19 replies to this topic

[dalejrrocks]

I installed slackware 11 today because I became tired of using Ubuntu and I wanted to try slackware for a long time. My laptop contains two main network cards which are Intel PRO/VE 100 ethernet card and the Intel PRO/WIRELESS 3945ABG wi-fi card. Neither of these cards were detected under slackware and I was rather disappointed. I googled a lot and I read Octal's thread about slackware here. That led me to believe that the newer 2.6.x kernel has more support for hardware and I should upgrade. However, I am fairly new to Linux and I couldn't find any definite guide to upgrading. I was able to piece what I could find and it resulted in a black screen after a little bit of booting. So can anyone suggest anything to help me get the networking working and upgrade the kernel if necessary?

[Alk3]

I used this tutorial to get 2.6.x kernel running on Slack:

http://shilo.is-a-ge...m/kernel14.html

You may also want to read that whole tutorial- it has a lot of basics on slackware all in one place.

[dalejrrocks]

Thanks! It looks very helpful. I need to go to bed right now as I have some graduation exams tomorrow. Easy enough. But I will take a look at it tomorrow.

[Aghaster]

Thanks! It looks very helpful. I need to go to bed right now as I have some graduation exams tomorrow. Easy enough. But I will take a look at it tomorrow.

I think it is the time for you to become familiar with kernel compilation. That's the best gift you can make to yourself. A well configured vanilla kernel of your own owns precompiled kernels.

[nullkraft]

Make sure you check your hotplug blacklisted file. There are two drivers for the intel pro cards and one of them has been blacklisted. It always seems to be the one I want.

[dalejrrocks]

I will see if that might work.. I tried following that guide with a new 6.2.20 kernel, and it only resulted in a black screen afterwards.. I am going to reinstall and try again.

[Alk3]

If you are going to compile a kernel: keep your old kernel until the new on works. Also don't forget to edit LIlo/GRUB after the new kernel is installed. You /have/ to know your computer specs before you compile a kernel. If you don't compile the right things as modules and others a built-ins, you will most likely end up with a kernel that can't recognize your monitor, mount the filesystem, or use your wireless card. (just some examples) Don't do a reinstall, you wont be learning how to troubleshoot your Linux system. You are using the Windoze mentality: problem= reformat, reinstall.

[dalejrrocks]

If you are going to compile a kernel: keep your old kernel until the new on works. Also don't forget to edit LIlo/GRUB after the new kernel is installed. You /have/ to know your computer specs before you compile a kernel. If you don't compile the right things as modules and others a built-ins, you will most likely end up with a kernel that can't recognize your monitor, mount the filesystem, or use your wireless card. (just some examples) Don't do a reinstall, you wont be learning how to troubleshoot your Linux system. You are using the Windoze mentality: problem= reformat, reinstall.

What's the *nix mentality then? I need to reinstall because I forgot to run Lilo after adding the old and the new kernels to it.. So now it attempts to boot the new one and freezes. What about VMWare? Is it possible to test installing/compiling kernels in VmWare Workstation under Windows?

[ragweed]

When testing a new kernel just add another entry to your /etc/lilo.conf that uses the new kernel. If everything works properly you can then go and remove the old entry in lilo.conf. But if it dosent, reboot and boot from the original kernel and make the appropriate changes.

[Alk3]

If you are going to compile a kernel: keep your old kernel until the new on works. Also don't forget to edit LIlo/GRUB after the new kernel is installed. You /have/ to know your computer specs before you compile a kernel. If you don't compile the right things as modules and others a built-ins, you will most likely end up with a kernel that can't recognize your monitor, mount the filesystem, or use your wireless card. (just some examples) Don't do a reinstall, you wont be learning how to troubleshoot your Linux system. You are using the Windoze mentality: problem= reformat, reinstall.

What's the *nix mentality then? I need to reinstall because I forgot to run Lilo after adding the old and the new kernels to it.. So now it attempts to boot the new one and freezes. What about VMWare? Is it possible to test installing/compiling kernels in VmWare Workstation under Windows?

Boot into a live CD and edit your LIlo config and add the appropriate entries. A reinstall is only meant for if you seriously fuxzor up your install and are mentally incapable of reparing it.

[DarkShadow]

to get your network card working, try:

modprobe e100

note: you need to do this as root

PS. I think e100 is right for that card but not 100% sure, if it doesn't work try finding the correct driver

[tiocsti]

deleted.

Edited by tiocsti, 08 December 2007 - 12:43 AM.

[Divo]

http://ipw3945.sourceforge.net/
I have the same card in slackware 11. At first it may look intimidating to install, but it's not hard. Most user can get the 3945abg card working with the above link ( Except me, woot! ). Although, you have to apply some patches to get the driver working in 2.6.20. I know its a pain, but you might wanna downgrade to 2.6.18/19.

[slacker]

Slackware still uses the 2.4 by default (Pat keeps it for performance and stability gains in certain server uses) but 2.6 is included in 11, take a look on the install disk if you dont want to compile it

[intimidat0r]

What is the output of dmesg | grep ipw?

If it outputs nothing, try it after you do the modprobe suggested above.

[livinded]

Make sure you check your hotplug blacklisted file. There are two drivers for the intel pro cards and one of them has been blacklisted. It always seems to be the one I want.

If you are running 2.6 you should have hotplug disabled and/or removed as you no longer need it. Linux 2.6 uses udev to create device entries on the fly.

[I-baLL]

Also, when compiling a new kernel don't forget to compile the drivers for your hard drive. The i/o ide or sata drivers or whatever you have.

[livinded]

ya, kernel panics because it can't mount your root partition aren't fun.

[intimidat0r]

Don't you need to compile in support for ramdisk/initrd too in order to avoid that problem? I don't know, but if I remember correctly it solved that problem for me every time.

I was happy to see when I just installed Gentoo a few days ago kernel 2.6.19-gentoo-r5 had all that stuff enabled by default. It's probably the first time I compiled a kernel without messing that up.

[livinded]

You can skip using an initrd by just building the modules modules into the kernel, I've never built my own kernel an used initrd. Whenever I've built custom kernels I've included the filesystem drivers built in rather than as modules. I prefer monolithic kernels in most cases, but have stopped building custom kernels for all my boxes as it's just really not worth my time now. But yes, you will need initrd if the filesystem drivers are not built in.

Edit: Spelling

Edited by livinded, 12 April 2007 - 09:23 PM.