No apologies needed. I wish I could make this easier for you. I can't help but think that until we get a successful kernel compile, we won't get far with the wireless modules. (note - there are ominous sounding messages that will spit out during some compilations that are not errors, so we may be chasing ghosts. Looking at the compile output should clear that up.)

You can capture the output of a process such as ./configure or make and output it to a file like so:

$ make 2>&1 | tee make.log

Once done, you can grep the log for a specific text string. Example:

$ grep Error make.log

Or simply pipe the file through less to page through it:

$ less make.log

These are the errors I get when I'm compiling the kernel:

kernel/intermodule.c:179: warning: `inter_module_register' is deprecated (declared at kernel/intermodule.c:38)
kernel/intermodule.c:180: warning: `inter_module_unregister' is deprecated (declared at kernel/intermodule.c:79)
kernel/intermodule.c:183: warning: `inter_module_put' is deprecated (declared at kernel/intermodule.c:160)

And these are the errors I get when I make modules:

CC [M] drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.o
In file included from drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c:448:
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h: In function `hermes_present':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h:398: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h: In function `hermes_set_irqmask':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h:404: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h: In function `hermes_read_words':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h:445: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h: In function `hermes_write_words':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h:465: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h: In function `hermes_clear_words':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h:481: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c: In function `__orinoco_ev_alloc':
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c:893: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c:904: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c: In function `__orinoco_ev_tx':
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c:914: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c: In function `__orinoco_ev_txexc':
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c:921: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c:940: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c: In function `orinoco_tx_timeout':
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c:951: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c:952: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c:952: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c: In function `__orinoco_ev_rx':
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c:1029: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c: In function `__orinoco_ev_info':
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c:1223: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c: In function `__orinoco_down':
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c:1365: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c: In function `orinoco_reset':
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c:1877: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c: In function `orinoco_interrupt':
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c:1959: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c:2003: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.c:2005: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
CC [M] drivers/net/wireless/hermes.o
In file included from drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:53:
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h: In function `hermes_present':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h:398: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h: In function `hermes_set_irqmask':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h:404: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h: In function `hermes_read_words':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h:445: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h: In function `hermes_write_words':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h:465: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h: In function `hermes_clear_words':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h:481: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c: In function `hermes_issue_cmd':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:104: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:108: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:114: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:115: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:116: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:117: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c: In function `hermes_init':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:149: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:150: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:159: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:167: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:176: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:177: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:185: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:190: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:193: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:210: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:212: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c: In function `hermes_docmd_wait':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:248: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:253: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:272: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:275: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:276: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:277: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:280: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c: In function `hermes_allocate':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:303: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:308: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:325: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:326: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c: In function `hermes_bap_seek':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:350: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:354: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:374: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:375: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:379: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:383: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c: In function `hermes_read_ltv':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:476: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:481: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c: In function `hermes_write_ltv':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:517: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.c:518: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
CC [M] drivers/net/wireless/orinoco_cs.o
In file included from drivers/net/wireless/orinoco.h:18,
from drivers/net/wireless/orinoco_cs.c:45:
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h: In function `hermes_present':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h:398: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h: In function `hermes_set_irqmask':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h:404: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h: In function `hermes_read_words':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h:445: warning: passing arg 1 of `readw' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h: In function `hermes_write_words':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h:465: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h: In function `hermes_clear_words':
drivers/net/wireless/hermes.h:481: warning: passing arg 2 of `writew' makes pointer from integer without a cast
CC [M] drivers/pcmcia/ds.o

Thanks again.

Warnings like that are pretty common and, in my non-authoritative experience, not a big deal. Errors are bad, and will stop the compile process. Warnings can usually be ignored.

After you finish make, make modules install and make install (or copy the bzImage file to the boot dir) and update the boot loader, and before you try to compile 0.15RC2, what does modprobe orinoco_cs return?

modprobe orinoco_cs returns nothing, afterwards my lsmod output is as follows:

Module Size Used by
orinoco_cs 6664 0
orinoco 41356 1 orinoco_cs
hermes 7616 2 orinoco_cs,orinoco
rt2500 173764 1
via_rhine 19332 0
pcmcia 19336 3 orinoco_cs
yenta_socket 19848 1
rsrc_nonstatic 9024 1 yenta_socket
pcmcia_core 41780 4 orinoco_cs,pcmcia,yenta_socket,rsrc_nonstatic

The card is still not recognized. cardctl status returns no card, and iwconfig shows no card. I've tested the card and my PCMCIA slot, they both function fine.

One last thought: is the PCMCIA service installed & running?

I believe so, when I try to start it manually by envoking the script in /etc/rc.d it says cardmgr is already running, or something to that effect. Also, during boot time, my PCMCIA slot gets probed, nothing is ever found, it simply says watching one socket. Thanks for all your attempts to help. It really is rather strange that this crd refuses to work.

I've pointed several folks whose Linux skills are superb to this thread, and they've not been able to latch onto anything that might help. (Not that it makes your problem go away.) I will keep noodling on it.

I appreciate your help and general want to see my problem solved. I wonder if it's possibly some option I compiled with that orinoco doesn't support, like with my ralink card I had multi-processor support enabled, and that wasn't supported by ralink.