That's useful to know. That kind of stuff is not a requirement, but at some point I might want to experiment with stuff like that for learning purposes, so I'll keep MadWiFi on my list of possibilities for the future. thanks for the tips. cheers.

---------- Post updated 08-25-09 at 10:48 AM ---------- Previous update was 08-24-09 at 10:42 PM ----------

OK, I managed to get it wireless working with both cards in the box. without extra effort. As far as I can see, Linux did not automatically connect to the wireless network, I had to select it first time through, after that it connected automatically on boot. The fact that the neighbor also has a wireless network that intrudes into my space may have played a role. I can still post the the new dmesg if you want to see it.

But now I have created a new problem. It seems that in re-inserting my wired NIC I managed to blow out my video driver? I was configured for 1024x768 with 85 hz refresh, but upon booting with the 2nd NIC inserted I reverted to 800x600 60hz. Furthermore, In the screen resolution applet of System Preferences, I have lost all my choices, there is just 640x480 and 800x600, with 60 and 54 hz refresh. Removing the 3com nic again (heavy sigh) did not remedy that situation.

So I guess I have new unintended research to do, unless anyone has a suggestion. Maybe I'll just say f*** it and re-install, since I haven't really done anything with my system yet.

What type of video card is it?

Off the top of my head, It's an older NVidia TNT something or other. 32 MB. I can't remember the exact model. It came with my Dell Dimension PIII.

p.s. when I unplugged the video cable before re-inserting the NIC, I forgot to power off the monitor first, and the monitor does "notice" those circumstances. But I've done that before, and it hasn't caused a problem.

Well you could try to recompile the driver for your kernel, might work.

If you want to try something really weird, try leaving your monitor off until the entire system boots up. I have a weird issue with my Suse box, with dual monitors. If the second monitor is on when it loads the graphics drivers, the font is super tiny. But if I leave the monitor off until after it loads the nvidia drivers it works just dream.

OK bud, no clue how to recompile a driver, but I'll do the research, it can't be that hard. One thing I have noticed is that there is usually excellent documentation available for this sort of thing, so it'll be a good learning experience.

nvidia drivers (like ati drivers) are a bit of a problem child.
try the following:
otherwise have a look at this page.

ATI video cards are way more problematic than nvidia cards in a *nix environment imo. I've always found that at least nvidia tries to take the initiative and offer drivers that are usually available via a repository depending on your distro.

@fguy - Don't forget, you more than likely will have to reinstall any custom drivers for devices if you upgrade your kernel