New to Linux and have some errors and quetions.

WickedAJ

Ok, so my mom just got a new laptop, and wanted to toss her old one. I said nah just give it to me, I will wipe it and make it perform well again. (NOTE: the computer was running vista) I tried using the Restore discs, and the computer wouldnt let me, i then tried to use a copy of XP i had, still denied. My last idea was to go under the cmd promt and type format c: still denied... well i downloaded a program that wiped the computer clean from hdd and its OS. Well, after downloading Ubuntu on my laptop, i created the cd, and installed Linux Ubuntu on the computer. Everything is working fine, except the wireless adapter is not responding, so i cannot connect to the internet. Heres what the computer is a Compaq Presario C500. Does anyone know what i can do to get a driver for this things internet card? Thanks!

mfillpot

please post the output of "lspci|grep -i wire" so we can see what kind of wifi card it has.

WickedAJ

is there a way i can look for it online? im not sure how to find the specs on it through linux, id be able to on windows but thats completely out of the picture now

mfillpot

All you need to do to get the wifi chipset details is go into ubuntu, go to programs -> accessories -> terminal, then type "lspci|grep wire" without the quotes. This will tell us exactly what is needed to identify if a driver is available or if you have to port the windows driver for linux to use.

gomer

3 commands you are going to become well acquainted with are lsusb, lspci, and lshw as you look for information about your hardware to identify any needed 3rd party drivers.

Often, the network cards are connected to the PCI bus, so the output of lspci will most likely show you the network card(s) installed in the laptop. If there is nothing obvious in that output, lshw will show you ALL of the hardware installed and organized into sections.

"lshw | grep -i network -A 12" should give us enough information to help you if you don't see the output in the lspci command that mfillpot suggested.