i have installed redhat enterprise 2.1 (kernel version: 2.4.18-14)
the lan card is not detected by the system
i have downloaded an rpm package which contain the driver.
the readme of the package indicate the following:

The driver requires the presence of the kernel source code
and configuring the kernel source before building the driver.
The following steps need to be done once for each kernel that is
booted. For example, if the current kernel is UP (uni-processor)
and an SMP (symmetrical-multi-processor) kernel is booted, these
steps must be performed again to configure the kernel source for
SMP before building the driver for the SMP kernel.

Red Hat installation:
If the /usr/src/linux-<kernel-version> directory does not
exist install the kernel source code per Red Hat instructions.
Once installed, follow the commands listed below to configure
the kernel source to match the running kernel.

# cd /usr/src/linux-<kernel_version>
# make mrproper
# make -e KERNELRELEASE=`uname -r` oldconfig
# make -e KERNELRELEASE=`uname -r` dep

my question is where to find the kernel source code, what version should i download ?

sorry the kernel version is : 2.4.9-e.3

The kernel source comes with the ES CD's. Look for an rpm called kernel-source-<version>. You will want the version to exactly match the kernel you're running.

Håkan

thank you, it's ok
but i'd like to know what makes the fowllowing commands

make mrproper
make -e KERNELRELEASE=`uname -r` oldconfig
make -e KERNELRELEASE=`uname -r` dep

make mrproper will completly clean your kernel sources (erase all object files, and also config files like .config, .depend)
make oldconfig... I don't really know, but I suppose that it will generate a default .config file
make dep will check files dependency generating by your .config... This dependecies will be stored in .depend file

another question please
why we need to install the kernel source code before installing the lan card driver

I'm confused too
What exactly does the Kernel contain? does it hold drivers also?
And why and when do you need to compile a new one. how is it done?
Is there a good website that explains it all?

Hello Nabil_boussetta and jorisb
1) It's safer to install the kernel source before because if you compile your driver inside the kernel, you'll obviously need kernel sources. And if you compile it as a module, you'll need a kernel with loadable module support enable and various things like a proper /lib/modules/<kernel-release>/ directory.
Another reason is that driver code is processed in kernel space... so its sources need some specific kernel include to be compiled.

2) Kernel contains various things like boot process, memory management, scheduler... and a lot of drivers. Some classical like PCI, filesystems... are compiled in kernel for obvious reasons. And other like driver for usb devices or NIC can be found in kernel sources and are more likely compiled as modules.
Why compile a new kernel??? for example your mandrake provides you a kernel with a lot of useless stuff for you... So you may want to recompile it to decrease its size and improve its perf... You can also compile a new kernel, for update reasons: a security patch or the new release provides features you may need.
Here is a good website where you can find various howtos about linux and his applications