frustrated newbie: wifi

[Guest]

I absolutely have to use Linux for a project I'm working on, and don't have the time to learn it from the ground up (though I've been cheating and reading some). I installed the latest Ubuntu release, only to find I had random keyboard crashes that would not go away... so installed Scientific Linux, but it would not recognize any of my wireless drivers....

Yesterday I installed Kubuntu (as I'm told the keyboard crashes are restricted to GNOME) - but it won't recognize ANY of my drivers, much less those associated with wireless. And the interface is totally unlike either Ubuntu or Scientific Linux, so I'm spending ages just trying to find any of the settings. I am so frustrated I can't even think about Linux without wanting to weep. Could someone please tell me if there is a solution to this, and walk me through it? I've spent a couple of hours searching this forum already, and I feel like I could spend weeks and still not find a solution that coincides with my situation. I found one recommendation to install WICD - but I have no idea how to do this without being connected to the internet.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[GreyGeek]

Re: frustrated newbie: wifi

Let's start with some basic facts.

Open a konsole and issue;

sudo lshw

Copy and paste the results into your reply. That way we'll know what you are working with. You'll have to drag your mouse or use the shift key and arrows to select all the output, then click on the menu "Edit" --> "Copy" to load the copy&paste buffer. In your message paste the output between quote tags. (Use the quote tag icon).