alfa AWUS036AC USB WIFI adapter

Question

I am running Xubuntu 14.10 amd64. I have the latest USB adapter from alfa, model AWUS036AC. I downloaded linux drivers for it, they are not packaged to easily install. I do not know how to install the drivers. I unarchived the .tgz file, and it has some folders and files, one file is named makefile. I think my problem is just a lack of knowledge about linux, not that the driver doesn't work. At this point I don't even know what dir the drivers go in. The lsusb command shows the device "Bus 002 Device 012: ID 0bda:8812 Realtek Semiconductor Corp.", it's just not showing up as a usable network adapter, most likely because it's pretty new. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

With a working temporary internet connection:

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic build-essential git
git clone https://github.com/abperiasamy/rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux.git
cd rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux
make
sudo make install
sudo modprobe rtl8812au

It 'makes' with a couple of possibly harmless warnings but no errors on my system.

After Update Manager installs a later kernel version, also known as linux-image, and after the required reboot, recompile:

cd ~/rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux
make clean
make
sudo make install
sudo modprobe rtl8812au

Please retain the file and these instructions for that time.