Bluetooth and wifi queries
Hi All,
I'm new to to Trisquel and free software in general. I've recently install Trisquel on my Acer 4752 laptop and am loving the operating system so far. I ran into a problem (I've submitted the problem to the Issues section but it appears it might be a hardware thing rather than a Trisquel) and I'm no longer able to access the BIOS.
Is there anyway to disable Bluetooth without going into the BIOS? I never use Bluetooth and wouldn't mind uninstalling it altogether, however when I went to do so using Synaptic, it looked as though a whole heap of gnome dependencies might also be uninstalled so I aborted for fear that I might break my system! What would happen if I proceeded with this?
Also, are there any alternatives to the wifi dongles that thinkpenguin offers? As much as I'd love to support thinkpenguin and free software and hardware, $44 plus shipping is a bit steep for a casually-employed student like me.
Thanks in advance
You could try reseting the BIOS, see my reply in https://trisquel.info/en/issues/15751
> Also, are there any alternatives to the wifi dongles that thinkpenguin offers? As much as I'd love to support thinkpenguin and free software and hardware, $44 plus shipping is a bit steep for a casually-employed student like me.
This lists another option which might be cheaper https://www.fsf.org/resources/hw/endorsement/respects-your-freedom
I am a translator!
Or buy an Atheros wifi adapter for 5 or 10 bucks on ebay.
As far as I know any of the AR9xxx and AR5xxx series will do just fine.
Then you take a screw diver and open just the bottom part and replace the one that's in with the new one.
I had 3 acer laptops and all of them had the wifi adapter immediately visible on top - if that is the case it will take you 3 minutes to do so and you will not risk damaging anything.
cheers!
> I'm no longer able to access the BIOS.
Could you explain exactly what happens in a bit more detail? Do none of the
BIOS keys work in the bootup procedure (the part with the splash screen from
your manufacturer)? Does it freeze?
> I never use Bluetooth and wouldn't mind uninstalling it altogether, however
> when I went to do so using Synaptic, it looked as though a whole heap of
> gnome dependencies might also be uninstalled so I aborted for fear that I
> might break my system! What would happen if I proceeded with this?
Nothing, immediately. However, on the next autoremove all the GNOME
dependencies not set to manually installed would be removed. Unfortunately
there's not really anything you can do about this- the Trisquel DE installs as
dependencies a whole bunch of things designed to cover a wide range of
use-cases so as not to disappoint. You can either switch to another DE, or
you'll just have to put up with it. I'm sure you have the disk space.
Hi Moxalt,
See the issue here - https://trisquel.info/en/issues/15751
When I boot up the machine, the Phoenix screen appears for a few seconds, and then I'm taken to the screen to enter in my encryption passphrase.
If I reboot and hit either F2 or F12 to enter BIOS or device select (doesn't matter which), the Phoenix screen hangs for a second as though processing the input, and then I'm taken to the decrypt screen again.
As mentioned in the issue, I've removed all power sources and had the CMOS battery out for an hour but still no luck. Very bizarre.
I will leave all those dependencies installed for the time being.
By following this topic, I just wonder how you guys, the Free Software lovers, treat those incompatible hardwares?
Did you dispose them? For instance, I had another laptop that had a RTL8188xx wifi adaptor which had no use under the GNU OS.....
BTW, sorry that I did not check all of the wiki of Trisquel...... but is my Trisquel's kernel the linux-libre ? if not, why did not Trisquel adopt the linux-libre kernel ?
linux-libre, or Debian (main) kernel, which is more free?
Many thanks, any reply or links would be appreciated.
I am a translator!
Trisquel doesn't ship linux-libre but a deblobbed Ubuntu kernel. If I remember correctly the reason is to ensure the highest compatibility with the Ubuntu packages (90% or more of the packages in Trisquel are taken directly from Bubbuntu).
Correct me if I'm wrong.
Debian starting from the version 6 ships a deblobbed linux kernel.
You can install a libre-kernel. There is a repo provided by the excellent jxself -> https://jxself.org/linux-libre/
I am a member!
What about just removing the wifi card? Most of the newer laptops anyway have the bluetooth chipset and the wifi chipset on the same card. You could replace that card.
Just a comment about the prices: You don't end up with hardware that works if you don't support the busineses which are working on solving the problems. If your not employed at all I understand. If you are though consider buying one. The other option is of course donating something to Trisquel or similar projects (I'd say the FSF but honestly Trisquel needs the money more). It won't solve the hardware problem, but we also won't have Trisquel if people aren't willing to support the project either.
What can I expect if I remove the wifi card? Will Trisquel throw up any errors?
As for the price, I'll save up in order to buy supported hardware from a free software/hardware company. I think it is important to support industries or organisations that support freedom. Part of the problem is the exchange rate. I'm currently living in New Zealand and 1 USB = 1.46 NZD. Freedom is not free - it can be expensive at times!
I'm divided on whether to get a card or a dongle. I'm leaning towards dongle for convenience sake (use it on other devices) and also as a newbie I've got a bit to learn about what cards can go in which motherboard etc.
For dongles, looking at the thinkpenguin store, are there any that are 300Mbps?