Enable wireless in linux mint 9 isadora for e-machines m5312 laptop
 

e-Machines M5312 Laptop
Mobile AMD Athlon™ XP-M 2400+ Processor
Operates at 1.8 GHz - 266 MHz Front Side Bus - Level 2 cache 512K
1GB (1024MB) RAM DDR PC2100 SO-DIMM (2 sticks x 512MB) with 64 MB used for onboard video/display
ATI® RADEON IGP 320M - 64 MB DDR shared video memory
PC2001 Compliant AC '97 Audio Built-in Stereo Speakers
HTS541080G9AT00 Hitachi 80GB HDD
10/100Mbps Ethernet
802.11g 54Mbps Wireless

I installed Linux Mint 9 Isadora on my e-Machines M5312 Laptop and I cannot activate the wireless. I have to use a wired LAN (via an Ethernet cable) to have internet access.
In Windows XP I was able to use the hotkeys combination (Fn+F2) to turn the wireless (Radio) On and Off - it was the only way to do that.
Please help me with step by step instructions on how to do this in mint 9 or for that matter in any linux distro.

Thanks.

Have you tried right clicking the network icon in the systray? You then select Edit Connections. In there you will see a wireless tab, select that and input your details. Once you have done that, close the box. Left click on the network icon and you should see your connection options.