Not too long ago I installed Mint onto a laptop that turned out to have a network card by Broadcom, which doesn’t have Linux support, so that didn’t work. I’m going to upgrade my currently Windows PC to Mint at the end of Win10 support in October, and I want to be sure I don’t have any hardware that is incompatible with Linux. Which manufacturers are obstinate like that?

  • illusionist@lemmy.zip
    51·
    7 days ago

    Just make a live usb of the distro you want to use and check it out. If mint has no live usb usr amother distro, most have. Just use a big one. Since mint is just ubuntu it should be good

    • NutWrench@lemmy.mlEnglish
      5·
      6 days ago

      Another vote for trying a live distro. If the live version detects all your computer’s hardware, it will detect it when you install it for real.

  • 9point6@lemmy.world
    192·
    7 days ago

    If it is a computer, it is compatible

    You may just need some extra bits in addition to the base ISO

    IIRC the Broadcom website has the latest Linux drivers on there if the kernel doesn’t support it out of the box, so grab a copy of those and put them on a USB.

    As others have said, you could get a live distro to test it out before you install

  • TurboWafflz@lemmy.world
    14·
    7 days ago

    Also keep in mind that laptop wifi cards are usually easily replaceable, so if you end up with that being the only problem it’s usually cheap and easy to solve

  • HexagonSun@sh.itjust.works
    3·
    5 days ago

    Also sometimes with a wireless issue there’s an easy workaround.

    The ancient Broadcom WiFi module is the most problematic aspect of my 2012 MacBook Pro, but I got a fully Linux compatible tp-link USB wifi adapter for about £10.

  • mvirts@lemmy.world
    6·
    6 days ago

    Mostly just try Linux on it 😹 Don’t install it just run from a flash drive or something

  • arcidalex@lemmy.world
    3·
    6 days ago

    Generally speaking, most if not all hardware running Win 10 will be able to work on any Linux distribution making a few exceptions where external drivers can be found. Normally though, this will not be necessary as it will be pre baked into the kernel with no interference from you

    That being said - Mint runs an older version of the kernel compared to the current state of desktop Linux and may not contain certain drivers for hardware that came out after that specific kernel version was released. You can use a distro that favors being up to date over long term support, such as Fedora or Arch (if you’re willing to put up with setting up Arch) if that crops up. But generally, if you’re running win 10 still this shouldn’t be a problem

    Without knowing your hardware, i can’t really say more though. Just try mint or any other distribution on a live usb and if it works there, then it will work when installed

  • Novocirab@feddit.org
    2·
    7 days ago

    If you have an AMD graphics card (or use Intel graphics), one of the biggest pain points is already nonexistent. If on the other hand you have a NVidia card, getting that to run often comes with (recurrent) pains. What is your graphics card?

      • Novocirab@feddit.orgEnglish
        2·
        6 days ago

        It’s still workable for sure.

        Above all, memorize one thing: When you update, and then reboot, keep an eye on the computer during reboot, especially during the early stages. That’s because every month or so, when the drivers have gotten updated, you will be presented with a (often blue) screen about MOK Enrolment, i.e. you need your UEFI that the new drivers are trustworthy. If you miss this screen, you’ll boot into a black screen or so without anything telling you what the error is, and to fix it you’ll have to enroll those keys manually – this is not prohibitively difficult, but annoying. (That’s if you have UEFI secure boot enabled. If you have it disabled, there is practically no pain at all, ever. You lose a bit of security though. Personally I have it disabled.)