Kubuntu and restricted-modules

[teejay17]

I already asked this question elsewhere, but have yet to get a response. Luckily, I stumbled upon this site. Hopefully I'll be able to get somewhere from responses generated here.
I'm new to Kubuntu, and so far I have to say that I'm really liking it--it seems so much more unified in its presentation. Nonetheless, I do have one small problem, so I'll quote verbatim what I wrote on that other site:
"Okay, so for 7.04 I thought I'd try something new: instead of going with Ubuntu this time around, I thought I'd give Kubuntu 7.04 a try and do a fresh install. Things are running fine, except for one thing: the restricted modules. I'm new to the KDE environment, so maybe (probably) it's something on my end that's messing up—namely me.
Anyway, what I usually do, and what I tried on Kubuntu, is get the
Code:

restricted-modules

for 386 machines from Synaptic; usually when I install these, I just have to do a reboot and my wireless card/laptop display, etcetera all work properly.
On Kubuntu, however, I had to install Synaptic first, and then I proceeded to install the modules as usual. Everything was working fine, the restricted-modules were installed and I was completely satisfied. I rebooted, and my machine was running optimally.
Until I rebooted again.
It seems that rebooting Kubuntu again made those restricted drivers disappear somehow, and I'm left without wireless internet and certain other hardware functions I get when these modules are installed.
There must be a solution to this dilemma? I'd like to reiterate again that I was able to get all hardware working properly—the only problem is that this ability disappears when I reboot.
Thanks in advance."

[Unholy Moley]

Re: Kubuntu and restricted-modules

You should be using the adept package manager in Kubuntu. In adept, go to adept > manage repositories and check restricted and multiverse.

[teejay17]

Re: Kubuntu and restricted-modules

You should be using the adept package manager in Kubuntu. In adept, go to adept > manage repositories and check restricted and multiverse.

That was the first thing I did. Same results as Synaptic--everything works fine until reboot.

[lowey23]

Re: Kubuntu and restricted-modules

Have a look at this site

http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Feisty

It may give you some help.

[teejay17]

Re: Kubuntu and restricted-modules

Have a look at this site

http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Feisty

It may give you some help.

Thanks, but I just don't have the time. I came here to find a solution, not to make things more complicated by an overwhelming amount of information.
Perhaps I should revert back to Ubuntu; it suited me fine, and did not cause problems.

[claydoh]

Re: Kubuntu and restricted-modules

What particular modules are you having trouble with, or rather what type of hardware?
without more info we can only give out the broad, all inclusive suggestions

As it is a hardware issue, this probably could be happening in Ubuntu as well, though I personally have no experience with wireless networking yet ( I currently have no need for it), but more hardware info may point us in the right direction

[lowey23]

Re: Kubuntu and restricted-modules

Sorry, teejay17, didn't mean to overwhelm you. I was just trying to point you in the right direction. In my spare time.

[kubicle]

Re: Kubuntu and restricted-modules

It seems that rebooting Kubuntu again made those restricted drivers disappear somehow, and I'm left without wireless internet and certain other hardware functions I get when these modules are installed.

Hmm...that's quite strange. Did you perform any kernel upgrades to cause it or anything else that might have affected your restricted modules? Do you have several kernels installed? How did you install the restricted modules?

One thing you can try is to install 'linux-generic' meta-package (if you use the generic kernel), it should keep those restricted modules up to date (though it probably won't fix your current issue, it won't hurt to try). I'm sure you'll be getting more-to-the-point suggestions if you can provide more information

Perhaps I should revert back to Ubuntu; it suited me fine, and did not cause problems.

That's a viable option, but this doesn't seem like a kubuntu (only) issue, so you might be affected in ubuntu too.

[teejay17]

Re: Kubuntu and restricted-modules

Thanks for all the feedback.
As far as the meta package, perhaps I'll give that a try.
You all have pointed out a good point (and I shouldn't be quick on the draw and judge Kubuntu too soon) in that it might be a problem across the board. When I refer to having no problems in Ubuntu, I am referring to 6.10, so it just might be that whatever is new in 7.04 doesn't jive with my hardware.
As far as the hardware itself is concerned, it's all old. I'm talking about an old IBM Thinkpad from 2000 and an old D-LInk Air Extreme G (DWL-G650) wireless card.
Before everyone tells me that I should be running something else on my machine, I do have to say that I'm really impressed with Kubuntu; it performs much better on my machine than Ubuntu did. Also, I'm only planning on using Kubuntu for a solid base as I am going to install Fluxbox once I get all the restricted modules, etcetera, tweaked.
What is a meta package, and how do I go about using this?