Your reply doesn’t make much sense. You say you have VMware but no VMS but you can delete them. I am not sire if you have them but they are not going to affect the host. I would remove the vmtools package from your computer/host reboot and see if it clears up the issue
You did not respond you request for an IP a to see if the devices are listed and whether they have an IP address.
Virb indicates a virtual driver. Are you running this Linux in a VM? Do you VM software installed. I think you may have installed the vmtools and it messed with your physical Ethernet. Virb is showing connected what do you get with an ip a? Does it show all the devices? Do any of them have an ip address?
maybe a silly question bit is mint using pulse audio?
i unfortunately using kinoite for my desktop and Debian for my servers. I am not totally in love with kinoite but I don’t dislike it enough to change back to regular fedora.
Here’s my take which i have not seen in this thread. When you buy your hardware it is yours you should be allowed to do with it as you please. If you want to wipe the device and install another ROM or os you should be able to. Much like the recent fight for “right to repair” not allowing you to do what you want with your property should not be allowed. As long as the manufacturer blocks your ability to do what you want with your hardware it isn’t really your hardware.
Display port does not have audio
Sounds like me. I ordered it from a magazine and installed it from 3.5 floppy disks also. After that it was Debian and i used that for years.
Sounds like you are describing the orange baboon in the white house.