Boot-up & Internet Config problems

[AzJazz]

Hi! I am extremely new to Linux (about 2 days now ... whew! This is gonna be fun ...)

I downloaded Red Hat 7.0, and was able to get my system mostly operational.

My ethernet card (an Intel PRO/100+ Management Adapter) didn't work properly after the initial installation, but I was able to get it recognized after quite a bit of hunting.

Problem #1: Now that my ethernet card is detected, my system boot-up hangs while trying to bring up "sendmail". Any ideas?

Problem #2: I can't seem to get onto the internet yet (Not in Linux, anyways). I am using a cable modem, connected to the @Home network. How do I configure my network stuff to get things going?

Bonus Problem: I can't get my SB Live! sound card working yet (sigh ...), and the NHF that I found on this site didn't work. I got a few errors while trying to "make". (Unfortunately, I can't remember the exact error messages ...)

I'm not sure what info would be useful in debugging these problems, so ask me for additional info where it would help.

Also, if you can recommend a good Linux start-up book (something more in the line of the "Dummies" books, not a reference manual), I would appreciate it!

Thank you!

Alan

PS: Assume that I know nothing about Linux/Unix, but know quite a bit about hardware & general computer configuration.

[Thunderbird750]

There is a RedHat for Dummies book, which guided me thru my first 20 redHat installs (redhat 6.2 didn't like my hardware). I also used it for my first install thru Mandrake. It gives a real good baseline on how to deal with Linux, but it is very weak on what to do if something doesn't go right.

I also use cable (under mandrake) and found the default dhcp settings were fine; of course, that means your cable service provider must be -offering- dhcp (which most do). http://linuxnewbie.internet.com/nhf/intel/network/kingstonether.html
Tells how to get into the network configuration stuff. Hopefully, finding the dhcp stuff is pretty obvious. If not, post here and I'll drag up linux (sorry, posting from windows today)

[AzJazz]

Well, I figured out what to do to eventually - and it was pretty simple (though not obvious)

After turning off my BIOS "PnP OS" option, I was able to get my Internet & Sound Blaster Live! working through Kudzu.

Apparently, having the "PnP OS" option turned on after a sucessful install blocks the hardware from being accessable. Does anyone know why?

Also, when setting up my SBLive!, there was some sort of test sound that was incredibly distorted and unintelligible. Even though my system sound seems to work OK, am I liable to have problems later? Or is the test sound just really bad?

Thanx!

Alan

[ronmon]

Here are two links that you should bookmark. The Linux Documentation Project (LDP) HOWTOs and mini-HOWTOs cover most subjects quite well. http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/howtos.html http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/mini.html

RonMon