[ltp] No wireless after Debian install

[Cynthia Eliason]

  Thank you! I found and installed the non-free firmware package but it
  doesn't seem to have changed anything.  I re-started the computer but
  it is still only offering me the Ethernet connection.  

   Looking for information I opened the dreaded terminal and typed
   lspci and it said "command not found."  Tried "iwconfig" and
   "command not found."  I'm used to these commands returning
   something, even though I don't always understand what I'm seeing.
     Does Debian use a whole different lingo? Or am I missing
     something?  
  

On Wed, 02 Dec 2020 01:26:37 +0000
"Basil L. Contovounesios" <basil.conto at gmail.com> wrote:

> [ Apologies for sending this twice, Cynthia - I accidentally sent from
>   the wrong account the first time. ]
> 
> Cynthia Eliason <cyne at cmk4u.com> writes:
> 
> >   I've just installed Debian on my Thinkpad T520 and it seems to be
> >   good except that it doesn't see any wireless networks.  I've got
> > it connected to an ethernet cable so it does have internet access. I
> >   used Synaptic to upgrade everything that was upgradeable. I've
> >   re-started. Under "Network Configuration" the only option shown is
> >   still Ethernet.  
> >    I had been running Mint on it and wireless was working.  I only
> >    installed Debian to try something different, am not
> >    generally comfortable with using the command line unless someone
> > can tell me exactly what to type.  If there is no easy way to get
> > Debian to see the wireless hardware, I'll ditch Debian rather than
> > fight with it. There are plenty of other options or I can go back to
> >    Mint. But before I do that I thought I'd see if anyone here has
> > some simple solution for this problem.   
> 
> My guess is you're missing the non-free Intel Wi-Fi firmware found in
> the package firmware-iwlwifi.  (Debian does not include
> non-free-as-in-freedom packages by default.)
> 
> To install this package, you must first permit Debian to find and
> install non-free packages.  I think you can achieve this with Synaptic
> by going to Settings > Repositories, selecting the main or default
> repository (it's usually something like debian.org/debian/), and
> adding "non-free" (without the quotes) to the "Section(s):" line at
> the bottom of the window.  That line should now read "main non-free"
> or something like that.  Then click OK.  (Apologies if these
> instructions are inaccurate - I don't use Synaptic.)
> 
> Once that's done, you should be able to click Reload and then install
> the firmware-iwlwifi package.  If not, perhaps you added the
> "non-free" text to the wrong repository.
> 
> HTH,
>