I can't activate/use wifi adapter usb

Hardware Support
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3

Things like WiFi adaptors, Bluetooth adaptors, etc., typically don't show up in File Explorer (or linux file managers) because they aren't file storage devices.

Obligatory don't trust random drivers and binaries you find online, unless you know exactly what you're doing. That's a very quick way to either getting your machine compromised / infected, or corrupting your operating system with incompatible or broken things.

lspci shows PCI devices so it won't list USB devices, which is why you can see your adaptor in the output of lsusb.

Things to Try

  1. As you're dual-booting Windows, please check for and disable both "fast boot" and "fast startup". One is a Windows setting and the other is a BIOS / UEFI setting you may or may not have; whether your BIOS / UEFI has the option, and where to find it if so, I can't say. Unfortunately, every BIOS and UEFI is totally different, using different names for the same features even within the same brand!

  1. Run the command rfkill list all in a terminal and see if your WiFi devices are blocked at all. If so, try sudo rfkill unblock all and then run rfkill list all again to see if it changes.

  2. I have also seen some mention previously of an Acer kernel module that can block certain WiFi drivers even on machines from other brands like ASUS and HP. If you see acer_wmi or acer-wmi in the output of sudo lsmod | grep acer then it may be worth trying this fix. WMI modules are for mapping the Fn keys on laptop keyboards to system functions, such as toggling WiFi or changing screen brightness. If linux chooses the wrong WMI for your keyboard - such as acer-wmi on a Dell or HP laptop - this somehow causes the WiFi driver to fail / be blocked in the system. Why? I have no idea, it just does! :joy: