Date: Tue, 22 Jul 1997 03:05:10 -0700 (PDT) From: Donald Burr <dburr@POBoxes.com> To: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org Cc: freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org Subject: Some questions about FreeBSD Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.3.96.970721222211.711A-100000@voyager.starfleet.gov>
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I've been away from FreeBSD for a looong time (2.0.5 was the last version
I worked with), but now I'm starting to regain interest. Someone gave me
a 2.2.1 CD-ROM a few weeks ago, and just the other day, I picked up a
2.2.2 CD-ROM at a computer show.
My goal is to junk what I am currently running (Linux) and run FreeBSD
instead. But I have some questions and some concerns. Hopefully the
wonderful people on this list can help me out by answering these.
1. One of the reasons why I have been running Linux is the fact that its
PCMCIA support is much better, and in fact, Linux actually had PCMCIA
support when FreeBSD did not. (One of the machines on my homebrew
network is a laptop.) But I notice that FreeBSD's PCMCIA support
seems to be improving. How good is the support in 2.2.2?
2. All of my other machines have fairly standard (i.e. fully supported)
install media (CD-ROMs), except my Laptop. My laptop does have a SCSI
CD-ROM (NEC 8x, uncertain of the model number), but my laptop doesn't
have a built-in SCSI adapter. Yep -- you guessed it -- the SCSI
adapter is a PCMCIA. I was looking at my older (2.2.1) CD-ROM and
noticed the "boot-pao.flp" floppy image, which apparently allows you
to install FreeBSD using PCMCIA media (ATAPI CD-ROMs, SCSI, etc.) But
when I went to look for this on the 2.2.2 CD-ROM -- it wasn't there!
All I found was the standard "boot.flp" is this capability no longer
available, or is it built in to boot.flp? OR is it a separate package
that I need to get somewhere else (if so, where?)
3. I'm not sure if my PCMCIA SCSI adapter is even supported. It is a New
Media Toast'n'Jam (a combo SCSI/sound card), I believe it uses the
"aha1520" (aic-something-or-other) driver. Can this controller be
used with FreeBSD's PCMCIA support?
4. I also have a PCMCIA network adapter -- an IBM Home and Away. (This
is a combo 10BaseT ethernet + 14.4 modem card -- I don't care about
the 14.4 modem, because I have a USRobotics Sportster external). Is
this card supported by the PCMCIA package, and if I need to, can I use
it to do a network install (I can mount my FreeBSD CD-ROM on one of my
desktop machines, after all).
5. Last question: I have been running Linux because of its "IP
Masquerading" feature -- which allows a private (i.e. unlicensed)
home network to share a single dial-up IP connection. Since we have
only one phone line in the house, and sometimes two or three of us
(yes, I have roomies) have to use the Internet at once to get e-mail,
etc., we set up IP masquerading so that this is feasible. Now I hear
that FreeBSD's usermode PPP (iijppp) supports an "-alias" flag that
does something similar. Is anyone actually using this? How well does
it work, and how does it compare to Linux's IP masquerading
implementation?
I would be most appreciative if someone could help me out by
answering some (or all) of these questions in an E-mail to me. Thank you
in advance for your assistance!
Donald Burr <dburr@POBoxes.com> - Ask me for my PGP key | PGP: Your
WWW HomePage: http://DonaldBurr.base.org/ ICQ #1347455 | right to
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Phone: (805) 564-1871 FAX: (800) 492-5954 | USE IT.
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