TL-WN722N support on FreeBSD.

[Don O'Hara]

Hi Polytropon - 

Thanks for your response. As usual, your responses are well-written, very
thorough, articulate, and unemotional (in a good sense). Too often
on email lists I see one-liner complaints/problems/rants, where opinions
are not backed up with reasons; issues not researched well; etc, etc;
followed by another one-line opinion, ad nauseam.


I too am slowly moving to FreeBSD, and just last week was trying to get my Lenovo laptop
working. Had to put that project aside since day job intervened. You mentioned
you had success with wireless on Lenovo; I might have to ask for some help.

Your responses keep the “spirit of FreeBSD” (at least
how I see it, in my short exposure to it), alive and well. Also, responses like
yours add the to the set of “useful information” entries on the email archives; it helps
keep the signal-to-noise ratio higher (seems to be a losing battle, some days).

PS Your signature line always reminds me that perhaps it’s
time to re-read the Odyssey “…os mala polla”….

Don
Harrisburg, PA


On Aug 27, 2014, at 5:22, Polytropon <freebsd at edvax.de> wrote:

> On Wed, 27 Aug 2014 11:39:56 +0300, atar wrote:
>> So you give me additional reason to stay with Linux and
>> not to migrate to FreeBSD since even a basic wireless
>> adapter which came with your Sony isn't supported by
>> FreeBSD. To be honest, I don't know if your Sony wireless
>> adapter is supported by Linux, but in general, I think
>> linux is more flexible and supports more devices than
>> FreeBSD (and more than all the rest of *BSD variations).
> 
> Of course this is a problem in FreeBSD, and it's a known
> problem. There is a workaround (which isn't really helpful
> afterwards, but beforehand): First check if the hardware
> is supported, then buy it. Especially wireless devices
> are subject to the tricky game of "driver lottery". You
> will have more luck with Linux in this regards, as it
> covers hardware with working drivers more than any other
> operating system does, and usually, it keeps the support
> for devices that "Windows" has long dropped (if you happen
> to insist on using specific hardware, such as video grabber
> cards, DVB sticks, sound cards or other "non-mainstream"
> equipment).
> 
> Up to this point, I was always lucky with the hardware I
> purchased: FreeBSD's support for WLAN components was
> excellent. I've been using IBM / Lenovo, Dell, Siemens-
> Fijutsu and Sony laptop hardware, and FreeBSD did not
> have any trouble getting the buildin hardware to work.
> Still there are models which cause problems: Some of
> them use chipsets not supported by current drivers, others
> just use f*cked up ACPI implementations, and others
> delegate hardware functionality to proprietary drivers
> which make the actual devices "appear" and "work", and
> as you will guess, those are only available for specific
> versions of "Windows".
> 
> It depends on you if you want to:
> 
> 	a) purchase other hardware to replace what is
> 	   not supported,
> 
> 	b) relapse to using Linux which supports your
> 	   hardware, or
> 
> 	c) accept that it's not working and make a better
> 	   choice next time you buy something. :-)
> 
> Many manufacturers are already regognizing that "Windows"
> usage is decreasing, and Linux support becomes more and
> more important to sell a device. They provide drivers or
> build their devices so they support existing standards.
> But of course hardware is evolving, and the OS needs to
> provide the interfaces for the new. FreeBSD isn't exactly
> blazing fast in this regards, but to me, never buying "the
> newest" for having "the newest" for few weeks (instead
> buying "good" in order to have "good" for several years),
> it doesn't really matter, so my opinion doesn't matter much.
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Polytropon
> Magdeburg, Germany
> Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
> Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...
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