Is it ACPI or is it PCMCIA?

[TotalLinuxNewbee]

I'm not sure where to search (after Google didn't find the answer), so I'm happy to accept advice on how to find help on this...

My Dell Latitude (400 MHz Celeron with 128K) won't run Win2K anymore and I am trying to get it to run Linux.

I ran the Debian netinst and things went pretty well (it found the internet over my PCMCIA card) until after the reboot. Even that was ok -- except it couldn't find the internet after the installation, do no security patches, etc.

So I tried Knoppix 5.0. The CD loads fine on a regular PC but on the Latitude it just shuts the notebook down after the kernel boot starts. There is a long pause while it tries to find the CD it booted from (??!? - but that's another issue I suppose) and as I watch what goes by on the screen I see something about power before the shutdown. I disabled ACPI in the BIOS and tried "knoppix noacpi" as a boot option when I start Knoppix, but get the same result.

The Debian setup still exists on the hard drive -- if that matters.

I've pulled the PCMCIA cards out (a NIC/modem and a wireless, which I haven't even tried on Linux yet) and I still get the shutdown.

I'm not sure which problem to attack - the main reason for bringing Knoppix into the picture (aside from seeing whether it would see the network over the PCMCIA NIC) is to survey what GUI shell and wordprocessor / spreadsheet I should try to use.

Ideas are welcome here. Thanks! /Tom

[Vergil83]

so you installed debian but it couldn't detect the interent with your pcmcia nic? Did you use the 2.6 kernel? It has much better support for them. At the startup screen for the debian install, run linux26 instead of enter. This will install 2.6. I have a new dell latitude, that I installed with the 2.6 kernel, and the nic worked fine for me

I have no clue about the knoppix thing.....

[TotalLinuxNewbee]

Correct. I tried the Debian install again using the linux26 option and got the same result. It seemed to detect the NIC during the install (how else could it have picked up my ISP's name?) but after it rebooted it was kinda stupid about the internet and offered to set up a dialup connection.

This is an OLD Dell. It ran NT4 and Win2K. The NIC is Model 3CCFEM656 - looks like 3Com made it for Dell.

The CD is bootable but when you do the PCMCIA eject (in Windows) it offers the CD too. So some kind of PCMCIA scan must kill the CD. On Knoppix I tried nopcmcia and it booted fine. The Office trial was PAINFULLY SLOW however.

What distribution would stand the best chance of handling my NIC after a reboot?

Thanks in advance! /Tom

[deanlinkous]

Personally, I am kind of confused as to what question you are asking?

[TotalLinuxNewbee]

What Linux distribution would recognize my PCMCIA NIC (network interface card)?

Debian recognizes it during the installation (because it show me my ISP), but after the reboot it does not see my network connection.