🚀 go-pugleaf

Note:	Followups have been sent to comp.dcom.modems.
	I do not currently read that newsgroup.
	Flames from Rockwell employees/supporters will be sent to /dev/null

		BOYCOTT ALL ROCKWELL MODEM PRODUCTS!

In article <47e8pp$4tu@cgl.ucsf.edu>,  <rbrem@maxwell.ucsf.edu> wrote:
>summary of problem:
>us robotics sportster si 14.4 modem requiring Win RPI driver for 
>  error checking and compression

Return it, and demand your money back.  You didn't get a whole modem.
You got a crippled piece of proprietary crap that the manufacturer won't
even tell you how to use.

>C-Kermit 5A(190)
>according to the Kermit FAQ, Kermit does not support RPI;

And it never will.  Linux will never support this crippled half-modem.
No software for which source code is released will ever support this
crippled half-modem.  No OS for which source code is released will ever
support this crippled half-modem.  For more information, see:
	http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/faq-c-rpi.html#faq-c-rpi

>the sportster si manual specifically says Win RPI driver is required.

You got a one-OS crippled half-modem.  Take it back, demand a refund,
and buy a real modem.  This time, get a modem with *NO* Rockwell chips.
Hardware should never be restricted to only one OS.

>questions:
>a)  is a linux RPI driver available? 

No, and it never will be.  This is because Rockwell requires a
non-disclosure agreement before they will release information required
to interface to software that performs error correction and data
compression that ought to have been built into the modem in the first
place.  In addition, you don't (and can't) get source code for this
software.

>b)  if not, I need to return the modem.  can anyone suggest another
>    non-RPI modem in the same price bracket as the sportster si?

I don't know about prices, but you ought to totally avoid buying *any*
products that contain Rockwell chips in them.  Any company that produces
crippled hardware, and then refuses to tell you how to properly use that
hardware, doesn't deserve to be in business.  (There is a place for
proprietary code---in firmware in a ROM.)  There is no place and no
excuse for a hardware company to refuse to provide complete details on
the proper use of their hardware.  What are you paying for anyway?

As for recommendations, I believe that Motorola, AT&T, and USR Robotics
make modems that don't have any Rockwell chips.  I have the USR Robotics
Sportster 28.8 and I'm happy with it.  I will never again buy any
Rockwell products, nor will I ever buy any products from other vendors
that have Rockwell chips in them.  In addition, I shall never recommend
for purchase any such products to any company for which I work.  The
practice of requiring NDAs is absolutely unacceptable.  For a longer
discussion on why NDAs are so evil, see:
	http://www-scf.usc.edu/~khendric/info/useful.html

-- 
http://www-scf.usc.edu/~khendric    kjh@seas.smu.edu, kjh@pollux.usc.edu
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We are upping our standards ... so up yours.     Ken Hendrickson N8DGN/5