You mean the kernel configuration?

Yeah, it can definitly be confusing at first. Especially if you are having to run it from menuconfig like that instead of xconfig from a gui. Just do your best to go down through each menu and enter the sub-menu's to find configurations for your machine. You should read the help files associated with each option (I know, there are tons, don't expect to do it all tonight) to decide whether it fits your needs/hardware/setup/situation at all.

Here's another option that I've personally never used but it would seem quite a few people have had luck with it (realize it could very well end up being even harder to figure out). Anyway, get out of the kernel configuration screen, exit exit and exit until you are back to the dark place. Then type:
make oldconfig
And it will go through and take your current kernel's setup and create the new kernel's config from it. Where there are changes from kernel to kernel it will ask you what you want to do (the place where the confusion will kick in and not be so easy to figure out because of the lack of graphicial help file ). If you can navigate through that, you can have a nearly-the-same kernel as you've got now, but in addition to that you'll have the newly compiled source sitting there to feed your drivers too.

Cool

Yes because we are talking about 2 different things The man pages, apt and GCC are all a seperate (yet pertaining to) topic from the kernel conversation. Let me try to summarize to see if that'll help:

We need to compile you a kernel so you can compile the nvidia stuff against your current kernel. To compile a kernel we need a compiler. GCC is your compiler, but to get that installed takes A LOT of other packages. To get those packages resolved easily, we are trying to use apt as it's designed to resolve dependency issues MUCH easier.

SO:
apt to get GCC. GCC to compile kernel. Kernel to get Nvidia drivers installed. NVidia stuff all installed so your stuff works.



Cool

the command make oldconfig says make:*** no rule to make target 'old config'.stop.
plus i have noidea how to use apt to install all the gcc and its dependisy

Maybe I'm going about this all wrong, and doing it all the hard way.... Let's try this instead, stop me if we've gone over this:

Find the RPM on your install CD's labeled something like:
kernel-source.2.4.19-16.i386.rpm
The numbers will be different but it should start out with the above.
Then install it with:
rpm -Uvh kernel-source.2.4.19-16.i386.rpm
Again, numbers will likely be different

If you get an error, or find it requires something, find that file it needs and install that file first, then try installing it again.

Then...
Head back over to the NVIDIA site, try downloading 2 or 3 of the RPM's nearest the kernel version you are using (don't worry about what it was compiled for) and then attempt to install them:
rpm -Uvh filenname.i386.rpm
IF it doesn't work, uninstall it:
rpm -e filename
And move onto the next one.
**Note: When uninstalling files, leave off the ix86.rpm portion of the filename.

Cool

Make sure you are in the directory we created when we unpacked the kernel source:
cd /usr/src/linux-2.4.21

Then do that again.

And oldconfig is all one word.

Cool

the closest one to the orginal kernel is Red Hat 9.0 (Kernel Upgrade) NVIDIA_nforce-1.0-0261.rh90up_2.4.20_9.athlon.rpm
the next one is Red Hat 9.0 NVIDIA_nforce-1.0-0261.rh90up_2.4.20_6.athlon.rpm
what do i do do i restart go into the 2.4.20-8 kernel and install one of these and see if it dectect my network card?
do i take out my ethernet card there might me some conflict cuse the nforce adapter and the old ethernet adaper might not run at the same time or some freky sh@t might happen

What do you have (I'm surprised we haven't established that yet )?

As root, type this, exactly like this:
cd ~ (the press return)
lspci -vv > lspci.output
And post up everything that now lives in a text file in your root's home directory, do that by typing the following:
less /root/lspci.output
And post up what you've got.

And tell me anything you can about your hardware setup, what you want to do and what seems to be the problem (I am really really amazed we haven't established any of this yet ).

Cool

lspci not a command is it L or a pipe?

i just want my build in nforce newrok adapter to work so i dont need to install the old ethernet card everytime i swich os from windows to redhat

l <-- L
| <--- pipe

Too close I know...

That's an L though. Anyway, it's likely you have that on your system, but RH doesn't put /sbin in root's path, so try it with full path:
/sbin/lspci -vv > lspci.output

All of them are L's

Cool

lspci in red hat is located in /sbin
so /sbin/lspci should work

so what command i type now?im in the /sbin/lspci folder

Alright we are gonna just **try** something then..

We have the tarball downloaded right? This one:
http://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/n....0-0261.tar.gz

And we have it untarred, correct? Go into the directory that is created:
cd nforce
And then type:
make all

Post up any errors you get from that. If it finishes WITHOUT ANY errors, very important you see it finish without any errors, then type:
make install

After that, type this:
cp /etc/modules.conf /etc/modules.conf.backup
And then edit /etc/modules.conf with your favorite text editor, for ease of use, I'll give you the exact commands to type, you just have to follow them, and make sure that you aren't typing on a line that already exists (I'll walk you through that as well).

So, as root type:
vim /etc/modules.conf

Now you should have text file opened and sitting there with all kinds of things in it. We need to go all the way down the to bottom, just arrow down until you can't any more. Keep going it's likely you'll hear a system beep when you are at the bottom, just make sure you are all the way down.

Now type:
o
This will start a new line. That's a lowercase letter O.
And this will also put us in edit mode, so be careful what you type now. Next type:
alias eth0 nvnet

That's alias, eth and the number zero: (eth0) and nvnet all lowercase.

Don't press return at the end of the line. Instead press ESC that's the escape key, and then:
SHIFT ZZ
That's the shift key and 2 letter Z's while holding down the shift key.

We then need to have a look at that file to make sure everything is good to go, so post it up.

I am mainly looking for any other references to eth0 so if you don't have the ability to post it all up (since you are likely typing all this from another box) then just post up the relevant sections referring to eth0.

Cool

/sbin/lspci is the command, you just type it exactly like I have shown above. First be in your root's home directory, to get there type this exactly:
cd ~
And press return.

Then type:
/sbin/lspci > lspci.output

Cool

where do i find the file modules.conf to post it up