I've been trying to get info on how to install the drivers for the Cnet CNWL 311 wireless pci card. I've got the driver...it's a gzip file. I have untarred it.

But from that point on, I really don't know what to do. I've read about doing a ./Configure but don't really understand the process of what's going on when installing drivers in linux.

Could anyone walk me through the process and explain what is actually happening in a linux driver installation? I don't understand the module business in linux. Please don't say RTFM. I've read till I'm blue in the face...forums, howtos, man pages. I've gotten conflicting info...some say you need to re-compile to install drivers, others say just to make a module then load it..... Hard to know which/who/what is right.

Ok, here's the deal with installing drivers in terms that I've kinda discovered after RTFM'ing.. (sorry, but I had to say it)

./Configure - finds the location of any configuration files that the install might need. In this particular case (I have this card) it finds the kernel source and the directory that the kernel modules should be installed in.

make - Make is a command that refers to the Makefile in the directory to compile the drivers for your particular kernel. In order for the modules for your card to properly work, they must know what is going on with your kernel in order to interface with it.

make install - copies the modules that 'make' created into the proper directories and will (in some cases) modify configuration files accordingly.

In your particular case you can probably run 'make', then you will see that a file rt2400.o has been generated. you can then do a 'modprobe ./rt2400' to insert the kernel module and resolve the dependencies (modules that your wireless card depends on to work).
Then try to run the command 'ifconfig ra0 up' followed by 'ifconfig ra0' to see the statistics for that particular ethernet adapter. You may have some more problems. Please reply back if you have any more questions

PS- I don't mean re-iterate anything that you may already know I just know that I had to go back to basics when I configured this particular card and wanted to cover all my bases. I'm too

Hi !, i have the same problem, can you tell me where did you get those drivers ?. If you have a msn messenger account, please add me in order to help each other.
Thanks and Good luck !