# Linux **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 18, 1999, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux/8091 "1999-09-18T23:29:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeadlessCow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@HeadlessCow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeadlessCow)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 1999, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux/8091/1 "1999-09-18T23:29:00Z")
I just installed Linux on my system but it couldn’t identify my ethernet card. I went online and could find the C source code for the driver. But I’m not sure what I need to do to make it work. Can anyone help?? ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 1999, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux/8091/2 "1999-09-19T00:11:00Z")
Go to [www.hardwarecentral.com](http://www.hardwarecentral.com) and ask. It’s a UBB board just like this one. Somebody there will know. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 1999, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux/8091/3 "1999-09-19T00:35:00Z")
I always thought Linux was one of the most under-apprecuated and sublime of the Peanuts characters myself… * * * Yer pal, Satan ---
**Author:** ![Undead\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Undead\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Undead_Dude)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 1999, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux/8091/4 "1999-09-19T03:25:00Z")
Ugh. Usually ethernet support is handled by the kernel (or a kernel module). What was involved in the c code? Was it just one c file? A group of c files? Did the distribution have a file called Makefile? My first guess is that this deal would require a kernel recompile, and that this c code is designed to be placed somewhere in the /usr/src/linux tree, to help build you an obliging kernel. I’m guessing that the idea of a kernel recompile might not be something you’d look forward to. If this is what you need, and it isn’t an appealing prospect, and you aren’t totally broke, you might want to consider the fact that widely supported 10baseT ethernet cards are pretty cheap! ---
**Author:** ![HeadlessCow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@HeadlessCow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeadlessCow)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 1999, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux/8091/5 "1999-09-19T04:49:00Z")
I’m willing to do anything to get it to work. If you can tell me how to do it I will. My only problem is I don’t know where to place the c file and how to compile it corectly. After that a kernel recompile sounds pretty easy according to the Redhat site. I can email you the c file. It has comments and such but I don’t understand them. All the stuff I can find tells you what to do but never what commands to use and since I don’t know what the commands are it’s rather hard to get anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![HeadlessCow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@HeadlessCow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeadlessCow)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 1999, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux/8091/6 "1999-09-19T04:50:00Z")
Oh…the page where I got the driver says that I need to recompile the kernel so if you can get me to there I should be able to recompile ok. ---
**Author:** ![hansel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6bbea6/32.png) [@hansel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hansel)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 1999, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux/8091/7 "1999-09-19T13:50:00Z")
I don’t know how related this is, but you might check it out. When I installed Linux on my system, I couldn’t recognize the ethernet card or the 56K modem at all. The problem turned out to be the BIOS. If it’s a relatively new system, the BIOS will assume you have a Plug and Play OS, and will leave it to the OS to allocate hardware resources. Linux’s support for PnP is poor still, so I entered the BIOS and switched the option to ‘no PnP OS’, and the chip then recognized the card for me. That sounds very messy and vague, but I did it because I read the Plug and Play howto, which explained it clearly. Take a look. ---
**Author:** ![Undead\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Undead\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Undead_Dude)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 1999, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux/8091/8 "1999-09-19T16:29:00Z")
Sounds like what hansel said is worth looking into if you think it applies to you. Feel free to send me the c file, and I’ll try to help. Be sure to tell me what ver of Redhat you are using. Recompiling the kernel isn’t too bad under most circumstances. It’s mostly a matter of running a source configuration script which asks you a lot of questions, installing the kernel binary (if the compile succeeds), and reconfiguring lilo.