Some cards have to be loaded with firmware before use.  This is done with a configuration program.  For example for HiSax cards the program is hisaxctrl.

You should consult the README document that applies to your card to find out if your card needs any firmware and if so,  with what and how that should be loaded.

To automatically load the firmware,  you can modify the script isdn by inserting the loadcommand.

This script you will find in RedHat Linux in  /etc/rc.d/init.d  and in Corel and Debian Linux in  /etc/init.d.

Look for the following lines in this script:

# load modules
echo " loading modules"
modprobe $MODULE $RESOURCES

Add the command to load the firmware immediately after these lines.