Other than the occasional freeze, my debian now works fine! Thanks for all your help!

For the benefit of others, i will describe the process.

step 1: get correct firmware from debian repository website on an alternate device.
step 2: set up the firmware in a way that you can access it from debian
step 3: boot debian and then find the place that you have stored the firmware (whether it be on a different partition or a flash drive)
step 4: go to applications --> system tools --> gdebi package installer
step 5: click file --> open and then select the package containing the firmware
step 6: let gdebi install the firmware for you
step 7: your new firmware is installed!

Congrats on getting it working. Just for future reference if you go to Downloads, right-click on file, the gdebi option will be listed as an "Open With".