NOW $700 - PCI PCMCI Slot Card for EVDO REV A connectivity

cmb · May 19, 2007, 2:54 AM

I ran into some issues with my initial test and didn't have time to really look into it due to other commitments.

dotdash, if it is to be implemented, it'll definitely meet #1 of your request. As for supported hardware, I'm not sure how many pieces of hardware we could support, or support well. It's something I'll look into more. Now that this is up to about $600 if it can be done meeting dotdash's requirements, it's definitely a higher priority.

It'll be another week or two before I can really dig into this again, but I'll post back when I get a chance to look into it further.

dotdash · May 24, 2007, 5:02 PM

The USB-PCMCIA adapters like the Elan U111 and U132 look pretty sketchy as far as support on non-Windows and only seem to work with certain models of card.
My thought is that if someone can get a PCMCIA card running, it should work with a PCI-PCMCIA card.
I'm going to get a Quatech PCD-B/UPCI-E to test with and try plugging the Verizon card into it. If this works it would be a pretty good solution as the card could be turned up on a Windows laptop, then plugged into the firewall once activated.

sullrich · May 24, 2007, 6:38 PM

I am interested in this bounty. Just need to find a EVDO card to work with.

cmb · May 24, 2007, 7:42 PM

sullrich and I have agreed to split this as soon as I get a chance to start working on it again (maybe next week).

I also have made contact with someone that can provide some additional hardware for testing purposes.

kapara · May 31, 2007, 5:02 PM

Wow….I thought this one was going to wither away and die. I don't have a need for the PCMCI option anymore but I will still honor my request. About time that I contribute anyway. Definitely something I will be able to push to my clients in the future!!!

Thanks,

Mark

sullrich · May 31, 2007, 9:13 PM

I have a USB version that might be coming available soon. I am going to try and get it working there and hopefully it will work in a similar fashion on the pcmcia version, etc.

dotdash · Jun 5, 2007, 7:25 PM

I got the elan P311. It does it's job and shows up nicely as a cardbus slot. I can plug a 3Com carbus nic in and it comes right up. This particular card (low profile) has major fitament issues with most motherboards I tested it with, but whatever, I found a test box where I can manage to get it into one of the slots.
My test card (Verizon, Sierra Wireless, I think) went out on loan, so I borrowed a Sprint Pantech PX-500 card. No luck. I was thinking it might go something like this: http://www.bsdforums.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-45602.html
But it doesn't seem to find a driver for the modem. Perhaps this card is not supported. I see some errors when booting:
cardbus0: CIS pointer is 0
cardbus0: Resource not specified in CIS: id=10, size=1000
It does detect an NEC uPD 9210 USB controller (ohci0, uhub4, usb5) but no ucom or ugen device.
It seems that it should show up like a usb modem off of the usb controller off of the cardbus…
I will have to get the Verizon card back and try with it...
Tested on a 1.2 beta1 install and on a generic FreeBSD 6.2 install.

sullrich · Jun 5, 2007, 9:36 PM

Joseph Kohan (razor2000 on irc) is sending me a card to test. I will be starting on this bounty as soon as I receive the card.

Sifter · Jun 20, 2007, 7:44 AM

Any update on testing progress?

sullrich · Jun 20, 2007, 11:41 PM

I never received any hardware.

dotdash · Jun 21, 2007, 2:52 PM

The Verizon card I want to test is still in use for another month or so, but I did 'borrow' it for a few hours. It is not a Sierra as I was hoping, but a Novatel V620 (I think, don't have the notes handy). Didn't have time to mess with it, but it does not come up correctly. Behaviour is similar to the Pantech. Some preliminary research seems to indicate that people have been able to get the card working under FreeBSD with some hacking. I won't be able to try until I can get the card again. I'm trying to see if I can get yet another card to test in the meantime…

cmb · Jun 22, 2007, 1:08 AM

I have the hardware to do this and someone willing to send more once the card I have works, just haven't had time to make it happen yet.

kapara · Jul 18, 2007, 2:12 PM

What is the status of this bounty? When do pay for the bounty?

Thanks,

Mark

tacfit · Jul 18, 2007, 5:00 PM

If it helps, I've got a spare Kyocera KPC650 (with contract), and a PCI-PCMCIA card… and I can put this into a pfsense box that I could provide access to. I just can't send any of this hardware out to you.

sullrich · Jul 18, 2007, 9:59 PM

Sorry but no, that does not help.

kapara · Jul 20, 2007, 6:22 AM

hmmm..No answer to my question. Am I missing something?

dotdash · Jul 20, 2007, 1:52 PM

The status is that no one is working on it yet. I may be able to snag the Novatel again to test, but I can't send it off. It's a company card and has to be available in case in case someone is working off-site. Right now, I can't get one purely for testing, so I'm stuck grabbing cards when they are not deployed.

sullrich · Jul 26, 2007, 7:51 PM

I have access now to a 3G sprint USB card. I plan on taking this bounty.

Please if you have offered cash towards this please let me know that you are still interested.

Thanks!
PS: this will also add "dial up modem" support as well.

dotdash · Jul 27, 2007, 2:16 PM

Our bounty still stands. What model of card are you getting? I might be able to get another card to test builds with when this starts rolling.

kapara · Aug 5, 2007, 9:09 AM

I am still in. Just let me know when to pay up! Curious why you went with USB instead of PCMCIA with PCI adapter? One thing is good is it doesn't take up a slot for a NIC.