need help with commands

[raman_raja]

I am a Mac/ Windows user, forced to use Linux for my college work. I do not know where to enter commands like $ sudo /usr/etc/eth0 mvntz -do4i or how to make them work
I had a problem - the Wi-fi card in my laptop was not working. All the forums were useless. They wanted me to READ about wireless networking !
Finally a good friend solved the problem in a simple way : it appears Ubuntu has not installed the drivers for my Broadcom wireless card since it was not open source. I had to download it myself. Here is how : Go to System menu on the top bar. Choose administration/ hardware devices. Tell it to activate the device. It will download the drivers through the cable attached to DSL modem and install.
Then clicked the network icon, selected edit connections, and entered my wireless network name and password.
This solved all problems.
Why doesn't Linux give me a warning that the driver for something is not yet installed ?
When I was struggling with the network setup wizard for the whole day, there was no clue about the missing driver. The help file was also most unhelpful.

[hazel]

When you have a problem with hardware not working, the first port of call should always be the /var/log/messages file. Scan quickly through the boot-up messages; you should see one relating to your device and identifying it by name. If you do not, the kernel has failed to recognise it and that probably means no driver!

Another good trick is to use the lspci command. Again this should list all recognised devices on the pci bus. And lsmod will list all loaded drivers.

[oz]

I do not know where to enter commands like $ sudo /usr/etc/eth0 mvntz -do4i or how to make them work

Hello and welcome to the forums!

You can run commands from the Linux command line by opening a terminal or console, then properly entering your commands.

For a quick listing of the various commands available, check here:

Linux Command Directory - O'Reilly Media

You can find some quick and easy command line lessons over at LinuxCommand.org:

LinuxCommand.org: Learn the Linux command line. Write shell scripts.

[Bemk]

Hello and welcome,

As you might have noticed, Linux is indeed a bit different from Mac or Windows. That is because Linux started out as a system made by programmers for programmers.

Right now people are working their legs from underneath their bodies to get systems like Ubuntu much more user friendly. The fact that the driver issue didn't pop up is one of the pieces of the legacy in Linux. When everything works Linux is already quite user friendly, but when things fail, it can still be a pain in the neck.

People are working on this as well, so somewhere, not to long from now, somebody will pick this problem up and fix it. It could even be that someone reads this and will pick it up (made by programmers, but now for generic users), and fix it.

Until then you'll have to think of checking the driver issues your self, once you experience a hardware related problem, instead of relying on wizards to do it for you.

(If you want to see where Linux came from, take a look at linux from scratch.)

[raman_raja]

Thanks, @Bemk.
Sorry if i had sounded annoyed. But after using Linux for a few days, I have started liking it. There are tons of useful software out there, and I am discovering something every hour.

[Bemk]

Thanks, @Bemk.
Sorry if i had sounded annoyed. But after using Linux for a few days, I have started liking it. There are tons of useful software out there, and I am discovering something every hour.

You didn't sound annoyed to me, but as if you were unaware of Linux' history. That's the reason why I thought I'd tell you what you needed to know in relation to your problem. If you'd like to know more, you can ask the older people on the forums, as well as look around on the web.

2,5 years ago when I started out with Linux, I also learned quite a lot, and right now as I'm used to it, I really have to dig into the system to figure out how for example the sound system or graphics system work.

Some people have the "luck" of being forced to fix something as it doesn't work out of the box. I have always used systems that just worked (quite annoying at times, as it prevents you from learning).

The first thing (hardware related, which wasn't my fault) that I had to fix was the trackpoint on my new laptop (which I purchased only 3 months ago).

Right now, I'm fiddling with a number of distro's, and am trying to learn Linux from the ground up (bootloader -> kernel -> deamons -> userenvironment), which is quite funny to do (also a heck of a lot of work).

[Roush427r]

Ok, this is solved I basically just have to keep removing it, deleting it and I have internet. The USB should help.