MediaTek MT7902 wireless modules are used in many Windows laptops, but so far, a Linux driver has been missing. This is about to change, as Mediatek has finally committed a patchset for MT7902 to the mainline Linux mailing list.
This is personal. I bought an ASUS Vivobook 16 in August 2023, and Ubuntu 22.04 worked pretty well out of the box, except for support for the Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth module, detected as “Network controller: MEDIATEK Corp. Device 7902” with lscpi but without working drivers. Since then, I’ve been using the laptop connected to the USB dock with Ethernet support when at home, or using USB tethering with my phone when on the road. I initially thought it might just be a matter of time before the driver is ported to Linux, but it took well over two years.
I was far from being alone in my ordeal, and you will find plenty of people asking for the MT7902 Linux driver in forums, and a petition on Change.org was even launched. but only signed by a little over 500 people. So people even attempted to rework a driver, but only managed to get Bluetooth working.
The patchset was submitted by engineers from MediaTek. I had just hoped Linux support would not have taken around three years after the launch of MT7902 modules. The patchset includes eleven patches with the firmware, support for SDIO and PCIe host interfaces, and more.
If everything goes according to plan, the MT7902 driver will make it to Linux 7.1, and backports should hopefully be added to hardware enablement packs (HWE) in Ubuntu and other Linux distributions. I’ll now have to think whether to build my own kernel, or just wait for the backports… I guess it will depend on my workload for reviews.
Via Phoronix
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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