PCMCIA NICS and Wireless

[David A. Bandel]

On Sat, 28 Sep 2002 12:27:21 -0700
begin  Bill Campbell <bill at celestial.com> spewed forth:

> I've been looking for PCMCIA NICs and wireless adapters compatible with
> Caldera OpenLinux 3.1.1 Workstation with the latest kernel binary RPM
> from Caldera, and an update version of pcmcia-cs that I built while
> attempting to get a NetGear FA511 working (somebody broke the dongle off
> the FA510 that had been working in it for a year or so).  The RPMS I
> have on this system are now:
> 	linux-kernel-binary-2.4.13-15D
> 	pcmcia-cs-3.2.1-1
> 
> I went to our friendly neighborhood supplier last week with my laptop,
> and tried a number of different cards including the Latest & Greatest
> from NetGear and SMC (10/100 and wireless).  The only thing I found that
> it recognized was the current Xircom 10/100 card, which I really don't
> want to use because it takes two slots preventing me from using my flash
> reader or SCSI adapter.
> 
> NetGear has been singularly unhelpful even though I've talked to their
> reseller support folks (who're supposed to know more than the end-user
> support people), and haven't received any response to detailed e-mail
> questions.
> 

If you want wireless, I suggest you go with Orinoco or Avaya (seen as
Orinoco).  I also suggest you visit the wirless_tools website, get the
latest kernel patches and wireless tools.  IIRC, Caldera doesn't supply
wireless tools which you must have.  Also get the lastest pcmcia-cs while
you're at it. The stuff you have is _ancient_, both kernel and pcmcia.  I
suggest kernel 2.4.19.  Lots of great bug fixes and patches.

For pcmcia cards, I suggest looking at those supported by the kernel
you're running.  Most (all I've used) work very well.  But a number are
not supported, so forget them -- they _won't_ work. D-Link claims to
support linux but this is NOT TRUE.  I have a DFE-690TX that is
"supported" (not).  It's supported under 2.2.x (as rtl8139_cs), but not
under 2.4.x (which I run and requires a non-existent 8139too_cs).  Caveat
Emptor.

Ciao,

David A. Bandel
-- 
Focus on the dream, not the competition.
		-- Nemesis Racing Team motto