Folks,
I have a couple of Toshiba 490cdt laptops. I have used one as a packet
switch now for several years, I have been running Knoppix with a 2.4 kernel
on it, but it is time to upgrade the system to 2.6 as there are some things
that are fixed in 2.6 that 2.4 will never see.
The problem is with the pcmcia stuff. I have tried distro after distro and find
that AFTER the install or a test run with the live CD the pcmcia stuff is left
in some state of broke. I tried Ubuntu and though it's CD would fire up the
network after asking all of the appropriate questions, once the CD was done
and the system was rebooted to the install it never even knew that there was
a pcmcia system on the machine (the CD DID recognize it and run it's own
drivers, it just never installed and configured them for the final install.
I then tried Mandriva, it did install the pcmcia drivers, but when you stick
a card in a slot all you get in the logs is recognition that a card has been
inserted or removed from slot 0 or 1.
I can see where the proper modules have been inserted for the NIC card
I am trying to use (both a 3com and Xircom card have been tried and worked
with the CD), but after card insertion I do not see where the system tries
to figure out what the card is and then load the proper configuration for that
card. I have thought about getting another laptop, but these things other
wise work great for this application I just need to figure out what is not
being done to load the card. The fact that the install CD DOES load the
card and actually go out and call home for updates during the install
process tells me that the bits and pieces are there, they just are not being
installed. I have tried both the automatic install and the manual install,
I get to the point where it ask me about installing the bits and pieces, I
tell it to do so, then it ask if I want to test the network, again I tell it to
do so, the test is done, and you get a nice message about "Now you
have network connectivity" (trumpet fanfare in bg) and some stuff
about cleaning up the install and a reboot, the trumpet fanfare ends on
a sore note at that point as there is no network...
This is sort of like ground hog day, because I have tried others and got
similar results....
-- Chuck Hast -- KP4DJT -- To paraphrase my flight instructor; "the only dumb question is the one you DID NOT ask resulting in my going out and having to identify your bits and pieces in the midst of torn and twisted metal." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This list is provided as an unmoderated internet service by Networked Knowledge Systems (NKS). Views and opinions expressed in messages posted are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NKS or any of its employees.
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