I am very new to linux. I have installed mandrake 9.2 on a Gateway 400 laptop. It is failing to recognize internal modem and pcmcia modem. Also, any recommendations on partitioning of a 37G HD for a dual booting system (saving ~10G for winxp)? Many thanks, I hope this is the best venue.

Welcome to Linux!

Your internal modem will most likely be a Winmodem. That means it needs the Windows operating system to operate. Some Winmodems can be made to work but note the word some. http://www.linmodems.org is a good place to start.

As for partitioning, you should have twice as much swap space as memory (RAM), and you should partition your HDD into different partitions: '/', '/usr' and '/home'. It is also wise to have a 100MB '/boot' partition. Allocate as much space as you think you will need to '/home'. This is the place where all of your documents will be stored. '/usr/' is the place most programs will be installed so it is up to you how much space is dedicated to that partition.

If you are running Mandrake, it can automatically partition the HDD for you.

All the best with Linux!

Thanks for your help.

I have some more to learn about patching modules together from tar.gzipped files that I download. I haven´t yet attempted to alter my system this way. Too used to just the easy download of MS software. It is a PCTEL 2304 wt V.92 mdc modem made by intel. I found a site with some tar gzipped files for generic pctel modems that I will attempt to install. Luckily I found a pcmcia modem that linux recognized in the meantime. Not quite comfortable with the definition of ¨compile¨ yet...

If I might trouble you with one more thing though... I am able to get online by going to mcc and going through the internet wizard and having it test to see if I can get online, but where do I find some sort of application that I can add to my panel or desktop that is some sort of dialer or internet dialup utility? Now that I am online, I can´t figure out how to get off! Pathetic I am sure, but learning nonetheless. (I am running KDE on the mandrake 9.2.) Many thanks in advance.