Installing USB wifi driver

[new666uk]

Hi all,

Brand new Linux user so please bear with me through the learning curve.

Fresh install of 25.04 on a new SSD drive re-using my old Win10 hardware for the rest of the build. This is intended to remain as a HTPC so really just needs to run Plex, VLC and a browser. The install went fine and I've a working desktop and can see most of the Windows drives with my movies and TV content on but my main issue is wifi. I've temporarily slung a cat 6 across the room to get online but I'm unable to install a driver for the MSI AXE5400 USB dongle I usually use on this device (when it was a Win10 box).

There is a Linux driver on the MSI website and I've changed the permission on the Install.sh to make it executable but it keeps asking for a password and then failing when I run it. I spent a while last night trying to search for options but didn't find a solution so having to hold my hand up here and ask for help.

thanks in advance
Paul

[oshunluvr]

Changing the scripts ownership to your user doesn't give the script the rights to install on the system try this instead:

sudo ./install.sh

It will ask for your password. It should install then but if not, copy any error messages and post them back here.

[new666uk]

Thanks, I thought I'd tried that too. Just so I'm 100% clear where to do this, open Konsole, CD to the location of the install.sh then run sudo ./install.sh or just run the sudo xyz directly in the Konsole?

I think the issue I had was CD'ing to the Downloads folder. I'd extracted the compressed folder there but CD'ing to /Downloads kept returning a "no such folder" error. IIs the Downloads folder somehow protected so I need to move files out (eg to desktop) to use them?

[claydoh]

Yes, /Downloads does not exist, normally. That would be a directory at your top level (aka '"root")
You'd need to cd to the full path, , but where you are currently has a bearing as well so

cd /home/username/Downloads

is the longest way to do it.

A helpful shortcut for /home/username is ~, so:

cd ~/Downloads

or if you are already in ~ (very likley if you have just opened Konsole), then

cd Downloads

-- note there is no slash

Another trick is to navigate to the directory in Dolphin and hit F4 to open a terminal panel, then run the command.

[new666uk]

Thanks claydoh that's really helpful, it didn't occur that Downloads didn't exist in the sense of a regular folder. I'll have a go later. 25 years of Windows learning doesn't get you very far in Linux it would appear

[oshunluvr]

Thanks claydoh that's really helpful, it didn't occur that Downloads didn't exist in the sense of a regular folder. I'll have a go later. 25 years of Windows learning doesn't get you very far in Linux it would appear

You'll get there. This is a good start - asking questions here and other places, like r/Kubuntu. You'll usually get a more "refined" answer here because we all use Kubuntu vs. places like Reddit, Stack Exchange, etc., but it doesn't hurt to search those places too.

Do yourself (and us) a favor and when you post, use "Object & Deviation" type posts and give as many relevant details as you can. "Object" is basically the thing that's wrong and "Deviation" is what is wrong. Fill in as many details as you can, list what you've tried, report exact error messages when you can. Following a "what, where, when, to what extent" may help you put down the needed info and lead to a quicker response.

As far as this comment: "Downloads didn't exist in the sense of a regular folder" can you explain what you meant? "Downloads" certainly is a folder but it exists in your home folder as Claydoh explained.

To drill down a bit more, when using the terminal, the file hierarchy starts at "/" (no drive letters like Windows) so when you you put the slash in front of Downloads you said "start the the top and look for the Downloads folder." Which obviously doesn't exist so you got the error.

You can either use an "implied" path or full path. The full path in this case, as was explain, is "/home/<username>/Downloads". An implied path, is like "start when I am and go from here." So if you are already in "/home/<username>/" then "Downloads/" is the implied path. There's lots more, but I'll stop there.

Here's a tip: If you need to access the terminal you can very quickly get where you want by using Dolphin (the file manager), navigate to whatever folder you need to be in, then press F4. This will open a terminal pane where you are at the bottom of the Dolphin window. The path will even show in the terminal prompt next to your name and hostname like this " name@hostname:~/Downloads" so you can verify you're in the right location. Pressing F4 again closes the terminal pane.

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