ok i had this post in the red hat forum as well but i figured i might get a better response here since im very new to linux. my problem is that i need to install drivers for my onboard ethernet card. here is part of the readme just to give you an idea of what it tells me to do:

3Com Gigabit NIC (3C2000) Driver Readme Version A02
Copyright (c) 2003 3Com Corporation

This file describes the 3Com Gigabit NIC (3C2000) driver for Linux.

Loading the driver
------------------

1) Make sure that the kernel source is installed in /usr/src/linux
or /usr/src/linux-2.4.

2) Copy the file /Linux/3c2000.tar.gz from the 3Com driver CD to
your hard drive.

3) Change to the directory containing 3c2000.tar.gz

4) Type 'tar zxvf 3c2000.tar.gz'

5) Type 'cd 3c2000'

Note: on SuSE systems since 7.1, you will have to execute the
following commands before running make:

cp /boot/vmlinuz.version.h /usr/src/linux/include/linux/version.h
cp /boot/vmlinuz.autoconf.h /usr/src/linux/include/linux/autoconf.h

For more details se

6) Type 'make load' to load the driver.

Alternatively, you may type the following to load the driver:

insmod 3c2000.o

Something like the following will be added to /var/log/messages:

Jan 22 19:31:19 localhost kernel: 3C2000: 3Com Gigabit NIC Driver Version A08
Jan 22 19:31:19 localhost kernel: Copyright (C) 2003 3Com Corporation.
Jan 22 19:31:19 localhost kernel: Copyright (C) 2003 Marvell.
Jan 22 19:31:19 localhost kernel: eth0: 3Com Gigabit NIC (3C2000)

Depending on your configuration, the OS may then automatically bring the
interface up and request an address from a DHCP server. If it does not,
bring the interface up with the command:

ifconfig eth0 up

You may have to substitue 'eth0' for your actual interface if you have
more than one ethernet NIC installed.

If your system is not configured for DHCP, you can assign an IP address
with the command:

ifconfig eth0 a.b.c.d

Where a.b.c.d is the IP address that you wish to use. Again, eth0 may
be different depending on your system configuration.
______________________________________________

ok now my problem is that i do everything it says and when i get to the point where it tells me to type "make file" it gives a huge list of error type messages and finally ends with the line "make: ***[skge.o] Error 1"
the motherboard is an asus p4c800 deluxe with an onboard 3com ethernet. im using red hat 9.0. can someone please help me??

can you post the errors you are getting right before that last line? those should tell what the specific problem/s are, what dependencies you need to satisfy, etc.

i would if i could, but the fact is i cant read them all theres so many. it seems to have an error message of some sort for each line of that file, which is about 2400!! ill post some of them later on when im back from class. i was also wondering what steps 1 and 2 meant on that readme. i dont have a folder called /usr/src/linux

d'oh, you don't have the kernel source code installed. that would account for all the error messages. it's just really weird, because i thought redhat for sure would install it by default. but there's probably an rpm -- do a search for how to install the kernel sources for red hat, you should find the info easily.

ok heres some of the error messages that im getting...most of them are the same thing which is:

"skge.c: xxxx: Dereferencing pointer to incomplete type"

xxx is the line number im assuming and the vast majority is this type of error. i cant see to the beginning of the errors because that previous error just takes so much splace on the terminal.

heres the last few lines though:

skge.c: In function 'skErrorLog':
skge.c: 4615: 'Kern_INFO' undeclared (first use in this function)
skge.c: 4615: parse error before string constant
skge.c: At top level:
h/skdrv2nd.h:531: storage size of 'TxPort' isn't known
h/skdrv2nd.h:532: storage size of 'RxPort' isn't known
/usr/include/linux/proc_fs.h: 193: warning: 'create_proc_read_entry' declard 'static' but never defined
make: ***[skge.o] Error1

hmm can i get a little more information on where i can find the kernel sources? i did a few google searches and im not quite sure which one to go to. thanks for that info though

ah ok i think i know what the problem is....leave it to my brother to buy the dumb red hat linux for dummies book which comes with red hat PUBLISHERS EDITION. after reading the readme file on the cd i realized that they conveniently left out a few dozen rpms including a few that have kernel in the name. so i think thats the problem, i still dont know wher ei can find the kernel sources though...

sbcdivision63

If you are using RH 9 look on the install CD's under Kernel Development

Pete

if you don't have it on the CD, you can build it from a tar.gz here:
http://www.kernel.org/ (follow the http or ftp links)

or it looks like you can get an rpm here:
http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/freshrp...20.9.i386.html

you probably want to install the source to the same kernel you built your system with, e.g., 2.4.20, etc. maybe that's not necessary, i'm just saying i don't know if it is or not, so to be safe stick with the kernel version of your working system unless someone chimes in to say it's okay not to.