After all these years, Ubuntu still finds a way to stink.

[Tominator]

I remember asking online for free Ubuntu, many years ago. I filled out a form. I was surprised when I got an install CD in the mail. I was in South Carolina and I think that CD came from Sweden. I didn't know anything about computers except how to replace some parts on them. I bought a few computers on EBAY and loaded my copy of Windows on them. Sold them locally and made a little money. It didn't take long before MS called me a pirate, and put an end to my little enterprise by locking out that copy of Windows. That's why I did a little online research and read about Ubuntu. I started using Ubuntu and sold about 10 used computers that were loaded only with Ubuntu. I quit selling computers but I kept right on using Ubuntu, exclusively. As far as I was concerned the biggest problem with Ubuntu was getting it to work with various devices. That was a lack of drivers problem. To say i didn't know anything about commands is the absolute truth. I don't know much more now about them.
Back in the day if I had a problem I would read some forum entries, do some Googling, copy and paste some commands into terminal, and then go buy a device from a list of what worked with Ubuntu. After all these years I have still never learned the commands. But I have gotten better at assessing which online solutions might be worth me trying. YouTube has been a big help. Monkey see, monkey do. That's me. To the point that I made in the title above. Why in the hell has there not been an update in the past year or two, that fixes Ubuntu not being able to use Wifi? Threw a desktop away in disgust, and bought another last week. It came loaded with Windows 10 and Wifi. It works great. Today I got around to downloading 22.04.2 onto the machine. With the help of Youtube I managed to partition the disk, and install Ubuntu into that partition. It worked great, Wifi and everything else. Then I made the mistake of updating the Ubuntu. Keep in mind that I had already made this same mistake on two other machines. As soon as the update was completed, and the machine restarted, no Wifi. The machine and the Ubuntu ,see the Wifi, it just cannot connect. Widows wifi still works fine. I think I've seen at least 50 solutions online. Tried a bunch on that old machine I threw away. This is why I say my beloved Ubuntu, that I have been so faithful to, has found another way to stink. Apparently this way cannot be fixed with an update.

I did quick replies and they did not post to the thread. The essence of my replies is that the wifi worked on these machines until they were updated or upgraded. The new unit: HP Elite 7900 Desktop PC Package, Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 8GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive, DVD-RW, Wi-Fi, Windows 10

[QIII]

How about less of a rant and more of a request for assistance and some information about your system?

You haven't posted since 2009, so it is clear that you have not been asking for help here.

[Morbius1]

And please see this: https://www.usu.edu/markdamen/writingguide/15paragr.htm

[VMC]

And please see this: https://www.usu.edu/markdamen/writingguide/15paragr.htm

Indeed! Difficult to read or understand. His title says it all in less verbiage.

[TheFu]

People are here to help. We generally like Ubuntu, but we realize that for new users, it is easy to blame the wrong people for problems. There are plenty of problems caused by every different group involved, but always remember that Linux distros aren't created by 1 company. There are 100K different teams involved and most don't work for Canonical.

As for wifi ... you've been around long enough to realize that there are 1000 different wifi hardware makers in the world, each with different ideas about what wifi should and shouldn't accomplish. Almost all of them don't test on Linux. Of course, to be viable, they have to test and provide drivers with MS-Windows, so they do. This applies to most hardware ... they target only MS-Windows and the fact that Linux happens to work, at all, is because either that specific company decided Linux support was important or because some volunteer coders, with the necessary skills, decided they wanted to make a specific driver, for a specific version, of a specific wifi chip.

Really new or niche hardware doesn't get moved to the top of the list for gaining volunteer help, unless the actual person doing the work has that exact hardware. We see this a bunch with really cheap laptops. A few friends picked up some "Chinese Specials" $60-$99 laptops from Walmart last year. Most things worked, but not wifi. Seems the laptop maker had used the cheapest wifi supplier in China ... which provided the lowest price chips possible that nobody had ever hear about before. 3 of these people got similar laptops - no working wifi. 2 returned the laptops, but one was stubborn and started watching for wifi driver support in the Linux forums to happen. It took about 6 months and those drivers aren't included in the kernel, so they don't "just work", but he has to pull them as source code from github, compile them, and build a module for the wifi to work. He likes to tinker, so he doesn't seem to mind.

If you are having issues with Ubuntu, there are lots of other OSes and distros to try. Feel free. Find the distro that works best for your needs. Sometimes the best distro for me is Ubuntu, but not always. I bet all the other long time users here are the same. Use what works best, when it works for the purpose.

As for the networking of the installer and post-install differences, I've been puzzled by that issue too. I avoid it by not using wifi and sticking with well-supported wired ethernet cards. I suspect most people don't want to or cannot do that. The only idea I have is that the installation team is different from the ongoing support team, so there are different drivers included for each, but I really don't know.

Anyway, if you'd like help, you'll need to post some facts about the system and the specific hardware that isn't working. For networking, any of these commands are helpful. We don't need more than 1.

lspci -vk |egrep --after-context=8 'Ethernet|Network'
lspci -vk |perl -lne 'print if /Ethernet|Network/ .. /^[\w]*$/' 
sudo lsusb -v  |egrep 'Ether|Network'
lsmod |grep usbnet
inxi -N
sudo lshw -sanitize -C network

There is a bit of a chicken/egg problem. The easiest to use commands aren't installed by default in Ubuntu, so you'll likely have to use one of the first 2 commands in the list above. Once you get networking working again, I'd strongly recommend installing lshw and inxi to make solving other issues easier.

If you just want to complain, that's fine too. We all enjoy a good rant.

[VMC]

A few friends picked up some "Chinese Specials" $60-$99 laptops from Walmart last year. Most things worked, but not wifi. Seems the laptop maker had used the cheapest wifi supplier in China ... which provided the lowest price chips possible that nobody had ever hear about before. 3 of these people got similar laptops - no working wifi. 2 returned the laptops, but one was stubborn and started watching for wifi driver support in the Linux forums to happen. It took about 6 months and those drivers aren't included in the kernel, so they don't "just work", but he has to pull them as source code from github, compile them, and build a module for the wifi to work. He likes to tinker, so he doesn't seem to mind.

If those Chinese Specials was Gateway, which I bought for $149, my wifi works perfectly. In fact everything works great!

[monkeybrain20122]

In fact the cheap Chinese wifi chips usually work out of the box since they are adhere to the most basic and therefore standard specifications, same goes with dongos. Usually it is the more fancy stuffs that could cause problems since they may require manufacturer provided drivers.

[zebra2]

In fact the cheap Chinese wifi chips usually work out of the box

Yep! Ubuntu still has the same price as when I started (free), If you're doing free to start with then cheap is second best. I remember using Ndiswrapper to make wifi drivers. Required a bit of time and testing but it was still free. So I agree that Ubuntu hasn't improved since then. My wife seems pretty happy using her Lenovo 15in Laptop with Lunar loaded so if she is happy I'm not going to complain about how much it stinks.

Incidentally, I also have one of those Gateway Windows systems that sold for $129. It on the floor leaning against the wall by my desk waiting for tax season. It wasn't free but it was indeed cheap and easier than a dual boot. It will also run all of the same open source software that I have on my Mantic system. The Windows system also stinks but It is is cheap enough and works pretty good with Libre Office, Claws email, Brave browser etc.

Life is good. Enjoy it!

[poorguy]

Never understood and never will understand how you can complain about something that's free.

No one forced anyone to use Ubuntu that's a user choice.

Unhappy with Ubuntu use something else.

I agree zebra2 Life is good. I Enjoy it.

[SeijiSensei]

I have one of these connected to my TV.

https://www.newegg.com/p/2SW-007T-00001

It has all Intel hardware except for a Realtek wifi adapter. I had no problems installing Kubuntu on my Dell laptop with all Intel parts, but on this device it didn't see the adapter. I fixed the problem by connecting the device to my router with an Ethernet cable and checking the "install third-party software" box during installation. Now it runs like a charm. Plays my collection of Steam games without breaking a sweat, too. Nice little box for cheap money.