no WIFI

Post here if you are a new Porteus member and you're looking for some help.
Bob1414
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Post#1 by Bob1414 » 07 Apr 2021, 02:28

I can boot from USB into the latest 4.x Cinnamon. But using the GUI applet, I see no listing of available wifi connections to choose from. I only see that I can use ethernet.

lspci does show my RealTek 821CE wifi chipset. I have a Lenovo Lp340 laptop.

wifi start
gives a stacktrace referring to some missing filename in the command, and also bluez.org

----------

I also see notice that there is no use of the graphics card. I am stuck in 640x480. Windows often do not fit on the screen. Do I have to install drivers for the wifi and graphics? They're not builtin? I am able to watch videos on the HDD, I guess that doesn't require using the AMD Ryzen 5 with Radeon Mobile Gfx graphics card? Thanks.

Bob1414
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Post#2 by Bob1414 » 07 Apr 2021, 03:26

Secure Boot is disabled, btw

It is IdeaPad.

It seems this is a common problem: https://medium.com/@kimiyukiyukawa/inst ... 5d8ccb8a92

But the author of the driver won't publish a bin file, so you have to have Linux already running with an active internet connection in order to compile the driver that lets you have an active internet connection?

---------

I can almost swear that lspci shows it as 821CE, while it is really 8821CE.

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Ed_P
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Post#3 by Ed_P » 07 Apr 2021, 05:41

Ed

burdi01
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Post#4 by burdi01 » 07 Apr 2021, 09:24

The rtw88_8821CE driver is included in recent kernels -- IIRC starting with 5.8 or 5.9.
Alas the latest Porteus version (v5.0rc2) is still at kernel 5.4 ...
You may have a look at Forum > Community effort > Porteus Kernel Builder.
I think a new Porteus version (e.g. v5.0rc3 or v5.1) is long overdue.
:D

PS: Why does the Porteus website still guide new users to download Porteus v4.0?
:((

Bob1414
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Post#5 by Bob1414 » 07 Apr 2021, 12:37

Thanks kindly, burdi01. Is it not possible to get that one driver, just by itself, in a download somewhere?

I have spent *weeks* off and on trying to repair my Windows 10, which was badly damaged by a forced and unwanted update. At every turn, there has been nothing but installing and trying endless ways and means, all of which ended in many hours of frustration. Is Linux really going to be the same?

I'm giving feedback here, because I'd like to see millions of users leave Microsoft, and Linux thrive, but it is not the tiniest bit *easy from day one. All I want to do for now is run Firefox in a Linux from a USB.

I'll take a look at that thread. Maybe it will lead me to a bin file that I can just drop in to /modules. Thanks.

*easy... well, making the bootable USB was easy, but from there it's all been downhill. I don't think l've even seen a good tutorial with screen shots.

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Ed_P
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Post#6 by Ed_P » 07 Apr 2021, 16:29

burdi01 wrote:
07 Apr 2021, 09:24
I think a new Porteus version (e.g. v5.0rc3 or v5.1) is long overdue.
:D

PS: Why does the Porteus website still guide new users to download Porteus v4.0?
:((
Because that is the current production version of Porteus. 5.0 is still in development. And yes, long overdue. The pandemic hasn't helped and we've lost at least one developer.
Ed

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ncmprhnsbl
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Post#7 by ncmprhnsbl » 08 Apr 2021, 02:18

Bob1414 wrote:
07 Apr 2021, 12:37
I'll take a look at that thread. Maybe it will lead me to a bin file that I can just drop in to /modules. Thanks.
with linux, hardware drivers and the like are mostly in the kernel..
the good news is: changing a kernel in porteus is relatively simple.
1. choose a kernel form this topic: Porteus Kernel Builder .. something greater than 5.8 i guess , download it, unpack it (archive manager should do it)
2. the files you'll need are: vmlinuz (the kernel) and 000-kernel.xzm (firmware,drivers,etc)
3. with your filemanager (root if your usb is POSIX ie. not fat or ntfs formatted, otherwise guest should do),
first rename /mnt/<your usb>/boot/syslinux/vmlinuz to vmlinuz.bak, then do the same to /mnt/<your usb>/porteus/base/000-kernel.xzm > 000-kernel.xzm.bak
4. copy the new vmlinuz to /mnt/<your usb>/boot/syslinux and copy the new 000-kernel.xzm to /mnt/<your usb>/porteus/base/
5. reboot
6. if all goes well you can remove the old vmlinuz and 000-kernel.xzm

with luck, this may also fix the graphics issue as well..
Forum Rules : https://forum.porteus.org/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=44

raja
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Post#8 by raja » 08 Apr 2021, 12:10

Bob

Download this folder,
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1o7nwe ... w88_8821CE

place /firmware/rtw88 folder in /lib/firmware
place /modules/rtw88 folder in /lib/modules/kernelxxx/drivers/net/wireless
in rootcopy and reboot.
Linux Kernel-4.4.272 -32 bit; Linux Kernel-5.4.185 - 64 bit

Bob1414
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Post#9 by Bob1414 » 08 Apr 2021, 17:30

ncmprhnsbl wrote:
08 Apr 2021, 02:18
with luck, this may also fix the graphics issue as well..
ncmprhnsbl !!! That did work, and it fixed both the wifi and the graphics. I easily made the changes to vmlinuz and 000-kernel.xzm on the USB stick via Windows. Thank you. I will now be recommending Porteous to people who, like myself, want to gravitate away from Windows.

One related thing: I cannot change the resolution. When I try, Porteous drops out to a terminal screen reporting an error, then restarts back into the GUI at the same max resolution that I started with. Any way to fix that? Using randr didn't work, either.

Can I try out the different versions of Porteous like Xfce by swapping out my current 003-cinnamon.xzm in the base directory on the USB sticK? Cinnamon won't let me do persistence, which is necessary when I progress to use Porteous to replace Windows on a daily basis. Thanks again!

Bob1414
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Post#10 by Bob1414 » 08 Apr 2021, 17:41

raja wrote:
08 Apr 2021, 12:10
Bob

Download this folder,
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1o7nwe ... w88_8821CE

place /firmware/rtw88 folder in /lib/firmware
place /modules/rtw88 folder in /lib/modules/kernelxxx/drivers/net/wireless
in rootcopy and reboot.
Thank you, raja. I will attempt that shortly, and also see if it enables me to change screen resolution; and I'll let you know how it turns out. Can I make those changes be persistent in Cinnamon? I am booting off a USB stick when I need to use Porteous.

The file dates are today? Wow, if you uploaded that just to help me, then I very sincerely appreciate your generous assistance. Thank you.

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Post#11 by Ed_P » 08 Apr 2021, 18:26

Bob1414 wrote:
08 Apr 2021, 17:41
Can I make those changes be persistent in Cinnamon? I am booting off a USB stick when I need to use Porteous.
If Porteus is installed on the USB drive and the drive's file system is EXT the changes should be saved.
If Porteus is installed on the USB drive and the drive's file system is FAT32 the changes can be saved if you create a /changes/porteussave.dat file and add a changes= cheatcode to the porteus.cfg APPEND parm.
If Porteus is installed on the USB drive and the drive's file system is FAT32 and you don't want to create a save.dat file you can create a script to perform raja's steps and manually run it when you need to.

Options, options, .... :D
Ed

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Post#12 by roadie » 08 Apr 2021, 19:37

@Bob1414,

Here are some cheatcodes you could try on the boot command line:

Code: Select all

radeon.si_support=0 radeon.cik_support=0 amdgpu.si_support=1 amdgpu.cik_support=1 amdgpu.dc=1 amdgpu.dpm=1 amdgpu.modeset=1
I use the amdgpu.dc=0 with my graphics, the others I haven't had a need to try. You can use Porteus System Info to get the details of the card you're using, I believe it's a Vega whereas mine is Carrizo. The numbers used in the cheatcodes turn things on or off, a 0 will turn whatever off, a 1 will enable it.

As Ed_P say's, there are many options for persistence with any of the various desktops, I use rootcopy on a ext4 filesystem and find it works the best for me. I just make sure that anything I want saved regarding configurations, is copied into rootcopy before shutdown.

If you try out different kernels, I'm finding the 5.11.x series to much more stable than 5.12.x. With 5.12.x, the fan is constantly coming on, with 5.11.x, the laptop can sit all day and the fan is quiet.

Bob1414
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Distribution: Cinnamon 4 kernel5.11.13 p

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Post#13 by Bob1414 » 09 Apr 2021, 00:51

roadie wrote:
08 Apr 2021, 19:37
@Bob1414,

Here are some cheatcodes you could try on the boot command line:

Code: Select all

radeon.si_support=0 radeon.cik_support=0 amdgpu.si_support=1 amdgpu.cik_support=1 amdgpu.dc=1 amdgpu.dpm=1 amdgpu.modeset=1
I use the amdgpu.dc=0 with my graphics, the others I haven't had a need to try. You can use Porteus System Info to get the details of the card you're using, I believe it's a Vega whereas mine is Carrizo. The numbers used in the cheatcodes turn things on or off, a 0 will turn whatever off, a 1 will enable it.

As Ed_P say's, there are many options for persistence with any of the various desktops, I use rootcopy on a ext4 filesystem and find it works the best for me. I just make sure that anything I want saved regarding configurations, is copied into rootcopy before shutdown.

If you try out different kernels, I'm finding the 5.11.x series to much more stable than 5.12.x. With 5.12.x, the fan is constantly coming on, with 5.11.x, the laptop can sit all day and the fan is quiet.
Thanks, roadie. I'll give it a try. Yes, I have Radeon Vega.

Yep, I used 5.12 and that's the 1st time ever that my laptop fan was on all the time. Back to the drawing board, I guess.

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