How I installed LMDE 5 with working Wi-Fi and fingerprint reader

Framework Laptop 13 Linux
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How to install LMDE 5 on a Framework laptop

Framework laptops have the latest hardware, requiring a Linux kernel >= 5.12.

LMDE 5 “Elsie” is a Debian-based Linux Mint and ships with the 5.10 kernel. It’ll install on a Framework, but it won’t recognize the wireless card.

The easiest solution is to upgrade the LMDE kernel to >= 5.12,

Install LMDE 5

Install LMDE 5 as you would any other disto. You will need to provide a network connection. I shared my phone’s Wi-Fi connection via USB. Once installed, log in. You still won’t have Wi-Fi, so keep your alternative network connection running.

Upgrade the kernel

I chose 5.16.0-0.bpo.4-amd64.

sudo apt update -y
sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y linux-image-5.16.0-0.bpo.4-amd64

Reboot.

Once the laptop comes back, login and update and upgrade one more time.

sudo apt update -y
sudo apt upgrade -y

Configure Wireless

You should get a notification asking you to configure your network. The wireless card is alive and it wants bytes.

Fingerprint Reader

sudo apt install -y gir1.2-fprint-2.0
wget http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/pool/main/libf/libfprint/libfprint-2-2_1.94.2-1_amd64.deb
wget http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/pool/main/f/fprintd/fprintd_1.94.2-1_amd64.deb

Install the two .deb files you just downloaded. I find everything works better when installed via the Nemo file explorer instead of using the dpkg command line tool. Simply navigate to the download location and double-click on each file to install them.

6 Likes
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I discovered today I was unable to talk to my wireless printer. This wasn’t an issue with other distros I tried. The fix was to navigate to http://localhost:631/ and click on Administration and then Add Printer.

For the record I have a Lexmark C3224.

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I just went through this install recently and almost none of these instructions worked on whatever the most recent LMDE installer was. That said, the wireless networking seems to work, but the media keys/function keys don’t.

I’ll see if I can find anything more up-to-date about how to do the fingerprint reader stuff now, but the rest of it seems to work, even if Cinnamon seems to crash almost any time I try to use workspaces.