Network issue with Trisquel 6.01
Hi everyone, i'm having a big issue with trisquel 6 with my Aspire E1-522 A6 5200. Trisquel doesn't recognize my network card, it doesn't allow me to connect my pc on the internet. Anyone knows how to solve it?
Hi there! Probably your card requires proprietary software to run.
Open a terminal and input
lspci
HI, thanks for responding, i had to unistall trisquel (wich was indual boot with ubuntu) because i had problems with the UEFI bios, so, i reinstalled ubuntu. This is the output from ubuntu 14.04 LTS. But i want to use trisquel too.
root@alessio-Aspire-E1-522:~# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 16h Processor Root Complex
00:01.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Kabini [Radeon HD 8400]
00:01.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Device 9840
00:02.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 16h Processor Function 0
00:02.2 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 16h Processor Functions 5:1
00:02.3 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 16h Processor Functions 5:1
00:10.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB XHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:11.0 SATA controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 40)
00:12.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB OHCI Controller (rev 39)
00:12.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller (rev 39)
00:13.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB OHCI Controller (rev 39)
00:13.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller (rev 39)
00:14.0 SMBus: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SMBus Controller (rev 3a)
00:14.2 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH Azalia Controller (rev 02)
00:14.3 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH LPC Bridge (rev 11)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 16h Processor Function 0
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 16h Processor Function 1
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 16h Processor Function 2
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 16h Processor Function 3
00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 16h Processor Function 4
00:18.5 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 16h Processor Function 5
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Qualcomm Atheros QCA8171 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 13)
01:00.1 SD Host controller: Qualcomm Atheros Device 3010 (rev 13)
05:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9565 / AR9565 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
That is terrible hardware when it comes to free software support. You will not get any 3D acceleration from the Radeon card and your Wifi chipset is not among the ones Linux-libre can drive (it requires a proprietary firmware): https://trisquel.info/en/forum/searching-open-wifi#comment-54590
See this post as for more information on acquiring a Wifi card/adapter that would perfectly work with Trisquel: https://trisquel.info/en/forum/request-wlan-card-support#comment-55424
As for the graphics, you can get an nVidia card. The support for those cards is far from perfect though. The most recent models may be even less supported than your current Radeon card (fallback on the "vesa" driver). You can also settle for your current 2D display and remember than, in the future, you want to buy Intel processors. Linux-libre perfectly handles their integrated graphical chipsets.
If there isn't a a solution, could you consult me for some hardware compatible with Trisquel and GnewSense? I'm assembling a Pc for my home and i want to install on it Trisquel and GnewSense in Dualboot. I want that PC to be Free as in Fredoom! :D
The easiest way to get hardware compatible with free/libre software is Think Penguin:
https://libre.thinkpenguin.com
That store only sells hardware that works with entirely free/libre systems.
Actually, your wireless will work with free software. It's just that you need a newer kernel which has the driver. You can get a libre kernel from Trusty by running:
$ sudo apt-get install --install-recommends linux-generic-lts-trusty
(See http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=107377. Debian 7 and Trisquel 6 both have kernel 3.2. And that's an ath9k card, so it doesn't need firmware.)
Here is a database of hardware if it "supports freedom" or not. Not much hardware is in that database but choose laptops and choose A premium. Don't forget to read the comments and search a bit more on that machine.
http://h-node.org
The big things with "freedom supporting hardware" is graphics card (AMD and Nvidia) and wireless. On laptops the track pad seems to also be a problem some times.
I am a member!
There are actually a lot of other problems besides non-free graphics and wireless dependencies. HP, Lenovo/IBM, Toshiba, Sony, Apple, and Dell all use digital restrictions for example. This does happen to mostly impact wireless, but is a distinctly separate issue. What it means is that you can't buy a laptop from one of these companies and expect to be able to replace the wifi card in it with one that is compatible with free software.
I highly encourage people to boycott these companies. It goes beyond incompetence or not caring. They are actively working against the user.
There are lots of other issues that can impact support that have less to do with proprietary software and more to do with design. For instance software-based switches for turning on/off wifi cards (ie you may have a card that works, but if it's always off, and you can't turn it back on, then the laptop won't work terribly well with GNU/Linux), support for special function keys (adjusting volume/screen brightness), and power management.
This is a short list of problems people frequently experience. There are some other older issues that have purportedly cropped up again too relating to DRM that I had thought were permanently solved. However I haven't had time to confirm the claims or look into solving the problem so I'll refrain from going into it. It won't impact most people in either event.
You may also run into issues related to restricted boot, but I can't really speak too much about it. I'm not sure how common of a problem it is with off-the-shelf x86 hardware in the worst case situation. At its worst you can brick systems and/or simply not be able to install GNU/Linux. I believe it would also include lesser problems with x86 that simply make loading GNU/Linux more difficult.
There are also issues with CPUs related to digital restrictions. While it won't work in Trisquel or any free system today anyway the more systems that ship with the technology in the CPU the easier it becomes for sites to use / arguments to be made for adopting/requiring it. Today you can watch most content on YouTube, but tomorrow that may not be possible if Google implements code that utilizes this technology in the CPU. Avoid Intel CPUs with 'Trusted Computing Technology'. I'm unsure what AMD calls this technology, but a version of it is also present in modern AMD CPUs.