im a new linux user, so all of this is a bit new to me. basically im trying to network a windows xp professional pc to a mandrake linux pc. iv only used linux for about 2 days now so im still learning. im also trying to allow the linux os to connect to the internet through the network. Help on this would be really great.

I also noticed that on starting up linux during verbose mode eth0 interface is the only thing that reads failed whilst everything else reads ok....maybe thats the problem??? im not interly sure

i don't know anything about mandrake, but i do know that once you get your network card working you will use samba to connect to your XP box.

any suggestions on how i could get my network card working or even check that it is working correctly or not?

try
ifconfig
at the command line
if you are using a gui then look through the menu, there might be something about network setup

when i do that i get

etho link encap:thernet HWaddr 00:07:95:0F:9C:47
inet addr: 169.254.0.0 Bcast: 169.254.0.255 Mask 255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU: 1500 Metric: 1
RX packets:47 errprs:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 fram:0
TX packets:16 errprs:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 fram:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:8209 (8.0Kb) TX bytes:672 (672.0 b)
Interupt:5 Base address: 0xcc00

I dont know what that means....

by the way thanx alot for the help so far

it means it tried to use DHCP to get an IP address but it couldn't find a DHCP server. So you will probably have to set a static IP address.
Good news is your network card appears to be working properly

Also, please explain how everything is connected in terms of cables, switches/hubs, router/dsl/cable ...

ok, well the XP pc is connected to a bt voyager adsl broadband modem and the Linux computer is simply connected to the xp computer with an ethernet cable

network card for Linux ... silicon intergrated systems [SiS]|SiS900 10/100 Ethernet

Network card for XP .... Intel(R) PRO/100 M

ok so your XP box has 2 network cards, 1 goes to the modem, the other is connected directly using a cable. <NOTE: you need a cross over cable to do this>

so you need to setup static IP address on the 2 NICs that are connected with the cross over cable. something like:
192.168.1.1
255.255.255.0
and
192.168.1.2
255.255.255.0
On the linux box you set the gateway to the XP IP: 192.168.1.1

If you enable internet connetion sharing on the XP box at this point you should get internet access on the linux machine.

all that stuff you just wrote doesnt make sense to me, from static IP's and NICs to gateways. im really sorry but could u explain what i should do in more detail, this is the first time iv used linux and im still learning how to use it. had it running for 2 days.... dont know how to make static IP's or set gateways

also, i dont think i explained very well....my XP box only had one network card....the adsl modem is connected to the XP box via USB port. The network card in XP box is connected to the network card in the Linux box via ethernet cable

sorry to be a nuisance

do the 2 network cards have green link lights when the cable is plugged in?
If so check out this link:
http://doc.mandrakelinux.com/Mandrak...onnection.html

ok thanx....do u know how i find my gateway address thing?

the gateway IP for the linux machine will be whatever you pick as your IP address on your XP machine.

ok thanx alot for everything....i think everything has been setup...my XP box detects data being sent to and from the linux box. but i cant seem to surf the web on the linux computer. any suggestions?

what does your ifconfig say now

etho link encap:thernet HWaddr 00:07:95:0F:9C:47
inet addr: 169.254.0.0 Bcast: 169.254.0.255 Mask 255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80: :207:95ff:fe0f:9c47/64 Scope: Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU: 1500 Metric: 1
RX packets:144 errprs:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 fram:0
TX packets:190 errprs:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 fram:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:22592 (8.0Kb) TX bytes:8988 (8.7 Kb)
Interupt:5 Base address: 0xcc00

there is a light when the ethernet cable is plugged in the XP box but there is no light where the cable is plugged in the Linux box. could that be the problem?

alos, whilst starting up linux during verbose mode eth0 interface is still the only thing that reads failed