Linux noob using mint for the first time, decided to boot from a flash drive before fully installing on my PC, just to try it out first. I’m having issues getting Wi-Fi to work during the live session though; clicking the Wi-Fi icon only brings up Network Settings and Network connections. Network connections lets me try to set it up manually, but I can’t figure out how to get it to connect after putting in all the info I can find for my Wi-Fi. Is this normal? Did I mess up the installation somehow, or is a drivers problem?

Hardware: HP laptop, AMD Ryzen 5 7520U w/ Radeon Graphics (Model # 15-fc0025dx). OS: Linux kernel 5.15.0-91 generic, Linux Mint version 21.3, Cinnamon version 6.0.4. Booted off a flash drive (live session).

edit: I also get the following screen when I try to shut my laptop down from the Mint boot:

  • fakeman_pretendname
    2·
    1 month ago

    Normally, the bit you clicked on would show a list of nearby possible WiFi connections - so it should be as simple as clicking the name of your WiFi and putting the password in. It’s fairly likely to be a driver issue.

    If you’re at the “testing from a live session” stage, you can try the “edge” version of Linux Mint linuxmint.com

    The edge version has a newer kernel with newer drivers for hardware - I guess they’re less tested/stable than the normal version, but I wouldn’t expect problems.

    Mint is (was?) based on Ubuntu Long-Term-Support versions (which use older, well-tested drivers instead of the newest), so you can sometimes end up with a case where, for example, it has the WiFi drivers for every WiFi card that existed up until 2022, but any WiFi card released since isn’t yet included by default - though it can be separately added, or a newer Kernel can be installed.

    Anyway, it might be worth testing the Mint Edge version, as a relatively quick and simple solution - less likely to succeed if the laptop is older.

    If you’re unlucky, there may be no working drivers (for a while), and you may have to use a USB WiFi Dongle for a little while.

    Is not definitely this, but it’s this often enough that is worth trying :)

    [Edit] Apologies, someone’s given roughly the same answer already. Still worth trying anyway :)