Using Slack-11.0, with either a 2.6.17.13 or 2.6.18 kernel (working on both till one works perfect).
Running Intel P4, 1.8Ghz oc'd to 2.2Ghz, Onboard Via-Rhine II Ethernet device.
I'll try making this long story short, as it is somewhat multi-angled by nature:
I've successfully compiled kernels about 20+ times now, so the kernel-compilation itself doesn't seem to be the issue..
Since upgrading from 2.4.33.3 kernel, I have been unable to compile ANY of more than a dozen modem drivers. I have ruled out that every single driver package was bad; more likely there is an issue with some obscure GCC-related component making me unable to compile stuff properly, possibly that the drivers were not fully compatible with the running kernel.. I read something in a Slack-mirror-site README file about NOT installing kernel headers which are newer than the kernel version with which glibc was compiled. Is the converse true as well?
Question 1 - Do I need to recompile GCC or glibc or anything related, now that I am using a newer kernel? What, if anything must be upgraded/recompiled to 'match' the running kernel, once I finally settle on a kernel?

So, brings us to the current problem which I am posting for help with:
Obviously, I have no modem driver installed, and have given up on trying to get all 3 modems I have here to work with the new slackware kernel I'm using (2.6.x.x) because they simply arent compatible or the drivers havent been updated or whatever.
I FINALLY managed to get internet thru my Ethernet card, by doing the following:
1-- I am connected to another (Windows XP) computer by LAN cable
2-- Select Suse 7.0 as my OS in the Control-Center, because Slack-11 is NOT listed there, and to date I have tried just about EVERY OS selection in the Network-Connection area of the Control Center; Suse 7.0 setting finally activated the ethernet card..
3-- manually inserted my default gateway, IP, subnet-mask, etc etc...

So wow! I finally have internet again after several weeks of not having it.
The Problem: While I am using konqueror just fine to browse, download, etc, suddenly Slackpkg , K-Package Manager, and Gaim (and maybe other things, I dunno) Cannot seem to connect to anything..

I've browsed the forums here but nothing I found seems applicable, despite lots of Slackpkg problems reported. Also, I checked and tweaked the wgetrc file, and tweaked my Slackpkg.conf many times and have tried about a dozen mirrors; Always the same result: Unknown host/name/filename or whatever reported by slackpkg, and ZERO LAN Traffic while trying.
Gaim also just immediately returns a 'connection refused/unavailable/disconnected/can't reconnect' type message.

Input is greatly appreciated, and if more info would help, just ask.
Thanks
Sasha

So you switched from 2.4.x to a self-compiled 2.6.x and you can't compile any driver modules for it. Did you remember to install and symlink the new kernel source properly ?

If that doesn't work, posting some of the errors you get when trying to compile might be useful.

oops, accidentally posted twice ... not sure what happened.

Here's some more info, incase anyone has atleast 'part' of an idea...

This is what Slackpkg returns, regardless of what mirror I select (there's some extra debugging info there):

root@darkstarSSI:/home/Sasha# slackpkg update

Updating the package lists...
Downloading...
Downloading ChangeLog.txt...
Setting --mirror (mirror) to 1
Setting --timeout (timeout) to 30
Setting --dns-cache (dnscache) to 0
Setting --passive-ftp (passiveftp) to 0
Setting --output-document (outputdocument) to /tmp/slackpkg.xe6cka/ChangeLog.txt
DEBUG output created by Wget 1.10.2 on linux-gnu.

Using `slackware.mirrors.tds.net/pub/slackware/slackware-11.0/.listing' as listing tmp file.
--21:35:27-- ftp://slackware.mirrors.tds.net/pub/.../ChangeLog.txt
=> `/tmp/slackpkg.xe6cka/ChangeLog.txt'
Resolving slackware.mirrors.tds.net... failed: Name or service not known.

FINISHED --21:35:27--
Downloaded: 0 bytes in 0 files

No changes in ChangeLog.txt between your last update and now.
Do you really want to download all other files (y/N)?

...and here's some info returned from running 'ip addr' in a terminal:

root@darkstarSSI:/home/Sasha# ip addr
1: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,10000> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast qlen 1000
link/ether 00:0c:76:0f:a5:ed brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 192.168.0.2/24 brd 192.168.0.255 scope global eth0
inet6 fe80::20c:76ff:fe0f:a5ed/64 scope link
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,10000> mtu 16436 qdisc noqueue
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
inet6 ::1/128 scope host
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

Sasha

TexMex, thanks for that, but yes, the kernel source is symlinked correctly, I made the symlinx at usr/src/linux , with the 'linux' being the symlink. It points to the source which is in usr/src/source/<kernel uname>.
Remember, most of these drivers did not explicitly express compatibility with my kernel, but they ALL DID claim to be 2.6 compatible. The question is, WHICH 2.6 ??
So, yes the symlink is in place, and actually I have manually relocated kernel source files such as version.h and config.h according to the requirements of several of the driver makefiles; still no go..
I get a lot of compile errors such as
'blahblah has no member named 'flip''
'pointer defined as 'blah' was previously defined as 'other-blah'
'unable to locate blah.ko'
...and other stuff.
:P
PS-- Upon pondering your suggestions regarding symlinks, perhaps I should put a few more here and there? Just to make sure everything can find everything else? Hmmm, I'll check into that .. Despite that I really won't need a modem if I can get everything to work over the LAN, I still of course want the darned compiler to be able to compile stuff .
Thanks again.

Sounds like there is alot going on.

A few ideas, are the kernel modules loading correctly at boot, ie is /etc/rc.d/rc.modules pointing at the modules for 2.6.17.13?

Is the via-rhine module loading? lsmod | grep via-rhine

Have you got any NAMESERVER entries in /etc/resolv.conf?

Samac

Samac, yes the modules are loading fine at boot; typically I am building everything right into the kernel lately anyways, with the possible exception of the Via-Rhine module. But it loads fine according to dmesg and syslog. As I type this message right now, I am connected by ethernet, so I know it is definitely working fine. I haven't gotten the adapter to come online by itself at boot yet, I still have to go to Control Panel-->Network settings and enable it manuallly, but that's not a big deal. Ill fix that later.

The problem remains, that while I can use Konqueror to browse, download, check my email, etc.., stuff like slackpkg and Gaim and K-Package-Manager are acting like there is no internet connection.
Per your question, I looked at resolve.conf, and here is what it contains:

# Generated by dhcpcd for interface eth0
domain mshome.net
nameserver 192.168.0.1

I'm not sure what this means, other than that mshome.net is the name of the LAN we use here at home, which I am connected thru, and 192.168.0.1 is the default gateway I have set in my manual configuration of the ethernet connection (eth0).
I will check the man pages meanwhile for the details of this file, but if you think something else should be in here, please advise.
Thank you.

Is wget installed?

Yes, Wget is installed and functioning (atleast it *was*) Slackpkg used to work for me just fine, using 2.4.33.3 and a modem.
Now, with 2.6.x.x. and ethernet, these problems started.
That is Wget debug info you see in my post above.

Are you behind some sort of proxy? If konqueror lets
you browse, but direct connections don't work it's not
a driver issue. Chances are that your routing and/or
name-lookups are buggered.

I'd suggest to run netconfig and go through your settings.
While it's possible that you DO have a nameserver sitting
on 192.168.0.1 it may not like your machine for any reason
(I've seen odd behaviour from the MS dhcp-server with some
linux dhcp clients [can't remember which ones, has been too
long]). One option would be to try and use static settings
instead of DHCP for analysis.


Cheers,
Tink

Thanks for that reply Tink. Though that resolve.conf file WAS created by dhcpd, I am currently using manual settings. I have to enable my ethernet adapter manually when I boot too.
I agree that the driver(s) are working fine, but there is definitely something wrong with DNS settings somewhere. I am just not sure where to look. It's as though the ports are blocked in the WinXP machine..
I'm not using any proxy, its just my Linux machine ----> LAN cable ---> WinXP machne ---> Dialup modem ---> the internet..

That's becoming quite odd, then. If your konqueror doesn't
use a proxy (in which case the proxy would be doing the DNS
stuff) there's no explanation as to why you can browse if
name resolution isn't working.

Anyway - try using your ISPs nameserver instead of the
windows-machine. Also, please post the output of route.



Cheers,
Tink

bash-3.1# route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
192.168.0.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
loopback * 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 lo
default LOLLIPOP 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
bash-3.1#


This doesn't look right.. Hmmm.. Whaddya think?
And how would I go about using the ISP's nameserver for DNS? Which file would I put 'what' into?

PS- Here's a NMAP scan of the Windows machine..

The Connect() Scan took 283.98s to scan 65535 total ports.
Host 192.168.0.1 appears to be up ... good.
Interesting ports on 192.168.0.1:
Not shown: 65531 filtered ports
PORT STATE SERVICE
21/tcp open ftp
2869/tcp open unknown
5051/tcp open unknown
5101/tcp open admdog

Ok, I can't really tell you how to check for the ISPs name-server
on the windows box - maybe an ipconfig /all will show you the
name-servers address.

Once you have found it I'd recommend running netconfig, enter static
IPs, route and the name-server(s). Also, if your slack-install isn't
a from scratch one but has been subsequently upgraded check that your
rc.inet* files are the right ones before you run netconfig.


Cheers,
Tink

I use my ISP's nameservers and I originally got them the same way you did. I used DHCP and it made resolv.conf but then I switched to static and everything was all set. If I had never used DHCP I would have looked at my router's internet connection status "page" where it lists the details. Whichever computer or router you're using to connect to the internet, go to the status of that device's connection settings and the DNS servers should be there.

EDIT: @Tink (and Grapefuitgirl): ipconfig /all will list the DNS servers.