Peter wrote :
> Jean Tourrilhes wrote:
> >
> > While I was looking at dongle drivers, I created a driver for
> > the OLD Belkin SmartBeam dongle. I can claim that this is the simplest
> > and dumbest dongle driver ever written ;-)
>
> Jean,
>
> Would this compile and work with
> kernel 2.2.10 + irda3?
>
> Peter
I just did this driver for getting accustomed with dongle
driver. I would not recommend anybody to use this dongle (old
SmartBeam), because it is limited to 9.6 kb/s. The new SmartBeam does
115 kb/s, but is not supported by this driver.
Moreover, it seems that Belkin has an upgrade program allowing
you to change you old SmartBeam to a new SmartBeam, see the FAQ on
their web site for details. It is true that the new dongle is not
supported under Linux-IrDA and seem to be still limited (SmartBeam to
SmartBeam is only 57 kb/s - no comment).
Personally, I bought some Actisys 220L+, because they are some
very nice dongle (technically) and they are making a promotion for
Linux users (see previous e-mails on the list), and I'm very happy
with those.
I tested as well a JetEye dongle (but now it's gone), and it
is very nice as well, but doesn't offer as many speeds, unless you
have the latest model (9680C) and use the litelink dongle driver. You
can find some cheap ones at EggHead or other places...
The little light on top of the JetEye could have been a killer
feature, but as currently implemented it's almost useless. This light
should be off when nobody is in sight, blinking when a node has been
discovered and solid when a connection is established (like on the
NetBeamer), instead it just blinks stupidly all the time without
giving you any feedback and you don't know what's happening. Too
bad... This is this kind of user feedback oversight that give IrDA a
bad name.
In sumary, this driver is only if you are desperate and stuck
with this hardware (old SmartBeam). At this point, I would not
recommend anyone to buy such a dongle, and if you have one use the
above exchange program and use it on you Win95 box.
Comming back to your question : I believe that the dongle
interface did change significantly between 2.2.13 and
2.2.13-irda3. The kernel you are using (2.2.20-irda3) use the old
interface, and my driver use the new one, so it won't work.
So, either you wait for 2.2.13-irda8 (which would integrate
this driver), or you can use 2.2.13-irda{3-7} and replace one dongle
driver with the code in my e-mail.
Does it answer all your questions ?
Jean
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