i'm installing gentoo linux for the first time. i used a networkless install. i feel like my life might be a little easier now if i had used a auto configuration of my network at the beginning of the install which would have had dhcp detected it for me. i am approaching the end of the installation manual now and am being asked to set certain files for my network. /etc/hosts is my current concern. the examples i've seen specify an ip followed by localhost. do i need to specify an ip? can i put dhcp in place of an ip? how can i set up my network?

thanks.

You just need to add the loopback (127.0.0.1) which will always point to your machine.

Just have:
in your /etc/hosts file.

what is pcmcia? do i have it?

Is your computer a notebook/laptop? If not,
not likely ...



Cheers,
Tink

my computer is a laptop... apple powerbook g4 1GHz (Tibook)

thanks.

Most current laptops have PCMCIA capability.

PCMCIA - Personal Computer Memory Card International Association aka PC cards. A slot usually on the side of of the laptop where you can insert different devices. Some of the devices are modems, ethernet (wired & wireless), memory, i/o controllers like USB, SCSI, firewire etc... etc...

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/PCMCIA.html