RTL8188CUS - What kind of card is this? 1

[goombawaho]

I have this wireless adapter in a customer's Lenovo Ideacentre A520 (All-in-one). It's giving me all kinds of issues and I would like to replace it. But I'm not sure what kind of a chip this is. Does anyone know if it's the same card as in a laptop or what this chip might be.

This is the link to the manual. Link but it doesn't say what type of card it is, just how to replace it so I don't know what to shop for.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[strongm]

http://www.castlenet.com.tw/products/mb-wlan.htm

 

[MikeHalloran]

It's a micro USB dongle. ... unbelievably small for a WiFi adapter.

I have one plugged into a Cardbus to USB adapter on an old Thinkpad R40e.
The Thinkpad has other problems, but that adapter is not one of them.
It works fine in WinXP and in CentOS5.

... with the right drivers, of course.
It's been a while since I installed it, but ISTR that there are many other cards in other form factors that use the RTL188 chip, but the RTL188CUS chip has its own special drivers, and the generic RTL188 drivers will not work correctly.

 

[goombawaho]

No, it's not. It's an internal card inside the all-in-one and not a dongle. The only reference on that page to RTL8188CUS is a "1T1R Single Band USB Dongle" but that's not it. I saw a tiny usb dongle on the back of the machine but that has to be for the wireless keyboard/mouse. One way to find out - pull that out.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[strongm]

Well, Lenovo themselves describe it as "CastleNet RTL8188CU USB 11N", but let's bypass the OEM, and find

http://www.realtek.com/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=48&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=274,

which in turn leads to

http://www.realtek.com/downloads/do...74&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false&Downloads=true,

where you'll find drivers for the RTL8188CUS downloadable about half way down the page.

 

[goombawaho]

I'm not talking drivers at this point, I want to replace the device and I want to know what type of card it is - like mini PCI-E or whatever. It seems to be different than anything I've seen. Here is one on Ebay for a picture:
Link


"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[rclarke250]

USB 2.0 but it looks to be a header connection, and not a USB port. I see this all the time with web cams and Bluetooth cards in laptops.

 

[goombawaho]

Let me ask this question. If you look on page 55 of this document, what kind of card is that called? It's not like one in a laptop and it's not a regular usb connection.
Link


"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[goombawaho]

I believe this is the type of card.
Link

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[strongm]

Ah, actually I think you are looking at the Wlan Card A720 (Lenovo part number 90000171) which is, to the best of my knowledge, a custom Lenovo part. Not sure you'll be able to source an alternative (often the problem with all-in-ones)

 

[goombawaho]

Looks like it. I believe I have seen these on HP desktops too. They ARE a USB interface but plug directly into the mobo header and snap into a plastic frame inside the desktop. I was hoping there was alternative vendor like an Intel part or whatever to totally get away from that manufacturer.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.