[wplug] 'I surrender'

[Jonathan S Billings]

I'm CC'ing the WPLUG list because you aren't subscribed to the mailing 
list but I think this discussion is good on the mailing list.


Bob Melder wrote:
> Hi:
...
> My D-Link DFE-530TX+ PCI Fast Ethernet card DID come with a CD-Rom
> disk and after a lot of messing around and with some help from a tech
> at Adelphia got the damn thing to work on Windows after disconnecting
> the USB line. I thanked her and then tried to get it to work on SuSE.
> No luck. I can see all the icons listed on the DVD disk on my Linux
> screen when I put in my CD-ROM but can't get them into the system or
> for the system to even recognize them. On Windows, a screen asks if
> you want to Install Drivers and you click on that, shut down the
> computer, install the ethernet card, reboot, and finish the
> installation from there. This doesn't happen on the Linux side of the
> computer. Of course, I can't get Email either.

Most likely, you aren't going to find a click-and-install driver for 
linux.  If it's already part of the kernel, it'll just need to be 
configured to load automatically.  If it isn't already part of the 
kernel, you'll have to find the source and build it.

> 
> Conclusion: I love Linux but at this point I'm waving the white flag.
> The whole trip cost me about $125 and a lot of time and effort.

While I understand you're frustrated by linux -- remember that Linux 
itself is not costing you anything, you paid for the support and 
documentation from SuSE.

> I'm convinced there is one small thing I failed to do or someone
> forgot to tell me to do. However, I'm also convinced that because
> Linux is not supported with the same gusto that Windows is,
> installing any Linux distribution makes it difficult for the average
> person to get on board. And, it would help if Internet providers made
> it a little easier of us.

I've found very little linux knowledge at most ISPs, at least at the 1st 
tier support staff.  Most will simply say "We don't support linux."

> So, the moral of this tale is: Linux is great, but for newcomers,
> more help and corporate support is needed.

That's what WPLUG (and friends) are for!  Feel free to subscribe to the 
mailing list here:  http://www.wplug.org/mailman/listinfo/wplug

I'm curious though, could you give us the output of '/sbin/lspci -n', 
'/sbin/lsmod' and '/sbin/ifconfig -a'?  I have to wonder if the driver 
wasn't autodetected by SuSE when you did the initial install.  I believe 
that the '8139too' driver should be able to handle the DFE-530TX+, but 
I'm not positive.

Have fun!


-- 
Jonathan S. Billings <billings at negate.org>