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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Problems on problems - Mint can't see my wifi card. (lemmy.world)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I check the spec and it has a wifi chip but the os can't see it.

I had a wifi toggle on windows 11 when I got the PC and also when I used a mint USB boot. Driver manager sees nothing to update or install.

The mint community page has failed to post my question a few times so now I'm here.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Do you know any of the following:

what's the WiFi card in it?
what's the laptop?
what kernel version are you using?

For an easy GUI way to find these, you can go to the

bottom-left menu > administration > system reports

Then go to the System Information tab.

You should have the kernel i.e. 6.3.0-39-generic at the top

Scroll down, and under network you should have something like Device-1 Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 - that'll be the WiFi card.

In case you didn't know, the Kernel contains drivers for things like WiFi and other devices.

An older kernel tends to be more stable (the bugs have been fixed) - but it cannot contain the drivers for devices that didn't exist at the time.

By default, Mint is likely using the kernel 5.15, from 2022. If your WiFi device is newer than 2022, it won't work yet. However, you can install a newer kernel (mine, above is 6.3.0). I had to do this to get the WiFi working on my Thinkpad p14s. This is quite simple and safe to do, and completely reversible if there are problems.

There's a chance if the WiFi card is particularly new or obscure, that it won't work at all currently. We're waiting on the company, or more likely a talented volunteer, to write the drivers.

In this case, you may need to buy a USB WiFi adapter, for example TP-Link USB Wifi. I had to do this with my Dad's laptop recently. Within the next year, he probably won't need it anymore, as the drivers for the internal one will likely exist.