How do I connect to wi-fi?

[Ignoramus]

Hello, everyone,
As I've said in a previous post, I'm not techie in any way (I make Luddites look progressive). I've just installed Linux; I'm loving it so far (for the most part), but I can't work out how to connect to wifi. This is an old laptop that I've resuscitated (or rather Linux has resuscitated because it's too 'old' to run Windows). If I clicked on the little wireless thingy in Windows, I'd get this list of available networks. In Linux (Mint Cinnamon 19.2, I think), I get "Wired; Network Settings; Network Connections" If I click on "Network settings" I get "Wired" (which, of course, I'm using to write this) "Network Proxy" and "Network Connections" I get "Ethernet" and "Wired Connection 1". How do I tell it I want to use wi-fi, please? Like I said, this is quite an old computer but I have no reason to believe there's anything wrong with the hardware (it is the hardware that picks up wi-fi, isn't it?!)
Thanks for your help,
Alison.
ps. Do I really not need anti-virus??? I've read the big post by karlchen (viewtopic.php?f=90&t=358408&p=2075829&h ... s#p2075829) but after so long on Windows I'm still a bit scared of going commando.

[Reorx]

Unplug RJ45 connection.

<click to enlarge>

Then select a network...

...and... No, you don't need an antivirus if you are only running a desktop system... I have been running Linux Mint on my laptops full time for the last 10 years never using an antivirus and have never had a problem.

[squiggles3]

Unplug RJ45 connection.

wifi_connect.jpg

Then select a network...

...and... No, you don't need an antivirus if you are only running a desktop system... I have been running Linux Mint on my laptops full time for the last 10 years never using an antivirus and have never had a problem.

The wireless option should be there despite being connected via cable. The wireless option won't show up if there is a driver or hardware issue. The fact that there is no wireless option at all points to one of those problems.

@Ignoramus

Can you type this command into a terminal and share the output please?

Code: Select all

inxi -nz

This should list your network devices and the drivers they are using.
Use the "code display" to share the output if you don't mind. It's the button marked "</>" on the forum.

P.S.

I don't use an anti-virus either.

[cliffcoggin]

ps. Do I really not need anti-virus??? I've read the big post by karlchen (viewtopic.php?f=90&t=358408&p=2075829&h ... s#p2075829) but after so long on Windows I'm still a bit scared of going commando.

Yes you really really really do not need one.

[RollyShed]

Have you tried booting up without an ethernet wire plugged in?
Unplug the ethernet cable and reboot.

Viruses - the only ones here were in 2018 on my partner's computer and they were written by Microsoft and wiped out her Windows computer. Obviously they couldn't touch a Linux computer and that's what she's used since.
For myself, 10+ years of Linux and no viruses... ever. 50 Linux Mint installations, no viruses... ever.

Have you installed "ublock origin" on your browser? This is to stop advertisements popping up.

[SimonPeter]

For myself, 10+ years of Linux and no viruses... ever. 50 Linux Mint installations, no viruses... ever.
Have you installed "ublock origin" on your browser? This is to stop advertisements popping up.

I second @RollyShed .

In my case, 10+ years of Linux and thousands of Linux installations (including college, school, relatives, neighbours, friends, their friends ...)
No viruses ever.

You can install uBlock Origin from https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock (scroll down to get the addon).
It is VERY effective in blocking a lot of ads, trackers etc., in the browser.

[RollyShed]

Firefox -
ublock origin - go to the three horizontal bars top right - Click
down to Add-ons and themes
put ublock origin in the search box
A list of ad blockers with ublock the top one
Install

With Chrome put ublock in the Search box and follow through.

Easy....

[SimonPeter]

Firefox -
ublock origin - go to the three horizontal bars top right - Click
down to Add-ons and themes
put ublock origin in the search box
A list of ad blockers with ublock the top one
Install

With Chrome put ublock in the Search box and follow through.

Easy....

Please note that uBlock Origin (which is the most popular and does not allow ANY ads willfully) is NOT ublock (which is, AFAIK, sort of a fake ad blocker funded by adware developers who want to allow their own ads but block others' ads).
Please search for uBlock Origin instead.

Ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UBlock_Origin#uBlock
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/ ... ublock.org

[SimonPeter]

@Ignoramus

Can you type this command into a terminal and share the output please?

Code: Select all

inxi -nz

This should list your network devices and the drivers they are using.
Use the "code display" to share the output if you don't mind. It's the button marked "</>" on the forum.

I hope it is the same system we're talking about, and here is its inxi :

Code: Select all

System:
  Host: alison-HP-Compaq-6735s Kernel: 4.15.0-54-generic i686 bits: 32 
  compiler: gcc v: 7.4.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.2.3 wm: muffin 4.2.2 
  dm: LightDM 1.26.0 Distro: Linux Mint 19.2 Tina base: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP Compaq 6735s v: F.08 
  serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 30E4 v: KBC Version 94.1D serial: <filter> 
  BIOS: Hewlett-Packard v: 68GPP Ver. F.08 date: 12/15/2008 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 33.2 Wh condition: 34.2/34.2 Wh (100%) volts: 12.3/10.8 
  model: Hewlett-Packard Primary type: Li-ion serial: <filter> 
  status: Unknown 
CPU:
  Topology: Single Core model: AMD Sempron SI-42 bits: 64 type: UP 
  arch: Turion X2 Ultra rev: 1 L2 cache: 512 KiB 
  flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 bogomips: 4199 
  Speed: 2100 MHz min/max: 1050/2100 MHz Core speed (MHz): 1: 2100 
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD RS780M [Mobility Radeon HD 3200] vendor: Hewlett-Packard 
  driver: radeon v: kernel bus ID: 01:05.0 chip ID: 1002:9612 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.19.6 driver: ati,radeon 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1280x800~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: AMD RS780 (DRM 2.50.0 / 4.15.0-54-generic LLVM 8.0.0) 
  v: 3.3 Mesa 19.0.2 compat-v: 3.0 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD SBx00 Azalia vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 00:14.2 chip ID: 1002:4383 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.15.0-54-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Marvell 88E8042 PCI-E Fast Ethernet vendor: Hewlett-Packard 
  driver: sky2 v: 1.30 port: 3000 bus ID: 02:00.0 chip ID: 11ab:4357 
  IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 149.05 GiB used: 7.44 GiB (5.0%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Fujitsu model: MHZ2160BH G2 size: 149.05 GiB 
  speed: 3.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 8909 scheme: MBR 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 62.67 GiB used: 7.44 GiB (11.9%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 58.4 C mobo: N/A 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com tina main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
  2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic main restricted universe multiverse
  3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates main restricted universe multiverse
  4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
  5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ bionic-security main restricted universe multiverse
  6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ bionic partner
Info:
  Processes: 155 Uptime: 20m Memory: 738.9 MiB used: 417.5 MiB (56.5%) 
  Init: systemd v: 237 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 7.4.0 alt: 7 Shell: bash 
  v: 4.4.19 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.32 
  

[SimonPeter]

And here are some of my observations on that inxi:

Oh, apparently, the Linux that's installed itself (I just clicked on the 'install linux" icon) is Mint Cinnamon 19.2 32-bit. Whatever that means...

System:
Host: alison-HP-Compaq-6735s Kernel: 4.15.0-54-generic i686 bits: 32
compiler: gcc v: 7.4.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.2.3 wm: muffin 4.2.2
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP Compaq 6735s v: F.08
CPU:
Topology: Single Core model: AMD Sempron SI-42 bits: 64 type: UP
Memory: 738.9 MiB used: 417.5 MiB (56.5%)

Observations:
1) You're running a 32-bit OS on a 64-bit machine.
2) Your machine has a single-core CPU.
3) Your machine has only <750MiB of RAM.
4) You're using a relatively old Linux Mint version (19.2).
5) You're using the Cinnamon edition, which may not be great for low-spec systems (consider the XFCE edition).

You should not use a 32-bit OS on a 64-bit system, even though it might work.
You should install a 64-bit OS instead, like these:
1) Recommended -- Linux Mint 20.2 XFCE 64-bit -- ISO Download Link: https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=290
2) Linux Mint 19.3 XFCE 64-bit -- use this if #1 doesn't work properly -- ISO Download Link: https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=278

After downloading the ISO, flash it to a USB pendrive and boot from it.

[sleeper12]

No wifi adapter shows in inxi. See if it changes after you install the 64 bit Mint version.

[RollyShed]

You should not use a 32-bit OS on a 64-bit system, even though it might work.

We have an eMachine which originally had 32 bit WinXP on it when bought so obviously I installed 32 bit MATE which runs faultlessly. I happened to "trip over" some specs for this machine and realised it was 64 bit capable and have tried 64 bit 20.2 Cinnamon on it (plugged/mounted in a different SSD) and yes, it does work. However the 32 bit MATE is faster and will stay on it.

So obviously in this case it will work and does.

[Ignoramus]

Hi, SimonPeter, Squiggles et al,

I'm sorry for taking so long to reply. SimonPeter, you know the dark screen issue I asked about before? It came back - my internet (wired) was really, really slow, so I tried rebooting - and when the computer came back on, the screen was dark again. Because of the dark screen and the slow internet - and the lack of the wireless option - I decided I should switch to xfce straightaway, and I've been trying since yesterday to install it. I can't remember how I created the bootable USB first time round, so I've been trying to use the Linux instructions and install directly onto the machine, but I just don't have the technical nous to do it (verify the shasum? That's got my head in a spin).
I just don't have the brainspace to try again tonight (I've also been helping my [80-year-old] dad with some DIY - I wasn't there to use the masonry drill he'd use it himself...) so I'm going to get a good sleep tonight and, once the DIY is done, I'll try again with a fresh brain.

Thanks to everyone for their responses so far - they're much appreciated - I'm just sorry for being so rude and late in replying.
Alison

[RollyShed]

First question, why not get your 80 year old Dad to fix things? We 80 year-olds know how to fix things.

Is this the HP Compaq 6735s, the laptop you are having trouble with? If it is, the one on the table here and about to go to a user is a HP Compaq 6730b so I presume older and happily goes with 64 bit Mint Cinnamon. With an SSD fitted it boots in 36 seconds.
Changing from a hard disk to an SSD is one screw in the case and 4 screws holding the metal bit to the hard disk or SSD, seen when the plastic cover comes off.
And a dark screen sometimes if the battery is flat and it hasn't been on charge lately. So one wonders about the battery in your one and whether you are running it via the charger.

[SimonPeter]

I decided I should switch to xfce straightaway, and I've been trying since yesterday to install it. I can't remember how I created the bootable USB first time round, so I've been trying to use the Linux instructions and install directly onto the machine, but I just don't have the technical nous to do it (verify the shasum? That's got my head in a spin).

All instructions are there in https://linuxmint-installation-guide.re ... en/latest/ ie. the official Linux Mint installation guide
I'm re-stating some of them for clarity:
1) Download the ISO file from https://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=290 (this is a ~2GB file).
2) The SHA256 checksum SHOULD be 3ade2a59635a071c42e68721cbcd3a43b8e511b22a1c56b16b451448d440c613
(ie. install gtkhash from the software manager, launch it, choose the ISO file, copy-paste this checksum in the "Check" field and press "Hash". A Tick mark denotes successful verification and you can proceed happily. If there is no Tick mark, delete the ISO and download again).
3) Follow instructions at https://linuxmint-installation-guide.re ... /burn.html and subsequent pages (click Next from there).

[squiggles3]

Hi, SimonPeter, Squiggles et al,

I'm sorry for taking so long to reply. SimonPeter, you know the dark screen issue I asked about before? It came back - my internet (wired) was really, really slow, so I tried rebooting - and when the computer came back on, the screen was dark again. Because of the dark screen and the slow internet - and the lack of the wireless option - I decided I should switch to xfce straightaway, and I've been trying since yesterday to install it. I can't remember how I created the bootable USB first time round, so I've been trying to use the Linux instructions and install directly onto the machine, but I just don't have the technical nous to do it (verify the shasum? That's got my head in a spin).
I just don't have the brainspace to try again tonight (I've also been helping my [80-year-old] dad with some DIY - I wasn't there to use the masonry drill he'd use it himself...) so I'm going to get a good sleep tonight and, once the DIY is done, I'll try again with a fresh brain.

Thanks to everyone for their responses so far - they're much appreciated - I'm just sorry for being so rude and late in replying.
Alison

Are you creating the bootable USB from a Linux, Windows or Mac machine? (Not sure if the dark screen issue prevents you from using Linux Mint completely or not) One tool I like to use comes from another Linux community and works on Windows and Mac. https://getfedora.org/en/workstation/download/ On the left side there is a download for "Fedora Media Writer". Choose "Custom Image" from within the program and select your Linux Mint .iso file, then the USB drive to boot from.

Verifying the SHAsum can be a tricky process but it can prevent you from installing something that didn't quite download correctly and lead to problems later.

Once you get your bootable USB working, boot from the USB and try connecting to WIFI from the live environment. If you can connect from there, then it should be fine after installation.

## Side Note

Does anyone know if hwinfo would reveal more hardware devices than inxi -Nz ? Just curious if hwinfo --network | grep -iv "hw address" would have better troubleshooting output.

[Ignoramus]

Hello, everyone,

I'm so sorry for not replying (much) sooner. I decided to step back from the laptop/Linux thing before I likely went into meltdown. I'd already had more than a week of trying to get into a crashed Windows laptop (and with it the stress of worrying about missing work), then I try to try to revive another laptop by installing Linux, and I end up with another computer I can't fix...

So I went back to the Windows laptop and managed to get into it (I'm writing this on it). Once I've caught up on everything I've missed, though, I have every intention of trying to get Linux working on the other one, because, when I could see it, it looks really good (I'm also really stubborn and refuse to be beaten!).

Thanks ever so much to everyone who has helped so far; if - when - I do get Linux working properly on my machine, I will report back, I promise.

Thanks, again, everyone!