From: TJ@noneofyour.business   
      
   On 02/20/2013 02:57 PM, Moe Trin wrote:   
   > On Tue, 19 Feb 2013, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva, in   
   article   
   > , TJ wrote:   
   >   
   >> Moe Trin wrote:   
   >   
   >>> TJ wrote:   
   >   
   >>>> I've heard that some users have had mixed results with the open   
   >>>> source firmware and drivers and Mageia 2.   
   >   
   >>> I think it's more the old saw "if it works, don't fix it".   ;-)   
   >   
   >> Well, you know how some Linux folks are. They're dead set against   
   >> using anything proprietary, and the b43 driver I use needs proprietary   
   >> firmware to work.   
   >   
   > Some of that works both ways. In some cases, you get binary-only stuff   
   > that is built by the hardware manufacturer for use in one specific   
   > distribution/release.   
      
      
   Ran into a vaguely similar last-straw problem today with my wireless   
   dongle. It seems that Realtek's driver module, built for an earlier   
   kernel, the only module I've used that makes the dongle work anywhere   
   near right with Mageia 2, has an unfortunate side effect. Using it draws   
   my USB bus speed down to a crawl. If I boot without the dongle plugged   
   in, so the module isn't loaded, files will transfer from my external   
   hard drive at a reasonable 32MB/sec. But, if the dongle is plugged in so   
   the module is activated, the rate slips to a slovenly 1MB/sec.   
      
   This is indeed the last straw. I hate to give up on something that   
   *ought* to work, but there comes a time when losses must be cut. I don't   
   pay me enough to deal with this crap. Right now the computer is within   
   cable range of the router, so I don't really need a wireless connection   
   for it. But for the time when I do, it's time to start looking for a PCI   
   card, like I should have done in the first place.   
      
   TJ   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)