I have an old Gateway Solo 1100 laptop that I want to use for
administration of a Linux internet server, but it needs an Ethernet
card.

A possible candidate might be the Linksys Gigabit Notebook Adaptor
(http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?
c=L_Product_C2&childpagename=US
%2FLayout&cid=1124916752477&pagename=Linksys%2FCom mon
%2FVisitorWrapper&lid=5247745472B03).

However, Linksys does not provide drivers for Linux.

How do find out whether a driver is available for a network card
*before* you buy it.

Many thanks for any guidance you give me.

Vwaju
New York City

Vwaju <lou@manhattanhandyman.com> wrote:
> How do find out whether a driver is available for a network card
> *before* you buy it.

If you want to be sure you can ask to test the card before buying, maybe
by booting a live linux CD like knoppix. I'm not aware of any unsupported
gigabit ethernet card, most network cards are well supported by Linux.
However, wireless network cards are an exception and might not be as well
supported.

regards Henrik
--
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Vwaju wrote:

> How do find out whether a driver is available for a network card
> *before* you buy it.
> Vwaju
> New York City

there are drivers built in, which are quite often better than those
provided by the manufacturer. linksys, they probably use a generic
chip, but a different set in each version of the card, so, you look
based on model number, for instance, i have network adapters that are
from different manufacturers, one is on the motherboard, the other on a
card, but they both use the generic tulip driver. once you know the
model, we can go from there.

jim dorey wrote:
> there are drivers built in, which are quite often better than those
> provided by the manufacturer. linksys, they probably use a generic
> chip, but a different set in each version of the card, so, you look
> based on model number, for instance, i have network adapters that are
> from different manufacturers, one is on the motherboard, the other on a
> card, but they both use the generic tulip driver. once you know the
> model, we can go from there.

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...e-102.-582984/
here, a start.