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I've got an HP Stream 13 with Ubuntu 16.04 on it. The built-in WiFi cannot see any networks. It worked perfectly with Windows 10, but was quite slow, and had very little storage space left (it has a 30GB SSD).

It does not have an ethernet port on it for me to connect, and I don't want to download large packages over my phone's data allowance via USB tethering.

I can copy files from another computer using a USB flash drive, but these scripts almost all need other packages, from the internet - it turns into a bit of a rabbit hole.

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    To open a Terminal window, press Ctrl+Alt+T. Then type lspci -vnn | grep Network and press enter. This shows information about your wireless card. Please then edit your question to include the output. If you happen also to know what wireless card the machine has, please mention that also. It would also be good to give details about the help resources you've looked at so far (this?), even if they weren't very helpful or you weren't able to follow the directions they gave, and to describe everything you have tried in detail (even if it isn't much yet).
    – Eliah Kagan
    Dec 29, 2016 at 0:06
  • I really sympathise with you - as my answer says I had the same issue. If I'd not used Ubuntu for years already, I'd have quickly given up. Well done for persevering, and when we get this working I hope you enjoy using it.
    – Tim
    Dec 29, 2016 at 3:14

1 Answer 1

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I have exactly the same laptop and had exactly the same issue.

The solution? Install BudgieOS on it first. This is a distribution based on Ubuntu 16.04.

This distribution has (for some reason) different or additional drivers which enable the WiFi on this laptop. Make sure you install the 3rd party drivers.

After you have installed it, you may quite like the look - it's quite different from the default Ubuntu, but I quite like it.

If you would rather the default Ubuntu look, after booting it open the Terminal by clicking the circle in the top, then Utilities then Terminal, or with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Alt + T.

You will need to be connected to the WiFi for this, but, hopefully, you will be (yay) - so there's no issue there!

Into the terminal, type this:

sudo apt-get update

and press enter. Wait for the command to finish - it's finished when the text stops scrolling and the terminal has user@computer-name:~$ at the bottom. then type this:

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop

and press enter again.

This will install the Unity desktop with the default Ubuntu look. Restart the computer, and at the login screen

Wait for the command to finish (you may have to press Enter to confirm). It will take a while. Partway through the installation for me, I was logged out. I had to run these commands in the Terminal after I logged back in - but you only need to do this if you are logged out too!

sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/lock
sudo rm /var/cache/apt/archives/lock

Now log out. Click in the top right corner, and click the lower right power button, and choose log out.

You will see this:

In the top bar, click the left most icon - a circle with a leaf shape in it: and select Ubuntu. The icon will change, and then you log in again.

This is almost the standard Ubuntu desktop - just a couple of final tweaks to make. Click the settings icon in the sidebar and select Appearance. Then, next to the Theme label, select "Ambiance" from the dropdown.

Now click the Ubuntu icon in the upper left. Search for "Startup" and select the first result - "Startup Applications". Deselect budgie-plank and GNOME Software.

Enjoy your Ubuntu installation with working WiFi!

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