Installing new drivers -- SMC 2532W-B and Linux-Wlan-NG

Hi All
I'm having a hell of a time getting my new SMC wireless NIC recognized. It's a 2532W-B , PRISM2 based NIC. I'm trying to use the newest Linux-Wlan-Ng drivers but I don't want to remaster so I'm hoping to use a saved config. I go through the install steps, but the NIC (pcmia) remains unrecognized. I'm a bit of a newb so the readme's are leaving me pretty lost -- ie do I have to recompile the kernel to get this to work? How do I initialize the NIC once the install is done (if it actually works). BTW the NIC is fine in win2000.

I guess the more general question I have is -- how do you install drivers if the driver script tries to write anywhere besides the Ramdisk or mounted HD home space?

Any suggestions? thanks!!