In a word: No.
 
sorry, but it doesn't work like that. Drivers (for the most part) are OS-specific.
 
More information about the laptop (Model number, most importantly) and about the "Linux"
(which distro?) is needed.
 
 

http://www.linux-laptop.net/ is all you need to get started

Well the problem is the hardware that IBM puts into the Thinkpads. I have a R-30 and it has an integrated AMR modem that is bust. Ethernet works fine, as does sound, depending on the distro. Some of the older Thinkpads have the trident chipset for video, which can be a problem, just to give some examples.
 
So the distro of Linux that you are using is important as well.
 
But do post the whole model number (eg. R-30 type 2656) and we will try to help. Even the R-30's, depending on the exact model type, have different hardware for sound and the modem.

thank you all for the help. well my laptop is an ibmthinkpad 600e
and the disto im useing in pinktie 9.0 witch i found out is really linux redhat not because im some supper smart linux guy but because when i looked in the cd it has redhat all over it and they both look the same hahahha any way. My sound does not work right nor does my wireless card. now that might be due to the fact that its an microsoft card =\. i know please dont hate me my gf got it for me as a gift ;} got to love them. anyway if you need anymore information just let me know. and again thank you for your time.

not sure if you've got a distro with "alsaconf" or not,
but the sound 'card' you need to select is "Crystal CS423x".
 
does your distro offer a GUI for system configuration?
a "Control Panel"?
 
please provide the command output of "uname -a".
 
Your laptop should work extremely well with just about any current
distro - the reason being IBM was supporting the use of Red Hat 6.0
at the time it was manufactured.
 
I say this because I found this document from IBM dated 2001-05-29.
 
Don't think you need to do all of the stuff it talks about since most everything
it talks about has been updated/upgraded many times since then..
 
If the Microsoft wlan adaptor is Model MN-520 (802.11b not 11g),
then you're in luck. It uses the Prism2/2.5/3 chipset.
 
 

[root@localhost root]# uname -a
Linux localhost.localdomain 2.4.20-6 #1 Thu Feb 27 10:06:59 EST 2003 i686 i686 i
386 GNU/Linux
[root@localhost root]#
 

(anyone recognize the uname output?)
 
My guess is you're running a Debian derived distro.
 
Any Debian experts out there able to direct ULIKEIT to the proper text mode
sound system configuration tool?
 
If your distro has 'sndconfig', then give it a try. Otherwise, look for 'alsaconf'.
 
Beyond those pointers, I dunno. If my Knoppix set-up suggests different info,
then I'll post it here.
 
 

sndconfig is a solid bet. The thing that looks weird about the uname output is the i686 i686 i386 near the end of it. I use a 2.6 kernel so alsa is built into the kernel. To check if it's debian type see if you have an /etc/apt directory. here is a screenshot of my uname -a output
 

Originally posted by martouf:

Quote:My guess is you're running a Debian derived distro.
Nope, google shows it to be Red Hat.
 

SO does anyone have any more thoughts as to why or what i can do to make my sound card work. Also I dont think my video card is working as good as it could be meaning the graphics are not as sharp as they should be or as they are on my windows boot.
 
thank you

ok, the distro is Red Hat based "pinktie". good.
 
ulikeit: so now run 'sndconfig' as root and tell it to use the
"Crystal CS423x" driver. That should get your sound card ready.
Be sure to say 'yes' when it asks if it should test the sound system.
 
If you don't want to run sndconfig, then just use the GUI Control Panel
and go to the Hardware section to configure your soundcard.
Use the "Crystal CS423x" driver.
 
Later you can run aumix (if available), kmix (if KDE), or gmix (if Gnome)
and set your sound levels.

Thank you for the help. What i just realized is that the sndconfig. now do you know how to install it without reinstalling my system or is that my only option and then once I do run the sndconfig at what point to i tell it to use those drivers. Also if you guys can help me I would like to make my display look better. As I said before it does not look as nice as my windows boot =\ which sucks because I would rather do things on my linux box vs my windows.
 
Just to share what I have learned so far. I can make my windows see linux and share folders and I can make linux see windows and share folders. but make sound and video work hmmmmmmmm beyond me hahah any way I have also learned that I do have some sound after playin with this but it says that my /dev/dsp does not configure/work right something to that affect to were I have to click ok to get rid of that dialog box. Well I know I have said alot and I thank you all for your help