WiFi not found after installation on HP computer

[jim1961]

I've read this thread and a couple others, searched on the web for solutions, but apparently Linux Mint 18.2 (and presumably others) simply doesn't do wifi. Hard to believe, but there you have it. How they have managed to avoid getting a laptop to connect to a wifi seems almost inconceivable, but I've given up at this point. I even tried to go back to the 17.3 installation that could do it, but apparently my dvd is fried or something, and I'm afraid it's actually this HP computer that is the problem and none of the Linux Mint distributions can handle the HP hardware. The other machine was a Samsung.

Just disgusted with all the time I've wasted on this, ESPECIALLY with the genius solutions that tell you to download a bunch of packages when you have no internet connectivity on the machine.

[JeremyB]

I split this from another topic and would like some details, results from

Code: Select all

lspci -nnk | grep -iA3 net; rfkill list; iwconfig

in terminal would be a start

[WharfRat]

Just disgusted with all the time I've wasted on this, ESPECIALLY with the genius solutions that tell you to download a bunch of packages when you have no internet connectivity on the machine.

Evidently you didn't pay close enough attention to what you were reading or you just didn't comprehend certain aspects.

The OP clearly indicated that the wireless worked when running the live session therefore chrooting to the installed system from the live sesion provided the necessary connection to download that bunch of packages.

I've given up at this point

We'll all miss you

[jim1961]

Just disgusted with all the time I've wasted on this, ESPECIALLY with the genius solutions that tell you to download a bunch of packages when you have no internet connectivity on the machine.

Evidently you didn't pay close enough attention to what you were reading or you just didn't comprehend certain aspects.

The OP clearly indicated that the wireless worked when running the live session therefore chrooting to the installed system from the live sesion provided the necessary connection to download that bunch of packages.

I've given up at this point

We'll all miss you

Don't get me wrong, I understand that if I go to the back room, plug in the ethernet and futz with downloading and loading new modules into the kernel, all would be well. The wifi is a run-of-the-mill RealTek WiFi adapter and I'm surprised that Linux Mint can't deal with it. Disappointed, actually. 17.3 came up with no fiddling around at all on the Samsung laptop, so I just assumed 18.2 would work on this machine. Naturally, I had to grind on the SSID/password for a while before I realized 18.2 couldn't deal with the adapter,, period.

I wrote the device driver for Mitsubishi CD reader in Linux .96, back in 1993, so it's not like I'm a rookie. Had to download onto 14 diskettes! Took all day! From my standpoint, there are a LOT of HP laptops out there, so it seems odd that the wifi driver isn't part of the standard bundle.

[JeremyB]

If it is a rtl8723be chipset, see viewtopic.php?f=53&t=204172&hilit=Rtl87 ... 0#p1123045
HP decided to only use 1 antenna wire on some