Hey, I'm building a computer and I'm wanting to try out red hat 9. I've gotten most of my hardware picked out, but I still need a 56k dialup modem(preferrably internal) and a cd-rw(preferrably 52x32x52) that are compatible with red hat. I've searched the net and looked at the redhat.com compatibility list, but I'm still having some trouble finding out what I should buy. Does anyone have any advice?

With the CD-RW, pretty much anyone will work. I haven heard of any CD-ROM or CD-RW that the distros do not recognize. The problems that some people have had is not the brand of the device, but rather the configuration of it, and that can be fixed regardless of the brand pretty much. With the modem, just make sure it is a TRUE hardware modem and NOT a Winmodem. Be it external/serial, internal/serial, or internal/PCI, just make sure it is hardware.(check the manufacturer's information and all data for the modem BEFORE you buy it to minimize headaches!) Most Winmodems will not work. If you want to be sure it will work, get an external serial modem, and it will work. If in doubt, go to linmodems.org and get some good info, and some drivers for winmodems that MIGHT work if you need to. HTH Regards...

Thanks for the help SailingGypsy. I'm looking forward to building a linux computer and you've been a great help. Hopefully, I can get it up and running soon.

You're welcome! And lots of luck. Half the fun is the building of the box, and the other half is digging (and sometimes inevitably breaking! lol) things around to learn. I am sure you'll enjoy it. Have fun! Regards...

I had good success with AOpen (Conexant chip-based) modems. The conexant drivers worked like a charm. There is a driver site for linux conexant drivers.