Fix for Ralink WiFi card issue with Linux on HP laptops

1. Connect a wired cable connection to the computer to have Internet connection for the moment while you do the steps below.

2. Open a terminal and execute the following line to install everything needed to compile your very own wireless drivers:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-generic

3. Go to Mediatek and download the Ralink RT3290 Driver for Linux

4. Rename the file to 2012_0508_RT3290_Linux_STA_v2.6.0.0.tar.bz2

5. Extract the file and it should contain a folder named DPO_RT3290_LinuxSTA_V2600_20120508

6. Go to DPO_RT3290_LinuxSTA_V2600_20120508/os/linux/ and edit the file config.mk

7. Find the following variable:

HAS_NATIVE_WPA_SUPPLICANT_SUPPORT=n
 
change it to

HAS_NATIVE_WPA_SUPPLICANT_SUPPORT=y

and save the file.

8. On Terminal, go to your main extracted folder (It should be the DPO_RT3290_LinuxSTA_V2600_20120508 folder) and type the following:

make
sudo make install

9. If everything compiled correctly do the following: modprobe rt3290sta

10. If step 9 runs without any problems, add the module to the list of modules to loaded upon every boot:

sudo gedit /etc/modules/

and add rt3290sta at the end of the file. Save and exit.

References:

1. ask ubuntu