Installing Linux on HP Stream 11" 11-AH012DX
 

Hi,

I'm looking to install Linux on my HP Stream 11" computer. Specifically I'm having trouble detecting the SD card slot (I bought a 128 GB microsd) the other big issue is that I can't get Linux to detect the Wi-Fi adapter.

The Wi-Fi adapter is a Realtek RTL-8822BE. The SD card reader is an Realtek PCI Express connected model but it doesn't state a specific model number or anything. I tried to run a Windows 10 x64 DVD and it couldn't detect the card reader either. This thing only has two USB ports and both are USB 2.0, I would prefer to use the SD card reader if possible.

I plan to run this as a minimal server with most development packages turned on. I wish to use this to play Cataclysm DDA and to do other light terminal work. I would prefer to run it without X Windows or any other light desktop environment.

I've been running Linux casually since about 2003 since Red Hat Linux 6.22, so I do know some of the tricks.

Edit: forgot to mention which distros I tried. I tried OpenSuse Leap 15.9 it didn’t pick up either. I also tried CentOS 7.86 same situation.

Not sure about the SD Card, but the realtek I know works (have a Latitude 5289 with it), but it does require the non-free firmware to make it work, and fairly recent kernel with it (not entirely sure how new, but Debian Stretch (4.9) didn't work, Debian backports (4.19) did). Not sure CentOS will have the drivers backported to it's kernel (or even if it's possible), but Leap I would think should have a new enough driver, is there a realtek firmware package in Leap?

From a little research but can not confirm the information the card reader only supports <32GB cards, requires a driver and does not have any boot capabilities. From other posts the reader should be recognized by linux with the proper card and you should be able to download the W10 driver from HP's support page.

The wireless adapter should be supported in kernels >= 4.14 and as stated requires firmware.

I'm using Ubuntu Mate 19.04 on my Stream 11. Not sure which model; wifi adapter shows up as shows up as Realtek RTL8723BE. Left W10 on the eMMC, booting off a 64 GB SanDisk Ultrafit flash drive. No problem seeing the sd card (msdos partition table, one exfat partition)

Prior to obtaining the UltraFit, I did an Ubuntu install with /boot on the eMMC, everything else on the sd card. That worked, too.