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Windows 10 support "ends" in a few weeks, trying to rig my old HP notebook up to Mint or something just in case it takes down my desktop

Hit a classic problem of the wi-fi adapter not seeing most available networks. Troubleshooting suggested checking to make sure it can handle 5Ghz networks. With some searching I see it has a "dual band" adapter, and set it to prefer 5GHz band... and it still doesn't see my wifi.

I can't mess with the router too much tonight, house is busy with netflix slop.

My question, would a Linux distro be able to take advantage of the 5Ghz band? Assuming Windows is just being unhelpful.

I got it hooked up to ethernet now seeing if updates help. I haven't used this laptop since 2020.

I just want to find a way to make sure the hardware works before I switch the OS.

Windows 10 support "ends" in a few weeks, trying to rig my old HP notebook up to Mint or something just in case it takes down my desktop Hit a classic problem of the wi-fi adapter not seeing most available networks. Troubleshooting suggested checking to make sure it can handle 5Ghz networks. With some searching I see it has a "dual band" adapter, and set it to prefer 5GHz band... and it still doesn't see my wifi. I can't mess with the router too much tonight, house is busy with netflix slop. My question, would a Linux distro be able to take advantage of the 5Ghz band? Assuming Windows is just being unhelpful. I got it hooked up to ethernet now seeing if updates help. I haven't used this laptop since 2020. I just want to find a way to make sure the hardware works before I switch the OS.

(post is archived)

[–] • 4 pts

lspci that shit and check if the WiFi card is properly detected, and uses the correct drivers, not some generic compatible ones.

[–] • 1 pt

Thanks for that tip, I'm a noob at linux but it really seems like a good time for me to go for it again.

[–] • 3 pts

Get drunk and piss on the keyboard.

[–] • 2 pts

Windows updates flooded the hard drive, so that option is on the table. This is what happens when you buy a $150 laptop and wait until it's 9 years old to use it

[–] • 3 pts

Which distro. Which kernel. Do you know what chipset the wifi adapter uses.

Lots of variables. Short answers: Yes, linux can use 5ghz no problem. The biggest issue is the wifi adapter itself. Intel adapters are usually plug and play. Realtek...depends. Broadcom....coin flip. If it IS in fact the drivers...you can manually hunt down the drivers and install yourself depending on the distro. I'd reccomend trying a thumb stick with different distros and see if ANY of them recognize off the bat because wifi drivers that aren't explictly opensource can be finicky

[–] • 1 pt

Thumb driving distros is the plan, just looking for leads to cut down on time messing around. It's an Intel wifi adapter circa 2016. I bought the laptop basically as a typewriter during the plandemic, it used to connect to wifi, but we replaced the router a year ago.

I was planning on starting with Mint since I haven't done Linux since probably 2005.

[–] • 2 pts

Grab a copy of endeavour OS and attempt it on a thumb drive Arch base, very close to steam OS. Or hell, even grab a copy of Steam OS itself. They both have the same driver support at the end of the day.

But is right here.

You need to give us a bit of info about the laptop at least. make model would help a great deal.

Sadly, there are simply some chipsets that are not supported well. The manufacturers dont offer information into how it works.

[–] • 0 pt (edited )

[Redacted]

[–] • 1 pt

Mint will MOST LIKELY be the most compatable distro. Fedora is also very user friendly out of the box. Arch will be the one you will be able to brute force, but has the "hard" sterotype for a reason. Plus you'll probably have to get drivers from the AUR, so use at your own risk

[–] • 2 pts

try Endeavour and learn YAY. Yay makes arch pretty easy for AUR support. its a damn good swiss army knife, but it still does fail occasionally.

[–] • 1 pt

I'm going to go against the grain here but my guess is that you're never going to get it to run very well on a 9 year old $150 laptop. Just too outdated. Not enough power, not enough memory, not enough anything. Just my initial thought.

[–] • 1 pt

You're probably right. It's nice to have something to practice on first, rather than buying a new machine and going in blind though.

[–] • 1 pt

I don't think you need to get something real new, just something that's not antique either.

[–] • 1 pt

I put Mint on an old Dell laptop ( about an 11 year old machine at this point) and it worked perfectly.

[–] • 1 pt

You don't need to migrate. If you want to use windows go here: https://windowsxlite.com/

[–] • 1 pt

I can't mess with the router too much tonight, house is busy with netflix slop.

Sounds like the perfect time to mess with the router...

My question, would a Linux distro be able to take advantage of the 5Ghz band?

It should, are you testing it with a live USB or have you actually installed Mint? I've seen not everything work with the live USB before, usually the WiFi wasn't working. I recommend installing Mint and seeing if that's the difference if you haven't and there's nothing of value on the laptop (you've backed it up, right?)

This tech support is offered as-is.

[–] • 0 pt

LiveUSB is a great idea, thanks! Grandkid is binge watching Grey's Anatomy tonight, it could be worse. Hopefully I have more time tomorrow to work, after work.

[–] • 1 pt

In fairness, my experience with a system about that age and Linux is it works right out of the box.

[–] • 1 pt

Linux is getting stupid sometimes. I tried to find a .deb file for the rt2800 driver package, not available but you can install this driver using the package manager online. This was sparky linux that fucked me. Yeah online install for my network adapter, morons had a package and it was removed since it can be installed online. What happened to common sense, make a deb then download with other OS that has internet on same system then put it so I can copy to new OS partition to install, but you can install it online or through the terminal with apt online. Circle jerk tech support?

[–] • 1 pt

I put linux on a dell studio 1535 (from 2008) for fun a few years ago. I don't recall having any issues installing it, but storage space was limited obviously. I still have that thing in a closet somewhere.

[–] • 1 pt (edited )

If it's not working you could always change the wifi card in the laptop. It's super easy. Open up the laptop and find the wifi card; it's about the size of a book of matches. There's two tiny wires with brass colored tips that connect to the mobo. Remove those gently then pull out the card and replace.

Easy peasy.

I'm using a 2013 dell with linux mint (installed right over win whatever) and it works a treat. Good luck!

[–] • 1 pt

Linux has a learning curve, but it's pretty short.

I preferred Fedora, but Antifa agitators have taken over so much of the Debian and Fedora that I ditched for Arch.

Dhh released omarchy, and it is a radical departure from Windows, but I think with a little effort you can figure it out.

https://omarchy.org/

Almost all of the Intel wireless nics are fully supported on Linux. Can you give us the lspci Output?

"sudo lspci -v"

[–] • 1 pt

Also, can you send us the output of dmesg?

[–] • 0 pt

https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/dmesg.1.html

First I've heard of this "kernel ring buffer", guess I've never really looked into how it works. "predates detailed records [of Linux development]"

Sounds like it's a console.log confined to a certain number of lines before overwriting.

What would the dmesg potentiallyclarify?

[–] • 0 pt

Dmesg has a log of.devices,.drivers, etc.

It will give us clues about the interface with the firmware and device initiation.

Alternatively,.you could put the output into an air and ask if it knows why you cannot use your wireless device.

lspci will show device IDs connected to PCI and pcie busses. lsusb will do the same for usb.

[–] • 0 pt

" Antifa agitators have taken over ... the Debian and Fedora"

Jfc, good to know ~

[–] • 0 pt

Yeah. Mandriva and a few others are specifically non-Woke.

[–] • 0 pt

I'm attempting for format USB with Cinnamon, feels like a hundred steps. Downloaded the .iso, and the prog to verify it, verified that program, did the authenticity and integrity checks

Failed for a moment, then learned to save the .iso somewhere besides the USB stick, downloaded Rufus to reformat USb with the bootloader... waiting on that.

It's been fun but damn it's all so serious!

[–] • 1 pt

Fedora has a media writer, idk if Debian had one.

Rufus is pretty good, iirc.. I am so accustomed to the manual steps that I usually end up using them.

The steps are how we do it manually. It's amazing that this shit exists and it will eventually drive you crazy that such tools don't exist on other platforms.

[–] • 0 pt

I flashed the .iso to the USB stick (1hr+)

Flagged the laptop BIOS to boot from USB first, disabled secure boot mode.

Error: not a bootable drive. The thumb drive is 8GB