This is my first time messing with Linux so please forgive my ignorance.

I have an HP Elitebook 840 G8 that I’ve installed Ubuntu server on. I was trying to install a GUI on it, so I tried pulling the SLiM package from the web, but got "Temporary Failure resolving ‘Archive.ubuntu.com’.

This laptop doesn’t have an Ethernet Port, so I have to use a Microsoft USB-Ethernet dongle. But I haven’t been successful in getting that to work.

Is there a way for me to manually download the driver on a USB, then load it that way?

  • lemmyreader@lemmy.mlEnglish
    0·
    5 months ago

    • According to this WiFi should work with Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 64 Bit Did you install 24.04 or 22.04 ?

    • I’d expect most USB devices to work out of the box. Did you try : sudo dhclient ?

    Easiest is probably to perform an installation that comes with a GUI. If the default Ubuntu installation iso is too large, there’s for example Lubuntu.

  • just_another_person@lemmy.world
    0·
    5 months ago

    Just install the Desktop version of Ubuntu. There is no difference if you want a GUI anyway. You can set the run level to not boot into GNOME after you get all your stuff setup.

  • GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml
    0·
    5 months ago

    This won’t be very easy to do and installing a GUI on a vanilla server system can cause issues (that are solvable but not welcome anyways). Start with a more user-friendly desktop distro like Ubuntu or Mint. You will have access to the terminal and all the magic of Linux on it so you can learn and practice what you need and then switch to something harder if you want

    • SecretSauces@lemmy.worldOP
      0·
      5 months ago

      I was following this walk-through (https://lemmy.world/post/6542543) for getting Docker and all its container apps set up, so that’s why I went with Ubi Server. I downloaded 24.04 as its the latest version. Would Mint be able to substitute Server for those things?

      My Daily Driver has Mint on it and its working just fine. If I can use Mint instead of Server, that’d make things so much easier.

      • GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml
        0·
        5 months ago

        Wait I thought you’re using Linux for the first time and went for an obscure server distro as your first one for some reason. Idk anything about servers except that they use ssh, private-public key pairs, firewalls and no DEs. I can’t help with them

        • SecretSauces@lemmy.worldOP
          0·
          5 months ago

          Lol, I AM using Linux for the first time. But yea, I’m trying to use the most user-friendly things to accomplish what I want to do. Thanks anyway for trying. :)

  • chi-chan~@lemmy.world
    0·
    5 months ago

    If you have NetworkManager installed (you should have), you can use nmtui, TUI tool.

    TUI is <u>T</u>erminal <u>U</u>ser <u>I</u>nterface, and IMO very user-friendly.

    • SecretSauces@lemmy.worldOP
      0·
      5 months ago

      When I try [sudo nmtui] it gives me "Command nmtui not found, but can be installed with: [sudo apt install network-manager].

      Which circles me back to my original problem where I don’t have network connectivity.

    • SecretSauces@lemmy.worldOP
      0·
      5 months ago

      the Wifi adapter is recognized, but if I try to ping ANYTHING, including the gateway, I get “ping: connect: network is unreachable”

      • Nightwatch Admin@feddit.nl
        0·
        5 months ago

        Is your IP address 169.254.x.y by any chance? That would mean you can actually “see” the network but have no usable address (169.254.x.y is APIPA, you could say a fallback basically when no dhcp is available). Try “ip addr” on the commandline or “ifconfig” for us oldtimers

        • SecretSauces@lemmy.worldOP
          0·
          5 months ago

          ifconfig gives "command not found, but can be installed with sudo apt net-tools. That command gives me "Temporary failure resolving ‘archive.ubuntu.com’

          ip addr gives:

          1: lo: <LOOPBACK, UP, LOWER_UP> mtu ##### qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000

link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00

inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo

valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

inet6 ::1/128 scope host noprefixroute

valid_lft forever preffered_lft forever

2: wlp02s20f3: <BROADCAST, MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN group default qlen 1000

link/ether [MAC Address] brd [IPv6 MAC Address]

4: enx949aa9857457: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN group default qlen 1000

link/ether [MAC Address] brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
          • scrion@lemmy.world
            0·
            5 months ago

            Your USB ethernet adapter is down according to this output.

            In case Ubuntu server comes with e. g. dhclient installed, you should be able to get a working network connection by ensuring a cable is properly plugged into your USB ethernet adapter and running

            sudo dhclient -v enx949aa9857457

            You might want to post the output of that command here. Alternatively, configure the USB adapter using one of the management tools mentioned in this thread already.

  • bigmclargehuge@lemmy.world
    0·
    5 months ago

    My go-to for a workaround to networking issues is to use USB Tethering from my phone. Most Android phones from the past decade or so should support it, not sure about Apple. It’s super handy because all the configuration is done via the phone, so the computer needs no drivers or settings. Just plug n play until you get things set up on the computer.