Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:31:12 +1000 From: Da Rock <freebsd-questions@herveybayaustralia.com.au> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Realtek RTL8191SEvB Linux driver? Message-ID: <4F06F7A0.2080605@herveybayaustralia.com.au> In-Reply-To: <20120105214238.GA1478@ideapad.piggybox> References: <CAFpTYWM3ppJsVo-qZC=OXWHW1U5zAt3y5m==6hFw3JQNH%2B5NAg@mail.gmail.com> <4F02A3CE.7020404@herveybayaustralia.com.au> <20120103071028.4964dd33@scorpio> <4F030E00.5020806@herveybayaustralia.com.au> <Pine.GSO.4.64.1201031101580.7621@age7.nber.org> <4F038F8F.3090701@herveybayaustralia.com.au> <alpine.LFD.2.00.1201031922400.26468@nber4.nber.org> <4F03A678.6050903@herveybayaustralia.com.au> <904803AA-31CD-41EC-927A-51A9EB49DEB6@googlemail.com> <4F04DB08.8020100@herveybayaustralia.com.au> <20120105214238.GA1478@ideapad.piggybox>
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On 01/06/12 07:42, Peter Harrison wrote: > Thursday, 5 January 2012 at 9:04:40 +1000, Da Rock said: >> On 01/05/12 07:01, Peter Harrison wrote: >>> On 4 Jan 2012, at 01:08, Da Rock wrote: >>> >>>> On 01/04/12 10:38, Daniel Feenberg wrote: >>>>> On Wed, 4 Jan 2012, Da Rock wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> On 01/04/12 02:10, Daniel Feenberg wrote: >>>>>>> On Wed, 4 Jan 2012, Da Rock wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On 01/03/12 22:10, Jerry wrote: >>>>>>>>> On Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:44:30 +1000 >>>>>>>>> Da Rock articulated: >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> On 01/03/12 11:15, Jeffrey McFadden wrote: >>>>>>> Don't ndis(4) ndiscvt and ndisgen(8) essentially accomplish what the >>>>>>> OP is requesting? See the handbook section 12.8.1.1: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/config-network-setup.html >>>>>>> >>>>>>> or the man page for ndiscvt: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> http://www.gsp.com/cgi-bin/man.cgi?section=8&topic=ndiscvt >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> While doing the conversion looks a bit beyond what we would expect of >>>>>>> an end-user, it does seem to offer a path for using hardware whose >>>>>>> manufacturer does not support FreeBSD. Is there anything beyond >>>>>>> licensing issues preventing such drivers from being included in the >>>>>>> distribution, or made downloadable in FreeBSD form? >>>>>> Oh yes, it is possible, just not probable :) >>>>> At >>>>> >>>>> http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/ndiswrapper/index.php?title=Category:USB >>>>> >>>>> almost 800 compatible devices are listed. Not everything, but I have >>>>> found that a willingness to spend a few dollars on a different card >>>>> helps immensely in enjoying FreeBSD and Linux. For me at least it is >>>>> easier to find a compatible card than to write a compatible driver. >>>> Indeed :) >>>> >>>> I did notice that the card in question wasn't on that list. But my own >>>> experience with ndiswrapper and wifi cards were far less than >>>> satisfactory- the firmware always got in the road. But I may have just >>>> been too stupid at the time :) >>>>> I would also observe that most people involved with computers, whether >>>>> as users or developers, have little symphathy for people with different >>>>> needs from the device. This is a great impediment to progress. It is a >>>>> mistake to assume that because you don't need something, another >>>>> person's desire for it is illegitimate. In this case, I fully agree that >>>>> it is an injustice that hardware vendors do not supply FreeBSD drivers, >>>>> but that does not mean that users requiring such drivers are immoral or >>>>> of poor character, and therefore to be ignored or insulted. There is >>>>> little that FreeBSD coders and users can do about that injustice >>>>> directly, however it is within their power to mitigate it with the NDIS >>>>> wrapper. If that wrapper allows another user to enter the FOSS world, >>>>> that will (in the fullness of time) contribute to reforming the vendor. >>>> No they are absolutely not of poor character, I agree. Some messages can >>>> be misconstrued, though, in that the replies can be terse and more >>>> logical than sympathetic. Sometimes it is easier to replace with a >>>> different card than flog a dead horse, although a user may take offense >>>> for emotional or financial reasons more than logical. >>>> >>>> Mitigation is a difficult path as I have found personally, although NDIS >>>> helps immensely with wired nics (not so much of a problem these days), >>>> and I believe Luigi Rizzo's work with the linuxulator and drivers is to >>>> be applauded ten fold. It takes a great deal of time though- I put >>>> forward the idea when I was still a BSD pup not entirely realising the >>>> challenges :) Luigi (and his colleagues) has been working hard ever since >>>> to facilitate the more challenging aspects of multimedia drivers (whether >>>> or not that had to do with my comments or not, I don't know). >>> Da Rock, >>> >>> I've been using ndis drivers successfully with a Broadcom chip in my >>> Lenovo s10-e since I bought it some years ago - to the extent that I've >>> not yet switched over to the native drivers now available. >>> >>> I didn't find using ndisgen too problematic. Just a case of finding the >>> right driver files and following the manpage. I'd strongly recommend >>> trying it in preference to a usb stick (been there, done that) or buying >>> new hardware - although I'd agree that depending on the model changing a >>> mini-PCI card isn't necessarily that difficult (I changed it t an Intel >>> card in my other Dell laptop some time ago - remember to attach the >>> internal aerial cable!). >> Make no mistake I'm not being facetious. How did you do it? >> >> The biggest problem I had was that there are multiple firmware for >> different scenarios that are loaded. One for base station mode, one for >> adhoc, and one more I think... They got in the way of using it correctly. > Da Rock, > > The short answer is, I'm not honestly sure. It was a couple of years ago and it's given absolutely no trouble since - a genuine "fit and forget" solution. > > I remember it as being a question of finding and unpacking the right file then using the .sys and .inf files to create a kernel module using ndisgen. > > Don't recall having any problems with firmware. The only issue I recall was I think to do with converting the .inf file to unicode, but I might have mis-remembered that. > > Sorry I can't be more help. I think I hit the same issue, but after running through a few iterations I gave up as I saw no more options. Don't worry, mine was the same- a few years ago, and I forget the exact details too... Fortunately when one does get things working with FreeBSD there is virtually never a reason to return to the scene of the crime :) unlike some systems... Cheers
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