Ok, I'm having a problem setting up my PCMPC100. I'm running RedHat 7.2 with the 2.4 kernel it came with on my Gateway 9500 laptop. I installed the OS with PCMCIA support, and the card is being recognized. I get two beeps when linux is loading up and a PCMCIA [OK]. In KDE's "Control Center" under information, it says "Card 1: Linksys EtherFast PCMPC100 V3 Fast Ethernet".

Now, I'm not sure how to setup this up as eth0 or eth1. I've tried going the easy XWindows route and using "Network Configuration" in the KDE desktop. Whenever I try and add the hardware, using a "NE1000, NE2000, and compatible" adapter and the device eth0 or eth1, I get the error message "The Ethernet card could not be initialized. Please verify you settings and try again." I'm don't know a better way to set this up, but I'm sure there is one.

Also, I've read that I should be running DHCP. For some reason, DHCP isn't working. I installed the RPM when I installed RedHat, but now whenever I try to set it to run automatically or even start it in linuxconf nothing happens. When I type dhcpd from a console, this error message is spit out:
"Can't open /etc/dhcpd.conf: No such file or directory"

I don't know of this is of any use, but I've tried running a few commands I've seen in other posts, here are the results:

modprobe pcmcia
modprobe: Can't locate module pcmcia

/sbin/ifconfig -a eth0
eth0: error fetching interface information: Device not found

dhcpcd -t 10 -d eth0
[this command didn't give me any output]

I don't think this is a hardware problem or a software problem. I'm pretty sure its just me not knowing what I'm doing. So if someone could point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it. BTW I'm probably going to have a lot more questions later. I'm trying to connect my laptop through my desktop's DSL connection. I don't have a router, but I have two ethernet cards in my desktop. This worked fine when I had WinME on the laptop and internet connection sharing enable for the DSL connection in WinXP on the desktop. Anyway, its going to be a learning experience for sure. I just hope this NIC problem isn't a sign for how the reset of this is going to turn out.

Thanks

*bump*
Comeon, somebody has got to know how to know what I need to do.

Ok, I've found a new command, cardctl. Here are the results:

cardctl config
Socket 1:
Vcc 5.0V Vpp1 5.0V Vpp2 5.0V

cardctl status
Socket 1:
5V 16-bit PC Card
function 0: [ready]

cardctl ident
Socket 1:
product info: "Linksys", "Etherfast 10/100 PC Card <PCMPC100 V3>", "V2.0", " "
manfid: 0x0149, 0xc1ab
function: 6 <network>

So this tells me that linux is seeing my card, the card is ready, and its being seen as a network card. Right? So, how do I set the card up as a Ethernet card?

Ok, well I don't have a /etc/pcmcia/network.opts file. Apperently this is the "options" file that sends parameters to the /etc/pcmcia/network script. I'm going to try and make the network.opts file, but first, would this be preventing linux from detecting the network card and making it eth0?

Also, I got DCHP to run by creating the dhcpd.conf file. In linuxconf it shows the service is running, but I don't know if it is or what to do with it.

Ok, I created the network.opts file and used the correct information for RedHat, but I'm still not getting an activity light on my card. What do I do? Someone please help.