Alright after reading the feedback for my last post, I have installed Linux Mint Cinnamon alongside windows on my Vivobook. A very modern laptop, it worked fine, but it won’t find my network card i.o.w. I have no WiFi. Via USB-tethering I did manage to download the latest downloads, but also after a restart the system does not show any WLan capabilities!
I used AI to get some answers, but it actually concluded that I have to work around it because Linux simply doesn’t support my Mediatek MT7902, is this true?
I have an Asus Vivobook E1504FA with Ryzen 5 7520U
Running Linux Mint 22 and the wifi is not showing up
Is there a dkms driver or a specific kernel ppa for the Mediatek MT7902?
Forgive my ignorance, isn’t this Linux Mint a ‘rolling release’? When would this Linux 7.1 kernel be installed via the updates i see bottom right?
I just ordered a cheap USB WiFi dongle which should be plug and play, so I probably could be patient for half year or such…
No, Mint is based on Ubuntu and follows it’s upgrades. Arch is an example of a rolling release. Of course you can update kernel when it is ready with update manager.
It seems there are unofficial alternatives that may get you bye until the official driver arrives
“Open-source Linux driver development for the MediaTek MT7902 WiFi 6E chip is in progress as of early 2026, with official kernel support likely arriving around Kernel 7.1. Current users can utilize community-developed, out-of-tree drivers, such as those found on GitHub, to enable functionality before official integration”
from google AI summary
" * Community Drivers: Repositories such as hmtheboy154/gen4-mt7902 and samveen/mt7902-dkms have been identified as working alternatives by users."
I didn’t mention the two unofficial versions because both was marked deprecated. If you try them make a backup of your system. Or wait for the 7.1 kernel.
Imagine my sense of relaxation: years ago, I ran cat5 cable to my computer room. I installed another router and created a subnet. Every machine since has had a cat5 port. Some have featured wifi, which works. If not, all work wired directly. No effort wasted.
As you’re using Linux Mint, there might be a ppa with the driver you need. Be careful with those, though. If you find one, do a bit of investigation of what people think about it, before installing.
Yeah sure, most still simply have the 100mbit if they have them at all nowadays.
And I don’t know about you, but most of the time I even knew wifi the ethernet was the faster and more stable connection. I was simply surprised at some time that my wifi was way faster.
(I know it can be faster, a University in my region had the fastest internet connection in the world for years… and it’s some time back)
I’ve haven’t seen a 100 Mbit NIC in a desktop or laptop, or even a Pi3 / 4 et cetera, in last 10-15 years… OK - my two MacBooks (MBP M1) don’t have any ethernet ports - but - I have Thunderbolt dongles in them to do external display and gigabit ethernet… And I need gigabit ethernet - my 5 Ghz Wifi is noticeably more laggy than gigabit - I use Synergy KVM (software KVM) to drive the two Macs from my Linux desktop - and when it lags I can tell it’s somehow switched from ethernet to WiFi…
Nearly every switch (they don’t seem to make hubs anymore) you can buy today is Gigabit… I think PoE is just about the only 100 Mbit switch you can get - in those cases - you’re paying extra to go slower (with the convenience of power delivery over UTP).
