Can you also post the make and model of your wireless adapter, I don't see it if you already posted it.

Hi H_TeXMeX_H,

This was one of the technical details that 'went away' when I rewrote my post...

The adapter is a Belkin F5D7050 version 3

I have downloaded the drivers and have the .inf and .sys files.

About the Slackware...

For reasons that, er... maybe don't matter, I just happen to have quite a few 40gig hard disk drives to hand... y'know, as you do :rolleyes:

So, each attempt at installing a distro has been done on a new 40gig disk. I still have the Slackware distro on it's own HDD. I have others, too. At the point when I could not (easily) get any further I just unplugged the disk, plugged in a new blank one and started again. I have the option to plug the Slackware disk back in at any point.

I am currently downloading Mandriva 2009, as recommended to me here. It is taking forever - not far short of a gigabyte at Sunday afternoon Internet speeds... Hopefully I can try this later, on yet another blank 40 gig HDD :D

And yes... before anyone else suggests it, I do think it would be a good idea to pick one distro and stick with it! But obviously it would be ideal to find one which installs properly, boots to a desktop and which is up to date. Hopefully Mandriva will do the trick.

Steve

I don't think you need ndiswrapper for this card, it seems to be well supported:
http://linux-wless.passys.nl/query_p...andname=Belkin
Try these drivers:
http://web.ralinktech.com/ralink/Hom...ort/Linux.html
Or:
http://rt2x00.serialmonkey.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

ndiswrapper is typically only used when no native linux drivers are available, this is because it is still in beta and can cause instabilities in some cases (but sometimes it's the other way, ndiswrapper may be more stable than native drivers, but that's rarer)

I actually do not suggest that you pick one distro and stick with it. You should try as many as you can until you find one you like. Personally, I think most of the distros just suck. They're only slightly better than Window$, some even only on the theoretically side, but some are really good, so make sure you try them all and see which one you like. Mostly I was suggesting not to give up on Slackware so easily because if you stick with it, it is one of the best, IMO. But there are plenty of other reasonably good distros that may be easier to start out with.

a lot of people find themselves in the same position because of a same problem. just dont give up and continue learning more about linux, but the most important thing is to find a distro that suits you the one you dont find too hard to use.

Debian Development

Well, Mandriva 2009 installed very nicely and neatly, the fastest and least hassle yet...

...and, it seems to have built in wireless support :cool:

So, that was good advice, thanks :D

Steve.

PS. B*GGER ME! I seem to have managed to connect to the Interwebby thingy!!! :eek:

WOW! That's great.

Have fun.

stick in there
 

I think you are trying older versions of Linux. I suggest opensuse 10.3 as it is a easy install and very stable. Most stuff will work right out of the box except you will have to install licenced software..ie flash, and codec for MP3's and DVD's. But it is a one click install in opensuse ! As for running a command make sure to put ./ in front of it unless it is a system command...with a path to it...Stick with Linux though as it Beats the S___ out of windows!

hey, you are recomending an out of date distro yourself eldondehart! suse is at 11.0 now.... ;)

basically if mandriva works with wireless fine GREAT!!!

ubuntu is also in my experance very good at this

8.10 comes out very soon..... mabie worth giving a go on another of those 40 gig disks

Hey total congrats on the mandy install.Sorry im gettin in on the conversation so late.I think I was you a couple of yrs ago.

My first attempt at linux was a debian net install.Very very bad choice for a linux newbie try.In think i had about 4 gigs of pkgs d/l with apt-get and still only had a #/ prompt!I know now all i had to do was type startx and i think things would have been better.My first successful install was mandy10.0 also.Then I would unplug that hd and plug in the xpee hd for win..lol.

Anyway you should consider a multi boot setup with all your xtra hd's.Thats what i do.I love trying different distros.Very cool and all free.(yes i donate $ to the distros i like).Search for user saikee and click on his multi boot tutorial links.most excellent stuff.

Get your iso files from http://www.distrowatch.com Try a bunch you'll love it.If a distro has things that dont work and you dont feel like learning how to fix em put in gparted live cd format that partition and get yerself another distro and give it a try.Try to stay away from the beta releases.Try to find the ones that say final release they usually have all the bugs fixed.

The live cd's are really cool also.Try puppy,dsl,slax,and cant forget the granddaddy knoppix.

I been using mintlinux(xfce)for a few months now with a belkin g usb ethernet adptr and it set it up on install.I was happy.It also uses the synaptic pkg manager for installing programs with a simple mouse click which i like.

I also have other distros installed(about 20)via a grub multi boot menu.

Have fun with linux and dont give up.The people in this forum have been REALLY helpful to me.Dont hesitate to ask anything someone will help you.They did me.

Good luck

I personally would avoid Suse as a newbie at present. I've installed Linux a good three dozen times in various flavours and Suse 11 still managed to throw me for a loop several times. Simple basic stuff just didn't work and I had to spend several hours fiddling around, and that was on a Desktop PC.

They've added a lot of functionality recently, but the integration is not so good right now.

Recent experience would make Ubuntu my current suggestion for user friendliness.

I'm a newbie too, and have had good success with finding hardware, configuring, etc. using the lastest version of Open SuSE. I use a wired connection at home, but was able to get wireless to work but I don't remember which device it was I bought. I believe it was a netgear usb wireless adapter. Best wishes,

I also have had some issues with opensuse 11 and that is why I said to use 10.3 for a newbie.

Yep, 10.3 was definitely better for doing what you expected to.

OpenSUSE 11 did not entirely work first go on my notebook.

The ATI radeon driver does not like the ATI mobility radeon3400 video card on my new DELL notebook :(