I recently bought an Asus M1502YA laptop and tried installing Zorin OS, Linux Mint, and elementary OS. None of them detected the built-in Wi‑Fi, and the laptop does not have an Ethernet port. I also currently do not have a USB Wi‑Fi dongle. The wireless card appears to be a MediaTek MT7902. What is the easiest way to get online and install the necessary driver?
5 Answers
If phone tethering is not available, use another computer to download the needed driver or kernel packages and copy them to a USB stick. You may need several dependency packages, so downloading a complete newer kernel or using a distribution with a newer kernel can be easier than manually collecting individual files.
For a permanent hardware fix, check whether the wireless card is replaceable. Swapping the MediaTek card for an Intel AX210 has solved this issue for other machines, though you should confirm that the laptop accepts standard replaceable M.2 Wi‑Fi cards and that the antenna connectors are compatible.
The laptop likely uses a MediaTek MT7902, and support for that chipset may require a newer Linux kernel than the Ubuntu 24.04-based distributions you tried provide. Fedora KDE is fairly beginner-friendly and may include a newer kernel, so it is worth testing from a live USB. You can also use your phone’s USB tethering temporarily, then install a compatible out-of-tree driver or newer kernel.
I’m completely new to Linux. Is Fedora KDE reasonably beginner-friendly, or would it be difficult to set up?
The quickest temporary solution is usually USB tethering from an Android phone. Connect the phone with a USB cable, enable USB tethering in its network settings, and the laptop may see it as a wired connection. Once online, you can update the kernel or install the required MediaTek module.
A simple alternative is a USB Wi‑Fi adapter, or a USB-to-Ethernet adapter if you have an available USB or USB-C port. You do not need a built-in Ethernet socket; an adapter can provide a temporary wired connection while you install updates.
I have access to a desktop computer. What exactly should I download there—are the Linux equivalents of Windows drivers available as files I can copy over?