Linux does not see Wi-Fi on Realtek chipset. “firmware: failed to load rt2870.bin” error (SOLVED)

When connecting a Wi-Fi adapter with a Realtek chipset, nothing happens, or the device does not work properly.

Command

iw dev

outputs the following information:

phy#0
        Interface wlan0
                ifindex 3
                wdev 0x1
                addr 52:e7:b0:49:a2:84
                type managed
                txpower 0.00 dBm

The txpower value is zero, the system does not see the Wi-Fi device.

Run command

journalctl -f

and connect the Wi-Fi adapter to your computer

Jan 27 06:09:24 HackWare-Kali kernel: usb 1-1: reset high-speed USB device number 2 using ehci-pci
Jan 27 06:09:25 HackWare-Kali kernel: ieee80211 phy0: rt2x00_set_rt: Info - RT chipset 3572, rev 0223 detected
Jan 27 06:09:25 HackWare-Kali kernel: ieee80211 phy0: rt2x00_set_rf: Info - RF chipset 0009 detected
Jan 27 06:09:25 HackWare-Kali kernel: ieee80211 phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'minstrel_ht'
Jan 27 06:09:25 HackWare-Kali NetworkManager[612]:   [1643281765.9900] device (wlan0): driver supports Access Point (AP) mode
Jan 27 06:09:25 HackWare-Kali systemd[1]: Starting Load/Save RF Kill Switch Status...
Jan 27 06:09:25 HackWare-Kali NetworkManager[612]:   [1643281765.9949] manager: (wlan0): new 802.11 Wi-Fi device (/org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/3)
Jan 27 06:09:25 HackWare-Kali kernel: usbcore: registered new interface driver rt2800usb
Jan 27 06:09:26 HackWare-Kali systemd-udevd[1328]: Using default interface naming scheme 'v250'.
Jan 27 06:09:26 HackWare-Kali NetworkManager[612]:   [1643281766.0124] rfkill0: found Wi-Fi radio killswitch (at /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:0b.0/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0/ieee80211/phy0/rfkill0) (driver rt2800usb)
Jan 27 06:09:26 HackWare-Kali systemd[1]: Started Load/Save RF Kill Switch Status.
Jan 27 06:09:26 HackWare-Kali NetworkManager[612]:   [1643281766.0298] device (wlan0): state change: unmanaged -> unavailable (reason 'managed', sys-iface-state: 'external')
Jan 27 06:09:26 HackWare-Kali kernel: ieee80211 phy0: rt2x00lib_request_firmware: Info - Loading firmware file 'rt2870.bin'
Jan 27 06:09:26 HackWare-Kali kernel: rt2800usb 1-1:1.0: firmware: failed to load rt2870.bin (-2)
Jan 27 06:09:26 HackWare-Kali kernel: firmware_class: See https://wiki.debian.org/Firmware for information about missing firmware
Jan 27 06:09:26 HackWare-Kali kernel: rt2800usb 1-1:1.0: Direct firmware load for rt2870.bin failed with error -2
Jan 27 06:09:26 HackWare-Kali kernel: ieee80211 phy0: rt2x00lib_request_firmware: Info - Loading firmware file 'rt2870.bin'
Jan 27 06:09:26 HackWare-Kali kernel: rt2800usb 1-1:1.0: firmware: failed to load rt2870.bin (-2)
Jan 27 06:09:26 HackWare-Kali kernel: rt2800usb 1-1:1.0: Direct firmware load for rt2870.bin failed with error -2
Jan 27 06:09:26 HackWare-Kali NetworkManager[612]:   [1643281766.0307] device (wlan0): firmware may be missing.
Jan 27 06:09:26 HackWare-Kali NetworkManager[612]:   [1643281766.0310] device (wlan0): set-hw-addr: set MAC address to 52:E7:B0:49:A2:84 (scanning)
Jan 27 06:09:26 HackWare-Kali dbus-daemon[611]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.Avahi' unit='dbus-org.freedesktop.Avahi.service' requested by ':1.72' (uid=119 pid=1345 comm="/usr/libexec/colord-sane ")
Jan 27 06:09:26 HackWare-Kali dbus-daemon[611]: [system] Activation via systemd failed for unit 'dbus-org.freedesktop.Avahi.service': Unit dbus-org.freedesktop.Avahi.service not found.
Jan 27 06:09:28 HackWare-Kali ModemManager[639]:   [base-manager] couldn't check support for device '/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:0b.0/usb1/1-1': not supported by any plugin
Jan 27 06:09:31 HackWare-Kali systemd[1]: systemd-rfkill.service: Deactivated successfully.
Jan 27 06:09:33 HackWare-Kali systemd[1]: blueman-mechanism.service: Deactivated successfully.

In the output, the key line is “firmware: failed to load rt2870.bin”, that is, it was not possible to load the firmware rt2870.bin.

In Kali Linux, the rt2870.bin firmware is placed in the firmware-misc-nonfree package, install it:

sudo apt install firmware-misc-nonfree

On Ubuntu, Linux Mint and their derivatives, run the following command:

sudo apt install linux-firmware

On Debian, run:

sudo apt install firmware-misc-nonfree

On Arch Linux, Manjaro, BlackArch and their derivatives, run the command:

sudo pacman -S linux-firmware

After installing the firmware and restarting the computer, the problem will disappear and the Wi-Fi adapter will work.

Note that Debian and derivatives have a firmware-realtek package which also contains Realtek firmware. In addition to these two packages, various distributions contain Realtek drivers and firmware in separate packages – to determine exactly which package you need, search your distribution's package repository for the name of the Wi-Fi adapter, as well as the name of the driver and firmware file that may appear in the error message.

See also the section “Drivers and firmware”.