Noob HW Question
 

Hey guys,

I've searched the forums here and have done some significant google searching but haven't found what I'm looking for.

I just want some general driver install how-to's for the various Linux distro's. Slackware/Suse in particular.

I have a Dell Inspiron 5100 with a Radeon 9000 and a Sigmatal AC79 audio controller. I can't seem to get either properly configured and was curious as to what I need to do to go about getting them up and running.

In Linux you dont need "drivers" for your misc hardware. The "drivers" come bundled in the Linux kernel. What you may need is just some configuration how-tos.

Hmm,
What's the chipset on your sound card? I looked up the Sigmatel cards, there are several different ones.
http://www.sigmatel.com/products/audio-codecs.htm
Looks like they have drivers for linux too.
Does ALSA find anything when you run alsaconf? Is this a PCI sound card or older ISA?

I looked on the HCL here and found this:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/sh...&cat=83&page=1

If alsaconf finds nothing, check /etc/rc.d/rc.modules for the chipset listed in that HCL entry.


About the "generic how-to's", this might help.
http://cabibbo.physics.wm.edu/~bryan...piron5100.html
That article covers fedora/RH, I only know slackware, but if RH sticks to standards, that article should help.

Another article on the model of laptop you have:
http://web.utk.edu/~rmahurin/inspiron5100/
http://www.linuxvirgins.com/inspiron5100.html
http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/dell.html (scroll down to the 5100, few articles listed)

About your video card, I've never used ATI and the track record with their linux support hasn't been great. Here's what I've found:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...003/04/1/53349
https://support.ati.com/ics/support/...e&folderID=300

Good luck,
-Jason