all went wrong

[bower]

i was using mandriva and i installed Kubuntu 10.04.1 64bit version and picked side by side.

after the install grub doesnt show mandriva but shows other kernels and non named installs. when i choose any of these it has a list of things but namely it says kernel panic and that is as far as it goes.

kubuntu shows my dsl modem but it wont connect when i put in my wep key. my wireless card is a RALink Rt2561/RT61 802.11g pci. i found an updated driver on their website. when i installed kubuntu it never asked me to set up a root password so i cant log in as root which i think i need to do to install the driver which the readme file has a long drawn out process using the make command. not sure what to do now as i have no internet or anything on that machine. thanks if someone can give me an idea.

bower

[adabard]

Flavors of ubuntu do not come with root specifically set up. You have to "set it up" yourself. In order to gain full root access, just type "sudo su" minus the quotations and type your password to log in as root. From there you can set up a password for root using the passwd command, but it is not recommended to be actively logged in for root for obvious security reasons. Leaving the root account disabled is also beneficial if SSH is enabled (also security reasons). As far as Mandriva not loading, I would suggest maybe trying to reinstall GRUB or try LILO's bootloader, if it's giving a kernel panic from the OS itself, honestly not really sure there is much you'd be able to do to restore that data other than to access it from your Kubuntu partition.

[bower]

how about the RT61. what is the best way if i don't have root access to set it up. or do i have to install other things to use make command and do not need root access? thanks

Bower

[adabard]

In order to run those commands you just run it as "root" from within your user, so do "sudo make ..." and so on. Hopefully I understood the question, all users who are in the sudoers file (the one you created at startup is in the sudoers file) have access to using sudo which allows you to bypass privilege restrictions but requires you to type in your account password with each command.

[devils casper]

As adabard already suggested, you can root privileges using sudo. Check this howto sticky on sudo.

[bower]

i have sudo down, however, it only askes for my password the first time. this is the instructions that i have for installing the driver

Build Instructions:
====================

1> $tar -xvzf RT61_Linux_STA_Drv_x.x.x.x.tar.gz
go to "./RT61_Linux_STA_Drv_x.x.x.x/Module" directory.

2> $cp Makefile.4 ./Makefile # [kernel 2.4]
or
$cp Makefile.6 ./Makefile # [kernel 2.6]
or
$cp Makefile.RTL865x ./Makefile # big endian platform

3> [kernel 2.4]
$chmod 755 Configure
$make config # config build linux os version

4> $make all # compile driver source code
4.1> $make install

5> $cp rt2561.bin /etc/Wireless/RT61STA/ # copy firmware
$cp rt2561s.bin /etc/Wireless/RT61STA/
$cp rt2661.bin /etc/Wireless/RT61STA/

6> $dos2unix rt61sta.dat
$cp rt61sta.dat /etc/Wireless/RT61STA/rt61sta.dat
# !!!check if it is a binary file before loading !!!

7> $load
#[kernel 2.4]
# $/sbin/insmod rt61.o
# $/sbin/ifconfig ra0 inet YOUR_IP up

#[kernel 2.6]
# $/sbin/insmod rt61.ko
# $/sbin/ifconfig ra0 inet YOUR_IP up

i am guessing it is kernel 2.6

after i enter in the first command it gives me an error as the zip file ends in bz2. i unpacked the files and then entered into that directory.

then i enter

I Start With This Command

travis@linuxbox:~/Desktop/rt61$ sudo cp Makefile.6 ./Makefile

Then It Goes Right Back To A Prompt


Then I Do This Next Command

travis@linuxbox:~/Desktop/rt61$ make all

And Get All Of This

make -C /lib/modules/2.6.32-24-generic/build SUBDIRS=/home/travis/Desktop/rt61 modules
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-24-generic'
/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-24-generic/arch/x86/Makefile:81: stack protector enabled but no compiler support
make[1]: gcc: Command not found
scripts/Makefile.build:49: *** CFLAGS was changed in "/home/travis/Desktop/rt61/Makefile". Fix it to use EXTRA_CFLAGS. Stop.
make[1]: *** [_module_/home/travis/Desktop/rt61] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-24-generic'
make: *** [all] Error 2
travis@linuxbox:~/Desktop/rt61$



i am sorry i have so many questions. i have never had to do any of these things. any help will be greatly appreciated.

bower

[adabard]

The error you are getting indicates that you don't have GCC installed (Gnu C Compiler). You need to download and install using gcc, the easiest way to do that would be to use Synaptics, scroll through the list and download GCC.

[devils casper]

If internet is working fine in your machine then execute this in Terminal :

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential

gcc is a part of build-essential meta package.

It is available in Installation ( LiveCD ) too.

[bower]

could it be also that i installedthe 64 bit distro? should i install the 32 bit instead? also i do not have internet on that computer.

can i down load that program from a windows machine and install it from usb stick?

Bower

[bower]

our posts crossed. i will try the live cd. also though would it be better to have the 32 bit instead?