SuperSpeed USB port on mine. The label does read AC1200 Adapter and the USB device does have the ID 0bda:8812 so I am don't understand the difference.

I am not sure how to debug this issue, any guidance would be very helpful. (I have tried most general things stated in the repo, like trying different ports, setting swtich_usb_mode=0, etc)

[morrownr]

Hi @149segolte

I have been trying to get this Alfa Network AWUS036ACH working as a router for a while now.

I suppose you mean as an AP.

Currently my system is running Fedora Kinoite 43

What kernel is in use?

[166576.820449] rtw88_8812au 1-2:1.0: Firmware version 52.14.0, H2C version 0

I see you installed this driver from the rtw88 repo. Did you also install the file to blacklist the in-kernel driver if you are using kernel 6.13 or later?

As I wanted to use the adapter with OpenWrt anyway...

Um, not what I would use with OpenWRT. I only use Mediatek based adapters with openWRT. There are Mediatek kernel devs that work on OpenWRT. The Mediatek drivers for OpenWRT are solid.

so I grabbed the latest Ubuntu ISO (25.10) and booted in live ISO mode. There as well the device immediately disconnects.

I have tested my ACH with Ubuntu 25.10 and it worked fine but it was installed.

the file home/USB_WiFi_Adapters_that_are_supported_with_Linux_in-kernel_drivers.md mentions a review for this exact device stating that its plug and play on Ubuntu 25.04

I am the author of that document.

Also the image of the device in the above mentioned file matches my device except the port, which is USB C in the image but is a fatter SuperSpeed USB port on mine.

You have the version with the USB3 connector. No difference in operation.

I am not sure how to debug this issue...

I can help. Answer my questions above and we'll see.

[149segolte]

Cool, thanks for the help. Here's what I am working with:

What kernel is in use?

Its 6.17.7 as installed by default on Fedora 43. Kinoite is just an immutable OS variant of Fedora.

I see you installed this driver from the rtw88 repo. Did you also install the file to blacklist the in-kernel driver if you are using kernel 6.13 or later?

Actually I have not done any changes on my host machine for this at all, so it is using the in-kernel drivers there. But when trying to use it inside the OpenWrt VM I did get the kmod-rtw88 packages that are backported for it.

In both cases the error is the same.

Um, not what I would use with OpenWRT.

Yeah, I understand. I am just seeing if I can get what I have working, if it becomes too much of an effort I might get the EDUP EP-AX1672 recommendation.

I have tested my ACH with Ubuntu 25.10 and it worked fine but it was installed.

Of course, I don't have available disk space to dual boot it, that's why I just tried the Live ISO. Just installed it in a VM and the adapter still disconnected.

[morrownr]

Its 6.17.7 as installed by default on Fedora 43. Kinoite is just an immutable OS variant of Fedora.

Help me out, what is a immutable OS?

Actually I have not done any changes on my host machine for this at all, so it is using the in-kernel drivers there.

[166576.820449] rtw88_8812au 1-2:1.0: Firmware version 52.14.0, H2C version 0

That line tells me you are you are not using the in-kernel driver because the name of the in-kernel driver is rtw_8812au. The maintainers of your distro might messing things up because the above line is from the code in the rtw88 repo where we develop the in-kernel driver.

But when trying to use it inside the OpenWrt VM I did get the kmod-rtw88 packages that are backported for it.

I don't have time to go down that rabbit hole.

In both cases the error is the same.

Have you tested the basic functionality on something else like Win11?

I am just seeing if I can get what I have working...

I get that. I have one. Very nice adapter. Can't say that I see anything that is any help so far.

if it becomes too much of an effort I might get the EDUP EP-AX1672 recommendation.

Good adapter. I added a new Brostrend AX9L about a week ago. It is good also.

Sometimes USB ports can cause problems:

https://github.com/morrownr/USB-WiFi/blob/main/home/USB_Ports.md

[149segolte]

Help me out, what is a immutable OS?

Simply its a snapshot based OS. Most of the root partition is read only, there's no package manager, you install packages as flatpak or containers, and system updates as just downloading a new commit in the branch ad switching to it on new boot.

Red Hat maintains official immutable/atomic OS variants for Fedora at Fedora Atomic Desktops

That line tells me you are you are not using the in-kernel driver because the name of the in-kernel driver is rtw_8812au.

Good to know. But I don't think an official Fedora distro would have that kind a problem. Also, here's a screenshot of newly installed Ubuntu 25.10 VM and it is also showing a similar line.

 

Have you tested the basic functionality on something else like Win11?

Just spun up a Windows 11 24H2 VM and it detects and joins WiFi networks just fine.

 

Sometimes USB ports can cause problems

Yup, I don't have any USB 2.0 stuff but I tried all the ports on my laptop (marked as SS, 10, and 3.2 gen 1), also the adapter have an USB Micro B SuperSpeed on it, like this,

[dubhater]

It's probably disconnecting because it's trying to switch to USB 3 mode. But it's supposed to come back.

Can you tell if the Windows driver is switching it into USB 3 mode? It should happen when it connects to a 5 GHz network. If the Windows driver can do it maybe we can fix rtw88.

[dubhater]

The list of devices in the Device Manager may refresh when it switches, and the hub and port numbers should change.

[149segolte]

@dubhater Yes, it does seem to be an USB3 issue. I bought an USB 2.0 Hub and connected through it and the adapter started working.

Can you tell if the Windows driver is switching it into USB 3 mode?

I am not sure. The adapter gets passed to the VM when it starts and I do see two resetting (not disconnect) messages in the host dmesg log. When connecting to a 5 GHz network it just works without the hub or port number changing in the device manager (even after manually refreshing devices). I guess the switch to USB 3 mode happens when I see the reset msgs on the host instead of at the connection stage.

I will keep using this through USB 2 Hub for now. As for my openwrt router plan, I will just order an EP-AX1672.