Quote from: RTB2011 on 2011.04.25, 17:31:29
I recently emailed APSoft regarding a build for a TI x515 chipset. They replied they'd be able to add support for it and several other chipsets, but need cash to do so... Around 3k euros. Is there any community interest in this? It's a lot of money to be sure but supporting these chipsets would go a long ways towards future proofing OS/2 on newer laptops.
[...]
I obviously can't afford it, but maybe the community could start a donation pool or something if there is enough interest.
I contacted them a few years ago with the same request, and got the same answer. I began collecting names of people who could be interested in paying for a new driver, but
- I could never get enough commitments (so I could never turn in the list)
- There were too many requests that APSoft was *not willing* to satisfy (especially guarantee that such and such chipsets would be supported - the very chipsets that were used by some who could have been interested in sponsoring the updated drivers).
So... I am with you as for PC Card support, but I am not very optimistic. Unless SSI/Mensys go into talks with APSoft to get the source of an updated driver and include it in the next eCS, I do not think much will happen.
It is very sad that OS/2, that had always had excellent backward compatibility, is encountering so many issues today whose solution is "Either new hardware is supported (but old hardware does not work anymore), or vice versa". Not possible to have a modern laptop working with ACPI and PC Cards (Using my SCSI scanner on my 3.5 year-old laptop is already impossible..).