How to Install RTL8723DE Wifi Driver in Ubuntu 19.04

Last updated: April 22, 2024

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This tutorial is a rewritten of the previous ‘Fix ‘No WiFi Adapter Found’ for HP Laptops with Ubuntu 18.04‘, since wireless will stop working after installed or upgraded to a new Linux Kernel.

Following steps will install the newest Realtek rtlwifi codes including rtl8192ce, rtl8192cu, rtl8192se, rtl8192de, rtl8188ee, rtl8192ee, rtl8723ae, rtl8723be, rtl8821ae, rtl8822be and rtl8723de in Ubuntu with DKMS (Dynamic Kernel Module Support) support. So it will work in each kernel on your system.

UPDATE: Ubuntu now supports RTL8723DE out-of-the-box! For other RealTek wifi drivers, try this tutorial instead.

1. Connect your laptop to a wired network, and then open terminal from application menu.

2. Run command to install some required tools:

sudo apt install git build-essential dkms

Type user password (no asterisk feedback due to security reason) when it prompts and hit Enter.

3. Now grab the rtlwifi_new codes via command:

git clone -b extended https://github.com/lwfinger/rtlwifi_new.git

4. Add the source to the tree for builds with DKMS support.

sudo dkms add ./rtlwifi_new

5. Finally install the drivers via command:

sudo dkms install rtlwifi-new/0.6

6. If everything works OK, Wifi should work immediately (it works in my case in Ubuntu 19.04).

If not, try commands to load the new installed module (rtl8723de in the case):

sudo modprobe -r rtl8723de && sudo modprobe rtl8723de

7. And Wifi works after reboot without doing any configuration, at least in my case in Ubuntu 19.04.

If not, try command to write it into configuration file (replace 3 to 1, 2 or 4 if signal is weak).

echo "options rtl8723de ant_sel=3" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8723de.conf

In addition, if you happened to update your system with newest Kernel packages without reboot. You need to reinstall the kernel packages to get the module work after reboot.

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I'm a freelance blogger who started using Ubuntu in 2007 and wishes to share my experiences and some useful tips with Ubuntu beginners and lovers. Please comment to let me know if the tutorial is outdated! And, notify me if you find any typo/grammar/language mistakes. English is not my native language. Contact me via ubuntuhandbook1@gmail.com Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/ubuntuhandbook1 |

80 responses to How to Install RTL8723DE Wifi Driver in Ubuntu 19.04

  1. Hey Ji m,
    thanks, this looks like a very good walk-through. Unfortunately, on my new HP with RTL8821CE wifi adapter, this has not yet done the trick. Still no wifi adapter found under ubuntu 18.04 (works fine under windows).
    1. I used modprobe on the rtl8821ae module (number matches my card, but ae instead of ce, no idea if that is a problem?)
    2. I noticed that no rtl8821ae.conf has been created in my /etc/modprobe.d/ directory.
    Do you have a suggestion what I could try? Thanks a lot!

    • Did you find a solution? I’m having a similar issue and was hoping you had sussed it out!

    • Carlos Del Real July 30, 2019 at 8:47 am

      did you find a solution, I have the exact same problem, I have followed the instructions, disabled the secure booting and It doesn’t work…let me know If you already found a solution

    • hello lutz , i am using 18.04 and hp 15 pavilion cw0096nb , this wifi adapter rtl8821ce was also not working !, intill i went to the updatemanager in ubuntu, the A in the black round background app,i have download about 500 mb, it went to a higher kernel and other updates ,,REBOOT your computer , then i have used all the commands in a terminal as here discribed above .:::How to Install RTL8723DE Wifi Driver in Ubuntu 19.04

      make sure that git is installed before with a regular sudo apt get install command

      also it is nesessary to do this also ,i hope you will get no errors , not a ubuntu specialist , just a belgian ham radio operator who’s loves to help , don’t shoot the pianist …

      sudo apt-get install –reinstall git dkms build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)
      git clone https://github.com/tomaspinho/rtl8821ce
      cd rtl8821ce
      chmod +x dkms-install.sh
      chmod +x dkms-remove.sh
      sudo ./dkms-install.sh

      or just this/////
      sudo apt-get install –reinstall git dkms build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)
      git clone https://github.com/tomaspinho/rtl8821ce
      cd rtl8821ce/
      make or sudo make

      only when it is ok some packages roll over from the rtl8821ce build module with a so and a h extension ad the end in terminal ,only then is is ok ! ,,,,time to restart your computer…. HOPE you see >>>”Pci wifi” in screen up , select your network etc..

      had a call with hpsupport about this self , but only the rtlwifi_new 19.04 was maybe running no garanty , tried everything, remember must first update the kernel in 18.04 with updatemanager

      running a hp pavilion notebook model 15cw0096nb , quad core, 12 ram ddr4 , 3,6 ghz burst speed , 2 ghz normal speed , amd radeon vega grapics, who has the RTL8821CE wifi adapter inside.

      note . when i was installing the rtlwifi_new i was redirected to the self install script tomaspinho rtl8821ce automaticly , strange, how this happend , still don’t get it

      SORRY FOR ERRORS IN MY ENGLISH ,DUTCH IS MY NATIVE LANGUAGE ? HOPE YOU CAN UNDERSTAND

      • Heel erg bedankt voor de oplossing maat ;)

      • This worked for me too

      • Thanks man, i have pretty much the same laptop as you, and nothing has helped me but your manual.

      • Thank you so much!!
        It worked after your instructions and rebooting

      • Thanks for the solution.
        have tried so much before this but nothing worked.
        have had no expectations here also but it worked like magic.
        Thank you soo much.

      • This worked for me after the steps mentioned in the main post

      • I have a newer laptop (no Ethernet connection) and an older external HDD with Ubuntu 18.04 LTS installed on it, connected via USB to the laptop.

        The first command
        sudo apt-get install –reinstall git dkms build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)
        does not work (obviously), since there is no internet connection.

        None-the-less, I went to the website mentioned in the second command (https://github.com/tomaspinho/rtl8821ce), downloaded the .zip file to a pen drive,
        and unzipped the contents to a rtl18821ce folder on the desktop of my Ubuntu machine. Followed the rest of the instructions (which worked as advertised)
        and did a cold restart; my Ubuntu WiFi is now enabled.

        Much thanks to Jim, Nico and Tomas.

      • this worked for me too, thanks

    • Same problem here :/

      The PC is a hp all in one 20-C406NS

  2. I owe you man. Thanks a lot for this article.
    ant_sel=2 and a reboot did the job. Signal strength is fluctuating. How can I get a fixed strength??

  3. My dell inspirion 14 does not have a ethernet port. Any way to get wifi working in this situation?
    Thank u

    • USB to ethernet Adapters are available in the market.
      the one with TP links is good (USB2 and USB3 versions are also available (gigabit)

  4. Thanks again Ji m.

  5. Hi,

    I have a hp computer. Wifi adapter is not working. Please find the wireless infotext below

    http://paste.ubuntu.com/p/C7D5476G89/

  6. For me this here worked:

    sudo apt-get install –reinstall git dkms build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)
    git clone https://github.com/tomaspinho/rtl8821ce
    cd rtl8821ce
    chmod +x dkms-install.sh
    chmod +x dkms-remove.sh
    sudo ./dkms-install.sh

    • This worked for me, thanks a lot.

    • This worked for me too! Thanks so much!! (I’m on an HP Pavilion 590 with Ubuntu 19.04)

    • thank you very much man, i was nervous for 1 week, i could fix this…ty man

    • this works for me thanks

    • Pillutla Srivatsa August 23, 2019 at 12:52 pm

      thank you so much.This helped me too.

    • After I tried yours and restarted my pc, it finally showed wifi. Thanks a ton man. I had installed Kali linux and i couldn’t fix it, so I installed ubuntu and I was very sad to see that the wifi was not working even in ubuntu. My laptop is HP and this worked for me too. Thanks again.

  7. Finally Wifi worked …… thanks a million!!!

  8. Hermano cuando trato de instalarlo me dice que el módulo rtl8723de no se encuentra, sabes de algún otro lado donde esté

  9. Thank you man! works perfect, you saved me!!!

  10. Thanks for the article. Although I haven’t tried it yet.

    I’m new to Linux so I decided to start with the live usb to test it out.

    Is there any difference in using live usb and dual booting as far as drivers are concerned?

    Machine : HP Laptop 15-bs0xx with Realtek drivers

    Ubuntu 19.04

  11. Hi Jim, I’m fairly new to linux and I’ve just dual booted Ubuntu into my HP laptop. I’ve followed your steps, all commands have run without error and installation completed. However I’m still not finding any WiFi adapter, I tried the sudo modprobe -r command, and then rebooted. I also tried another wifi code but to no avail, do you have any idea why this may be? This was all done with a fresh installation of Ubuntu.

  12. thanks for the solution . it worked for me

  13. THANK YOU SO MUCH ! it worked ! its been a week since i tried to make my wifi work on ubuntu

  14. hello can I download l in windows and then install in ubuntu. plz tell me how I can??if yes coz I don’t have a wired network here

  15. Hi Jim,

    I followed your steps to the T, and everything went smoothly, but no wireless connection even after the reboot. My make is HP Laptop 17-by0xxx
    …since there were no errors I have no idea where to start looking for the problem? HELP PLS!

  16. Andrew Dennis July 1, 2019 at 3:08 pm

    Same issues with rtl8723de.

    https://termbin.com/78cy

    That is the result of a script I got from the Linux Mint web site.

    Figure secure boot interfered with the install but not sure how to work around.

  17. Thank you so much! The only issue I have now is signal strength. I am on an HP Pavilion. I tried sudo modprobe rt18723be ant_sel=2 (and _1). I get “modprobe: FATAL: module rt18723be not found in directory /lib/modules/4.15.0-20-generic”

    Please advise and thank you so much.

  18. Thank Ji m for the guide. I can’t get tethering (personal hotspot) from my iphone to work though. Keep on asking for the password and does not recognize it. :/

  19. Jordy Morales July 25, 2019 at 4:52 am

    sudo modprobe -r rtl8723de && sudo modprobe rtl8723de
    libkmod: ERROR ../libkmod/libkmod-config.c:656 kmod_config_parse: /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8723de.conf line 1: ignoring bad line starting with ‘“options’
    libkmod: ERROR ../libkmod/libkmod-config.c:656 kmod_config_parse: /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8723de.conf line 1: ignoring bad line starting with ‘“options’
    modprobe: ERROR: could not insert ‘rtl8723de’: Operation not permitted

    • I got the same “modprobe: ERROR: could not insert ‘rtl8723de’: Operation not permitted”

  20. After a lot of trial and error (including the above) you finally have to turn off “secure boot” in your BIOS . Only then your changes will be picked up, enabling your WiFi via the RTL723DE.
    (thanks to Marc10 for the suggestion)

  21. $sudo apt install git build-essential dkms
    I get error saying
    E: package git has no installation package
    E: unable to locate package dkms

  22. Hi, i tried install, but said “git not install”, i tried git but not worked. I can’t install git witout internet, help me.

  23. Hi,
    Thank you it helped me to install wifi driver.

  24. Hey guys I followed the process to resolve some inconsistencies with wifi signal and now my computer (hp pavilion 15 noo6sv) won’t recognize my wi-fi adapter. How do I revert this process to go bacj to the default drivers installed by ubuntu?
    Thanks in advance!

  25. Thanks. You have saved me after sleepless nights.

  26. In case the above steps does not work for anyone like me. Disable UEFI Secure boot and try again.

  27. Thank you very much! For a very long time I was looking for how to connect a laptop HP to the network wifi. Nothing helped. And then a miracle! By the way, five points from the article were enough.

  28. Thanks its working.

  29. Thank you soooo much, new to Linux and after hours of searching this was awesome to find, it worked perfectly, I did have to reboot after following all the steps. Thanks again!

  30. Thanks man , it work but in my case, my system have don’t install “linux-headers-5.0.0-27-generic” and i install th linux-header-5.0.0-27 from “https://www.ubuntuupdates.org/package/canonical_kernel_team/disco/main/base/linux-headers-5.0.0-27-generic” and finally it work .
    thanks once again

  31. on second comand line……
    asking for user name for git hub??

  32. thanks it worked!

  33. François Valenduc October 5, 2019 at 11:32 am

    I am thinking of buying a new laptop which has a Realtek 8723DE wifi
    adapter. It seems the rtl8723de driver does not
    to exist anymore. The rtl8723de folder is also almost empty in the git tree. Can
    somebody clarify this ? Does the rtr8723be now also support the
    rtl8723de card ?

  34. Many, many, thanks! The directions worked perfectly and I have wifi on my new HP now. In my case, a few extra steps were needed due to UEFI and secure reboot password (MKS key install?). It was tricky working tin he BIOS to install the MKS key and password, but I managed to figure it out and get it working. For some reason, I also needed to reset the wifi password in my router and on my desktop, but it worked after that. You are my hero! Thanks again!

  35. Hello,
    Firstly thank you so much for your work!
    I am waiting to install Ubuntu 19.10 on my HP amd laptop which has realtek d723. I see that with all the kernel updates inside 19.04 your method has always updated itself

    If I upgrade to 19.10, would you know if this would still work? I am in a new house and I dont have the router handy to be accessed by ethernet. if wifi does not work then I have no network and lose my work hours

  36. Thank you so much for your help.
    I don’t have enough words to thank you , I spend many nights to find solution finally you solution works.

  37. When i enter the git command, I receive prompt for username and password. What are people using in that case? Thanks.

  38. works for my HP bs146tu laptop perfectly
    when other askubuntu help doesnt.

    Thanks a lot.

  39. BISHWESHWAR SHOME November 3, 2019 at 7:02 am

    modprobe: ERROR: could not insert ‘rtl8723de’: Exec format error

  40. Si ya siguieron todos los pasos desde su consola y aun asi no les levanta su tarjeta de red…

    Prueba desactivando la seguridad del booteo desde tu BIOS… a mi me funciono al final de todo…

  41. Thanks. In the Hp bw074nl – ubuntu 19.10 I followed your guide to step 5. Now the wifi works. Tanks Tanks Tanks

  42. still not working .need some help?

  43. 100% Working on my laptop HP 14-bw0xx/HP 14-bw015au. Using kali linux xfce 4. Thank you so much!!

  44. Rajarshi Samaddar December 8, 2019 at 4:34 am

    It works fine with Ubuntu 18.04 too I am happy to see my WiFi working now. At last Thank You so much.

  45. Thank you so much, Ji m
    Your guide helped me a lot on my HP 240 G7, and using Linux Mint 19.3 (MATE edition).
    And again, thanks _/\_

  46. my wifi finally worked ,,,thanks alot

  47. Hermano muchisimas gracias, llevaba todo el dia buscando una solucion, soy nuevo en el mundo de linux y me has ayudado con tu post, saludos, eres grande

  48. I tried a lot to install rtl8723de in Ubuntu 18.04 lts but it always got stuck and displays error
    modprobe: ERROR : could not insert ‘rtl8723de’: Operation not permitted
    How i fix it?

  49. Although good but did’nt worked in my case.I was getting exec error on loading drivers using modprobe.Thank god due to other blogs i found that first i have to make rtlwifi_new then make install it then sudo modprobe worked and my wifi too.
    I seriously think that you should mention it.
    P.S: I am running ubuntu 19.04.

  50. Worked great with Ubuntu 19.10, thanks for the help.

  51. Error! echo
    Your kernel headers for kernel 4.15.0-kali2-amd64 cannot be found at
    /lib/modules/4.15.0-kali2-amd64/build or /lib/modules/4.15.0-kali2-amd64/source.
    You can use the –kernelsourcedir option to tell DKMS where it’s located.

  52. I’m getting an Error Like

    ” modprobe: ERROR: could not insert ‘rtl8723de’: Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg) ”

    Firstly everything was working fine and then suddenly wifi stop working then after i followed ur steps but I’m receiving an error shown above.

  53. Hi Ji
    Thanks once again. It already worked for Ubuntu 19.04, now for 19.10 also. 1st five steps were enough for the purpose.

  54. thanks, my wifi works perfectly

  55. thanks a lot for this site. its so well made!