ok i just downloaded a patch for my acx100 driver so it can work undee the 2.6 kernel but i dont know how to install it? i di patch <filename.diff -p1 and it asked me what file i wanted to patch so i pointed it to the module file which was acx100_pci.o and it created a new one but i still cant load it. can anyone help me out?

Try
patch -p1 <filename.diff

i get the same result

I'm not 100% sure about it, but I think it's strange you have to apply a patch to a binary module to be able to load it with an indipendently compiled kernel!
I fear you'll have to patch kernel sources and recompile it!
There's an easy way to check it: try "cat filename.diff"
If it is a binary file, you're right. If it's a text, I am... in the latter case, don't panic: compiling kernel is no more a pain these days.

i have to patch the kernel. i can recompile it no problem but how would i go about pathcing it?

I can't speak about your particular case, but generally you have to
1) download the kernel sources either with your distro package manager (rpm for RH) or as a tarball from www.kernel.org
rpm extracts to the correct place, while for tarball you should go to /usr/src and then tar -xjvf /path/to/tarfile.tar.bz2
2) download a patch for the same kernel version you're going to use (e.g. 2.6.0)
3) cd to the root of your source dir (e.g. /usr/src/linux-2.6.0/)
4) apply the patch ("patch -p1 <patchfile.diff" or "zcat patchfile.gz | patch -p1")
5) run "make xconfig" to choose kernel options, then compile it (see howtos)

However if you point me to the place you downaloded the driver/patch, I can check what it really is