mandrake linux kernel source

[lammerda]

hi, i am running mandrake 8.1 and im trying to install the pcmcia drivers for my ethernet card. i have the drivers that i want to try to install already. i run the make configure command in the terminal and the first thing it does is ask where my kernel source is. (it says the default should be /usr/src/linux) so i try that and it says that it cant find it. i tried looking everywhere to see where the kernel source location is with no luck. everywhere i look on the internet says that it SHOULD be in the /usr/src/linux directory that is not existent on my machine. any ideas? thanks.
daniel
daniellammert@hotmail.com

[Spot]

Ok, first off...are you positive you need to install the drivers?
The pcmcia package that ships with Drake 8.1 covers *a lot* of cards, possibly even the one you have. You didn't mention what card, so I can't even check for ya =/
If you're not sure, try booting up with the pcmcia boot floppy and see if yuo can get your card initialized...if you can...then yer all set =)
I only say this to hopefully save you some hassle.

As to the kernel source...it's not installed by default, but should be available on your Drake CDs (kernel-source-version#.architecture.rpm)

[lammerda]

actually to clarify, im not sure if it will detect the actual card or not. it is not even recognizing the cardcontroller. i have a O2 micro card controller that is lited as an unknown device. i was hopeing the new pcmcia-cs driver would fix that. what pcmcia boot floppy are you refering to? the only boot floppy that i made was the one it prompted me to in the initial install. if i wanted to install the kernel source from the cd then is it as simple as copying it over to a /usr/src/linux directory? or would i have to compile it? the actual pc card i have is a linksys etherfast 10/100 pc card (pcmpc100). my box is a gateway solo 1150 with a celeron 550 mhz processor, 196 mgs ram, with drake on a 2 gig partition. thank you for your help spot. =)

[Spot]

actually to clarify, im not sure if it will detect the actual card or not. it is not even recognizing the cardcontroller. i have a O2 micro card controller that is lited as an unknown device. i was hopeing the new pcmcia-cs driver would fix that.

Yea, my Intel i82365 (one of the most popular pcmcia bridges ever used) is also listed as an unknown device. I wouldn't worry about that yet if I were you.

what pcmcia boot floppy are you refering to? the only boot floppy that i made was the one it prompted me to in the initial install.

On the first Mandrake CD, in the images directory, you should see: pcmcia.img, boot.img, net.img, etc. Those are the boot floppy images - apparently you used the boot.img to create your initial install floppy. I'm saying - make another initial install floppy using the pcmcia.img and see if booting up with that floppy will allow you to initialize your card. You don't have to go thru with the install - just see if it will make your card work.

if i wanted to install the kernel source from the cd then is it as simple as copying it over to a /usr/src/linux directory? or would i have to compile it?

No, it's a rpm package, see http://www.getlinuxonline.com/omp/distro/RedHat/rpm.htm and/or man rpm for command usage info.

the actual pc card i have is a linksys etherfast 10/100 pc card (pcmpc100).

That's the exact same card I have. It's completely supported, so you shouldn't have to do anything too special to get it working. I'm curious to know if you even have the pcmcia packages installed. Please do this and get back to me...at a terminal, type rpm -qa | grep kernel and show me what the output is. It should look something similar to this:
[spot@lap spot]$ rpm -qa | grep kernel
kernel-2.4.8-26mdk
kernel-headers-2.4.8-26mdk
kernel-pcmcia-cs-2.4.8-26mdk

my box is a gateway solo 1150

[me=Spot]shivers[/me]
Hopefully, Gateway didn't load it up with too much propritary crap...which they tend to do so they can keep charging their customers extraneaously for support.

[lammerda]

before i even got your reply (thank you) i booted up into drake again to see if i could fool around some more. i ended up copying the pcmcia kernel rpm to a directory in /usr/rpm. i installed it in there. (i understand the concept of rpms now so now when i boot it says that the pcmcia service starts ok among the list of other services and what not. however, now what? i checked and there still is no pcmcia seen or so it says. would i go about installing the card through the mandrake control center? i still see only pci cards listed in there and there is no option to select any others. i will try the pcmcia boot image now tho hopefully that will give me access to my card? thank you so much for your help. as you can tell i am a newbie to linux and your helping me out a great deal.

[Spot]

now when i boot it says that the pcmcia service starts ok among the list of other services and what not. however, now what? i checked and there still is no pcmcia seen or so it says. [would i go about installing the card through the mandrake control center? i still see only pci cards listed in there and there is no option to select any others.

Don't worry about it if it's not "seen". The service starts, that's what's important here.

i will try the pcmcia boot image now tho hopefully that will give me access to my card?

Since you've verified that the pcmcia packages are now installed, you shouldn't need to boot with that floppy. It should be as simple as inserting your card.
Try this:
At a terminal, type /sbin/lsmod and make note of all the modules listed there, then insert your NIC card and restart the pcmcia service via the command /sbin/service pcmcia restart. Run /sbin/lsmod again and see if there's another module added to that list. I believe it's the axnet_cs module that works for that card. If you see another module added to the list, then your card should be working, and all that's left to do is configure and then start the network service.

[lammerda]

At a terminal I typed /sbin/lsmod and saw all the modules listed there. I then put in my NIC card and restarted the pcmcia service. I ran /sbin/lsmod again to see if there's another module added to that list and nothing changed. there was no axnet_cs mod or any others that were new. after that failed I tried doing the same proccess after booting from the floppy and the same thing, no new mods listed...any ideas of what to try next?

[Spot]

At a terminal I typed /sbin/lsmod and saw all the modules listed there. I then put in my NIC card and restarted the pcmcia service. I ran /sbin/lsmod again to see if there's another module added to that list and nothing changed. there was no axnet_cs mod or any others that were new.

It may not be loading the module yet because the card's not yet in use. Have you configured the network settings yet? If not, you can use ifconfig, linuxconf, or the Mandrake Control Center to do so. After that's done, restart pcmcia (with the card inserted) and then bring up the network. Hopefully it will be that simple and the card will be functional. Other than that, I'm not sure what to tell you from here.
In the meantime, I'll look into the database for the default pcmcia package and try to verify that your card is indeed supported, as it's isn't the exact same one I've got, as I first thought.

[Spot]

Yep, the Linksys PCMPC100 EtherFast card is supported by PCMCIA version 3.1.29, the default for Mandrake 8.1

[lammerda]

hmmm...still not working. yeah i think i read that somewhere too, that my card is defintely supported. the thing that gets me is that the link light for the card doesnt even come up, but then again if the card controller isnt detected than how could the card be. by the way in both linuxconf or mandrake control or even ifconfig i cant get to configuring the network without having to first detect my card which it is not doing. when i go in to try and detect the card i always get the same limited choices for what looks to be pci cards, and no pcmcia cards. im getting pretty frustrated. i boot into linux, fiddle around, boot into win2000pro research online, boot into linux fiddle around...a never ending circle :-\ i wish i could just stay in linux, im kindof liking now that im getting a little more used to it. thanks.