Linux Mint 12, Dell Latitude D410, wireless firmware

[verbiosa]

So, my netbook fell down the stairs and we had to buy a cheap replacement - a Dell Latitutde D410. It came without any operating system. I downloaded a few, but the only one I could get to install was Linux Mint 12. I love it, but there's a problem with my wireless - it says "firmware missing".

I know this question gets asked a lot, but I have I read through (what seems like thousands of) tutorials, and I just don't have the tech skills to pull this off. Can someone please break this down in a very simple way? I'm a fiction writer, not a programmer.

I have downloaded the b43 to a USB, uploaded it to the Dell and typed this in to the Terminal screen:

C'/home/`uname -r` ~/Desktop/broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0 2/kmod'

I get the message:

No such file or name directory

I fiddled around for awhile and couldn't figure out how to get it to work, so I started over with instructions from Linux/Ubuntu and tried:

lspci

And got this for my card info:

02:03.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4306 802.11a/b/g (rev 03)

So, I looked down the list and found that the b43legacy was probably the best bet, but when I put in this:

sudo apt-get install firmware-b43legacy-installer

All went fine, but when I went to the Hardware Drive Update, it said no proprietary drivers were found.

(I should say I also did an install for the b43, so I don't know if that messed things up. )

I went and downloaded the driver from Broadcom, restarted my computer, but the same thing happened.

I also downloaded the compat-wireless-2.6.tar.bz2 and restarted my computer and nothing had changed.

I have a feeling I am supposed to do something with these files after I download them to make them work, but I don't know what. I'm a little afraid of trying for screwing something else up (if I haven't already). Normally, I would just keep trying on my own but I work from home, and can't afford to miss anymore work. Can someone help me figure this out?

[xenopeek]

Moved here by moderator

[CCurtis]

Hi! I had this same problem with an elderly Toshiba Satellite S1905 (don't ask why I'd be so perverse...)
See the incredibly helpful post at http://linux-bsd-sharing.blogspot.com/2 ... m4318.html -- which immediately made my Broadcom wireless show up.

NOTE: You may or may not be able to execute AS SHOWN the last step in the series. I got an 'access denied' message. However, switching to 'root' and then typing the 'echo' command worked fine. Just a heads up.

As one newbie to another, I hope this helps!!