OK, it should be fairly straightforward to get this installed. You're going to be building a kernel module, so you need to have the kernel source code installed for your running kernel. If you're running a stock kernel, the source package should be on your install disc or at your favorite repository if you haven't installed it already. Download one of the packages and unpack the tarball (tar zxvf acerhk-0.5.35.tgz or tar xjvf acerhk-0.5.35.tar.bz2 depending on which you download). Then drop into the directory that gets created and read the INSTALL file. The instructions seem to be pretty reasonable to follow. About the only hard-to-follow step is where you set KERNELSRC, but that is actually pretty easy:

export KERNELSRC=/lib/modules/yourkernelversion/build

If you then enter $KERNELSRC in the console, you should see that value returned.

Oh, and when they talk about insmod/modprobe, they mean insmod OR modprobe, and I'd use modprobe.

What I don't know is if this will solve the problem. However, having an extra kernel module laying around if it doesn't do anything won't hurt either.

Okay ummm... Something simple, probably... but I'm gettin' lots of "no such file or directory" message when it "make" it...

---
david@david-laptop:~/Desktop/acerhk-0.5.35$ sudo make
make -C /lib/modules/2.6.24-16-generic/build SUBDIRS= modules
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.24-16-generic'
CHK include/linux/version.h
CHK include/linux/utsrelease.h
HOSTCC scripts/basic/fixdep
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:107:23: error: sys/types.h: No such file or directory
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:108:22: error: sys/stat.h: No such file or directory
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:109:22: error: sys/mman.h: No such file or directory
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:110:20: error: unistd.h: No such file or directory
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:111:19: error: fcntl.h: No such file or directory
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:112:20: error: string.h: No such file or directory
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:113:20: error: stdlib.h: No such file or directory
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:114:19: error: stdio.h: No such file or directory
In file included from /usr/lib/gcc/i486-linux-gnu/4.2.3/include/syslimits.h:7,
from /usr/lib/gcc/i486-linux-gnu/4.2.3/include/limits.h:11,
from scripts/basic/fixdep.c:115:
/usr/lib/gcc/i486-linux-gnu/4.2.3/include/limits.h:122:61: error: limits.h: No such file or directory
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:116:19: error: ctype.h: No such file or directory
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:117:23: error: arpa/inet.h: No such file or directory
scripts/basic/fixdep.c: In function ‘usage’:
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:131: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘fprintf’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:131: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘fprintf’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:131: error: ‘stderr’ undeclared (first use in this function)
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:131: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:131: error: for each function it appears in.)
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:132: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘exit’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:132: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘exit’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c: In function ‘print_cmdline’:
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:140: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘printf’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:140: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘printf’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c: At top level:
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:143: error: ‘NULL’ undeclared here (not in a function)
scripts/basic/fixdep.c: In function ‘grow_config’:
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:156: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘realloc’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:156: warning: assignment makes pointer from integer without a cast
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:158: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘perror’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:158: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘exit’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c: In function ‘is_defined_config’:
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:174: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘memcmp’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c: In function ‘define_config’:
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:187: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘memcpy’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:187: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘memcpy’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c: In function ‘use_config’:
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:206: error: ‘PATH_MAX’ undeclared (first use in this function)
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:214: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘memcpy’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:220: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘tolower’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:222: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘printf’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:206: warning: unused variable ‘s’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c: At top level:
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:225: error: expected declaration specifiers or ‘...’ before ‘size_t’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c: In function ‘parse_config_file’:
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:227: error: ‘len’ undeclared (first use in this function)
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:233: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘ntohl’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:244: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘isalnum’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c: In function ‘strrcmp’:
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:261: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘strlen’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:261: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘strlen’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c: In function ‘do_config_file’:
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:272: error: storage size of ‘st’ isn’t known
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:276: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘open’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:276: error: ‘O_RDONLY’ undeclared (first use in this function)
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:278: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘fprintf’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:278: error: ‘stderr’ undeclared (first use in this function)
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:280: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘exit’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:282: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘fstat’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:284: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘close’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:287: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘mmap’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:287: error: ‘PROT_READ’ undeclared (first use in this function)
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:287: error: ‘MAP_PRIVATE’ undeclared (first use in this function)
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:287: warning: assignment makes pointer from integer without a cast
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:294: error: too many arguments to function ‘parse_config_file’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:296: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘munmap’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:272: warning: unused variable ‘st’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c: At top level:
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:301: error: expected declaration specifiers or ‘...’ before ‘size_t’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c: In function ‘parse_dep_file’:
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:304: error: ‘len’ undeclared (first use in this function)
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:306: error: ‘PATH_MAX’ undeclared (first use in this function)
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:308: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘strchr’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:308: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘strchr’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:310: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘fprintf’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:310: error: ‘stderr’ undeclared (first use in this function)
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:311: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘exit’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:313: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘memcpy’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:314: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘printf’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:306: warning: unused variable ‘s’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c: In function ‘print_deps’:
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:343: error: storage size of ‘st’ isn’t known
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:347: error: ‘O_RDONLY’ undeclared (first use in this function)
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:349: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘fprintf’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:349: error: ‘stderr’ undeclared (first use in this function)
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:351: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘exit’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:355: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘fprintf’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:359: error: ‘PROT_READ’ undeclared (first use in this function)
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:359: error: ‘MAP_PRIVATE’ undeclared (first use in this function)
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:359: warning: assignment makes pointer from integer without a cast
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:366: error: too many arguments to function ‘parse_dep_file’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:343: warning: unused variable ‘st’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c: In function ‘traps’:
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:378: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘fprintf’
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:378: error: ‘stderr’ undeclared (first use in this function)
scripts/basic/fixdep.c:380: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘exit’
make[2]: *** [scripts/basic/fixdep] Error 1
make[1]: *** [scripts_basic] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.24-16-generic'
make: *** [acerhk.ko] Error 2
---

Maybe this is a sign I should just read a good book, get outdoors maybe...

I was afraid this might happen. The acerhk site warns that the code is no longer maintained, and it looks like it was last modified in 2005. That probably means that the code is incompatible with newer kernels and/or gcc versions. So unless that good book is a C++ tutorial (and that might violate all known definitions of "good book"), then I'm afraid this approach isn't going to work. Linux has just evolved too much in the last three years.

Sonofa....

So that means I've gotta wait for someone to write a thingy to get my wireless switch to work? Terrific. (ya busy?)

Thanks anyway..... again.

Hi,

I had the same problem with my Travelmate 290 and I found the solution here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...travelmate+290

It worked fine with me. I hope you can apply it to your laptop too!

:-D

hi i have acer travelmate 2410 i bought wireless for put in and its not lighting up please help me