Unable to use wifi device with UbuntuMATE 22.04.1 and Linux Mint 21

[Bret Busby]

On 11/10/22 00:21, Liam Proven wrote:
> On Mon, 10 Oct 2022 at 00:56, Bret Busby <bret at busby.net> wrote:
>>
>> Hello.
>>
>> I have an Acer Aspire 5750G "laptop" computer, that I had been using for
>> years, with Ubuntu.
> 
> I googled this. Looks to be a circa 2011 machine, but there appear to
> have been multiple models with Core i3 (low-end), i5 (midrange) and i7
> (high end) CPUs, in the case of high-end models with a discrete GPU.
> 
> So, without knowing which model, I can't say much.
> 

i5 with RAM upgraded (some years ago) to 16GB; nVIDIA Optimus

>> It had been getting versions upgrades, and then, a couple stuffed the
>> system, so I transferred the data and stopped using it.
> 
> Not enough info. What update, to what version of Ubuntu, when?
> 

the upgrades started breaking somewhere around 20.04 and 20.10. It ended 
up having a  part 20.04 installation and a part 20.10 installation 
(different installations, before I repartitioned and reformatted the HDD 
in the Linux Mint 21 installation).

>> Then, I, overnight, tried a clean install of Linux Mint 21, which
>> installed okay, after I circumvented the bogus "You do not have an EFI
>> partition for the boot loader - You and your descendants will burn in
>> the River Styx, if you do not create this".
> 
> It's old enough it's probably not a UEFI machine, so that's fine. I
> agree it's annoying.
> 

The error also appears on UEFI machines.

I believe that reference to the bug, is in previous posts in the list 
archives - I had forgotten about it, until after an aborted installation 
of Linux Mint 21, on another computer; the second attempt fudged it and 
that installation now apparently works.

>> But, the Live iso image, and, the installed version, could not use the
>> wifi device, to connect to the Internet, or, to see any other wifi devices.
> 
> Standard on a lot of laptops.  I have encountered it most recently on
> an old Apple Macbook.
> 
> The solution is: plug it in to wired Ethernet, do a full update, and
> then use the Ubuntu "Software & Drivers" tool to install any
> additional driver it needs.
> 

I did a bandaid fix on it, that I described in a post subsequent to the 
one to which Liam has responded.

>> (Thank you, Liam Proven, for your guidance regarding the Ventoy
>> drives).
> 
> Glad it helped you.
> 
>> I think that the Linux installations on the computer, had inherited
>> legacy drivers for the wifi device, but, the current versions are not
>> much good, if they cannot use the wifi device for Internet access, when
>> a clean installation is performed.
> 
> So probably you used a wired network and installed whatever was needed.
> 

No - I haven't had ethernet Internet connection, for several years - 
after wifi modem/routers and DHCP became fashionable, ethernet  and 
static IP addresses were no longer usable.

>> In the Linux Mint 21 Control Center -> System Reports -> System
>> Information, is shown for the Network devices, the Ethernet device,
>> which is a Broadcom (in addition to the wifi device being a Broadcom),
>> then, immediately below the Ethernet device, is
> 
> The MacBook uses Broadcom wifi too.
> 
>> Now, what troubles me, is that the wifi device was usable by Linux,
> 
> If you for some reason cannot use a network cable, the best workaround
> is a USB wifi dongle.
> 
> 
As mentioned above, I did manage a bandaid fix.

Still doesn't fix the absence of the wifi driver in the iso.

"Here is your car. We will not provide a transmission. So, you cannot 
travel anywhere. But, you can sit in the car and listen to the radio."

..
Bret Busby
Armadale
West Australia
(UTC+0800)
..............