I am currently trying to escape Windows and want to switch to Linux Mint as my daily driver.

However when I first tried it on a spare laptop everything worked except the WiFi. A kernel update fixed it because it also has ethernet.

My question is can I boot to a live USB on the ethernet laptop, update the kernel on the live USB and use that on the other laptop to install mint with working WiFi?

I tried to use the internet from my phone via Bluetooth but it was so slow it was unusable.

If this is a dumb question I apologise as I’ve been using Linux for less than a day at this point.

  • rmrf@lemmy.mlEnglish
    0·
    3 days ago

    Not that I don’t believe you, but how are you sure that a kernel update is what fixed the Wi-Fi issue? Can you tell me how you came to that conclusion?

    Also, have you tested the boot drive on the other laptop? It’s very likely that it has a different Wi-Fi device and therefore uses a different driver in the kernel. Let me know and I’ll help you as much as I can 🙂

    • Stormy1701@lemmy.zipOPEnglish
      0·
      3 days ago

      EDIT.

      I solved the issue. The Asus laptop uses a MediaTek wifi and bluetooth chip that isn’t supported by Linux. I’ve ordered a TP-Link mini USB adapter so hopefully that works.

      When I installed Mint on the laptop with the ethernet port there was no WiFi adapters found. So I updated the kernel, restarted and WiFi was working.

      I used the same live USB on both laptops.

      Unfortunately my other laptop has no ethernet port so I must wait for a USB dongle to be delivered.