Inaky is currently on vacation, so I'll go out on a limb and reply for him...
Inaky works for Intel and has been developing drivers for the Intel WiMAX card. As Intel is the first company to contribute any WiMAX code to the Linux Kernel, Inaky has been attempting to write the kernel WiMAX interfaces such that they should be compatible with future WiMAX drivers from other companies (so that kernel and userspace components related to WiMAX will not need to be re-written when another WiMAX driver comes along). However, beyond soliciting interface design suggestions from other companies and writing code that might (or might not) be re-usable in other WiMAX drivers, I do not believe he has any plans to write drivers for any hardware that is not produced by Intel. That being said, there are several people on this list with a very good understanding of WiMAX hardware and the kernel, so if you think you can tackle writing a driver yourself, you can probably get some good pointers here. To start, you will need to get the full internal hardware API specifications from Motorola. Note, however, that this is typically the most difficult part of writing any Linux kernel driver, as many companies will either just say 'No', or will ask you to sign an NDA that either specifically prohibits you from writing open source drivers using the information, or specifically prohibits you from giving the information to someone else who can help you write the drivers. I don't want to discourage you from trying to go down that path if you are really interested in doing so. However, in reality, given that it doesn't sound like you have connections in Motorola's engineering department, and it doesn't sound like you have any kernel hacking experience, it is not likely that you will get very far. So, I suggest you do what I did ... write to Motorola expressing your disappointment with their lack of Linux drivers, then go buy a laptop with an Intel WiMAX card in it. :) Or, if you prefer, just stick with your WiMAX/ethernet modem. On Thu, Jul 16, 2009 at 11:50:05PM -0400, thiago wrote: > Dear Mr. Perez-Gonzalez, > > My name is Thiago and I live in Atlanta, Georgia. As of today, I am > relying on a company called Clear (www.clear.com) to provide me High > Speed internet access, and they use WiMAX. > > I'm using a modem with one ethernet port, so no drivers required. The > service has been great so far: 5.44 Mbps down measured by speedtest.net. > > The sad news is they don't have linux or mac drivers for their USB > dongles. They use primarily Motorola products. The USB dongle they sell > is the Motorola USBw 100 (link: > http://www.motorola.com/business/US-EN/USBw_100_US-EN+++.do?vgnextoid=4891424803a7c110VgnVCM1000008406b00aRCRD) > > . > > According to my research, you are THE wimax guy for the kernel. My > question is: How the process of writing an open source driver for a new > device like the USBw 100 works? Do I have to contact Motorola? Is it > something that you could help? > > Unfortunately, at least for now, Clear has coverage only in Atlanta > (where I live), Portland (where Linus Torvalds lives, I think) and Las > Vegas. > > I am _not_ in any shape or form affiliated with Clear. I am just a happy > customer donating my time to solve this problem. > > There is a reseller here in Atlanta that is looking for the solution as > well. He sold me the equipment and said that he gets this question _all_ > the time: "Does the USB dongle work on a Mac or Linux?" In the event of > you being interested on helping write a driver or point me in the right > direction, I could talk to the reseller and he could provide you this USB > dongle for testing purposes. > > I guess the best way for me to help this growing market is to write you > this e-mail, because i'm not a kernel developer. Also, it's such a new > market... I can't believe I have wimax. It's finally here! > > What do you say? If this USB 100w and other devices are going to be 100% > Linux compatible someday, I think you are the most qualified developer to > make this happen. > > Thank you very much for your time, Mr. Perez-Gonzalez. > > Looking forward for a reply, > > Thiago. > [email protected] > > > _______________________________________________ > wimax mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.linuxwimax.org/listinfo/wimax > _______________________________________________ wimax mailing list [email protected] http://lists.linuxwimax.org/listinfo/wimax
