COMFAST CF-953AX mt7921au not working on ODROID N2+

[Rubiniuz]

Hey everyone,

I have always used raspberry pi's in the past and have never had the need to dive into kernel stuff so I am still kind off new to all the terms and common issues.

I bought the COMFAST CF-953AX from the link of plug and play adapters. I tested it in windows 11 and everything worked fine.

As stated above I have a ODROID N2+. my only reason to buy this was that raspberry pi's where not available and these ODROID have more performance per buck in most scenario's. It just seems I don't have access to all kernels ubuntu normally uses.

Like some others have said I have the other device id because lsusb gives me: "Bus 001 Device 006: ID 3574:6211 MediaTek Inc. Wireless_Device". Also the device is not enabling its led.

ip a and lfconfig -a both give me the same results. a working eth0 and a not working lo.
ip a : lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000 link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00 inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever inet6 ::1/128 scope host valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
ifconfig -a lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING> mtu 65536 inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 255.0.0.0 inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128 scopeid 0x10<host> loop txqueuelen 1000 (Local Loopback) RX packets 5560 bytes 2060775 (2.0 MB) RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0 TX packets 5560 bytes 2060775 (2.0 MB) TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0
I do see that there is some sort of traffic or testing happening.

I flashed a micro sd-card with Ubuntu 22.04 with a 5.15 Linux Hardkernel from ODROID. The modprobe failed and I read in these discussions that I needed the 5.18 or 5.19 kernel. These kernels weren't available so I updated to the 6.2.0-odroid-arm64 kernel.

now doing the modprobe again I get the same message
modprobe mt7921u echo 0846 9060 > /sys/bus/usb/drivers/mt7921u/new_id Password: su: Authentication failure modprobe: FATAL: Module mt7921u not found in directory /lib/modules/6.2.0-odroid-arm64 -bash: /sys/bus/usb/drivers/mt7921u/new_id: No such file or directory

I want to update the firmware of the device to see if that maybe fixes it but I am quite certain that's not the case right?
Anyone that has any tips or knows a fix?

edit: I followed the firmware update guide. that being copying files? I don't know the magic behind that one but nothing seems changed

[bjlockie]

Do these commands:

sudo -s echo 0846 9060 > /sys/bus/usb/drivers/mt7921u/new_id modprobe mt7921u

[Rubiniuz]

Thanks for the quick reply. I get this message
-bash: /sys/bus/usb/drivers/mt7921u/new_id: No such file or directory.
Edit: the /sys/bus/usb/drivers/ folder contains:
"cdc_ether cdc_subset hub usb usb-storage usbfs usbhid"

[morrownr]

Hi @Rubiniuz

You might want to take a look at the following which is already using kernel 6.1:

https://www.armbian.com/odroid-n2/

To answer some of your questions:

I want to update the firmware of the device to see if that maybe fixes it but I am quite certain that's not the case right?

If you are talking about the firmware for the Linux driver for the CF-953AX, the distro you are trying may not have the mt7921au firmware installed at all if it is still on kernel 5.15. In the Plug and Play document, I explain that in-kernel drivers consist of 2 or more parts. In the case of the mt7921au driver, it consist of 3 parts, all of which have to be in place or the driver does not function.

For the driver to work you must have a kernel that contains mt7921u.ko, which is the part of the driver that is in the kernel. For mt7921u.ko to be present, you need kernel 5.19 or later and the kernel has to be compiled with compilation for mt7921u.ko turned on. Then there are the two in-distro firmware files that have to be in place. These are actually easy for users to install if the distro managers have not added it. Section 2 at the following links shows you how to install or upgradethe 2 wifi firmware files that go with the mt7921u.ko driver:

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

With all of that in place, there is still one more thing that can shut things down. If the maker of the adapter uses a VID/PID that is not in the driver yet, you have to use a workaround until such time as you are using a kernel that does have the VID/PID. For you adapter, in the Plug and Play document, I have added instructions. The VID/PID for your specific adapter was submitted in a PATCH that was included in kernel 6.3.

The bottom line is that your adapter needs that VID/PID work around until such time as your are using a distro with kernel 6.3 or later. I do not know why Comfast is using more than one VID/PID on adapters that are labeled with the same model number. Even if you install the Armbian shown above, you will still need to use the VID/PID work around.

Hope this helps.

@morrownr

[Rubiniuz]

Thanks for the info. I already did the updating firmware guide and have the files in the correct location. I also did the VID/PID workaround that is in the docs. Seeing I am running a 6.2 kernel I guess the mt7921u.ko compilation is turned off. I did see some headers when looking at apt-cache if those don't contain the files I will try Armbian. Thanks for all the information this clarifies it a lot. it looks like armbian is very similar to debian/ubuntu so I am sure my purpose will work aswell. But if that also does not work. Could I manually compile the kernel and change those flags? Or are they just not supported at all? Thanks for everything thus far.

[morrownr]

Seeing I am running a 6.2 kernel I guess the mt7921u.ko compilation is turned off.

Look to see if the following file is there:

/usr/lib/modules/<your kernel version>/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/mt7921/mt7921u.ko

If it is there, then the driver is there.

I already did the updating firmware guide and have the files in the correct location.

When you used the updating firmware guide, did you use section 2 which is for the mt7921 chipset. The first section is for the mt7922 chipset. Those chipsets use different firmware files.

it looks like armbian is very similar to debian/ubuntu so I am sure my purpose will work as well.

Armbian and Ubuntu are both based on Debian so core ways of doing things are mostly the same. I can throw Armbian on a RasPi to test if you want.

Could I manually compile the kernel and change those flags?

It can be done and I have a pretty good checklist that I use that I can provide but the above should get things where you want them.

The good news is that going forward, you should see the situation where Plug and Play is reality. The problems right now are old distros that do not use kernel 5.19 or later and the company specific VID/PID that has been corrected in kernel 6.3 Netgear also used a company specific VID/PID with their A8000 adapter and, like your adapter, a user here submitted a new VID/PID to mainline and support is in kernel 6.4. The cool thing is that Alfa uses Mediatek standard VID/PID's so as long as the distro is using a kernel of 5.19 or later, you are good to go.

@morrownr

[Rubiniuz]

When you used the updating firmware guide, did you use section 2 which is for the mt7921 chipset. The first section is for the mt7922 chipset. Those chipsets use different firmware files. yup I did I double checked it. I cant currently check the files but all your steps are ones I did follow. So ill check for that file and if its not there ill just go for armbian. If it doesnt work like i need it to ill just try compiling the kernel myself. You have been a great help!

[morrownr]

Give us a report when you are going as it will be help to others.

You are seeing why I added a LOT of extra information in the mt7921au section of the Plug and Play list. I'd like to think Play and Play is Plug and Play but as new drivers are added to Linux, it can take some time for the drivers to flow out into distros. The there is the issue of just how big and complex the WiFi 6e drivers have become. The Mediatek devs are busy continuing to add features to the mt7921 and mt7922 drivers as well as bringing the WiFi 7 drivers onboard. I think by the time we will soon enter a golden age of wifi in Linux.

[Rubiniuz]

First update:
going to: '/usr/lib/modules/6.2.0-odroid-arm64/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek'
shows the following folders: 'mt76 & mt7601u' even though its kernel 6.2.
Headers and other kernels downloaded via the ubuntu-mainline-kernel script also don't have the required drivers.

I will now try out armbian as you suggested

[morrownr]

/usr/lib/modules/6.2.0-odroid-arm64/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek

That is the master directory for Mediatek wifi drivers. To actually see if mt7921u is in place, you have to go down into the following directory:

/usr/lib/modules/6.2.0-odroid-arm64/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/mt7921

Many of the small board makers don't do a good job of making and maintaining a company default distro. Armbian is not bad at all.

[Rubiniuz]

aah bummer I just flashed armbian so I cant check it anymore. its still not auto detected might be because of it being kernel 6.1. I am now looking at updating the armbian kernel. 6.1 is the latest. ill now do the firmware and setup steps from before and I will update with the results

[Rubiniuz]

Armbian Update.

I have added the rules file and am now getting new errors. might be because I didn't update the firmware yet but ill still post it.

I get the following messages repeatedly:
"
Message 00000010 (seq 4-11) timeout
Failed to get patch semaphore
hardware init failed
"
So ill update the firmware and see if that's the issue. I cant find logical things online thus far

[Rubiniuz]

Updating firmware now gives me more details when using net-tools related commands.
sudo iwconfig now gives 3 results
eth0, lo, wlxe.... the last one should be the wifi chip in working condition
ill now start testing

[Rubiniuz]

I succesfully connected to my wifi. it does say its at 270mbit/s.
We have 6g Wifi 6 Netgear Orbi's in our house and my phone also shows higher numbers.
Will this automatically change or do I have to force it to use higher speeds?
For the rest thanks for the help everyone!

[morrownr]

using net-tools related commands.

net-tools is depreciated and no longer maintained. Recommend you move over to using iw and ip as they are the modern supported utilities.

Try iw dev

eth0, lo, wlxe.... the last one should be the wifi chip in working condition

Yes, the last one is your adapter.

Will this automatically change or do I have to force it to use higher speeds?

That depends on the Netgear Orbi, what its capabilities are and its current settings. At some point, you could start another issue on this topic once you have the question narrowed down.

might be because I didn't update the firmware yet but ill still post it.

You may want to keep an eye out for firmware updates, especially if you see something that you think is a bug. The firmware updates will die down at some point.

When you find something like dated firmware, report it to the distro maintainers.

Hope you have learned something about in-kernel drivers. Sorry it was a challenge but it takes a little while to get everything with a new in-kernel driver fully lined out. In my case with my Alfa AXML that uses the standard Mediatek VID/PID, I can just plug it into Ubuntu x86_64 or Debian 12 and it just works. You adapter and distros will be that way in the next few months.

By the way, I charge extra when you throw out a bunch of questions all at once.... just kidding!

Good luck and enjoy.

[Rubiniuz]

Thanks for all your help. I have everything installed and semi working now.

I only have a issue which is related to Armbian and a external HDMI screen.

Ill look through the internet to get that fixed. I used one of your earlier replies as the answer to this discussion.

yet again.

Thanks for all!