(SOLVED) Wireless Drivers after Upgrading - Download Again?

[Wentworth]

Mint 10 is my first Linux installation. I initially thought that the wireless drivers would be downloaded automatically (please forgive me, it's my Windows indoctrination). Will I need to do this whenever I upgrade?

[casey972oo]

Hi there ! ... ' Wentworth ' ! ...

you will find some ' proprietary drivers ' in the stock-option ! ...
they are preinstalled and need to be activated ! ...

look in ' mint-welcome ' ! ...

casey972oo

.

[Wentworth]

Sorry, Stupid question of the day - My mind's gone blank - where's 'Mint-Welcome'?

[Wentworth]

I found the 'Additional Drivers' in 'Mint Menu'. I was originally given the impression that after installing Mint I would then have to go and look for Drivers; as in get them off the net. If the drivers are already available, then it seems sensible to me that the install process should perhaps include a question/option eg 'You need proprietary drivers, do you want us to install them' or something like that.

Or am I completely misunderstanding how it all works?

[casey972oo]

Yeah ! ... ' Wentworth ! ...

Things went worth ? ...
' Mint-Welcome ' is a program what starts up ... right by your first boot ... in the new system ! ...

You don't have this ? ...

and they still workin' on those new releases to make them more comfortable ! ... changin' things ...
this was maybe in ' LINUX Mint 9 Isadora ' ... or in ' LINUX Mint 7 Gloria ' ! ...
when there was this Question about additional drivers ! ... is gone ! ... replaced by ' Mint-Welcome ' ! ...

casey972oo

.

[TBABill]

I found the 'Additional Drivers' in 'Mint Menu'. I was originally given the impression that after installing Mint I would then have to go and look for Drivers; as in get them off the net. If the drivers are already available, then it seems sensible to me that the install process should perhaps include a question/option eg 'You need proprietary drivers, do you want us to install them' or something like that.

Or am I completely misunderstanding how it all works?

The "you need proprietary drivers" thing is distro specific. Some distros expect you to use the system to find out what hardware you have and what drivers you need if they are not included in the kernel. Mint and Ubuntu have the additional drivers feature that pops up during both the live sessions and after install to advise if drivers are available. Then you just point and click to activate them.

If you were to choose LMDE (Mint Debian), then you'd have to know your hardware and find out how to install the appropriate driver. They're usually available when you enable the correct repository and then you just follow instructions to install them. It's not difficult, but it is different than what you'd expect in a Windows environment. Once you do it and get your system up and running, future installs will be a breeze because you'll know where to look and what to look for.

Some distros, Mint and PCLinuxOS come to mind, do it all for you or help you through it. Ubuntu, PinguyOS, Sabayon, Fusion, Fuduntu and some others also make it much easier in their own ways.

[Wentworth]

I'm grateful for all the help. At least I know what to do now and I'll just get the drivers whilst I'm still hard wired to the net.