Some quick answers:

1. No battery doesn't work, I used Mandrake 9.1 now and it has ACPI compiled in, then you download AKPI and you will be able to monitor your battery, RH9 I had to compile the kernel for this. I am not sure about the hibernation

2. The Linuxes I have tried I had to download the modem and NVIDIA drivers. Everything else worked right off the start. In RH9 use the Generic NVIDIA driver it works fine except no Hardware Acceleration :(

3. Never tried either one but I have been happy with Mandrake 9.1

HTH :)

ok hmm I have redhat with only the modem and battery left to get fixed
 

ok hmm I have redhat with only the modem and battery left to get fixed

how do I chack the HD to make sure I have it in 32 bit mode as you were discussing earlier

never mind got the HD now I just gotta figure out the battery and modem
I got the RPM installed but it says that I have no /dev/modem/ I looked and I don't. Any pointers?

After you have the modem RPM installed you will need to run the following command as root:

hsfconfig this will setup your modem and link it to /dev/modem

As for the battery monitor you will have to recompile your kernel, if you feel you are ready for this you can follow the way I compiled my kernel found here
I used the kernel config with .i686 on the end.

This is a Mini-Howto that explains the kernel compile question in detail
How-To :)

If you don't feel up to compiling a kernel just watch for your laptop battery light to go orange then you know it is time to charge your battery.

HTH :D

Well I tried that and used those exact directions
 

Well I tried that and used those exact directions. However, Klaptop still did not work. it said that it looked like I had only Partial ACPI support.??? Is there another battery meter that I can use or something?

Hard to believe that linux is just now getting this inacted. ACPI has been around for a few years.

I will try what you said for my modem

I installed the RPM but...
 

Ok I installed the Modem RPM however when I goto run the command to configure the modem the "hsfconfig" I a command not found. what directory is it in?

To run hsfconfig you have to be root.

As for the battery meter the GNOME battery monitor will work or if you are using KDE you will need to download and install AKPI found here:

AKPI RPM

Then once you have installed the AKPI RPM type in the run box akpi. That should bring up a battery monitor.

HTH

was logged in as root

Which RPM did you download for your modem ?

If it is the newest RPM it may be ready to go, if you are using KPPP try to go to setup and then under I believe it is the modem tab, click on Query Modem, see if anything shows up.