yes! thanks all of your for your help and psychological support.
for what it's worth, the way points of the my experience: the error: include/asm/processor.h:87: error: array type has incomplete element type disappeared after i upgraded to the current stable kernel: '2.6.16.4'. the kernel crash using the new kernel (with "can't access disk ... assign correct 'root=' value"), which followed my blundering with 'apt-get install pcmcia-modules' was due, seemingly, to the fact that the command changed my grub file and left out the initrd image reference, teaching me once again that even in the land of linux software there are bulls roaming around the china shops. iwconfig etc got proper results after i recompiled the kernel specifying pcmcia support. thanks again folks for your help. yes! tom arnall north spit, ca -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]