Hello,

I've been studying and reading up on Linux. I wrote here when I first joined, almost two weeks ago, and got some friendly and helpful responses. At the moment I'm still trying to figure out if my hardware is compatible, that's a headache in itself!!!
Just minutes ago I had a phone conversation with my cable internet provider, checking on the modem I'm using, just to be certain. I asked if they also happened to know about the ethernet card I've got and she put me through to technical support. Well, when he learned that I was thinking of changing to Linux and that I'm not very techy minded he did his best to put me off. He went on and on about how hard it is, how techy its written and I would have lots of trouble.
Now I'm deflated after so much research and preparation. I know each opinion will be different, but this was a technical support bloke and you expect him to know what he's talking about.
On top of all that!!!!!!!! Any of the hardware makers I've written to, to ask if their product will work under Linux, say "NO", it won't. Their product, they say, is made to run under windows. I realize that they may be running on the side of caution, to protect themselves, but this is getting very disheartening.
Now I don't know what to do, if I should continue or forget it.

Maureen.

I haven't found one of those (ISP tech support guy that knows what they are talking about) yet. All they can do is read you instructions off their sheet.

Linux Hardware Compatibility HOWTO

There has been a lot of winhardware the developers have written drivers for. Ignore them and try it anyhow. One of the live CDs may give you a hint about your hardware support.

KNOPPIX Linux Live CD

How To Check MD5sums On A Linux Iso Image
# Cheap CDs
AlmostFreeLinux
Discount Linux CDs
Linux Central
Cheapbytes
TuxCDs
ComputerHelperGuy
CheapISO
Os Heaven

# Pre-installation guides
GNU/Linux pre-installation checklist
The Pre-Installation Help File

# Partitioning
Linux Partition HOWTO
Rute - Partitions, File Systems, Formatting, Mounting

# Linux Distribution links:
A Beginner's Guide to Choosing a Linux Distribution
Reasons to Choose or Not Choose Linux
LWN distro list
elinux Linux Distributions

amen ;-)

oh and by the way, on topic:
It's not "that hard" ... I come from 10 years windows, that's half my life, and I didn't have much more trouble getting Linux to work than getting windows to work. And I am far from being qualified a computer expert, so that couldn't be the reason why it worked out for me

My ISP support had me to remove a file that was necessary for any networking and it took me 2 days to find someone else running Windows 98 SE and get that dll back.

That was a major KITA to get me to load and learn Linux.

I am glad that she was an idiot, now.

I've worked three years in tech support. The people I worked with I would not trust anything technical they told me. Your cable company probably pays them 8 dollars an hour and these people only know windows. And yes, all of them have a cheat sheat.

I would rather try to get something running in Linux than in Windows any day.

Thanks fancypiper for the reply.
I did try the Knoppix CD to get a look at Linux.
At the start up it went through a list on screen of hardware then ran the program.
Would it have shown up at that list if something was not compatible?
Also, while browsing through the Knoppix program I opened the audio player and pushed it to play, there was a small song in it, the display levels were moving as if it was working but no sound came out at all. I just presumed this to be because it was not properly configured, just a display run. Or is that a sign of a problem?
(I have on board chipset Crystal PnP, CS4237B/WSS/SB Driver=AD1848, or something like that.)
Thanks for your help and patience.

All your answers came in while I was still replying to fancypiper, please don't think I was picking out only him to thank. I appreciate all the help and words of encouragement, its boosted my enthusiasm again.

Can you hear "initiating startup sequence" when the desktop is loading? Perhaps you need to turn up audio levels with the sound mixer.

No, I never heard anything.
Give me 20 minutes, I'm gonna reboot with the CD and see again.

I am new to Linux also and went through much of what you are going through now---finding out if your hardware will work. I got many of the same answers from the alleged "techs" but I also found, through googling, many sites that tell how to get specific hardware going in Linux.

The sites in a previous post in this thread helped me a great deal when I decided to switch. It is worth jotting down what you do have and checking the sites to see if yours is listed. I have found my components listed even when the manufacturer says it won't work.

I just decided one day to switch. I bought some inexpensive cd's (too long to download on dial-up) and when they arrived I just trashed windows and dove right in to Linux. The final act of windows on my laptop was to rawrite the boot disks as it would not boot from the cd

Yes, I still have a couple "holes" to fill in. I bought a serial modem for my desktop to replace the aging winmodem. The laptop has no sound--it uses IBM's MWAVE and is a PITA (even with windows) so I could care. BUT, the thing is, there is a fix for it! The reason I mention it is as a further example that more works with Linux than some will let on, as long as one is willing to try.

I am so happy I got away from windows! I like learning what I have learned and look forward to more. I especially like the control.

John

You didn't mention your Windows flavor.

While in Knoppix, open an x terminal and give this command and write down what you see for modem, video card and soundcard.

cat /proc/pci | less

Let me mention a few things about ISP Tech Support. First of all, most don't know crap about anything to tell you the truth. If your speaking to a 1st or 2nd level support person, it could very well be a bum off the street with 2 weeks of training. Trust me, I've worked ISP tech support many years before.
I was a 3rd level support for RoadRunner and out of the 30 tech support reps we had, I was the only one that knew anything about Linux. I can assure some knew their stuff, but whenever a Linux call came thru since we didn't officially support it, they would transfer them to me and my boss told me I would only have 15 minutes, if I can't fix it in that amount of time, then I have to give up.
So my point really is, don't call your local ISP tech support for help, call them when you need a billing question or need to know if they having problems on their end, cause most of the time, they will be either reading from a script or talking total non-sense.

Good luck...

OK, I'm back.
Unfortunately, fancypiper, I didn't see your post about 'open an x terminal' before I left. I can go back and try that, if you tell me how to ;O)
Where would I find an x terminal?
In the list that shows on screen my sound chip was there, but when I tried to test play any of the system sounds I heard nothing. In 'Control Center' under 'System Bell' I could get that to beep, but could not alter the volume. I found the sndconfig but when i tried to use it, it told me "Display is set. Recommend sndconfig *not* be run from X windows." And I didn't know how to change that so I closed it.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. My windows:- 98SE

Anything in the menu that has "term" in it's name is an x terminal. You can look for an icon that looks like a TV or a monitor and click on it.

Look through the menu under multimedia, find and launch a mixer and make sure the volumes are turned up.