I am about ready to install Mint 8 Xfce, but I am checking it out from a usb boot. I am currently running a hard-wire connection because the wireless driver seems to be absent. I can find it in the control center, and download it, but it requires a reboot to install. When I reboot, guh!, it isn't there any more. So I just want to make sure of something:
The driver is absent because I am booting from USB, correct? If I do a full install and download the driver over a hard-wire (assuming it's even missing from the install), the new driver *will* persist through the reboot, right?
FYI, the system in a Gen1 Dell Mini 9 from the initial release in fall 2008, and the wireless card in the Broadcom BCM 4312 802.11 b/g. Which I know has some problems in Mint. I've checked.
Thanks!
Newb wireless driver question [SOLVED]
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SlayBeau
Newb wireless driver question [SOLVED]
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Re: Newb wireless driver question
In linux you do not generally download drivers like in Windows. The drivers for your card should be installable via the Hardware Drivers app.
[Edit] your original post and add [SOLVED] once your question is resolved.
“The people are my God” stressing the factor determining man’s destiny lies within man not in anything outside man, and thereby defining man as the dominator and remoulder of the world.
“The people are my God” stressing the factor determining man’s destiny lies within man not in anything outside man, and thereby defining man as the dominator and remoulder of the world.
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SlayBeau
Re: Newb wireless driver question
OK, I used the wrong terminology. I think you answered my question, but since this is the system I'm taking overseas with me to work on my dissertation, I cannot afford to make any serious screw-ups. So, to clarify:
1. I am testing Mint 8 Xfce via a USB boot. The distro is *not* yet installed on the SSD.
2. While using Mint via USB, I cannot access the internet via wifi. It will not recognize my card.
3. Going under control center --> hardware I find two separate Broadcom drivers, neither of which is 'activated.'
4. Clicking activate begins a "download" of the driver. This might not be the correct linux terminology, but it will *not* work without internet access, which I can get through an ethernet cable.
5. Once "downloaded," the system requires a reboot before the driver is activated. But a reboot kicks the system back to the distro on the SSD (Dellbuntu), and the Mint OS on the USB is no longer recognized without dismounting and remounting. This process erases the driver "download."
My question, or rather my assumption: this is the case (no driver, no wifi) because it is not a full install but only a USB boot test. Were I to do a full install and activate the driver through the control center-->hardware, the driver would be activated after reboot because it was activating on a fully installed OS. Is this the case? i.e. will I then have wifi?
Do this make sense?
(the number is for my benefit, to keep the points straight in my head. I realize it comes off a little condescending and I do NOT mean it to. I just wanted to be sure that I got all the points, as I understand them.)
Thanks!
1. I am testing Mint 8 Xfce via a USB boot. The distro is *not* yet installed on the SSD.
2. While using Mint via USB, I cannot access the internet via wifi. It will not recognize my card.
3. Going under control center --> hardware I find two separate Broadcom drivers, neither of which is 'activated.'
4. Clicking activate begins a "download" of the driver. This might not be the correct linux terminology, but it will *not* work without internet access, which I can get through an ethernet cable.
5. Once "downloaded," the system requires a reboot before the driver is activated. But a reboot kicks the system back to the distro on the SSD (Dellbuntu), and the Mint OS on the USB is no longer recognized without dismounting and remounting. This process erases the driver "download."
My question, or rather my assumption: this is the case (no driver, no wifi) because it is not a full install but only a USB boot test. Were I to do a full install and activate the driver through the control center-->hardware, the driver would be activated after reboot because it was activating on a fully installed OS. Is this the case? i.e. will I then have wifi?
Do this make sense?
(the number is for my benefit, to keep the points straight in my head. I realize it comes off a little condescending and I do NOT mean it to. I just wanted to be sure that I got all the points, as I understand them.)
Thanks!
Re: Newb wireless driver question
If it is just the livecd on a USB drive then no you cannot install it there, if it is an 'install' to the drive then it should work.SlayBeau wrote:it is not a full install but only a USB boot test
Correct. I cannot definitely say your wifi will work as glitches do happen, but it should.SlayBeau wrote:Were I to do a full install and activate the driver through the control center-->hardware, the driver would be activated after reboot because it was activating on a fully installed OS
[Edit] your original post and add [SOLVED] once your question is resolved.
“The people are my God” stressing the factor determining man’s destiny lies within man not in anything outside man, and thereby defining man as the dominator and remoulder of the world.
“The people are my God” stressing the factor determining man’s destiny lies within man not in anything outside man, and thereby defining man as the dominator and remoulder of the world.