You're right. I neglected to provide inxi -Fxz. I'll get to that soon as I finish eating lunch/breakfast. I had a hell of a time writing to the USB stick. What's the easy way? I forgot how I did it.

I've posted the inxi -Fxz to Mint forums.

here it is-
inxi -Fxz
System: Host: treblemakerdave-ideacentre-310S-08ASR Kernel: 4.15.0-20-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 7.3.0
Desktop: Cinnamon 4.0.8 Distro: Linux Mint 19.1 Tessa base: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic
Machine: Type: Desktop System: LENOVO product: 90G90068US v: ideacentre 310S-08ASR serial: <filter>
Mobo: LENOVO model: 36F7 v: SDK0J40700 WIN 3258123353981 serial: <filter> UEFI: LENOVO v: O2HKT58A date: 10/01/2018
CPU: Topology: Dual Core model: AMD A9-9425 RADEON R5 5 COMPUTE CORES 2C+3G bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Excavator
L2 cache: 1024 KiB
flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm bogomips: 12376
Speed: 1397 MHz min/max: 1400/3100 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1397 2: 1396
Graphics: Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] vendor: Lenovo driver: amdgpu v: kernel bus ID: 00:01.0
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.19.6 driver: amdgpu,ati unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,radeon,vesa
resolution: 1366x768~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: AMD STONEY (DRM 3.23.0 / 4.15.0-20-generic LLVM 6.0.0) v: 4.5 Mesa 18.0.5 direct render: Yes
Audio: Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:01.1
Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:09.2
Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.15.0-20-generic
Network: Device-1: Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Lenovo driver: N/A port: e000
bus ID: 01:00.0
Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Lenovo driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI
port: d000 bus ID: 02:00.0
IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives: Local Storage: total: 938.79 GiB used: 13.95 GiB (1.5%)
ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Seagate model: ST1000DM003-1SB102 size: 931.51 GiB
ID-2: /dev/sdb type: USB vendor: Verbatim model: STORE N GO size: 7.28 GiB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 833.90 GiB used: 13.87 GiB (1.7%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5
Sensors: Message: No sensors data was found. Is sensors configured?
Info: Processes: 192 Uptime: 5h 25m Memory: 3.79 GiB used: 1.43 GiB (37.8%) Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers:
gcc: 7.3.0 Shell: bash v: 4.4.19 inxi: 3.0.27

So what does the below mean? Mint sees the wireless network adapter.

Network: Device-1: Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Lenovo driver: N/A port: e000

I hope this doesn't sound too off in any way, but it was quite confusing (for both us and for you) when you ran two very similar threads concurrently on LQ, and that was before you added this one. In the same way, it will be quite confusing for you to run the two threads here on LQ and on the Mint Forums. I would suggest that you concentrate on the Mint Forums one and then come back on here if you are asked specific questions here or in the eventual case that your issue is resolved (or you have no joy) on the Mint Forums. Does that make sense? That of course is just my personal opinion, but it will probably lead to a more focussed approach to resolving your issue. You can ignore this advice if you see fit!

You make perfect sense. I obviously don't know how to make best use of these forums. Thanks for helping me make sense of it. I started this thread 'how to put ubuntu instead of mint because someone told me to consider it as an option to Mint. Turns out Ubuntu also had issues with my wifi adapter. I think I will stick with Mint Forums, as there they deal exclusively with Mint. You're not off. You are right on.. Thanks for being so considerate.

I'm hoping you'll still post here in the future. I for one would like to see if you can resolve your wifi problem and it would be nice if you could add that information to both your threads once you resolve the issue or not. Also, if you encounter generic non Mint-specific issues or have other Linux-related questions then LQ is still the best place to post in my opinion. For this particular issue, however, I think the Mint forums should serve you well.

Once my issues are resolved (feeling optimistic) I will report back here on all three (yes three) of the threads I started.

1 members found this post helpful.

Thanks for the updates.

1 members found this post helpful.

Today I went to a friends home to connect to an ethernet hook up. That did not work at the house I get my wifi from.. don't know why, could be the cable I used. The machine updated all the software and all appeared ready to go. I came home and now I can't get on Wifi again. Sheesh !! Next I will go to tutorial to see how to set up the wifi. It all happened automatically when I put Mint on this laptop I am now working from. I didn't need a hard wire ethernet to do it either.

Have you rebooted the machine since you got back from your friend's house?

Ha.. I just now did that as I was opening up your message. No change. I still only see the symbol for Ethernet.

Click on the Ethernet symbol on the panel. Which menu items are black rather than grey? Is there a menu item named "Enable Wi-fi" (you may have to scroll down)? If so, check it.

If I click on the connections symbol- lower right- I see only 'Wired cable unplugged and network connections' There is nothing to scroll to.

Ah yes, you're using Cinnamon. I forgot. I'm using MATE which presents different network settings in the applet.

If you click on Network Connections, what do you get?

Ya mon, I be a cinnamon man.I see Ethernet and Wifi