tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-464559303058535344.post8722291832092269802..comments2023-10-25T03:36:08.615-04:00Comments on Rip's Random Notes: Linux Has Worse Device Support Than Windows...I Don't Think SoRip Lintonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16812988648615384148noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-464559303058535344.post-90290836173266873662009-03-14T00:18:00.000-04:002009-03-14T00:18:00.000-04:00Out of the box, no driver disk, no downloads, just...Out of the box, no driver disk, no downloads, just plug and play ...<BR/><BR/>I have working:<BR/><BR/>HP 5610 Office Jet ... 0 min<BR/>Samsung 1710 ... 2 min<BR/>Ezonics webcam III (pac207) ... 0 min<BR/>Palm III ... 30 min<BR/>Finepix Z camera ... 0 min<BR/>Fujifilm A100 ... 0 min<BR/>Samsung M320 phone ... 0 min<BR/>Wireless PCMCIA cards ... 0 min<BR/>USB to RS-232 ... 0 min<BR/>Flash Memory ... 0 min<BR/>USB to IDE ... 0 min<BR/><BR/>I also have broken:<BR/><BR/>Canon F30 fax/print/scan (lost cause)<BR/>Ezonics webcam III spca561a<BR/>HP 2.0 mp webcam<BR/>Asus WL-107g (LAN) rt2500<BR/><BR/>So, I contacted Fedora (bugzilla), they put me in touch with the driver authors. The driver authors told me how to collect the data they needed to write/repair the drivers.<BR/><BR/>They should all be working in the 2.6.29 kernel (Fedora 11).<BR/><BR/>Try that with Windows and tell me how it works out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-464559303058535344.post-5187573961600565012009-03-13T16:53:00.000-04:002009-03-13T16:53:00.000-04:00I had a similar issue on an Epsom C41 printer.On a...I had a similar issue on an Epsom C41 printer.<BR/><BR/>On a dual boot system using Win2000 + Mandrake. I spent just under three hours with a support call to Epson using the installation disk.<BR/><BR/>To install the printer under Win2000 I needed to create a 'virtual USB printerport' <BR/><BR/>I finally booted into Mandrake the printer was automatically identified as a C41 and configured using Foomatic in approximately 30 seconds.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17220259878100672343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-464559303058535344.post-939608752155959052009-03-13T14:32:00.000-04:002009-03-13T14:32:00.000-04:00This is a good article, and a nice anecdote, and I...This is a good article, and a nice anecdote, and I'm sure there are many anecdotes like this, but there are also the same anecdotes going the other direction. I have a few myself. I don't think that you can make the final conclusion "Linux Has Better/Worse Device Support" from this.Tiggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12678751239681859503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-464559303058535344.post-9583379264797665392009-03-13T14:00:00.000-04:002009-03-13T14:00:00.000-04:00I had a similar experience with a USB key sound ca...I had a similar experience with a USB key sound card I bought a couple of years ago on a whim. It said it supported Win98/2000. The 98 driver I could never get to work, it would play in win2000 but sounded horrible with an incessant tick noise that I assumed was a hardware issue. Just for grins I figured I'd try it in the same computer after booting into linux it worked perfect with crystal clear beautiful sound and without having to install any drivers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-464559303058535344.post-17225623550086164672009-03-13T13:58:00.000-04:002009-03-13T13:58:00.000-04:00First and foremost to the posters who says their d...First and foremost to the posters who says their devices didn't work in Linux, Linux is open source, the device drivers that are in the kernel are either written from scratch by the developers of the Linux kernel, or reversed engineered by the said same developers. This is the important bit, in many cases they were not written for Linux by the hardware developers.<BR/><BR/>Until recently (Ubuntu 8.10) my Sony Ericsson W800i worked flawlessly when ever I plugged it in. Ubuntu detected that it contained both MP3's and photos and offered to open Amarok and F-Spot respectively. This doesn't happen in Windows XP as I have to install the driver for it and then launch the Sony software and in Vista it just mounts it as a USB device. With Ubuntu 8.10 it recognises the device as a 3G modem only and every couple of minutes it wants to setup the connection, even though I say no, it constantly pops up. The annoying thing apart from the constant 3G setup is that it no longer mounts it as a USB device and asks do I want to play the MP3's in Amarok or view the photo's in F-Spot. This in my opinion is a step backwards for Ubuntu. Now I have to have Windows on my pc just so I can download music to it and upload the photo's. Shame really.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-464559303058535344.post-39163785919781118652009-03-13T12:36:00.000-04:002009-03-13T12:36:00.000-04:00I had the same 1/2 hour vs 4 hour experience with ...I had the same 1/2 hour vs 4 hour experience with a new installation<BR/> <BR/>I keep Vista on a partition just for my ipod (Amarok works but itunes really goes better with the ipod so I'm guessing the Palm folks may have a point too) I boot into Vista maybe twice a month to update my ipod, for everything else I prefer linux (I like Mint but there’s other versions)<BR/> <BR/>I was messing with my notebook a few months back and messed up the hard drive partitions<BR/> <BR/>with Linux, I downloaded the latest CD, hit install (which includes most of the software I could need), I could work on my notebook while it installs, then it offered to reboot when I was ready, lastly updates I choose took 30 minutes and I can download new software and install it in 3-4 minutes<BR/> <BR/>with Vista, the CD only comes on a hidden partition that was gone so I called tech support and they wanted $30 for a replacement CD that would take a week to get. I have the “OEM Home Premium” license sticker so I had to find and download a pirate "OEM Home Premium CD” (no other version works). To install on my notebook I had to sit and wait for the Vista install, you can't do anything else during installations (just watch TV). After the install I had to go to different websites and find CDs to install the extra software that should come with an OS, like an office suite and a photo editor and itunes and I lost my paid anti-virus CD so had to find a free one plus a firewall, then those secret MS updates took a few days and I have to keep rebooting and I had to worry about the activation because it could stop working AND I hear that the next update could disable my vista because it could be seen as a pirated installation and then I have to call Microsoft to please unlock my computer PLUS I get to feel bad for downloading pirate software when I own the license stickerAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-464559303058535344.post-2416979841226400642009-03-13T10:52:00.000-04:002009-03-13T10:52:00.000-04:00Let's face it. Linux doesn't have support for ever...Let's face it. Linux doesn't have support for everything, and is especially weak on scanners. Same goes for Mac OS X. <BR/><BR/>And the problem with this watch and XP is a fault of the makers of the watch software, not of Windows. <BR/><BR/>But if it had been an open source driver, it would probably been fixed rather easily, regardless of the incompetence (or lack of time more likely) of the developers. <BR/><BR/>In other words, Linux doesn't go well together with closed source drivers (hence the lack of support), but open source drivers would be a benefit even on Windows.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-464559303058535344.post-85924872138377873562009-03-13T10:41:00.000-04:002009-03-13T10:41:00.000-04:00Checking the Linux hardware compatibility list bef...Checking the Linux hardware compatibility list before buying new hardware goes a long way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-464559303058535344.post-73369531723598659162009-03-13T09:19:00.000-04:002009-03-13T09:19:00.000-04:00To the guy who said;"My Palm Tungsten E2 is useles...To the guy who said;<BR/><BR/>"My Palm Tungsten E2 is useless with Linux because I use DocumentsToGo and SheetToGo, and there's no way (in Linux) to get documents or spreadsheets off of the E2 and into OpenOffice."<BR/><BR/>Buy a $15-$25 USB Bluetooth Dongle, Install Bluez on your Linux machine and the Bluetooth xfer stuff from the Synaptic package manager (I assume you are using Ubuntu or another Debian based distro,... but use Yum if you are using an RPM based distro). Launch the Bluetooth xfer application and send your docs to your desktop wirelessly,... <BR/><BR/>That or move them to an SD card and plug them into an SD card reader on your PC... which is easier, but not as cool.<BR/><BR/>I don't have an iPod or your particular scanner, so no help there...<BR/><BR/>My wife and I have between us a LifeDrive, a Palm TX, and the E2... All work with Linux without problems.<BR/><BR/>If you are an M$ astro-turfer,... than ignore all the above,... because you were just spreading FUD.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-464559303058535344.post-58707598928487366522009-03-12T21:10:00.000-04:002009-03-12T21:10:00.000-04:00That's my experience also. With all sorts of h...That's my experience also. With all sorts of hardware. My HP All-In-One took all day to install in Windows and DIDN'T WORK! And left XP with a ton of toxic software.<BR/><BR/>In Linux I just plugged it in and nothing happened. Damn... Anyway, after opening Open Office the printer WAS THERE. And a "fax printer" too. Hmmm. Too easy. Gimp has the File -> Aquire -> Scan WORKING. The card reader just works.<BR/><BR/>Conclusion<BR/>Instalation time in Windows: Several hours. (days, if you count the time to remove all the extra software) and didn't work.<BR/><BR/>Instalation time in Linux: 1 minute and it just works.<BR/><BR/>And don't get me started with my external sound card that Windows cripples by design.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-464559303058535344.post-35024210366248557862009-03-12T20:12:00.000-04:002009-03-12T20:12:00.000-04:00SANE doesn't support my 2-year old USB scanner, an...SANE doesn't support my 2-year old USB scanner, and, according to the comments, likely never will.<BR/><BR/>When I bought my 4th-generation iPod Nano, it was not recognized by Linux (something about new encryption).<BR/><BR/>My Palm Tungsten E2 is useless with Linux because I use DocumentsToGo and SheetToGo, and there's no way (in Linux) to get documents or spreadsheets off of the E2 and into OpenOffice.<BR/><BR/>Linux is zero-for-three with my hardware.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-464559303058535344.post-71848940355765518022009-03-12T19:57:00.000-04:002009-03-12T19:57:00.000-04:00I had a similar experience with a little Disney ca...I had a similar experience with a little Disney camera that I had bought for my daughter. The thing came with a CD that had a driver on it. I installed the driver on 2 different XP machines. After going through the driver install, and plugging the camera into a usb port it never recognized that the camera was plugged in, or that a driver had been installed for it. On a whim, I plugged the camera into an Ubuntu Laptop. It immediately recognized it, (it actually saw that is was a Disney camera) and let me download pictures. My experience lately is that everything seems to work better under Linux, than under Windows. My assumption is becoming that things should just work. (And I shouldn't need to download, or install any software to make it work).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-464559303058535344.post-16922594295067217362009-03-12T14:03:00.000-04:002009-03-12T14:03:00.000-04:00Nice post! Clean and non-aggressive, what more Li...Nice post! Clean and non-aggressive, what more Linux posts need to be!Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16314292724948210056noreply@blogger.com