Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Verizon PCMCIA Card Just Works

Posted by timothy on from the just-works-is-no-fair dept.

Apple God writes "I was a friend's house and he showed me his Verizion PCMCIA card for internet access. On a whim, I put it in my PowerBook, and it recognized the card and prompted me for authorization to configure the system for use with the card. I entered my password, and was surprised to see an icon in the menu bar for it. I clicked on this icon and selected connect, it worked! I had internet access. Here is a picture of the card that I used. When we checked Verizon's page, they only listed Windows compatibility. To make matters sweeter, my friend was shocked that it 'just worked' because he had to install drivers in XP before it would work."

19 of 99 comments (clear)

  1. Yeah, that happens... by RalphBNumbers · · Score: 4, Informative

    Apple provides some pretty versatile generic drivers with the OS. If your hardware is somewhat standards based, there's a pretty decent chance it will just work weather it's officially supported or not.
    I know my USB card, my mouse, and 2 of my ethernet cards are not officially mac-compatible, but that didn't stop them from working beautifully as soon as I pluged them in and powered on.

    --
    "The worst tyrannies were the ones where a governance required its own logic on every embedded node." - Vernor Vinge
    1. Re:Yeah, that happens... by mithras+the+prophet · · Score: 4, Informative

      There's also this open source Prism2 driver for OS X.

      --
      four nine eighteen twenty-7 thirty-nine forty-7 fiftyeight sixty-nine seventy-9 eighty-8 one-hundred-and-nine one-twenty
  2. Drivers by bsharitt · · Score: 4, Informative

    I've found that I rarely have to actually install a drive on OS X, but it's not imediatly recognized I usually have a hard timefinding one. Same thing for Linux

  3. the price of better quality gear is worth it. by infonography · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I don't have an Apple. (Sadly, I already run too many systems Sparc,Linux,windoze) But rebuilding a 2000 era Dell system for my Sister it identified the monitor right off were my recent Gigabyte P4 board still would not. Same OS same method of install same installer (me).

    When that box was designed, it was by someone who gave a damn about quality of the parts. I am not suprised that Apple worked. They really are better built boxes.

    --
    Sorry about the writing. Robot fingers, you know? Cliff Steele in DOOM PATROL #23
    1. Re:the price of better quality gear is worth it. by Foolhardy · · Score: 4, Informative

      Windows makes use of many generic drivers. When I plug my Archos jukebox into the USB2 port in my Windows computer, it uses all generic drivers. The USB2 controller in my nForce2 south bridge is seen as a "Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Contoller" that uses usbehci.sys, usbhub.sys, usbport.sys, hccoin.dll, usbui.dll. On top of that, the USB root hub uses usbd.sys, usbhub.sys. Then the USB mass storage device uses usbstor.sys. At the end is the volume which uses disk.sys and partmgr.sys. All of those drivers are generic drivers written by Microsoft; there is nothing from nVidia, Archos or Hitatchi (the hardware manufacturers). Below the USB controller, a standard PCI bus from pci.sys, an ACPI bus enumerator from acpi.sys, also all generic MS drivers.

      I have 6 devices that don't use all generic drivers: the ATA controller, network card, sound, AGP bridge and video card all from nVidia, and the Realtek NIC. Of those, I could use generic drivers for 3 of them, albeit with some loss of speed or functionaility.

      NT has always had a layered architecture of class and port drivers; class drivers, provided my MS, implement the common functions for similar devices while port drivers handle communication with a specific device. A third-party video driver still depends on the generic video port driver. AFAIK, video cards support the VGA standard and that's about it; a standard VGA driver is the only generic video driver.

      There are two ways to figure out which drivers go to which devices: the old way of loading possible drivers and asking each one if it sees any devices it supports, and plug and play which uses device IDs and .inf files. inf files match drivers to device IDs. If a new product comes out, even if it is supported by a generic driver, the .inf files won't know about it; some driver disks just provide a new .inf file. Anyways, you are right that Windows may have the binaries to support a new device but doesn't know it. That's why you can force installation of a driver over an unknown device ;)

  4. GPRS networks also by BrookHarty · · Score: 4, Informative

    If you don't use the cdma carriers, one of the gsm ones also have cards for OSX, and apple drivers included.

    http://www.whateversclever.net/sereview.php

    Its nice when you can have a choice on Apple, you dont have to be locked down to 1 carrier and hardware.

  5. OS X keeps getting better at it... by Chuqmystr · · Score: 4, Informative
    I work in cellular and have both Mac and Linux boxen. I've installed quite afew solutions for myself and many a customer. XP in general has been tweaky. Even Linux has been more straight forward and could be called easier depending on your POV. OS X at first was hit and miss but with each update it just gets better and better at mobile data in general and that's without even mixing in the open communities great additions like the Ross Barkman scripts.

    Good to hear about the VZW cards. I use one on my Windoze lappy (my work made me take THAT computer!) and have also played with it on Linux. As for OS X I love the fact that most handsets, CDMA or GSM, seem to work over bluetooth or data cables right out of the box. They do a really good job on the seamless syncing too. Now if they will just get on the ball with SyncML then all will be well. Hell, world peace may even ensue, starvation and poverty could become a thing of the past and, um, ok perhaps not. But it would be nice ;-)

  6. possible reason... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/verizonbroa dbandaccesssupport.html

    Were you running 10.3.5? Since those drivers were released a month before 10.3.5, I suspect they were included in it, and that would explain the card "just work"ing.

    FWIW

    1. Re:possible reason... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      (replying to myself...)

      Yep, my install of 10.3.5 includes AppleVerizonSupport.kext 1.0.0 and AppleVerizonSupportKicker.kext 1.0.0 (which are probably what's included in the linked download). So there you have it--Apple wrote a special driver for that VZW card.

      But it's still pretty cool that it Just Worked(TM). :-)

  7. Drivers and USB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Every USB interface includes a class, subclass and protocol. There are several well defined combinations such as USB modem, printer, audio and all the HID stuff (joystick, keyboard, mouse etc).

    Windows provides HID drivers, but does not provide drivers for any of the other stuff even though it could, which is why it needs drivers for almost any USB peripheral you plug in.

    Mac and Linux have default drivers for a lot of the protocols which is why you can just plug things in and have them work.

    And the relevance for this topic is that 5220 card is actually a USB controller with a USB modem and some other device (I forget which now) attached. Fortunately there are standard ways of talking to USB controllers as well.

    So the real issue isn't being amazed at Mac/Linux not requiring drivers for this card, but why Windows is so damn broken by design that it does require them.

  8. Re:This is newsworthy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hmmm, perhaps you're right. Plugging things into a Mac system and having it "just work" is terribly terribly common.

    Now, when someone plugs something into a Windows XP system and it "just works", that's newsworthy. I mean, come on, that sort of thing only happens once in a lifetime!

  9. Re:This is newsworthy? by Muerto · · Score: 4, Insightful

    i am rolling my eyes at you right now. everytime i have ever plugged any piece of hardware into my mac it has always just worked. This is rarely the case wtih my XP box. slashdot is not "apple biased" it's "anti MS.." get it straight.

  10. Re:What OS version? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I believe the Verizon drivers (/System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/Verizon.menu, /System/Library/Extensions/IOSerialFamily.kext/Con tents/PlugIns/AppleVerizonSupport.kext) first were included in 10.2, but don't recall for sure. (AC 'cause I'm Apple.)

  11. Saving Money on Support by jabex · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think much of the "Not supported on OS X" talk is related to companies not wanting to pay for a cross-platform support staff.

    Sprint does this. With their cell service you can get PCS Vision. You're not supposed to use it to go online with your computer (official response is that it's an unofficial feature), but you can. On top of that, it's not supposed to work for Mac, but it does. There's even a PCS Vision modem script built into OS X that ends all the hassle.

    The ever ellusive, unsupported feature within an unsupported feature! I imagine companies save some money by just saying "not supported" instead of training a Mac Support team (or rather, hiring one), but I'd be surprised to learn exactly what works on a Mac that isn't supposed to. Makes you wonder...

    --
    Like Teddy with an elephant gun.
  12. Re:What OS version? by byolinux · · Score: 5, Funny

    Thanks Steve

    --
    Join the Free Software Foundation
  13. the apple is sweet by dankelley · · Score: 4, Interesting
    After many years in the solaris world, and then a few years in the linux world, I got a mac. I didn't like that dopey single-button mouse, so I unplugged it WITH THE POWER ON and then plugged in a well-worn scrollmouse.

    Jeeze, the thing just worked, to quote the key phrase of this thread. At that moment, I knew I'd not be going back to solaris or linux anytime soon. After a year with the box, I've yet to plug in anything and find it not working right away.

    Apple wants you to think that the GUI is the best thing about their OS, but that's wrong. The GUI is OK, mind you, but it's more awkward than GNOME in some respects. But the hardware support, that's the jewel.

  14. Re:Consider the nature of the article by TydalForce · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Actually I think the nature of this article is a bit different. More like "this rather expensive piece of hardware that has no official Mac support actually *works* with no hassle. So you can go buy it with little risk of it not working". I've been looking at these cards myself for a while, but none of them have Mac compatability listed on their websites. Its nice to know I could go get one, pop it in, and not worry about having wasted $300. (c:

  15. Re:So, has by mroch · · Score: 4, Informative

    You're better off getting a data cable for the Vision phone you probably already have. The cable for my Sanyo 8100 was $20 (plus mandatory $20 for the shitty SnapSync software). When I plugged the phone into my iBook, it detected it and Internet Connect asked for all of the authorization info and I was up and running at 250 kbps in less than 5 minutes. I'd like to see Windows do that!

  16. Re:How fast is it? by ttroutma · · Score: 4, Informative

    Verizon. Two different service levels, nation wide right now, 80-133kbps inbound 44kbps outbound. EV-DO service in DC, Vegas and San Diego, 300-500kbps inbound unsure on the outbound. '05 national for EV-DO Performance is much enhanced with a good 800/1900 dual band antenna and 3 watt amp like the digital antenna DA4000. Using this setup I've done some long drives while listening to stream audio (voice programs not music) in the car , like Austin to Dallas, nonstop audio streaming. It's cool. Latency on these connections SUCKS though, it's all over the map from 400 to 800ms. So forget out getting the $80 unlimited plan and making unlimited calls. And it is no shocker that this just works on the Mac. It just works BETTER on a Mac than on my PC's supported or not. I much prefer this kind of connectivity to Wifi because it does not tie me down to one location. Using a crank up 3' mount on my camper with a yagi on top I get the most insane coverage area you've ever seen. 40 miles outside of the regular VZ coverage area is easy. Haven't even had a chance to try a mountain top location yet but I bet it's going to have signal.