Solve hardware issues
Fix classic problems first-timers have with displays, networks and more.
opefully your introduction to Elementary will be a smooth one, but if you run into problems when running on real hardware don’t panic. As with Windows, most issues are down to drivers, but if you tick the option to install proprietary drivers during setup, you should avoid most issues.
One issue you can’t avoid if you’re trying to run the Elementary OS live environment on a PC with Nvidia graphics is the fact that it boots to a virtually unreadable desktop that’s bright yellow with white text. The solution is to reboot, then choose Try Or Install Elementary OS (Safe Graphics) at the first boot menu. If you subsequently don’t tick the proprietary driver box when installing Elementary, you’re faced with the same virtually unreadable desktop. To fix this postinstall, add the required Nvidia drivers from a terminal window. Enter the following two commands, then reboot: $ sudo apt install linuxheaders-$(uname -r)
$ sudo apt-get install nvidiadriver-525
If you suffer from other less severe colour issues, the likely culprit is a faulty monitor colour profile. You can try navigating to System Settings > Displays > Filters and experimenting with the options there for a temporary fix, but a more permanent solution involves using a terminal-only app called Colormgr with the following commands:
$ colormgr get-devices-by-kind display | grep “Device ID” $ colormgr find-profile-by-filename ‘/usr/share/color/
Hicc/colord/sRGB.icc’ | grep “Profile ID”
In the following line, substitute Device ID and Profile ID with the values returned by the first two commands: $ colormgr device-add-profile YourDeviceID
YourProfileID
If this solves the issue, make the switch permanent: $ colormgr device-make-profile-default
‘YourDeviceID’ ‘YourProfileID’
Fix networking issues
Another bugbear is getting your PC connected to the network and thus the internet. Driver issues should only affect certain wireless adaptors, and hopefully they should be covered by the proprietary drivers, but sometimes you need to jump through more hoops.
Click the Network button in the top-right, then click Network Settings. This should verify whether your wired or wireless network adaptor has been detected (it’s in the list if it is) and if it’s connected. In most cases, the automatic settings should get you connected, but if you need to configure the connection manually, click Advanced Settings. For Ethernet connections, focus on the IPv4 Settings tab for setting IP addresses.
If your adaptor isn’t present, you need to track down drivers. If you don’t know its make and model, input one of the following commands, depending on its type: $ lspci -v | grep Ethernet
$ lspci -v | grep Wireless
Visit the manufacturer’s website for info or search the web for Ubuntu 22.04 installation instructions (the procedure should be the same in Elementary).
Printer issues
If you’re unable to get your printer working via System Settings > Printers, see our guide to working with printers in LXF309, or visit https://openprinting.github. io for a guide to the new OpenPrinting protocols.