Linux Mint comes without WIFI?

[jolexin]

New HP PC without LAN socket; UEFI Boot; Win10 pre-installed.

1. I reduced the size of the Win partition, then created root- swap- and home partitions for Linux Mint.
2. I booted the live system from USB stick; I observed that the live system was unable to establish a WLAN connection.

3. Nevertheless I installed Mint and booted the new system. Still it was impossible to establish a WLAN ccnnection. I can invoke the applet, enter the name and passphrase of my WLAN (router); what is missing is tthe so-called "device". The field is empty and it is impossible to find out what to enter; that prevents the storage of the WLAN connection data.
(On my old computer the device is wlp5s0; which I can find that out in a terminal with the command " ip link". On the new PC "ip link" shows nothing. )

Moreover I saw that in order to activate the WLAN card a driver rtl8821ce-dkms is needed on the new PC; Mint requires to download the driver, which is impossible, because WIFI does not work and there is no LAN socket.

Am I the first user to experience that dificulty with the Mint installation procedure? Any idea how to break this vicious cycle?

[sleeper12]

See if you can connect with your cell phone:
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... ernet.html

If so, you can then install the driver:
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... k.html#ID6

[DPM]

Moreover I saw that in order to activate the WLAN card a driver rtl8821ce-dkms is needed on the new PC; Mint requires to download the driver, which is impossible, because WIFI does not work and there is no LAN socket.

You could download that from Windows and store the downloaded file in your Windows user directory, then boot Mint and access the Windows user directory. Or use another computer plus a USB stick.

[Guggi3]

I totally agree with the author of this topic. -
I'm a newbie on Linux (and succeeded - after a long - not Linux friendly at all - 15 hours ongoing story - Linux getting to work with a dual boot on my Acer laptop. -
To my surprise the initial installation comes without the most important "bcmwl-kernel-source (ubuntu) Broadcom-802.11 driver" . -
This driver is a MUST to be installed within the initial installation - otherwise no updates, no internet. -
According to my internet research this is not a new issue (rather an old one) .... -
However, Linux (resp. it's driver program was intelligent enough (thanks to some developer skills) to ask for the installation DVD resp USB Stick and when I connected my stick, it searched and installed the driver from there (and after successful installation I was finally connected to my WIFI ) -
But as I said, this driver should (must) be installed as a basic driver source within the first installation process. -
Anyway I know the MINT Developer Team and all the helpers here do a terrific great job to maintain and develop Linux (MINT) further in order to get an always better working OS and I want to thank you all for your great work and support.

[karlchen]

Guggi3,

not every machine comes with a Broadcom wifi adapter. Such machines do not need any Broadcom wifi driver software. So pre-installing Broadcom no matter what would not do any good.
If you had read the initial post carefully, then you would have realized that the thread starter is not missing any Broadcom driver, either.

By the way, every Linux Mint version since Mint 13 has recognized my wifi adapter (Broadcom or other brand) correctly during the installation and installed the appropriate wifi driver software.

Example:

Code: Select all

$ inxi -Nnxxxz
Network:   Device-1: Intel driver: iwlwifi v: kernel port: N/A bus-ID: 00:14.3 chip-ID: 8086:9df0 class-ID: 0280
           IF: wlo1 state: up mac: <filter>

Means that the Mint installer does nor necessarily fail to recognize the built-in wifi adapter during installation and does not necessarily fail to install the needed wifi driver software. Yes, it happens, and there is room for improvement. But it is not really the rule.

Regards,
Karl

[DPM]

To my surprise the initial installation comes without the most important "bcmwl-kernel-source (ubuntu) Broadcom-802.11 driver"

And rightfully so, because the actual driver is proprietary closed source software that I don't want installed on my system. It's also why I made sure to equip my machine with an Intel wifi card where proper open source drivers exist.

[JeremyB]

New HP PC without LAN socket; UEFI Boot; Win10 pre-installed.

1. I reduced the size of the Win partition, then created root- swap- and home partitions for Linux Mint.
2. I booted the live system from USB stick; I observed that the live system was unable to establish a WLAN connection.

3. Nevertheless I installed Mint and booted the new system. Still it was impossible to establish a WLAN ccnnection. I can invoke the applet, enter the name and passphrase of my WLAN (router); what is missing is tthe so-called "device". The field is empty and it is impossible to find out what to enter; that prevents the storage of the WLAN connection data.
(On my old computer the device is wlp5s0; which I can find that out in a terminal with the command " ip link". On the new PC "ip link" shows nothing. )

Moreover I saw that in order to activate the WLAN card a driver rtl8821ce-dkms is needed on the new PC; Mint requires to download the driver, which is impossible, because WIFI does not work and there is no LAN socket.

Am I the first user to experience that dificulty with the Mint installation procedure? Any idea how to break this vicious cycle?

Download and install the Mint 20 Edge version, it has a newer kernel that should support the RTL8821CE

[Aztaroth]

Hello
This command

Code: Select all

lshw -class network | grep configuration

outputs your network configuration.
So far, I think you've guessed it.

When kernel (LM or any distro's) recognizes and installs the driver for the wireless chipset, the driverversion field exactly matches the kernel's name.

Example from my computer :
lshw ouput
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ath9k driverversion=5.4.0-91-generic firmware=N/A latency=0 link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11

inxi -S output
System:
Host: XXX-hp4770 Kernel: 5.4.0-91-generic x86_64 bits: 64
Desktop: Cinnamon 4.4.8 Distro: Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia