Oct 14, 2026, 4:27 PM@hipsterelectron Apparently netBSD doesn't have support for the wifi card in the laptop I installed yesterday, so I'm wondering if I have the time/energy/spoons/capability to learn how to port? the drivers from Linux (assuming license compatibility) for it...
@aud @hipsterelectron there is a very high probability that that the drivers are nonfree binary blobs.
Oct 14, 2026, 4:32 PM@tusharhero @hipsterelectron ugggghhhh
well, the specific card is, I think, an Intel AX200 (or something in that series). looks like those have been in-tree in the linux kernel since 5.2; that doesn't necessarily mean they aren't nonfree binary blobs, though (could just be shim code wrapped around a blob, etc).
well, now I suppose I'm wondering if I have the time/energy/spoons/capability to start learning how to reverse engineer hardware. I've wanted to learn, for a long time...
@aud @tusharhero @hipsterelectron trying to port the open or freebsd iwx driver might be an easier place to start; https://man.openbsd.org/iwx.4
Oct 14, 2026, 4:44 PM@miss_rodent @tusharhero @hipsterelectron oh, well, shit, look at that!
Yeah, that would probably be a *much* easier place to start, and allow me to become familiar with debugging kernel interfaces and build systems without having to fucking learn hardware right outta the gate. Thank you.
Just gotta find the time/energy, now...
@miss_rodent @aud @tusharhero you are such a real hacker and i mean that
@hipsterelectron @aud @tusharhero lol, thank you ^^;
@aud if it's mediatek i might be able to help i patched in their shit to my ubuntu kernel several years back
Oct 14, 2026, 4:33 PM@hipsterelectron Intel, in this case; oddly enough I don't think I have any realtek cards... which is kind of surprising since I felt like, for a long time, I couldn't get away from the damn things.
@aud i have a realtek ethernet chip and a mediatek wifi chip and apparently these are distinct corporations