I think it is possible that the reason why you came across so many issues is the fact the Trisquel is based on software from 2016, making it slightly less suitable for new laptops. Have you tried a newer free operating system such as Debian Buster (testing) or PureOS? I think your results would be different. Obviously, if the WiFi card depends on non-free firmware it won't work but perhaps it will be able to boot after an install?