Compatiable usb to ethernet hardware for Ubuntu

Can you post an output of "lspci", its possible ethernet can be started just by finding the correct driver.

Hi,
I use a D-LINK DUB-E100 USB-Ethernet adaptor on a laptop with a broken motherboard ethernet socket.

It works perfectly, but needs to be plugged in when you boot

# /usr/sbin/lsusb -v
[snip]
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 2001:1a00 D-Link Corp. [hex]
Device Descriptor:
  bLength 18
  bDescriptorType 1
  bcdUSB 2.00
  bDeviceClass 2 Communications
  bDeviceSubClass 0
  bDeviceProtocol 0
  bMaxPacketSize0 64
  idVendor 0x2001 D-Link Corp. [hex]
  idProduct 0x1a00
  bcdDevice 10.01
  iManufacturer 1 D-LINK CORPORAION
  iProduct 2 DUB-E100
  iSerial 3 01
  bNumConfigurations 1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength 9
    bDescriptorType 2
    wTotalLength 39
    bNumInterfaces 1
    bConfigurationValue 1
    iConfiguration 4
    bmAttributes 0x80
      (Bus Powered)
    MaxPower 450mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength 9
      bDescriptorType 4
      bInterfaceNumber 0
      bAlternateSetting 0
      bNumEndpoints 3
      bInterfaceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level)
      bInterfaceSubClass 0
      bInterfaceProtocol 0
      iInterface 7
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength 7
        bDescriptorType 5
        bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes 3
          Transfer Type Interrupt
          Synch Type None
          Usage Type Data
        wMaxPacketSize 0x0008 1x 8 bytes
        bInterval 11
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength 7
        bDescriptorType 5
        bEndpointAddress 0x02 EP 2 OUT
        bmAttributes 2
          Transfer Type Bulk
          Synch Type None
          Usage Type Data
        wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
        bInterval 0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength 7
        bDescriptorType 5
        bEndpointAddress 0x83 EP 3 IN
        bmAttributes 2
          Transfer Type Bulk
          Synch Type None
          Usage Type Data
        wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
        bInterval 0
Device Qualifier (for other device speed):
  bLength 10
  bDescriptorType 6
  bcdUSB 2.00
  bDeviceClass 2 Communications
  bDeviceSubClass 0
  bDeviceProtocol 0
  bMaxPacketSize0 8
  bNumConfigurations 1
Device Status: 0x0000
  (Bus Powered)
[snip]

Hi,
I forgot to include the kernel modules used by the Dlink USB-Ethernet adaptor - here is is:

root@matariki:~# lsmod|egrep 'usb|hci'
usbnet 17032 1 asix
usbhid 39904 0
ehci_hcd 34184 0
ohci_hcd 21892 0
usbcore 130820 6 asix,usbnet,usbhid,ehci_hcd,ohci_hcd

PS: I don't think it is very relevant, but the laptop is running xubuntu 6.06 - any old Linux would work the same

I have a similar issue, in that I have an older Toshiba Tecra 8100 with a USB SMC EZ Connect Fast Ethernet Adapter 2202USB/ETH. However I am very new to Ubuntu and failed to install the full desktop version 8.04.1 as I have only 256 Meg RAM. I have also been unable to install usint mini.iso as I was not able to get this to recognise the USB adapter mentioned above. The Laptop is currently running Windows XP Pro.

Hi,
I don't see that only 256MB memory should be an issue for installing ubuntu. I would suggest installing Xubuntu <http://xubuntu.org/> as the xubuntu desktop is not so memory hungry.
I have installed xubuntu on a cheepo 256MB laptop and it boots up and is usable in 45 seconds and works great, windows xp on the same laptop (before I nuked it) took 9 minutes before you could do anything and was treacle slow in use.

Once you boot the xubuntu CD, you will be able to find if your USB device is supported or not - there is a chance it may not be - I did a lot of googling before I got the D-LINK DUB-E100 USB-Ethernet adaptor to make sure it would work. You don't need to install xubuntu to test, just boot from the live CD with the USB device plugged in and connected to a network, then see if you can use firefox.