Hi I'm running Kali 1.1.0a from a USB disk on a PC.

It can see the Alfa as a Realtek:

root@kali:~/alfa# lsusb
Bus 009 Device 005: ID 0781:5535 SanDisk Corp.
Bus 009 Device 004: ID 045e:0040 Microsoft Corp. Wheel Mouse Optical
Bus 009 Device 002: ID 0424:2514 Standard Microsystems Corp. USB 2.0 Hub
Bus 009 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 006 Device 008: ID 045e:00db Microsoft Corp. Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 V1.0
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 008 Device 002: ID 0bda:8812 Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 2109:3431
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

I have run dmesg and can't see any errors in there.

I'm learning linux as I go...

I have copied the manufacturesr drivers into /root/alfa and when I try and make them I get:

root@kali:~/alfa# make
make ARCH=i386 CROSS_COMPILE= -C /lib/modules/3.18.0-kali3-686-pae/build M=/root/alfa modules
make: *** /lib/modules/3.18.0-kali3-686-pae/build: No such file or directory. Stop.
make: *** [modules] Error 2

So it seems to be missing a folder right? So I create a folder /lib/modules/3.18.0-kali3-686-pae/build

And the error message changes

root@kali:~/alfa# make
make ARCH=i386 CROSS_COMPILE= -C /lib/modules/3.18.0-kali3-686-pae/build M=/root/alfa modules
make[1]: Entering directory `/lib/modules/3.18.0-kali3-686-pae/build'
make[1]: *** No rule to make target `modules'. Stop.
make[1]: Leaving directory `/lib/modules/3.18.0-kali3-686-pae/build'
make: *** [modules] Error 2

Am I going to have to google this every step of the way or is there something basic I am missing here?

Thanks