From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Thu May 15 17:05:04 2008 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4795A106566C for ; Thu, 15 May 2008 17:05:04 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from rsmith@xs4all.nl) Received: from smtp-vbr9.xs4all.nl (smtp-vbr9.xs4all.nl [194.109.24.29]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E4DB48FC25 for ; Thu, 15 May 2008 17:05:03 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from rsmith@xs4all.nl) Received: from slackbox.xs4all.nl (slackbox.xs4all.nl [213.84.242.160]) by smtp-vbr9.xs4all.nl (8.13.8/8.13.8) with ESMTP id m4FH5077031036; Thu, 15 May 2008 19:05:00 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from rsmith@xs4all.nl) Received: by slackbox.xs4all.nl (Postfix, from userid 1001) id 3A97AB829; Thu, 15 May 2008 19:05:00 +0200 (CEST) Date: Thu, 15 May 2008 19:05:00 +0200 From: Roland Smith To: Walter Message-ID: <20080515170459.GA33172@slackbox.xs4all.nl> Mail-Followup-To: Walter , Questions References: <482B2020.4030706@earthlink.net> <20080514181828.GA56648@slackbox.xs4all.nl> <482C248D.9030708@earthlink.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/signed; micalg=pgp-sha1; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; boundary="x+6KMIRAuhnl3hBn" Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <482C248D.9030708@earthlink.net> X-GPG-Fingerprint: 1A2B 477F 9970 BA3C 2914 B7CE 1277 EFB0 C321 A725 X-GPG-Key: http://www.xs4all.nl/~rsmith/pubkey.txt X-GPG-Notice: If this message is not signed, don't assume I sent it! User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.17 (2007-11-01) X-Virus-Scanned: by XS4ALL Virus Scanner Cc: Questions Subject: Re: Does FBSD 7 support 802.11N cards? G suggestions? X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 15 May 2008 17:05:04 -0000 --x+6KMIRAuhnl3hBn Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-15 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On Thu, May 15, 2008 at 06:54:53AM -0500, Walter wrote: > (Sorry Roland; re-sending after I noticed my reply went directly > to you rather than the List.) >=20 > Roland Smith wrote: >=20 >> On Wed, May 14, 2008 at 12:23:44PM -0500, Walter wrote: >> =20 >>> <>I'm trying to get a Broadcom-based wireless-N card running >>> under FBSD 7. ... >>=20 > > See Chapter 20 of the FreeBSD handbook, especially =A720.2. >=20 > 20 is The Vinum Volume Manager=20 > . I'm talking about "The Cutting Edge"=20 http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/cutting-edge.html >> The problem is that a lot of wireless manufacturers have the habit of >> changing wireless chipsets without changing model numbers. So a revision >> X might work while revision Y won't. >>=20 >> Try and look at the card. Sometimes the chipset is visible and you can >> look for it in the manual pages. But often it is enclosed in a metal cov= er. >>=20 >> In my experience, asking shop clerks which chipset a card uses only >> produces puzzled looks. >>=20 >> Second best thing is to download the driver for the revision of the card >> that you want to buy. Unpack the driver and read the .inf files. That >> will probably yield the chipset type. If not, use strings(1) on the >> drivers themselves. > It's a crap shoot? =20 That's about the size of it. > Yikes.=20 Indeed. > I guess I'll just pick one and take > my chances, but - no fault to FBSD - it appears to be a sorry > state of affairs in the computer driver arena.=20 More and more chipsets are being supported on BSD, with OpenBSD leading the way. But it remains difficult to see which chipset is used in a card. Manufacturers hardly ever list it in their docs. > I can guess > the latest rev listed on the support web site is what I'll get > when I buy the box?? (Maybe not, as I got a rev A router > last December when the latest was rev B.)=20 Usually there is a sticker on the packaging that says "model FOO rev. X". or something like that. > Later I'll work > on getting the driver downloaded and unpacked on my > Windows machine (as my Mac won't process those .exe > files). You could try unzip. Some of those exe files are self-extracting ZIP ziles. > Did I read that there's a way to use Windows drivers in FBSD 7? Yes. It's called ndis(4). Only works on i386 architecture though, not amd64. Do realize that you're sticking a piece of windows software of unknown quality in your _kernel_. Roland --=20 R.F.Smith http://www.xs4all.nl/~rsmith/ [plain text _non-HTML_ PGP/GnuPG encrypted/signed email much appreciated] pgp: 1A2B 477F 9970 BA3C 2914 B7CE 1277 EFB0 C321 A725 (KeyID: C321A725) --x+6KMIRAuhnl3hBn Content-Type: application/pgp-signature Content-Disposition: inline -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.9 (FreeBSD) iEYEARECAAYFAkgsbTsACgkQEnfvsMMhpyVbcwCeLMH12LmeNZK7T+IzgpKCvAPp Uy4An07zx6aVjXP6SnudjuFv9CWOOVGg =GGBH -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --x+6KMIRAuhnl3hBn--