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Ian wrote:

> On 19 Aug 2009 at 15:06, baslinux AT lists.ibiblio.org wrote:
>
> > Will there be a BL4 with kernel 2.4 and glibc 2.3.6 that works with
> > SW11
> > packages?
> >
> > If so, what would other users like to have in it?
>
> I no longer have a land line telephone. I connect to the Internet
> using a USB wireless broadband modem, so if there was some way
> of getting that to work in BL4, come the winter, when Im less busy,
> Id give it another go. Otherwise, Im stuck with XP :(

Other solutions: Get a PCI wireless modem if you have a desktop.
Or a non-cardbus aero or orinoco PCMCIA wireless modem, from ebay.

Is your USB modem on the supported list?
http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Devices/USB
These models all use one of only three drivers.

I can attempt to compile one of them for you for my 2.4.31 kernel
(with gcc 2.95.3 - it has to match).

The USB wireless card given to me appears to be dead.

> Also, proper Cardbus support, obviously.

It is supposed to work with kernel 2.4.  I tried all the suggestions I 
could find including booting with pci=biosirq.  I think I have the latest 
PCMCIA drivers (2004).  I know my hardware works (with XP and Ubuntu).
I would be putting BL on friends' laptops if it worked with cardbus 
wireless.  I don't want to part with my small collection of non-cardbus 
models.

Has anyone used BL with onboard PCI wireless modem?

Puppy Linux supposedly has good wireless support (and even lucent modem). 
Why settle for XP when you have so many other choices, especially with the 
broadband speeds needed to install.  Puppy may run from inside NTFS (it 
uncompresses itself from one or more large files every boot).  Slitaz is 
up to date (no dialup modem at all).  I much prefer BL, of course.  It 
works (with framebuffer kernel) on two laptops where the other two won't 
run X at all.

> Ian.


It should be possible to experiment with BL and USB wireless or onboard 
wireless on a friend's computer with floppy drive.  Boot BL from CD, or 
copy it to USB flash drive, boot from a floppy with 2.4 kernel and USB 
storage built-in and chroot to the flash drive, or maybe mount it on /. 
David Moberg made a syslinux 1-floppy with USB storage support that I can 
use to run BL with his modules, chrooted to a USB storage device such as a 
camera with memory card, but he compiled with a different gcc.  I would 
need to compile the wireless module needed with the same gcc.  Now that we 
have glibc 2.3.6 that should be possible.  So let me know what module your 
card uses.  We now have a 2GB flash drive.

Sindi