Linux networking/hardware issues

[tking]

Being a sadistic fellow I thought I'd give Linux another go. Unlike Redhat 7.1 which had terminal problems getting to know my radeon 8500, the Mandrake 9.1 I've just installed went in very nicely.

I've got 1600x1200 full colour goodness and i've been poking around kde and gnome with interest.

Two little issues aren't smoothing themselves out though. The MX500 logitech usb mouse never worked so I ended up plugging in a ps/2 mouse which worked fine, but I'd like to get that usb issue worked out.

Secondly, and more vexing, I can't get the networking to network. I'm behind a linksys router to a cable modem. It doesn't require any config at all in w2k or XP, the internet just comes up. My ISP doesn't require any special configuration.

I've played around with gateway and IP settings in networkconfig but with no success.

I suspect that there are hardware support issues here. I am running the linux on a gigabyte GA-8SIMLH on a SiS 651 chipset. The onboard lan is an Realteck 31xx. I'm thinking that drivers didn't come for the sound/usb and lan.

Could I expect to find drivers for these items anywhere? Does anyone have any advice on how to hook up a linux box through a router to the net?

Any help appreciated.

[itismike]

Hi Tking. As for being behind a router, I can assure you that once you get the hardware issues sorted out, the connection will be nearly if not as simple as in Windows. As for how to install the drivers (modules), try this forum (http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/history/69417).

-Mike

[tking]

Thanks for the reply Mike.

I ended up fixing it in quite a cunning fashion. I deleted Mandrake 9.1 and installed Redhat 9 over it. Everything came up first time (usb, sound AND networking) and everything works like a charm.

I suspect that Mandrake didn't come with all the hardware support that RH did. Linux noobs beware, RH9 seems much more noob friendly (better hardware support etc) than does MD9.1.

[itismike]

Cool...I'm glad you got it working. That's usually one of my favorite options too, but I rather enjoy Mandrake 9.1. I haven't used any recent Redhat versions so I have nothing to say about that. It seems like common hardware support being built in or at least more intuitive fixes for resolving hardware/module issues would be nice.