various problems with hardware detection and booting from HD
Can someone give me general advice on the problems below?
I have a generic Thinkpad T60. I downloaded knoppix 4.0.2 with the idea of ultimately making it my main OS, booting it from an external HD. From what I read I thought that all my key hardware would be detected and I could easily move my harddrive from one computer to another w/o having to worry about drivers etc...
Well, I'm not a big fan of Microsoft but I must say that getting windows to work on my system was much more straightforward and user friendly than trying to get Knoppix to do what I want. Of course this is likely related to my being such a Knoppix newbie, but now I understand why not more people shift to Linux.
I have basically 2 groups of problems:
1) setting up Knoppix on my external HD. I followed the instructions at http://www.bellevuelinux.org/knoppixinstall.html and keep getting a Kernel Panic. I've read the last part and carefully partitioned my disk, but it just won't work. On top of that it even screwed up my windows installation, which I thought it was not supposed to do... I have been careful not to go anywhere near the windows partition, so I don't understand how that happened. Basically it replaced the GNURL (or whatever it's called) and now I need to have my external HD (the one with my Knoppix install) plugged in to be given the choice to start Windows. Otherwise it just says there is some error with the GNURL (or whatever it's called)
2) I managed to get Knoppix to load into a higher resolution, but it won't detect my wireless card (Intel Pro Wireless 3945ABG) and soundcard (standard one) automatically... What a pain and does that mean i need to load drivers for each computer I'd be using Knoppix on??? I found a Linux driver for the wireless card but I have to 'compile' it and just completing that process is a pain and seems to require a few years of spare time... I used the utilities in Knoppix but it says there is no wireless card, and just doesn't detect my sound card either... Any idea of what I'm doing wrong here?
In short, I'm thinking of dropping Knoppix till it does what it says, i.e. be much more hardware independent, and provide a full-fledged OS not just a repair environment. I admire the effort that went into this but it's just not there yet for novices like me.
Still, I'd like to try harder and educate myself, so if anyone could help me with the specific issues above I'd be very thankful.
Also I realise this may sound a little harsh, so let me clarify this is not intended to start an argument. No need to tell me that I'm stupid or anything like that. Yes, when it comes to Linux i am fully aware I don't know much and all the arguments above are highly related to my ignorance. I'd just like to hear from users how difficult it would be with the current Knoppix to implement my vision above i.e. is there a reason Knoppix does not detect and install most generic hardware?
And one more thing, is there any way I can tell Knoppix to automatically load my own settings rather than having to remember and type the long complex command for this every time it boots?
