Several settings missing, no internet, function key unresponsive, help

[LostInDigitalSauce]

Hello, I am still very new to Linux and have encountered some major issues with one of my laptops and I honestly don't know where to even begin getting it sorted. The problem already popped up sometime around October last year, but I just haven't had the opportunity to tackle it until now.

It's an Asus ROG Strix gaming laptop with Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS + Windows 10 dual boot. The Linux Kernel version is 6.14.0-33-generic
(Edit: added specs)
Hardware model - ASUSTek COMPUTER INC. ROG Strix G513RM_G513RM
Processor - AMD Ryzen 7 6800H with Radeon Graphics x 16
Firmware version - G513RM.327
Internet:
Device 1 - MEDIATEK MT7922 802.11ax PCI Express Wireless Network Adapter
Device 2 - Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE

As stated in the title, the main problem is that at some point it booted up with several settings options missing and a complete inability to connect to the internet, neither wi-fi nor ethernet cable worked. Thus I have not been able to have it run any updates that might help fix the issues. In the settings menu there is no wi-fi section anymore, network doesn't have the wired option, just VPN and Proxy, bluetooth is unavailable. Also anything that requires the function key is gone, even the touchpad is unresponsive.

I would really appreciate any help figuring out what went wrong and how to fix it. Idk if the laptop sometimes going weeks without being in use could somehow affect it, or if it's one of the pitfalls of dualboot. I am just not familiar enough with the system and it already takes me 3+ hours fixing issues that occasionally pop up, but with this one I am just a bit too overwhelmed.

I will gladly provide any other info needed. Thank you for your time.

 

[f33dm3bits]

Welcome @LostInDigitalSauce!

It'll be useful if you share what exact hardware you have in your laptop. Another thing I would suggest is you try PikaOS it has the lastest software and kernel and is Debian based and has some extra tools that Ubuntu doesn't and doesn't have some of the downsides of Ubuntu.

PikaOS Linux

PikaOS - Your new Linux distro for gaming and beyond!

wiki.pika-os.com

They have a Gnome desktop environment(DE) iso which you get a MAC-like look people say and they have a KDE-Plasma desktop environment(DE) which you get a Windows workflow experience, as in classin desktop with icons and start menu.
If you don't like PikaOS I would try Nobora, they have several different iso's with different DE's as well.

Nobara Linux | The Nobara Project

Nobara is a Fedora-based experience tuned for gaming, streaming, and content creation — with everything ready out of the box.

nobaraproject.org

The reason why I'm advising this I'm guessing it may be a brand new laptop where the network adapter doesn't have kernel support yet with the Ubuntu kernel you are running. The other option it could be a Mediatek device which is known to not work for a lot of people.

 

[MikeWalsh]

@f33dm3bits :-

It could also simply be a crap ISO download, Maarten. It happens more often than many people are prepared to admit to....

I will admit that "gaming" laptops often come with some decidedly non-standard hardware!


Mike.

 

[f33dm3bits]

It could also simply be a crap ISO download, Maarten. It happens more often than many people are prepared to admit to....

True.

I will admit that "gaming" laptops often come with some decidedly non-standard hardware!

With gaming laptops I mostly recommend using a distribution with the latest software for that reason, as with a newer kernel the chance is higher that a non-standard hardware device might have the drivers for it.

 

[LostInDigitalSauce]

Welcome @LostInDigitalSauce!

It'll be useful if you share what exact hardware you have in your laptop. Another thing I would suggest is you try PikaOS it has the lastest software and kernel and is Debian based and has some extra tools that Ubuntu doesn't and doesn't have some of the downsides of Ubuntu.

PikaOS Linux

PikaOS - Your new Linux distro for gaming and beyond!

wiki.pika-os.com

They have a Gnome desktop environment(DE) iso which you get a MAC-like look people say and they have a KDE-Plasma desktop environment(DE) which you get a Windows workflow experience, as in classin desktop with icons and start menu.
If you don't like PikaOS I would try Nobora, they have several different iso's with different DE's as well.

Nobara Linux | The Nobara Project

Nobara is a Fedora-based experience tuned for gaming, streaming, and content creation — with everything ready out of the box.

nobaraproject.org

The reason why I'm advising this I'm guessing it may be a brand new laptop where the network adapter doesn't have kernel support yet with the Ubuntu kernel you are running. The other option it could be a Mediatek device which is known to not work for a lot of people.

Hardware model - ASUSTek COMPUTER INC. ROG Strix G513RM_G513RM
Processor - AMD Ryzen 7 6800H with Radeon Graphics x 16
Firmware version - G513RM.327

The laptop also isn't that new, I believe it was bought sometime mid 2022, but was originally only using Windows, didn't do the Linux install until around mid 2025, and it worked without issue for at least a few months. I also used the exact same Ubuntu install flash I used for my current main laptop and that one never had issues this bad. Current laptop is newer, was bought in march last year and solely runs Ubuntu, no dual boot, it is a different Asus machine though and a "weaker" gaming laptop compared to the other, so the hardware is different, but yea besides the occasional hiccup here n there it's never gone this wrong. I might be comparing apples to oranges here, but just sharing my observations with both machines in case it's relevant.

If possible I would like to simply try fixing this without switching to a different OS, but I still appreciate the suggestions and will keep them in mind as it is useful to know which OS might prove better in the long run. For now though it's better for me if I could get Ubuntu to cooperate.

 

[Condobloke]

G'day LostInDigitalSauce, Welcome to Linux.org

My first instinct was to reinstall...either the Ubuntu or another distro

Specs of the pc would be a great help

 

[f33dm3bits]

Doing a quick search it looks like this laptop has MediaTek wifi adapter and a Realtek ethernet adapter. I've seen a lot of posts of those sometimes not work correctly on Linux. I can't find what specific one is in your laptop.

If possible I would like to simply try fixing this without switching to a different OS, but I still appreciate the suggestions and will keep them in mind as it is useful to know which OS might prove better in the long run. For now though it's better for me if I could get Ubuntu to cooperate.

I would still first create a bootable flash drive with both PikaOS and Nobaro to boot from there to see if your ethernet and wifi adapters do get picked up there, you can do that with Ventoy so that you just use one flash drive to boot multiple isos. That way you will at least know if they work there or not and if it works you will be able to see as what device it shows up as and what driver it's using and then we could see if we can find a way to make it work on Ubuntu. Live booting means booting from an iso with an environment that isn't installed onto your driver.

 

[KGIII]

neither wi-fi nor ethernet cable worked.

This could be a quick start/quick boot thing from Windows. I forget what Windows calls it at the moment.

Basically, the computer isn't really being shut down. It's a bit like hibernating. Windows will have put those devices into a sleep state, which can't be changed by Linux. You have to do a proper shut down and restart.

(If that is indeed the problem.)

 

[Alexzee]

@f33dm3bits :-

It could also simply be a crap ISO download, Maarten. It happens more often than many people are prepared to admit to....

I will admit that "gaming" laptops often come with some decidedly non-standard hardware!


Mike.

Agreed bro. Checking the integrity of the .iso is essential.

 

[Brickwizard]

MediaTek wifi adapter

These are usually based on a modified RTL88** chipset, which sometimes works but more often doesn't

gaming laptop with Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS + Windows 10

If you still have Ubuntu, run from the terminal [copy and paste if you can] inxi -Nn and look for the full wi fi product name/number and post back, there are several community drivers for various Mediatek products, so we can look for one,

to install any operating system to a laptop it is recommended that you , have the mains power connected and on, you have the machine connected to the internet this is best done with an Ethernet cable direct to the modem, by teatherd mobile phone, or some distributions will ask for your wi-fi credentials when installing [but only if it has drivers available]

if you have hybrid [twin ]graphics you may have to disable the gaming card whilst installing

WARNING when multi booting any operating system in a windows multi boot situation, be aware windows security updates will often re-enable quick-start and this will block all other systems until you disable it again

when you switch on do you get the Ubuntu grub screen? [see pict below] if you do then open the advanced settings and try using the repair option

 

[LostInDigitalSauce]

If you still have Ubuntu, run from the terminal [copy and paste if you can] inxi -Nn and look for the full wi fi product name/number and post back, there are several community drivers for various Mediatek products, so we can look for one,

Device 1 - MEDIATEK MT7922 802.11ax PCI Express Wireless Network Adapter
Device 2 - Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE
Also claims that neither of them have drivers atm.

The installation itself was not the problem, generally everything went and worked fine for a while. Then just one day after it's been sitting shut off for a while we booted it up to this load of issues. Internet used to work fine and everything else before that.

Honestly not sure if this machine has hybrid graphics, but I can check if there's a terminal code that lets me do that. I did poke around a bit and does at least seem to have two different graphics devices, Nvidia and Radeon.

Confirmed quick-start has already been disabled when I checked.

I do have access to the grub menu, though not entirely sure what to do from there. I checked through the recovery mode options, did you mean the dpkg option? Or to try networking? I just wanna double check before I try anything as I've never messed around with recovery options on any PC before and don't wanna mess stuff up.

 

[LostInDigitalSauce]

This could be a quick start/quick boot thing from Windows. I forget what Windows calls it at the moment.

Basically, the computer isn't really being shut down. It's a bit like hibernating. Windows will have put those devices into a sleep state, which can't be changed by Linux. You have to do a proper shut down and restart.

(If that is indeed the problem.)

Sadly not as simple, I checked and that option was already disabled, so it should be shutting down properly.

 

[LostInDigitalSauce]

G'day LostInDigitalSauce, Welcome to Linux.org

My first instinct was to reinstall...either the Ubuntu or another distro

Specs of the pc would be a great help

Added the specs now:
Hardware model - ASUSTek COMPUTER INC. ROG Strix G513RM_G513RM
Processor - AMD Ryzen 7 6800H with Radeon Graphics x 16
Firmware version - G513RM.327
Also network devices:
Device 1 - MEDIATEK MT7922 802.11ax PCI Express Wireless Network Adapter
Device 2 - Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE

Lots of people trying to help me already but figured I'd still reply to you in case you have any ideas with that info.

 

[Brickwizard]

hybrid graphics, but I can check i

inxi -G

 

[LostInDigitalSauce]

inxi -G

 

[Brickwizard]

from what i have read the MEDIATEK MT7922 should work with kernel drivers from 6.14 and newer, but here are other problems that arise with mediateck, one is their reputation for changing components and keeping the same part number, another is dual booting with windows locks the wi-fi to windows only, if this is what your doing, check both quick-start and secure boot are off and do a full power restart and try again

 

[Brickwizard]

View attachment 29924

Hybrid graphics, yes

 

[LostInDigitalSauce]

from what i have read the MEDIATEK MT7922 should work with kernel drivers from 6.14 and newer, but here are other problems that arise with mediateck, one is their reputation for changing components and keeping the same part number, another is dual booting with windows locks the wi-fi to windows only, if this is what your doing, check both quick-start and secure boot are off and do a full power restart and try again

Confirmed that quick start and secure boot are already disabled. I remember disabling secure boot since before installing Ubuntu on this machine. No change upon full restart.

 

[f33dm3bits]

Device 2 - Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE

Here's a post from the Ubutnu forums where someone got that same Realtek network card working.

Realtek RTL8125 Ubuntu 24.04 Ethernet Fix -- r8125 new driver; purge r8125-dkms

Fix for Realtek RTL8125 Not Getting IP Address on Ubuntu 24.04+ I ran into a frustrating issue where my Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE interface wouldn’t work under Ubuntu 24.04. After lots of trial and error (and help from others and even ChatGPT), I found a method that finally worked. I’m sharing...

discourse.ubuntu.com

 

[f33dm3bits]

Device 1 - MEDIATEK MT7922 802.11ax PCI Express Wireless Network Adapter

I have a Mediatek wifi adapter on my system.

08:00.0 Network controller: MEDIATEK Corp. MT7921K (RZ608) Wi-Fi 6E 80MHz

But it's probably a different device from yours, it uses the following kernel module.

 Kernel driver in use: mt7921e
 Kernel modules: mt7921e

The module is located here. on the file-system.

/usr/lib/modules/6.18.6-arch1-1/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/mt7921/mt7921e.ko.zst

You could check if it's listed here on your Ubuntu 24.04 installation, it with the terminal or by browsing to the location with a file-manager.

ls /usr/lib/modules/6.14.0-33-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek

Then "mt7922" should be listed there or just share what you see there.