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First off I’m still new to Linux :)

Anyways, I’ve been on Ubuntu MATE 17.10 for about 2 months now and lately I’ve been seeing a common error upon startup called the initramfs error. Now this has happened about 4-5 times and each time I resolve it by a fix I found online: 

sudo fsck -f /dev/sda7

Now I know I should’ve done something to figure out why I keep seeing this initramfs error but I’ve been way too busy with work and other responsibilities so anyways, this happens again yesterday but something seemed off. When I typed in my usual fix (above) it said sudo was not a recognised command lol anyways it continued to work without typing in sudo and fixed whatever errors were there and then I rebooted.

That was when I noticed the WiFi icon had disappeared, so I can’t connect to the internet. I’ve tried connecting to a hotspot via Bluetooth but that didn’t work either (I think that’s a separate Bluetooth issue cuz my laptop is really old). I should also mention that I don’t have access to an Ethernet connection.

What do I do? I desperately need to use my laptop ASAP so some urgent help would be ideal!

I have tried some fixes online where I tried to connect to a WiFi via the terminal but they haven’t worked out either.

Hoping to learn something out of this :) Edit:

Zanna
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Nahid
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    You can connect to WiFi via NetworkManager applet manually by running nohup nm-applet & in terminal. It is not good, that your system needs fsck often. HDD may fail. Install S.M.A.R.T. capable program with sudo apt-get install gsmartcontrol and then check HDD attributes in it. – N0rbert Feb 25 '18 at 10:44
  • @N0rbert hey, that is for commenting and helping out. I just typed that in the terminal and what first came was: [1] 2096 and then in a new line: nohup: ignoring input and appending output to 'nohup.out' What does this mean? – Nahid Feb 26 '18 at 14:48
  • It is normal, it means that process is running in background. Do you have nm-applet in place after running this command? – N0rbert Feb 26 '18 at 14:52
  • @N0rbert nope, nothing has opened or popped out..I can't remember if it's installed actually but then I'd need the internet if it isn't installed.. – Nahid Feb 26 '18 at 14:54
  • What is your Ubuntu version and desktop environment (GNOME, Unity, MATE)? – N0rbert Feb 26 '18 at 14:56
  • Ubuntu Mate on Lenovo Y410-p – Nahid Feb 26 '18 at 15:04
  • 16.04 LTS or 17.10? What is the output of lsb_release -cs? – N0rbert Feb 26 '18 at 15:08
  • 17.10 and the output is: artful – Nahid Feb 26 '18 at 15:10
  • You may try to use terminal version of NetworkManager to connect to the internet - nmtui-connect. – N0rbert Feb 26 '18 at 15:15
  • It says NetworkManager is not running.. lol sorry if this is annoying – Nahid Feb 26 '18 at 15:17
  • It means that something is broken. Please edit your question with output of sudo systemctl start network-manager.service; systemctl status network-manager.service. – N0rbert Feb 26 '18 at 15:20
  • @N0rbert hey, I just added a screenshot. What do you think? – Nahid Feb 27 '18 at 12:17
  • I have no idea. Try to test network adapter from LiveCD/DVD/USB. – N0rbert Feb 27 '18 at 20:19
  • Clearly the output you've posted indicates that network manager isn't starting. The possible root causes are several. – Elder Geek Mar 01 '18 at 16:00
  • Close voters. Answered. – Elder Geek Mar 01 '18 at 16:05

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Based on the way you've been working around this issue in the past, I would bet money on a failing hard drive being the culprit. At this point the damage may be too severe for a simple fsck to resolve. You might get some indication by checking SMART status of the drive in question. Passing a SMART test doesn't guarantee that a drive isn't failing but failing one is pretty definitive.

Elder Geek
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