Oh, that is actually beyond my own linux knowledge yet :S
If I were in your place would make a try with some other distributions to see if they work better. For example the Fedora 12 beta or Mandriva 10, which both seem pretty good.
In general I would also try as new distributions as possible (such as betas), since it's usually just a matter of time before new hardware gets supported. Hence, if your linux mint wasn't based on Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic (which is the latest ubuntu at the moment), chances are pretty good that Ubuntu 9.10 will work perfectly. (This also means that if you have patience to wait half a year or so, the problem is likely to have solved itself by then
)
If not, I sincerely hope someone else will be able to help you.
Good luck!