On 5/17/26 13:56, behrooz kashaf wrote:
Hello,
I installed Debian 13 (Trixie) on an internal SSD connected directly to an
ASUS PRIME B760-PLUS motherboard. The installation was fully successful:
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, firmware, kernel modules, updates and upgrades all worked
perfectly on that hardware.
After completing the installation, I moved the same SSD into a USB‑C
external
enclosure (Realtek RTL9210B‑CG) to use Debian as a portable system on my
ASUS
laptop.
The system boots fine from the external SSD, but Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth are
completely missing:
- lspci shows no wireless device
- lsusb shows no Bluetooth controller
- rfkill shows nothing
- dmesg contains no firmware loading attempts
When I put the SSD back into the original motherboard (ASUS PRIME
B760-PLUS),
Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth work normally. So the installation and firmware are
correct.
I have already tried:
- installing firmware-iwlwifi, firmware-realtek and other firmware packages
- full apt update and apt full-upgrade
- reinstalling kernel modules
- testing multiple kernels
- disabling Secure Boot and Fast Boot
- BIOS shows Wireless Interface as "Unlocked"
It seems that when Debian is booted from a USB‑C external SSD, the kernel
does
not enumerate internal PCIe devices (including the laptop’s Wi‑Fi/Bluetooth
card).
Question:
Is there any way to force Debian (or the kernel/bootloader/BIOS) to detect
internal PCIe devices when booting from an external SSD via USB‑C?
I am looking for a practical and permanent solution. Any help from
experienced
Debian users would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Perhaps your laptop has a PCIe bridge between the processor and the
wireless networking card, the ASUS PRIME B760-PLUS motherboard lacks
that hardware, and the Debian installer omitted the required driver(s)
and/or configuring settings (?).
I would boot the SSD using the Asus motherboard, run the various
information gathering commands you mention, and save the output in
files. Then repeat using the SSD, USB-C dock, and the laptop. Then
remove the SSD from the USB-C dock, install a second SSD, connect the
dock to the laptop, do a fresh install of Debian using the exact same
choices you used for the first SSD, reboot, and gather information to
files. Then remove the second SSD from the enclosure, connect it to the
motherboard, and gather information to files. Finally, compare all the
information files, figure out what is missing or changed on each SSD,
and install modules as required. The goal is to get both Debian
instances on both SSD's to work on both the motherboard and the laptop.
David
