Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2006 21:35:34 -0700 From: Doug Barton <dougb@FreeBSD.org> To: Daniel Eischen <deischen@freebsd.org> Cc: freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Experience with Dell Latitude D620? Message-ID: <45403B16.6010109@FreeBSD.org> In-Reply-To: <Pine.GSO.4.64.0610252320280.9729@sea.ntplx.net> References: <453FAAB8.407@FreeBSD.org> <45401B52.5020706@centtech.com> <Pine.GSO.4.64.0610252320280.9729@sea.ntplx.net>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Daniel Eischen wrote:
> On Wed, 25 Oct 2006, Eric Anderson wrote:
>
>> On 10/25/06 13:19, Doug Barton wrote:
>>> After a long (and sometimes ugly) ordeal with a few other
>>> manufacturers, I finally decided on a Dell Latitude D620, which is
>>> sitting here next to me. It has the new Core 2 Duo, and lots of other
>>> exciting bells and whistles. :) The only negative so far is the 3945
>>> wireless, but I have an atheros pccard to use in the meantime.
>>>
>>> I'm wondering what experiences people have with this, gotchas for
>>> FreeBSD, etc. I am planning to dual boot windows and -current. I am
>>> particularly interested in being able to suspend/resume in freebsd,
>>> so if anyone has got that working, please share the secrets. Also,
>>> has anyone with a core 2 duo tried running the 64 bit freebsd?
>>
>>
>> Doug - my coworker has lots of Atheros mini-pci express wifi cards
>> that he's been selling for cheap. I have been using it instead of the
>> included card, and am very happy. You can email him at
>> kramer@centtech.com if you want.
>
> Are you sure they are mini-pci express, not mini-pci? I couldn't
> find any Atheros-based mini-pci express cards when I looked just
> a few months ago.
Yeah, the ones he is selling are pci-express, and using the latest and
greatest Atheros a/b/g chip that's available stand-alone (the 5423). I
did a lot of research on this topic when I was considering my
purchase, and even called Atheros and talked to a very nice guy who
knew exactly what I was asking (refreshing in a hardware vendor). The
5424 is _the_ latest and greatest Atheros a/b/g chip, but it's only
available to a select few vendors right now, and only as a "built in,"
not as an OEM part. The Atheros guy I talked to said that the two
chips should have pretty similar characteristics, although the newer
chip would have better power consumption.
PCD Global has a PCI-Express card built from the 5423, but my research
gave them mixed reviews. Lenovo also has a card built from that chip
that's available as a non-standard option for thinkpads. I didn't do
any research on whether it would work in non-thinkpad machines.
At that point I kind of gave up and decided to do what I could as a
user to help get the 3945 working, since it's almost impossible to buy
a laptop nowadays without one of those. But since no one is really
interested in making that card work atm, I think I'm going to give
Eric's colleague a buzz. :)
hth,
Doug
--
This .signature sanitized for your protection
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?45403B16.6010109>