| Topic: |
Sociology > Depression |
| User: |
"Teilhard Knight" |
| Date: |
06 Dec 2004 01:57:00 PM |
| Object: |
Bev |
I'm having problems installing Debian. First, if I accept the default
kernel, I do not find later a driver to my USB wireless net adapter
(SMC2662W), and if I choose kernel 2.4, I can't do nothing because the damn
installer does not recognize my keyboard-mouse wireless adapter and I have
to shut down the computer. Is there any way to force the installer to see my
keyboard and mouse for kernel 2.4 (|boot>bf24)?
--
Teilhard Knight
The Extraterrestrial
Change "privacy" for "softhome" if you want to intrude my inbox
.
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| User: "%" |
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| Title: Re: Bev |
06 Dec 2004 02:10:51 PM |
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"Teilhard Knight" <teilhk@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:31jrseF3d7g3kU1@individual.net...
I'm having problems installing Debian. First, if I accept the default
kernel, I do not find later a driver to my USB wireless net adapter
(SMC2662W), and if I choose kernel 2.4, I can't do nothing because the
damn
installer does not recognize my keyboard-mouse wireless adapter and I have
to shut down the computer. Is there any way to force the installer to see
my
keyboard and mouse for kernel 2.4 (|boot>bf24)?
--
Teilhard Knight
The Extraterrestrial
Change "privacy" for "softhome" if you want to intrude my inbox
tough
.
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| User: "Bev Thornton" |
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| Title: Re: Bev |
06 Dec 2004 05:00:54 PM |
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On 2004-12-06, Teilhard Knight wrote:
I'm having problems installing Debian. First, if I accept the default
kernel, I do not find later a driver to my USB wireless net adapter
(SMC2662W), and if I choose kernel 2.4, I can't do nothing because the damn
installer does not recognize my keyboard-mouse wireless adapter and I have
to shut down the computer. Is there any way to force the installer to see my
keyboard and mouse for kernel 2.4 (|boot>bf24)?
There may not be. There are some companies making wireless devices that
are shutting out free softare developers by licensing. That is the most
likely problem. The only way to install when that happens is with a
different keyboard. For some of the licensing issues, the driver will
be available after the install, as a binary on disk, but for others the
user has to get the binary driver from the device manufacturer. There may
be an easy fix, but it's not the way to do it.
The best thing to do is to install the default kernel that recognizes the
keyboard and fix the wlan problem after the install is over.
http://atmelwlandriver.sourceforge.net/
Drivers from a non-free distribution, like Red Hat or Mandrake (Mandrake
is not really free software), sometimes work, like for some things, but it
is always best to do the straight thing and patch, to use patches like the
ones provided at the atmel sourceforge site.
Hmmm, as of 10 November 2004, Atmel has changed their firmware license. In
the future, the card won't be a problem with free software like Debian or
any GNU/Linux distribution.
That will be awhile though, until the next release of any distribution.
For now, the only way to use it is to tinker with Linux itself, the
kernel. It is a long way from the desktop environment, but it is the only
part that actually is Linux.
Patching the kernel is the best way to learn Linux, because Linux really
is just the kernel. First, make a duplicate of the release kernel, then
apply any necessary patches, make another and run that. By then you are
familiar with recompiling and can move on to reading the source and
altering it to better suit the hardware/software mix you're using or any
cosmetic preferences you prefer.
If you learn cvs first (man cvs), then playing with the source is a cinch.
If you install most, and put MANPAGER=most in your environment, reading
manpages is much nicer and learning applications is easier because the
window is splittable, a whole bunch of times.
I don't know which CD has the kernel source, it used to be CD #1, but that
was a long time ago. I've been doing only network installs for years. When
a problem like you're having comes up, I just put in an old, slow card or,
if there is no slot, make CDs on another machine and patch the kernel.
The whole problem is caused by licensing issues which have nothing to do
with companies protecting property or even profit in their market, but
only with preventing free software from competing with non-free software.
In the future, companies will stop doing this because active campaigns are
ongoing to inform them of the full issues surrounding their licenses.
Software never should have been copyrighted, patented or anything. It's
the equivalent of patenting or copyrighting the setting of the dials or
switches of a machine, nothing novel in creation or process. It should be
protectable only as a trade secret.
If you want to learn KDE before Linux, you might be better off not using
Debian until the next release or use a network card supported by the
current one. But learning Linux is easy and patching the kernel is the way
to start on it at home and if you learn Linux first, you'll learn KDE even
faster once you get to it.
--
Support: <http://www.unrwa.org/>
Thus should you train yourself:
"Not even in play will I tell a lie."
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