Some MediaTek WiFi chipsets don't work out of the box in Linux Mint. Thankfully some good people have stepped in by making the mt76 driver, which should enable you to use your MediaTek WiFi chipset after all. On this page you'll learn how to download and install that driver.
Contents of this page:
- 1. If unsure: determine the WiFi chipset
- 2. Installing the mt76 driver for several Mediatek WiFi chipsets
If unsure: determine the WiFi chipset
1. Are you unsure what MediaTek WiFi chipset you have? That can happen easily, because the brand and type printed on a USB WiFi dongle or internal PCI card are meaningless; "under the hood" it can be anything.Ordinarily, you can determine your WiFi chipset like this:
a. If it's a USB WiFi dongle, connect it to your computer.
b. Launch a terminal window.
(You can launch a terminal window like this: *Click*)
c. Use copy/paste to transfer the following command into the terminal:
inxi -Fxxxpmrz
(if you type: the letter F is a capital letter, and don't omit the space after inxi!)
Press Enter. In the complete hardware overview you get to see then, you should also find your WiFi chipset.
d. But in a few cases, inxi doesn't give sufficient information. You can then proceed as follows:
For a USB WiFi dongle, use copy/paste to transfer the following word into the terminal :
lsusb
Press Enter.
For an internal PCI WiFi card, use the terminal command lspci
e. Now you should see at least one line that tells you the name of your Mediatek WiFi chipset.
Installing the mt76 driver for several Mediatek WiFi chipsets
2. For the following MediaTek WiFi chipsets you can install the mt76 driver, for kernel 6.12.x and newer:MT7610, MT7612, MT7602, MT7662, MT7615, MT7663, MT7902, MT7920, MT7921, MT7922, MT7925 and MT7927.
If you have one of those, proceed like this:
a. First establish temporary internet connection for your computer by means of your cell phone.
b. Launch a terminal window.
(You can launch a terminal window like this: *Click*)
c. Copy/paste the following command line into the terminal:
sudo apt-get install mokutil && mokutil --sb-state
Press Enter. Type your password when prompted. In Ubuntu this remains entirely invisible, not even dots will show when you type it, that's normal. In Mint this has changed: you'll see asterisks when you type. Press Enter again.
If it reports that Secure Boot is enabled: reboot and disable Secure Boot in the BIOS. In order to do this, you might need to set an administrator password in the BIOS first.
No worries: although Secure Boot is a fairly reasonable idea in theory, it provides little real-life security anyway. So disabling it is no loss. In practice, Secure Boot is primarily an obstacle for using another operating system than Microsoft Windows. Which might or might not be an intended side effect.
d. Copy/paste the following command line into the terminal, in order to download and install the required build packages (the building tools with which you're going to build the driver):
sudo apt-get install git build-essential dkms linux-headers-$(uname -r)
Press Enter. Type your password when prompted. In Ubuntu this remains entirely invisible, not even dots will show when you type it, that's normal. In Mint this has changed: you'll see asterisks when you type. Press Enter again.
e. Download the actual driver (the construction kit) by means of git, with this command (use copy/paste):
git clone https://github.com/morrownr/mt76.git
f. Copy/paste this line into the terminal, in order to enter the folder with the driver packages:
cd mt76
Press Enter.
g. Build and install the driver with this terminal command (use copy/paste to transfer it into the terminal):
sudo sh install-driver.sh
Press Enter.
h. Reboot your computer.
i. Your wifi should work well now: click on the icon of Network Manager in the system tray, in order to see the available wireless networks.
Note: Don't remove the mt76 subfolder in your home folder! Because you can re-use it later on, for updating the driver. You'll find the how-to for that in item 2.1 below.
Updating the mt76 driver
2.1. If you've installed the mt76 driver as described above, you might want to update it from time to time. Like this:a. Launch Timeshift and make a manual snapshot of your system, for easy reversal in case things go south.
b. Launch a terminal window.
(You can launch a terminal window like this: *Click*)
c. In order to go to the mt76 subfolder, copy/paste the following command line into the terminal:
cd mt76
Press Enter.
d. Then copy/paste this command line into the terminal, in order to download the updated driver files:
git pull
Press Enter.
e. Now copy/paste the following command line into the terminal, in order to perform the actual driver update:
sudo sh install-driver.sh
Press Enter. Type your password when prompted. In Ubuntu this remains entirely invisible, not even dots will show when you type it, that's normal. In Mint this has changed: you'll see asterisks when you type. Press Enter again.
f. Reboot your computer.
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