Install Edimax EW-7611ULB WiFi/Bluetooth USB Dongle on SP7021 Demo Board

Owned by Wells Lu
Last updated: Feb 26, 2024
4 min read

The goal of this document is to illustrate how to install and use Edimax EW-7611ULB WiFi/Bluetooth USB dongle to SP7021 demo boards.

The main chip of EW-7611ULB is Realtek RTL8723BU. Realtek RTL8723B supports both WiFi and Bluetooth controllers. We need to build Linux WiFi and Bluetooth drivers, and necessary protocols support modules. Please follow the following steps:

1. Enable wireless protocols

Run make kconfig in project top directory. After Linux Kernel Configuration menu pops up, use arrow keys to move cursor to go to “Networking support”, and then “Wireless”. Next, enable “cfg80211 – wireless configuration API”, “cfg80211 wireless extension compatibility” and “Generic IEEE 802.11 Networking Stack (mac80211)”. Refer to picture of “Wireless” configuration menu below:

2. Enable Realtek 8723B USB WiFi driver

Move cursor to go to “Device Drivers” and then “Network device support” and then “Wireless LAN”. Next, enable “Realtek devices” and “Realtek 8723B USB WiFi”. Refer to picture of “Wireless LAN” configuration menu below:

3. Enable Bluetooth protocols

Move cursor to go to “Networking support”, and then “Bluetooth subsystem support”. Next, enable “Bluetooth Classic (BR/EDR) features”, “RFCOMM protocol support”, “RFCOMM TTY support”, “BNEP protocol support“, “Multicast filter support“, “Protocol filter support”, and “HIDP protocol support”. Refer to picture of “Bluetooth subsystem support” configuration menu below:

4. Enable Bluetooth HCI USB driver and Realtek protocol

Move cursor to enter “Bluetooth device drivers”. Next, enable “HCI USB driver” and “Realtek protocol support”. Refer to picture of “Bluetooth device drivers” configuration menu below:

5. Build Linux image

Go to top folder and run make all to build Linux image.

6. Boot Linux

Boot Linux with the built image. During booting, you will see Bluetooth related log messages:

Bluetooth HCI, RFCOMM, BNEP, HIDP module are loaded.

7. Probe WiFi module

After Linux boots up successfully, run modprobe 8723bu to insert module 8723bu (RTL8723BU WiFi driver). Refer to picture below:

WiFi regulatory database is loaded (from /lib/firmware/) and module 8723bu is inserted successfully.

8. Plug in Edimax EW-7611ULB USB dongle

Plug in Edimax EW-7611ULB USB dongle in to one of USB (Type-A) socket of a SP7021 demo board. Refer to picture below:

Once the USB dongle is plugged in, you will see the following log message.

Two wireless LAN device wlan0 and wlan1 are initialized successfully. Device wlan0 is operating at STA (station) mode while device wlan1 is operating at AP (access point) mode.

One Bluetooth device hci0 is initialized successfully.

9. Check out report of wireless net-interface devices

Run ifconfig wlan0 and ifconfig wlan1 to check out status reports of two wireless LAN devices. Refer to picture below:

10. Check out report of Bluetooth device

Run hciconfig to check out report of Bluetooth device hci0. Refer to picture below:

11. Scan Bluetooth devices

Run hcitool scan to check out Bluetooth devices nearby. Refer to picture below:

“XMFHZ02” is a Xiaomi Bluetooth speaker.

“Keys-To-Go” is a Logitech Bluetooth keyboard.

“Bluetooth Mouse M336/M337/M535” is a Logitech Bluetooth mouse.