help with driver installation
 

hello everyone,
first of all i'd like to say thank you for viewing my thread as i havent had much help from the linux guys i know. I'm a microsofty in the IT field broadening my knowledge with linux.

im new to linux, but i like it very much, the problem is i've been using microsoft since i was a kid, and i do now know enough commands to do an installation i think.

here's my piece:

I've installed Slackware 13.0 succesfully on a laptop. everything works, and when i use lynx or the xwindows GUI i can surf the net and all that fine on a hardline to the net. ie: eth0

problem is my wifi card doesnt seem to want to work.

i run an iwconfig on it and see that iwlan0 is there, the specs are right, but when i go to add the ssid of the router in my kitchen, it wont allow me becuz it says that iwlan0 does not exist.

naturally i thought there was a problem with the driver, or module as they say?? so i checked here, and found a link to intels linux site.

i find my wnic driver on the page. Intel WiFi Link 5100agn, and it notifies me that it has been included in the 2.6.24 kernel, which my os currently has. (probly why it can see it but wont let me touch it??)

so i do a modprobe -l | less

and find it exactly where intels site says,

kernel/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi

my question from my newbie ass is,

how to i add it or turn it on so that i can configure it when it cant find it when i type

iw dev iwlan0

as i stated before i use slackware 13.0 and im a complete newb to linux.
im also using strictly the command shell or whatever its referred to, as a GUI is not really important to me.

and heres some specs.
acer aspire 1410 11.6" netbook
3gb ram 250gb HDD
intel wifi link 5100agn
atheros ethernet driver (forgot exact specs dont have it handy)

please, any information would be great, even if its just to correct what i named drivers haha

im in school, but we're not doing linux untill next term, and i'd like to learn now.

thank you
dan

hoang519,

It is curious why you cannot control it despite driver is already included. So, one thing obvious is to examine your system log or do a little debugging, make certain that the wifi driver is loaded and is running at boot up. There are times when it required a little hacking to set it On and available along the init scripts.

Back up everything before tinkering.

Good luck.

This may not be the answer you'd like, but if you're brand new to Linux, I'd suggest starting with a distro that's a bit more 'friendly'. Slack is great, but it does take a bit more to get it working/configured that some other distros.

Give the new openSUSE a try, or Ubuntu/Kubuntu...they may work right off the bat, and let you wade in a little deeper, before heading into more advanced waters...

yes i know slack is harder, my lab partner introduced me to it.
but i figure if i learn it on slack then it will make it easier using other distros, so im not going to give it up yet. thnx for the feedback tho guys i'll check logs, backup, and cut it open.

still if anyone knows what might be making it show in some places, and not show in others, then please post as i would like to know for advancements sake. i want to start cert training early so any more help would be appreciated.

thank you
dan

Not necessarily. Slack is it's own distro...again, not knocking it, but in the 'real world', most of the Linux servers out there are going to run a RedHat variant (RedHat Enterprise, CentOS, Fedora), or a SUSE (Enterprise) variant. The tools they have for server administration and such are totally different from Slack. I'll grant you, you'll be able to edit the files, and get services working....but you could get to school by walking on your hands, rather than the bus. You wind up in the same place, but one is easier, and no one cares which you did, as long as you show up on time. :)

ur right we will be usin fedora core in our classroom but being a newb i figured they were all the same just different cosmetics.

perhaps i'll get fedora and try that, but i feel like im letting myself down by quitting.

i will try other distros, but im going to keep trying slackware.

again thank you for the feedback, and keep posting if anyone knows why this is happening.

thank you
dan