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As the image is a custom one, only the kernel is built from RPi Sources.
This pretty clear, I would have thought.
Where as you were attempting to install headers from the Debian repo

The kernel should load the drivers without any user intervention.

Thank you very much for your replies. I did read all of this thread (all 7 pages!) but didn't quite make the connection that the linux-headers would be named differently for rpi. I've used the 'sudo apt install linux-headers-$(uname -r)' a fair few times in the past but it's the first time I've noticed a mismatch between uname and the installed headers. Every day is a learning opportunity - even with a Bank Holiday brain.

I also did try just plugging the dongle in but according to this the drivers are not merged into the kernel until 6.13. The WiFi in my workshop is pretty weak - my NUC with two antennas struggles to with signal from the AP - I suspect the foil faced insulation board is creating a bit of a Faraday cage. And it's the ISP supplied router/AP at that end.

Once I'd 'discovered' the headers were already installed, I did the Basic Installation for All Distros and success!

For anyone else following along, the RTL8811AU chipset requires the rtw_8821au driver to be loaded (modprobe'd) as per this issue .

Thanks again, much appreciated.
 

Drivers build & load without having to install any "extras".

The kernel is a custom one based on the RPi sources, as such the kernel headers are preinstalled.
If you read the very first post in this thread you will realise that the image is based on Debian 12 with a RT kernel based on the RPi sources.
I have my Pi in a metal enclosure and haven't noticed any issues with wifi. Your mileage may vary.
Have you tried plugging in your dongle and checked if the kernel loads drivers ?

I hope this is the right thread, please move if it isn't...

I'm investigating converting my NUC to a Pi 5 - the install from the official Pi5 image went perfectly but as I'm using a Mesa 7i96 and the Pi will end up inside the cabinet, I need to use a USB WiFi adapter for its external antenna.

The dongle is a Reaktek RTL8811AU (external antenna'd ones seem to be getting rare) so I think I need to install this: github.com/lwfinger/rtw88?tab=readme-ov-file#installation-guide Happy to be corrected if I don't because I'd rather not.

If I do aI get 6.12.11 but this:is "Unable to locate package linux-headers-6.12.11"

An apt search reveals a bunch of 6.1.0x Linux headers and a few 6.12.12+bpo headers but no 6.12.11. Not sure what to do now, so any guidance would be appreciated - even if it's a link to a natively supported USB WiFi!

Edit: Runninginstead of apt searching for 'linux-headers-6' reveals 'linux-headers-bcm2712-rpi/now 6.12.11-1 arm64' are already installed. Why the headers don't match the uname -a is slightly above my pay grade.