• beckerist@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      So this is random but I had a terrible wifi card (pci-e) that I bought off Newegg just a couple years ago. To get it to work in Windows I literally had to go to a website that was only Chinese, download a zip file, and extract a dll that would then work when pointed to. I figured this out from an obscure forum post that I can’t even find now.

      I just decided to reformat that sucker with Ubuntu for use as a media server and the driver was already ready to go. Already ready already!

      It also has a MIDI in card that was picked up immediately. Windows required a CD from 2016 to get working. This is most definitely an outdated meme.

      • lightnsfw@reddthat.com
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        1 year ago

        I had a similar experience trying to install a m.2 drive in my win7 PC. It needed a hotfix to work but Microsoft had taken down the downloads so I ended up finding out it was in an update pack from I think Lenovo’s website and pulled it out of that.

      • 0x4E4F@infosec.pubOP
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        1 year ago

        To get it to work in Windows I literally had to go to a website that was only Chinese, download a zip file, and extract a dll that would then work when pointed to.

        It’s called manual driver install in Windows… pretty common with older hardware.

        • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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          1 year ago

          Most of those just go over Windows Update now or work with a generic driver that comes with Windows. Only really obscure drivers need manual installation.

          • 0x4E4F@infosec.pubOP
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            1 year ago

            Agreed. Most drivers are found through Windows update.

            I guess I just have old hardware 🤷. My latest hardware is 9 years old… well, apart from my phone 😂.

    • s_s@lemmy.one
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      1 year ago

      6 years ago, I was using a USB wifi adapter with my desktop (my friends next door paid for internet and we paid them half the bill to share).

      I had picked this wifi adapter specifically because it had linux support, even though I used windows (I had an inkling I’d switch). So, I tried to switch but upon boot I couldn’t wifi because the adapters module wasn’t bundled by my distro so I had to instal ‘dkms’, but I couldn’t do that without an internet connection…

      So yeah, it can still bite you.