WIFI not working on new laptop

[Stosskraft]

I am feeling really frustrated with this release. Now I am trying to make a live usb disk and I get this error from USB creator : An unhandled exception occurred:
first argument must be the method signature string: GLib.Variant('a{sv}', {})

I have tried purging from package manager and reinstalling, but still getting the error.

Why is this release so laggy on this computer? I just want it to work like my old running the same release with much less power.

Any ideas?

[GreyGeek]

A bad install? Bad ISO download?

[Stosskraft]

I have tried 2 different usbs and fresh iso downloads. Also I tried to make a live usb on another computer (linux mint desktop) and then when I tried to boot with it it says 'did not authenticate'

What is happening? I just want this off my system, what options do I have? It is extremely buggy, nothing works proper and very slow.

Any suggestions please

[GreyGeek]

I can't set in front of your machine and watch you, or do it for you, but there are instances of people installing Linux on a Pavilion 17 laptop. http://pctechman.wordpress.com/2014/...laptop-review/
That article gives the pros and cons.

After you downloaded the ISOs did you verify the checksums. AFTER you burned them did you verify the burn? (There are posts on the forum which explain how to do this -- search for "check ISO burn".

What is the settings on your UEFI? Legacy?

I used to help a relative long distance using Skype because it was frustrating to try and guide him over the phone. He's share his screen with me and I'd watch his mouse. "Move the mouse to the "x" in the upper RIGHT corner of the application and click on it." I'd watch as he moved the mouse to the upper left side of the screen, not the application and try to click on that control. I was reduced to "move your mouse UP one inch ... then... now over to the right one inch ... etc. until his mouse was hoovering over the button or control I wanted him to use. Then I'd say "click the LEFT mouse button". He'd click the right one. I could tell by the appearance of the context menu.

My only suggestion at this point it start fresh.
1) download the latest Kubuntu 14.04 ISO.
2) CHECK its md5sum to verify the download.
3) Burn the ISO to a DVD or a USB. Set the verify option on the burn so that the burned ISO is verified against the original.
4) set the the UEFI so that booting from the DVD or USB is allowed. Press the hot key during boot which allows you to choose. Do NOT go on if you get any kind of error msg at this point. Your hardware settings are not correct. Note that the referenced link states:

Secure boot when enabled will not allow you to boot with a CD/DVD that does not have UEFI / EFI on it. There is a legacy item in the bios but secure boot has to be disabled to use it. HP makes it all but impossible to have a Linux OS as the default OS at boot up, You have to press a key or combination of keys at boot to choose the OS you want to boot. Win 8.1 is the default hard coded in the system. Hopefully they will change this with a UEFI (Bios) Update.

5) One DVD or ISO has booted choose the "Install Kubuntu" option.
6) When you get to the disk partition part of the install delete the KUBUNTU partition, NOT the Win8 partions (There are more than one).
7) Choose the deleted partition as the one on which to install Kubuntu.
8) Continue the install and take the default options on the rest of the installation.
9) IF your wireless still doesn't run then repeat this process using the latest Linux KDE Mint.

[Stosskraft]

Your post is very helpful. I have been checking into the legacy system, but my biggest question is how did it allow my to install 14.04 in the first place? Now I am using Unetboot because I cannot get start-up disk creator to work with out a ton of errors.

I will try the various UEFI settings and will see what happens. I have order the Mint KDE disk just in case I cannot get the USB to work.

Thanks for your patience.

[GreyGeek]

I will try the various UEFI settings and will see what happens. I have order the Mint KDE disk just in case I cannot get the USB to work.

Don't "experiment". Randomly turning things on and off to "see what happens" is how one gets into hot water, or destroys their installation. Check the documentation that came with your machine, it should describe how to set the legacy mode. If it doesn't, and many don't, then do some google research to learn how.

Our own Steve Riley has often stated the UEFI is good, Secure Boot is bad. And he continues:

One of the challenges that people will face is trying to figure out how to disable Secure Boot, as chronicled by the writer at DistroWatch. There is, alas, no industry standard for which function keys to press to enter firmware setup or to interrupt the boot order sequence. On my ThinkPads, the former is F1, while the latter is F12. On my Samsung tablet, the former is Power+VolUp and the latter is F10. Of course, this not exactly a new problem. Plus, for many years, some firmware -- even BIOS -- has concealed the "confusing" boot messages behind a pretty logo screen, so the "Press Fn to..." messages aren't displayed.

He was responding to the Distrowatch article which gave the following steps for setting up legacy boot:

• Boot machine while pressing F10
• Find Secure Boot in the menu tree, ignore warnings
• Disable Secure Boot feature
• Enable legacy boot options
• Enable specific legacy devices, such as USB devices
• Save and reboot while holding down F9

In other words, there is no guarantee that the above steps will work for your machine, but they could be similar.