Newbie just Installed Slack 10. What now?

[KillerSmurf]

Never used linux before last week but now I'm up with Slack10/XP dual boot and on the web to tell about it. My questions are
1 : How do I configure slack to detect and setup my network card. Right now I am ifconfig eth0 everytime I start in root.
2 ; Ati 9600XT Great card in XP but is it really crap in linux?
3: Soundblaster Audigy2 setup?
4: Is there a way to reconfiger my wheel mouse. I have it set up as a generic PS/2 right now.

Where should I store all of my drivers?
Thanks in advance
PS Did I do the right thing Using Slack10? So far I like it.

[MMYoung]

Originally posted by KillerSmurf
1 : How do I configure slack to detect and setup my network card. Right now I am ifconfig eth0 everytime I start in root.
Did you go through the network setup when you installed Slackware? If so your NIC *should* be detected at startup and the module for it loaded. The next time you reboot, and before you run ifconfig, run lsmod to see if your NIC's module is being loaded.
Originally posted by KillerSmurf
2 ; Ati 9600XT Great card in XP but is it really crap in linux?
I wouldn't say *crap* but ATI's support of Linux ain't exactly stellar. My suggestion is to just use the ATI drivers that comes with Xorg (they do have minimal 3D acceleration) and hope that ATI becomes a little more mindful of the open source community :mad:.
Originally posted by KillerSmurf
3: Soundblaster Audigy2 setup?
Alsa should've been installed by default so all you need to do is, as root, run alsamixer to adjust your channel volumes (they are set to 0 and muted by default). After you adjust your volume levels press the Esc key and, again at the root prompt, type in alsactl store and press enter. This will store your new settings and reload them at your next reboot.
Originally posted by KillerSmurf
4: Is there a way to reconfiger my wheel mouse. I have it set up as a generic PS/2 right now.
Here is the Mouse section of my xorg.conf:
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/mouse"
Option "Buttons" "5"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection
I have a USB IntelliMouse Explorer and this allows me to use my wheel.
Originally posted by KillerSmurf
Where should I store all of my drivers?
Are you compiling from source? If so you can pass special ./configure options to put them where you want but that isn't recommended (unless of course you are building a package for public consumption). If I'm only going to be using them on my system I usually just do the generic ./configure, make and then make install. That way the files are put where they *should* go ;). The best way, for Slackware anyway, is to always use Slackware Packages if possible. This way you can install them using "installpkg" and if they cause a problem you can uninstall them using "removepkg".

Conversly, you can install a program called checkinstall (it's a Slackware package on one your CD's in the /extra folder) that will build a Slackware package for you (./configure, make, then checkinstall) and install it using the new SlackPack. This way if you have a problem with your new program/driver you can uninstall it via the removepkg command. I use it and heartily recommend it to everyone.
Originally posted by KillerSmurf
PS Did I do the right thing Using Slack10? So far I like it.
Sure, if you like it and don't mind a little command line configuration you can't go wrong with Slackware. It ain't one of, if not THE, oldest Linux distributions out there for no reason. Personally, I love it!

[nabis]

1 : How do I configure slack to detect and setup my network card. Right now I am ifconfig eth0 everytime I start in root.

whatis netconfig

[JohnT]

What kind of card do you have...eg;eth0?

[KillerSmurf]

Sorry I should Have been more specific in my first post. I did not install slackware from source but used the full install option. Ok I my network card driver is 3c2000.o. I can tar install it and make load after I have it installed. the ifconfig eth0 and presto I have Web access. When I restart I have to navigate to the 3c2000 folder and make load and ifconfig eth0 again and every time I restart. First Where should I install the drivers (the original tar?). My hd setup is /, /opt, /usr and /home. Space is not an issue as I have 60 gigs set for Slack on this drive with 60 more possible. Second is there a way to create an executable script that would run at startup of the system to automate this. this would probably apply to all of my drivers (sound and video). Thanks again and sorry but I have to start somewhere since this is my first week of anything but XPee.(in the last 15 years anyway)

[MMYoung]

Just add the following to the /etc/rc.d/rc.modules file:
/sbin/modprobe 3c2000

That will load the module at boot everytime and then ifconfig should take it from there.

HTH,
MMYoung

BTW, modules will always be "installed" in your kernel module directory tree, /lib/modules/2.x.x. When compiling them from source just do ./configure without any special instructions and you'll be fine.

Another edit, you might want to go to the 3c200 "tar" directory and do make install as root. I'm not 100% sure on this, but there should be a README or INSTALL file that you can read to make sure of the exact commands for configuring, making and installing the module. It may be that after you complete the install you won't have to add the /sbin/modprobe line to your /etc/rc.d/rc.modules.

[fatTrav]

To configure your network card as root run 'pkgtool'

pkgtool allows you to re-run any scripts to configure things from the initial install. choose 'setup' and then scroll down to 'netconfig' follow the prompts

[fatTrav]

Originally posted by KillerSmurf
First Where should I install the drivers (the original tar?).

after ./configure -> make -> make install is the module installed into /lib/modules/your_kernel/ (with your_kernel being whatever 'uname -r' resolves to) ??

I G4L'd for "3c2000.o" and came across some redhat thread that discussed this very (exact) question

[KillerSmurf]

Thanks..... I'm still having trouble with the 3c2000 driver but I get it working. All the other problems are fixed. Thanks again