Well this is my first post, but I think I'll be around for a while. I've been reading articles here, so I decided this was the right place to be.
And I figured the was a relevant place to post this question, because it's a networking problem.
You could skip this part
-----------------------------------------------------
Anyway, I've always wanted to get involved with Linux, and more into programming. Linux has just never seemed to like me in a sense, things always go wrong. But I intend to change that. I'm tired of random bullshit in Windows going wrong for no reason, tired of crashing, tired of insecurity.
I've played around with slackware after managing to get it on an older computer a while ago, but never really got into it. I'm sure most of you know how it is after using windows for your whole life, having all your programs and documents in Windows format/compatibility. Yes, there is wine, but not all programs work on wine.
Before that, I had tried Mandrake, never really got into that. I felt it was even to newbie-ish even for me. I didn't know much about linux at the time, but I did know a hell of a lot about hardware and Windows (And I know even more now; currently finishing a course for the COMPTIA A+ certification program, and possibly Linux+ and Cisco Networking in the future).
I've played around with Knoppix and Morphix KDE, read up a lot; always trying to learn a little more.
Just recently I tried Gentoo, which I got installed but never could get it to boot. Another chapter in my failures at linux, I guess.
So here I am, yesterday I downloaded the Slackware CDs, resized my Windows partition, installed Slackware 10.1 on the new partition and dual-booted with Windows, on my laptop, which I've always had problems with, but now it's done. At first I copied the boot sector for use with the Windows bootloader, but now I've overwritten that with LILO, after having gotten tired of updating that file after modifying the boot sector all those times I had to.
Which brings me to my question and an end to that BS.
-----------------------------------------------------
Alright, well it turns out that my Wireless network card is not compatible with the standard drivers, so I had to download them, the firmware, and wireless tools, and upgrade the kernel.
The laptop is a custom Compaq X1000 with an Intel Pro Wireless2200BG network card.
In fact, through my google searches on the matter, I've found two articles on it here.
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...icle&artid=356
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...icle&artid=337
Well, I had to update the kernel, which wasn't the easiest thing not knowing as much as I'd like to, but I did it. I now have the latest version from kernel.org, 2.6.11.7. (I do get a few module dependency issues, but I'll explain that later.)
The guide I followed closest for that was this one:
http://www.freeos.com/articles/2589/
Though it output system.map (?) and vmlinuz in the "/" directory, and not "/boot", so I just moved them into the boot directory, renaming the old ones to *.old.
Through various sites that google returned, articles here, and the package documentations, I got through most of the entire procedure with no problems.
I upgraded the kernel, making sure to include the modules necessary for wireless networking, downloaded the firmware into "/lib/firmware" (where it's supposed to go in this distro, I checked that out already), compiled and installed "wireless tools", and tried to install and compile and install the actual drivers for the card, which is where I run into the problem.
Code:
bash-3.00# modprobe ipw2200
FATAL: Module ipw2200 not found.
bash-3.00# make
make -C /lib/modules/2.6.11.7/build SUBDIRS=/root/wlan drivers/ipw2200-1.0.3/ipw2200-1.0.3 MODVERDIR=/root/wlan drivers/ipw2200-1.0.3/ipw2200-1.0.3 modules
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-2.6.11.7'
make[1]: *** No rule to make target `drivers/ipw2200-1.0.3/ipw2200-1.0.3'. Stop.
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-2.6.11.7'
make: *** [modules] Error 2
bash-3.00# make install
make -C /lib/modules/2.6.11.7/build SUBDIRS=/root/wlan drivers/ipw2200-1.0.3/ipw2200-1.0.3 MODVERDIR=/root/wlan drivers/ipw2200-1.0.3/ipw2200-1.0.3 modules
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-2.6.11.7'
make[1]: *** No rule to make target `drivers/ipw2200-1.0.3/ipw2200-1.0.3'. Stop.
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-2.6.11.7'
make: *** [modules] Error 2
bash-3.00#
I don't really understand what's going wrong here, which is why I'm asking for help. I'm determined to continue using and learning more about linux, but it's really useless trying with no internet access.
And if it helps, at boot I get a few module dependency errors, "agpgart", "ide_scsi", "snd_pcm_oss", "snd_mixer_oss".
