Have a Realtek RTL8187SE wireless? Ubuntu will work!

[Ben Stones]

[update=10/05/2009]
Just installed Ubuntu 9.04 and it seems it is natively supported with Realtek RTL8187SE...no need to install the below packages. Just worked for me out of the box.

If you're looking for a USB wireless adapter that works out of the box in Ubuntu 9.04, the BELKIN F5D7050 wireless adapter works for me and with many other Linux distros...
Just want to add those using ADVENT 5611, if you have problems with your keyboard (misses key strokes) in Ubuntu since I've disabled my touchpad (FN + F9) I've not had one keyboard problem
[/update]

Luckily my laptop had a Realtek RTL8187SE wireless adapter (which you can find if you have by going to Device Manager in Windows) and after searching and searching I came across this thread where some person luckily has or made some ready-to-use out of the box packages that enable the wireless adapter to work in Ubuntu.

It should work in 8.04 but definitely works in Ubuntu 8.10 but the only downside is you'll have to reinstall newer packages (which you can find in that thread) and on the guys website as you install newer Ubuntu kernels. Choose the package that corresponds to the current kernel version you have. To check what kernel version you have open a Terminal (Applications >> Accessories >> Terminal) and type: uname -r and it'll come with something similar to what I got:

2.6.27-7-generic

...if yours is the same as that you'd download the one titled "http://boskastrona.ovh.org/download/linux-rtl8187se-modules-1023@2.6.27.7.11.deb (Intrepid, official release)" (which is in the topic).

To install the package you downloaded from the topic or website you simply double-click the .deb file from within Ubuntu and follow from the dialog box that comes up...I have two partitions, one for Ubuntu and one for Windows Vista and I simply saved the .deb file in Documents and booted into Ubuntu. Then I go to Places from the Ubuntu menu and select Vista. From here I went to Users >> Ben >> Documents and double-clicked the file and followed the installation prompts.

You can alternatively drag the file to your desktop in Ubuntu and open Terminal and type cd Desktop and then type (or paste) the following command:

sudo dpkg -i linux-rtl8187se-*.deb

If all goes well its time to setup the wireless network . System >> Preferences >> Network Configuration. Click the Wireless tab and click Add. Type your SSID (wireless name) and from Wireless Security yours should be WEP/WPA. Press 'OK'. Then from the icons on the menu bar (the one that looks like 2 black monitors) click it and select your wireless name. It may ask you to re-enter your WEP/WPA password. And... it should connect!

If it doesn't check out the official thread on msiwind.net and post your problem there. I'm only posting about what I've found and worked for me so all credit goes to bece of that forum I think...

FINALLY on Ubuntu!!

[Rock]

Hi Ben, I had a similar problem with a local desktop machine running Ubuntu 8.04, no matter what I tried it was too stubborn to start the network adaptor.. I finally got it sorted out by running "depmod -a modprobe rtl8139" or simply "modprobe rtl8139" as root.. BTW, thank you very much for sharing such wonderful information

[Ben Stones]

Just installed Ubuntu 9.04 and it seems it is natively supported with Realtek RTL8187SE...no need to install the above packages. Just worked for me out of the box.