Update Linux

[Rick Stevens]

Murali Krishnan Elangovan wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I am a novice in Linux. Have just installed Linux Version 3.0 WS in my
> desktop. I have a USB keyboard and I faced problems while installation
> as the Keyboard didnt respond. So i had to use my friend's keyboard
> (PS2) for installation.
> 
> now even after installation, i am not able to use my USB keyboard. My
> modem is also not getting sensed. I checked the redhat site and
> learned that USB not being sensed is a bug and the patch is available
> for the same. But i am not able to download the updates directly.
> believe i will be able to download through REDHAT Network only. as my
> modem is also under problem i find myself helpless.
> 
> can someone suggest me a way out.

If you have a "winmodem", there are very few that are supported under
Linux.  Winmodems have had most of their brains "gutted" and depend on
the operating system to do most of the work.  Most of the makers do NOT
support the open source initiative and therefore don't support Linux.
There are drivers for some of them on the net, info can be had at
http://www.linmodems.org, but that's not much help to you since you
can't get on the net anyway.

If it were me, I'd spend $50 and buy an EXTERNAL, stand-alone modem (the
kind you plug into a serial port). Those are guaranteed to work with
Linux, and don't put as big a burden on the processor to manage it.

Barring that, I might be able to grab a driver for you and email it.
You'd need to put it on a floppy or CD and install it.  I need to know
who makes your modem, what chipset it uses and its PCI bus ID.  Log in
as the root user, then enter these commands:

	uname -r
	lspci -vv
	lspci -vvn

and post the results to the list here.  Then open the box and find the
make and model of modem you have.  I'll see if there's a driver
available.  If there is, I'll email it to you and you can try to install
it.

I'd also spend $20 and get a standard PS/2 keyboard and mouse.  NEVER
rely on USB for that stuff, and it's always useful to have them, anyway.

You could get a friend with decent internet access to get the patches
for you and burn them to a CD.  The trick there is to get the patches
from the Red Hat Network WITHOUT using up2date.  That's not easy.  I
think Red Hat sells a "patch CD" that contains all current patches up to
a certain date (sort of like Windows' "Service Pack" concept).  That may
be your only hope to get the initial patches for your USB issues.

Sorry we can't be of more help.  You chose a "bad" hardware combo as
far as Linux is concerned.  Of course, you could write to your modem
maker and demand they support Linux.
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- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
-                                                                    -
-    When you don't know what to do, walk fast and look worried.     -
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