Solved Can anyone recommend an old laptop?

[Beachcomber]

(Tell me if any of that stuff is revealing my name, address, blood type or shoe size!!)

 

[Brickwizard]

thanks, I didn't need the full inxi [as its the same basically as mine]

look at the bottom right cluster of icons, from the far right you have clock, battery, audio [will look like a speaker] and internet as you are on cable it will probably look like 3 boxes stacked on each other, REMOVE the cable and it should change to a fan shape, left click and it should give you a list of available wi-fi networks, find yours, select and enter, at this stage you will need to either A] enter the passcode manually, or B] press the pair button on your router, and it should connect [if not the machine may have hard block [flight mode] enabled inn the bios]


I have my 5490 in front of me at the moment as well as the HP which I am using]

 

[Beachcomber]

There are no wireless options, only the wired connection. It doesn't change to the fan shape, it's just two opposing arrows with a cross in front.

 

[Brickwizard]

the double arrows usually indicate hard block for the 5490 , next to the F12 key is the prt scr [print screen key] this also operates the hard block by pushing the Fn key [3 to left of space bar] and Prt scr key at the same time

 

[Brickwizard]

if at any time you need the manual for your machine, you can download from https://dl.dell.com/topicspdf/latitude-14-5490-laptop_owners-manual_en-us.pdf

 

[Brickwizard]

Once you have set up your machine, you then have 2 important things to do
turn on the firewall [it will be installed but not enabled]
install and run a rescue application [timeshift may be installed and needs setting up, or you will need to download it from the software manager.]

there are 2 differences between our machines [otherwise the inxi are the same] you have a 2280 SSD and I have a 2280Nvme as our main drives. And you have installed Ubuntu based Mint 22, I use the lighter and slightly quicker Mint LMDE6

 

[Beachcomber]

Thanks, both done now. Still no wifi though. I've shut down the laptop and turned off the router, and I've also installed something called 'bcmwl-kernel-source' package using synaptic package manager (after googling for other solutions). Rebooted, and still nothing.

Another possible solution I can see involves disabling secure boot. I'm not sure, a) how to do that, and b) whether that's a good idea.

 

[Brickwizard]

from off
turn on the dell whist jiggling F2. this will open the settings page under general ... boot sequence check that UEFI is on, then go down to secure boot make open and find secure boot enable, open and turn off secure boot, now look down for power management, open and find wireless radio control, open and make sure neither of the options are enabled ,finaly look down for wireless.. open and find wireless switch , make sure all are enabled, then do the same for wireless device enabled, then save and re-boot and try the wireless again

 

[Beachcomber]

Thanks for your help on this Brickwizard. I've done that, and still have nothing

 

[Brickwizard]

'bcmwl-kernel-source' package using synaptic package manager

that will have done nothing for you s its the drivers for the BCM43 range of wi-fi [totally different make that dell use to use]

 

[Brickwizard]

If you have time try downloading Mint LMDE6 to your pendrive and run that in test mode to see if it works with your wi-fi

 

[Beachcomber]

I'll give it a try tomorrow. Need to summon the energy to do it all over again!

 

[KGIII]

I'd like to get my internet connection sorted so I can do the multimedia codecs bit.

If I recall correctly, that's not usually required with Mint. One of their 'defining features' is (was? should still be?) that it came with things like proprietary codecs already installed, making it easier for end users.

I do believe you just tick the buttons during installation and it adds the codecs for you. You do need to enable it, however.

I'm pretty sure...

Hmm... Google seems to agree with me.

 

[Brickwizard]

no rush just a thought, as it loaded with wi-fi no problem on mine, how do you like the new lappy so far

 

[MikeWalsh]

that will have done nothing for you s its the drivers for the BCM43 range of wi-fi [totally different make that dell use to use]

@Brickwizard :-

I'm guessing there must have been changes between the e5000's and the e6000's.....'cos I have Centrino here! Or are ya saying yours and Beachcomber's machines DON'T have Broadcom..?

I know that, here in Puppy, so long as I have things set correctly in the BIOS/UEFI, and am using a k6-series kernel, the Centrino just springs straight into life and connects immediately; no muss, no fuss. NO issues.


Mike.

 

[Brickwizard]

Or are ya saying yours and Beachcomber's machines DON'T have Broadcom..?

No we don't, they seemed to have changed to intel around 2017 I don't have an exact date, it threw me as well I automatically installed the BCM 43 pack and was startled when it didn't work, teach me to read the full spec or run inxi before I just jump in.

 

[Beachcomber]

how do you like the new lappy so far

I like it! It's nice and neat. And the mouse pad is way less sensitive than my old work Dell, so I think we'll get along fine. I'm liking the Mint too, so far. I was worried it was going to be inexplicable, but I think I'll manage to find my way around it alright!

 

[Brickwizard]

I think I may have found a fix for the WI-Fi if you want to give it a shot,

ok then try the following


open a terminal and copy pate the following command and enter [you will need to use your password]
sudo apt update && sudo apt install firmware-iwlwifi -y

 

[MikeWalsh]

@Brickwizard :-

No we don't, they seemed to have changed to intel around 2017 I don't have an exact date, it threw me as well I automatically installed the BCM 43 pack and was startled when it didn't work, teach me to read the full spec or run inxi before I just jump in.

Yeah; I admit to being somewhat surprised myself. I knew Dell had had a long association with Broadcom, and since I could no longer use the NetGear PCMCIA card I'd successfully used with both the ancient Inspiron AND the D630 Lat - this Lat doesn't have the right slot - I'd resigned myself to having to use up one of the USB ports with a NetGear WNA-3100 USB wifi adapter (which uses a rather 'flaky' build of the 8192CU chipset.)

(I do NOT enjoy messing about with Broadcom, 'cos Puppy doesn't use the mainstream repos the way most do. We rely on a select few Puppians who are good at compiling drivers, etc., to supply what's needed when it comes to the BCM stuff.)

You could have knocked me down with a feather when on the first boot with the E6430 - a heavily customized & upgraded build of Xenialpup64, running the k6.1.92 kernel (we always run 'huge' kernel builds, with way more built-in than usual) - the wifi just sprang straight into life. Connecting to our WAN was a breeze, and worked straight away. I thought, "Yay! This is great..."

It wasn't until I had a scan through Puppy's native system specs tool - PupSysInfo - that I discovered the E6430 was using Intel's 'Centrino' wifi tech. "Well, well, well", I thought to myself. "That's 'one for the books'..."

A pleasant surprise, nonetheless..!!


Mike.

 

[Beachcomber]

I just switched it on this morning and... It's Working!! I hadn't done your fix yet @Brickwizard, so I don't know what changed. Thanks again for all your help!