I'm afraid it you want your device (the Startech card) to work then you will need to learn. If you want to try and do this yourself, there's no other way. However, there are other options, which include installing a distribution that has the correct driver and can set up your card, if one exists, or getting help through a local LUG (Linux user's group) or a local computer repair shop that can work on Linux systems.

You can also see if anyone in the Mint forums can better guide you through this or has more knowledge about your card.

If you want to try doing it yourself, one way you could start is gaining more familiarity with the command through tutorials such as these...

http://linuxcommand.org/

http://ryanstutorials.net/linuxtutorial/

Ok, thanks. I still need the readouts I requested. ;)

Regards...

lsmod

andrew@andrew-Vostro-420-Series ~ $ lsmod
Module Size Used by
nvidia 10567680 41
rfcomm 69632 4
bnep 20480 2
bluetooth 491520 10 bnep,rfcomm
joydev 20480 0
wl 6369280 0
snd_hda_codec_realtek 81920 1
snd_hda_codec_generic 69632 1 snd_hda_codec_realtek
binfmt_misc 20480 1
uvcvideo 90112 0
videobuf2_vmalloc 16384 1 uvcvideo
videobuf2_memops 16384 1 videobuf2_vmalloc
videobuf2_core 53248 1 uvcvideo
v4l2_common 16384 1 videobuf2_core
videodev 159744 3 uvcvideo,v4l2_common,videobuf2_core
media 24576 2 uvcvideo,videodev
hid_logitech_hidpp 20480 0
snd_usb_audio 180224 1
snd_usbmidi_lib 32768 1 snd_usb_audio
dm_multipath 24576 0
scsi_dh 16384 1 dm_multipath
kvm_amd 61440 0
kvm 479232 1 kvm_amd
snd_hda_intel 36864 5
snd_hda_controller 32768 1 snd_hda_intel
snd_hda_codec 143360 4 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_controller
snd_hwdep 20480 2 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_codec
serio_raw 16384 0
k8temp 16384 0
edac_core 53248 0
edac_mce_amd 24576 0
snd_pcm 106496 5 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_controller
drm 344064 3 nvidia
snd_seq_midi 16384 0
snd_seq_midi_event 16384 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_rawmidi 32768 2 snd_usbmidi_lib,snd_seq_midi
shpchp 40960 0
snd_seq 65536 2 snd_seq_midi_event,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_device 16384 3 snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_midi
snd_timer 32768 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
cfg80211 524288 1 wl
snd 86016 23 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_usb_audio,snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_hda_codec_ge neric,snd_usbmidi_lib,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_seq_device
soundcore 16384 2 snd,snd_hda_codec
8250_fintek 16384 0
tpm_infineon 20480 0
mac_hid 16384 0
i2c_nforce2 16384 0
parport_pc 32768 0
ppdev 20480 0
lp 20480 0
parport 45056 3 lp,ppdev,parport_pc
dm_mirror 24576 0
dm_region_hash 24576 1 dm_mirror
dm_log 20480 2 dm_region_hash,dm_mirror
hid_logitech_dj 20480 0
usbhid 53248 0
hid 110592 4 usbhid,hid_logitech_dj,hid_logitech_hidpp
uas 24576 0
usb_storage 69632 1 uas
pata_acpi 16384 0
psmouse 114688 0
firewire_ohci 40960 0
sata_nv 28672 2
firewire_core 69632 1 firewire_ohci
crc_itu_t 16384 1 firewire_core
forcedeth 69632 0
pata_amd 20480 0
andrew@andrew-Vostro-420-Series ~ $

iwconfigiwconfig

andrew@andrew-Vostro-420-Series ~ $ iwconfig
eth1 no wireless extensions.

wlan2 IEEE 802.11abg ESSID:"andrew-d7148d38-wireless"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point: 00:24:B2:0B:4A:9E
Retry short limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:off

lo no wireless extensions.

andrew@andrew-Vostro-420-Series ~ $

Hi...

Hmm. it looks like the "wl" module is active and you are connected to your network. Let's get some additional information with these commands...

Disclaimer: Be careful with these commands. Ones that are prefaced with "su" or "sudo" will essentially allow root access to your system. Mistakes could possibly damage or even destroy your OS.

Thanks! :)

dmsg

andrew@andrew-Vostro-420-Series ~ $ dmesg | grep -iC 3 "wlan2"
[ 17.632072] sound hdaudioC0D0: Line=0x1a
[ 17.632074] sound hdaudioC0D0: Line=0x1c
[ 17.769100] wlan0: Broadcom BCM4329 802.11 Hybrid Wireless Controller 6.30.223.248 (r487574)
[ 17.774378] wl 0000:01:06.0 wlan2: renamed from wlan0
[ 17.797278] systemd-udevd[431]: renamed network interface wlan0 to wlan2
[ 17.802225] Bluetooth: Core ver 2.20
[ 17.802316] NET: Registered protocol family 31
[ 17.802318] Bluetooth: HCI device and connection manager initialized
andrew@andrew-Vostro-420-Series ~ $

sudo lshw -c network

andrew@andrew-Vostro-420-Series ~ $ sudo lshw -C network
[sudo] password for andrew:
*-network
description: Wireless interface
product: BCM4321 802.11b/g/n
vendor: Broadcom Corporation
physical id: 6
bus info: pci@0000:01:06.0
logical name: wlan2
version: 01
serial: 00:24:b2:8b:d5:97
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=wl0 driverversion=6.30.223.248 (r487574) ip=10.0.0.9 latency=64 multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11abg
resources: irq:17 memory:fdff8000-fdffbfff
andrew@andrew-Vostro-420-Series ~ $

am using a tenda usb wireless adapter . will change them in the morning and see if the netgear board is working. the tenda usb has very poor signal strength 1 to 2 bars as compared to the netgear which has 3 out of 4 bars on the windows OS 7. tenda keeps dropping the wireless connection even though the computer and wireless router are about 25 to 30 ft apart line of sight.

Hi...

If you didn't disable the Netgear card while using the USB adapter, that could explain why the connection wasn't working. ;)

Regards...

I took the netgear board completely out since I could not connect to the router with it. made no difference. don't see how anything that small could have an effective antenna anyway even at 2.4 ghz.The usb connection was working , just had very low signal strength on the metre. would drop below the reception threshold and disconnect and reconnect randomly. am amateur radio operator and TV service tech for 40 years. the system is only as good as the antenna no matter how good the rest of it is .

Hi...

No problem, I understand. Broadcom can be difficult to deal with in Linux. Well, I guess that leaves the Startech card. Please review the options I've mentioned in post #16. :)

Regards...