Non-internet connected devices & first run

[guiverc]

I doubt this is new, and it maybe not an issue anyway, for most users of the product anyway.

A recent install of Ubuntu-MATE jammy can be found here where it's the sony thingy where I note

I hadn't connected to wifi; I was asked if I wanted to install/download additional drivers etc (I clicked yep) but was never asked for wifi password so it can't have connected I bet.. ignoring that though

The install went well, but I didn't connect to wifi before or after the install; as I know it works the Ubuntu base (given I test elsewhere) and I thus don't see an issue (esp. on a install QA-test where it's the install I'm interested in).

Now is a subsequent & ~equivalent to a first boot (technically it's second, and looking at the other box I installed to can see a difference to the first boot, but I don't think the effect is material however still I can't guarantee my results aren't impacted by decisions made first login though)

On this login I'm greeted with the Welcome screen. I love the feature as I believe I've said before.

The welcome is firstly offering to "Send Telemetry" which I don't believe can work as I'm not connected to wifi.

I can search for "Wifi" in the main Menu, but all I'll get is "Sorry, no items found".

A pop-up now appears "Sorry, Ubuntu 22.04 has experienced an internal error." has appeared, but again no wifi so sending results likely won't work.

Back to the menu and a search of for "network" finds "Advanced Network Configuration*" which I know will allow me to setup the connection, but even after that it wasn't auto-connected.

I wonder if it'd be helpful for the Welcome to give a page on connecting wifi (this device has no ethernet connection) prior to the "Send Telemetry", maybe a conditional page if an ethernet connect wasn't detected or ping didn't get reply..)

Yes I'm an idiot when it comes to wifi (I'm almost exclusively using desktops or boxes with cable connections) but I bet i won't be the only one.

FYI: in QA-testing, I usually try and follow prompts onscreen and not rely on what I'd do if it was me doing the install for myself.

[HJV]

Hi. For someone on the forum made up mostly of users to help, we need more specific information to provide solutions that will hopefully work.

What kind of computer? Processor? RAM? Storage device? How new is the computer? Is it a few years old or a few months old?

What version of Ubuntu Mate? You said 22.04 but that is not out until April 2022. Did you mean 20.04?

Why does all this matter? Linux has a kernel that has the latest information in it to connect with the CPU, WiFi, and motherboard and other peripherals like printers and scanners. If the computer is relatively new as in a few months and you were using UM 20.04 LTS, the drivers for new hardware may not be up to date. You would need a newer kernel which means a newer version of UM.

That’s one possibility of many but we need more information to narrow it down.

Hope we can help when we get more details.

Thanks.

[guiverc]

This was a comment as a result of QA-testing on Ubuntu-MATE jammy; the ISO of which could be seen on the provided link; ie. 2021-12-20

It wasn't intended as a support issue; and did not warrant a bug report (otherwise I'd have created one), but was made as a comment to see if it required a possible amendment to "Welcome" as I suggested, or not (nope; most users aren't as 'idiot' like as I was trying to be in the QA-test install; besides maybe I missed something & thus the opinion I drew was flawed anyway).

It's purpose was possible discussion; with an expectation that it's not worth the effort; as it may impact only 3-5 users of the system (and they would have had enough pointers in the welcome screen on how to get help from Ubuntu Mate Help - even if they couldn't use the box they'd just installed on, due to issues I was talking about as most of us have access to more than a single box).

Hardware details were provided via link; ie.

sony vaio svp112a1cw (i5-9400u, 4gb, intel haswell-ULT)

but it wasn't a hardware related question, and I wasn't seeking support, it was a thought I had after QA-test install that I expressed; a way that may help a small number of wifi idiots given how I referred to myself.

[Norbert_X]

Below is what I have for discussion.

Wi-Fi is not an issue here, I think. I get into the same situation when I do test QA installs in VirtualBox with disabled network adapter (or disconnected cable).
I agree that both Welcome and Apport should be more user-friendly to warn user that the system is offline. Not sure how and where this should be done.

The discussed Vaio uses Intel Centrino Advanced-N 7260 which should be supported by the kernel drivers. It is good that it is not Broadcom. So wi-fi configuration using network manager should go well.
But in current daily builds we have a new problem - network manager icon (nm-applet) is not shown in tray's indicator area. It is a bug 1955307 (I hope @Wimpy will fix it soon), which maybe temporarily fixed by

sudo mv /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/ayatana-indicators3/7/libayatana-application.so /usr/lib/ayatana-indicators3/7/libayatana-application.so
sudo mv /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/systemd/user/ayatana-indicator-application.service /usr/lib/systemd/user/ayatana-indicator-application.service

and reboot.
Then all indicators should be shown in their places. So user clicks on nm-applet, select needed wireless network, enter its password and enjoy.
Then sending telemetry and bug-reporting by apport will be possible.

[guiverc]

Thanks @Norbert_X

Yep my concern no doubt is a duplicate of the bug you mentioned... if nm-applet was on the panel, no doubt I'd not have drawn the conclusion I came to.

Yeah I'd seen discussion on that bug on discord; but it never occurred to me that what I saw related to it. Thank you sir !