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.
Support CNX Software! Donate via cryptocurrencies, become a Patron on Patreon, or purchase goods on Amazon or Aliexpress. We also use affiliate links in articles to earn commissions if you make a purchase after clicking on those links.
I’m assuming the photo is from your laptop. In this case, since you’ve already opened it, why haven’t you changed that card for a supported one ? That’s at least something made relatively easy by their use of mini-pcie / M2.
That’s another option, but I don’t have a spare one, and USB to Ethernet works fairly well for me as long as I’m at home.
I had salvaged a few some from different dead laptops in the past. In the mini-pcie era many were still not perfectly supported or required out-of-tree drivers. But I’ve had success with some intel ones (not awesome but sufficient). I believe the landscape has improved a bit since M.2.
Admittedly this doesn’t apply to Asus, but many Dell, HP and Lenovo notebooks don’t work with any random card, as they have white/black-lists, so you have to buy a card specifically for one of their notebooks. It’s easy in some parts of Asia, much less so in other parts of the world.
how would they enforce this ? Do they disable the PCIe lanes in the BIOS when they detect a disallowed card ?
If the product isn’t recognised, its locked out on the UEFI/BIOS level.
BTW this reminds me how some vendors used to block DRAM upgrades in the past. I remember about a Compaq in the 386 era where DRAM sticks were 9 bits (8+parity). I had an instant smoke when powering such a machine up with a new RAM stick. I discovered using a multi-meter that they had flipped some of the VCC/GND pins on the connector! Fortunately the mainboard was OK, and after selectively cutting some of the remaining pads, I still managed to make the stick work 😉
Nearly all drivers work with Fedora Kinoite.