this post was submitted on 06 Jun 2025
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i have tried everything i could possibly think of, but Linux will not connect to the internet until i restart it. it doesn't matter what distro i use, it won't connect. on windows, it connects immediately, but only with fast start enabled. i have reset the router, the BIOS is up to date, and I've tried pretty much every solution i could find online. at this point i think it's a hardware issue, but I'd like to know if there's anything i can try before giving up on Linux until i get a new PC. any help is greatly appreciated!

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[–] dajoho@sh.itjust.works 1 points 51 minutes ago
  1. Go into your BIOS and disable Wake On Lan (WOL).

  2. Boot Windows, start Device Manager, right click your network card (probably Intel I217-V) and disable all WOL settings there too.

  3. Completely power down the PC (don't just reboot) and then try booting Linux.

[–] Lazycog@sopuli.xyz 15 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I recently had this problem while dualbooting mint and windows: windows was shutting down the LAN hardware somehow.

Had to disable fast startup (in windows, but I recall some Motherboards have also "fast boot" in BIOS as well?) and also in windows' LAN adapter settings a power saving option.

This is the thread that helped me: https://askubuntu.com/a/879818

A shot in the dark, but hopefully it helps.

[–] psud@aussie.zone 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Fast boot in BIOS is about skipping tests, it's usually safe to leave alone

[–] Lazycog@sopuli.xyz 1 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

Ah, thanks! Didn't know that. I guess it wont have an effect then and can be ignored.

Edit: fixed up wording.

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I saw earlier you mentioned it's an Optiplex, so I'm assuming this is an onboard NIC.

I've never had an onboard NIC not work out-of-the-box in Linux. Wifi, sure, but usually just certain chipsets with proprietary/closed firmware. Dell usually uses Intel NICs and they're usually pretty solid and well supported.

Check to make sure that the NIC is enabled in BIOS.

If you have/had Windows on this PC, did it work there?

Does the NIC show in lspci or ip a ?

Try an external USB NIC. Or an internal PCIe one if you're comfortable with that.

[–] FQQD@lemmy.ohaa.xyz 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I think a start would be to tell us which version of which distro you are using. Also, are you talking about LAN or WIFI?

[–] groovin@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 day ago

i have tried basically every mainstream distro and their forks besides base Arch, and i used the most current version for all of them, besides Clear Linux which i used the version from June 2nd for. i also mean LAN, i don't have a card for WiFi.

[–] Mordikan@kbin.earth 2 points 1 day ago

"Will not connect to the internet" is probably too vague to troubleshoot. Isolate exactly what part is failing. Is the device receiving an IP address? Are you able to ping anything on the local network? Are you able to ping a remote IP address? If you aren't receiving an IP address, is DHCP running? Can you statically set your IP and ping out? Is there another switchport you can try on the router?

[–] Alk@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago

Before you give up, maybe also try either a USB network adapter or (if your PC has space) an actual network card. Some of those can be incredibly affordable.

[–] middlemanSI@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

I would start in /var/log/messages, find any errors related. It sounds like a NIC issue..

[–] hendrik@palaver.p3x.de 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Try finding out if it received an IP address, if the driver is loaded or if there are any error messages in dmesg. You might also want to give more information. Which ethernet card? ~~Which version of Linux are you running?~~ And there seem to be some similar reports on Reddit and in some Linux forums. I couldn't find a solution, though. Maybe you just want to buy a cheap new network card.

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

I have had Windows control the power setting of the card before, there were some settings in windows to alter how power was handled for the network adapter. Also some dell BIOSes have power settings for the mono/network that you can alter if its acting weirdly.

[–] User0123@lemmus.org 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Have you tried resetting the NIC or loading/unloading the NIC module manually?

[–] groovin@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 day ago

i have reset it, but i have not loaded it manually. I'll try that, thank you.

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Model of the machine or the NIC/WiFi module would be useful.

[–] groovin@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 day ago

it is a Dell optiplex 9020

[–] Im_old@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

What's the IP address (and related info, gateway and dns) you get on linux and what is the one in Windows?