Hi Knoppixers,

I am new to Linux (thought I'd try it out after my wife's computer crashed due to spyware/viruses twice). Even though I run ZoneAlarm suite and a plethora of anti-spyware progs, I find the occasional pest getting to my computer too and I'm tired of the security holes.
I am not really a hardware orientated person and missed out on the DOS era of entering command lines,
so the KDE interface in Knoppix really appeals to me ! I am willing to read up and learn if I like LINUX. The best thing about windows is the plug and play interface and I know that a variety of reasons make this a weaker area in Linux (such as developers refusing to release source code for their drivers!)

I have a Dell Inspiron 9100 laptop, 3.2 Ghz P4 h/t 1MB cache, 1GB 400 Mhz DDR dual channel, ATI Radeon 9700,
60 GB 7200 Hitachi HDD, Broadcom 440 ethernet, dell truemobile 1350 wifi card. Everything installed and ran fine except
internet (wireless card not detected). After much research, I got my wifi card detected via NDISWRAPPER. The commands I used were.
ndiswrapper -i (path) bcmwl5a.inf > modprobe ndiswrapper> (ndiswrapper -l shows driver and device working), then
iwconfig wlan0 mode managed (next 3 commands listed on a website but would not compute were..iwconfig wlan0 essid <ESSID>, iwconfig wlan0 key restricted <KEY>,
iwconfig wlan0 up - only the iwconfig wlan0 mode MANAGED was recognised, then ndiswrapper -m to save . The wifi card shows as being connected at 54 Mbps and working but still no internet access.

Then I heard about run ifconfig (it produced some data about loopback address and stuff). Then I was told to enter routers IP address by inputting ifconfig wlan0 192.xxx.x.xxx (x substitutes real numbers)
I did this and in the wifi wizard, the IP address when from unknown to the 192.xxx.x.xxx address but still no internet connection. I feel frustrated because I have no other means of connecting to the net and feel
after getting the wlan detected with ndiswrapper (a feat in itself) that I should be able to get internet. I am obviously missing some commands or something needs configuring because the wireless card is blinking away and getting detected loud and clear.

Your assistance will be gratefully received !! Regards, martin (leedsquietman)