Hi all,
I have two PCMCIA cards I'd like to use with my thinkpad:
•Xircom RBEM56G-100 Modem + Ethernet
•D-link DWL-G650 Airplus xtreme G wi-fi card

Do I need drivers of any kind, or does Ubuntu include everything I need to use them? I tried the modem and it didn't seem to be working; when I clicked activate it had an error. The wifi activated, but the lights still flashed like it hadn't found a router, and I couldn't connect to the router via Firefox. Thanks for helping a newbie!

use the discover pack to see how your flavor sees your hardware. this is a good start. try running kudzu also.
operator

Operator-
discover ethernet gave me "Atheros Communications, Inc. AR5212 802.11abg NIC".
What's kudzu; it doesn't seem to be a command. Some more info: Network Tools calls ath0 (the card) an "Unknown Interface" and doesn't have anything about it. If I add --module to discover I get "ath_pci". Thanks again for your help. Caleb

try this:
apt-get install kudzu
kudzu
this is likely to work.
kudzu is a redhat pack that auto-configures your hardware and sets up and runs the right drivers based on the discover readout.
hope this helps.
operator

I don't think I can use apt-get since I can't get online, and the only modem I have is the one I can't get to work. When I plug in the modem + ethernet card, Networking has two interfaces: modem and ethernet. When I tried to activate ethernet the computer crashed, when I first tried modem (/dev/modem) from Networking, it had an error. When I use any other port, it activates in Networking. But on trying to activate it from the panel modem thing you get from Add to Panel, it won't activate. It doesn't seem like it has to do with the fact that there was no phone line plugged into it, but maybe. Anyway, the port doesn't matter which would make me think I'm not doing something right.

A friend is going to try to get a cd for version 6.06, which will supposedly fix some issues. Should I just wait for that? OK, thanks Caleb

then how did you get linux partially working? where-ever you got linux from is where to get kudzu from.

You seem to be in luck with wifi card https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WifiDocs/Wir...ssNetworkCards so this may help https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WifiDocs/WiFiHowTo .

beagle,
thanks for the links. Sorry it took me so long to get back to you on this. I think at this point I'm waiting to get the new version of Ubuntu, and I'll check them out if that doesn't solve the problem. C