[ltp] Re: Tips on adding bluetooth to a T23?

[John Sullivan]

John Shane <jslists@mtwafrica.org> writes:

> Do you leave the Zoom card in all the time and does it cause
> any problems with suspending the laptop?  What sort of range do you
> get with the card?  Thanks, John
> -- 

I used to leave the Zoom card in all the time. Then at some point, it did start
causing me suspend problems (I believe this was 2.6.17). My solution to this
was to eject the card but leave it, loosely, in the slot. I use a very
tight-fitting sleeve/bag, so this worked ok.

(The problem, btw, was not _that_ severe, but if I forgot and put the laptop to
sleep without removing the card first, when it woke back up, I would not be
able to use the card slot until a reboot -- but everything else was still
functional. This is much less bad, for example, than what happens if I leave a
wifi card in. Obviously, still annoying.)

Now on 2.6.18, the problem seems to have been solved. As long as I stop the
bluetooth services before putting it to sleep, it is no problem to leave the
card in. I just do this manually, but I'm sure that it could be added to the
sleep script. Typing "/etc/init.d/bluetooth stop" hasn't bothered me enough
yet, I guess.

With the Zoom card, the annoying thing about leaving it in all the time is that
it flashes blue constantly, and there's nothing you can do about it. 

I haven't tested the exact range much, but I know that audio became problematic
(choppy) at about 15 feet. It has a pull-out antenna, but I never use that
(though I was using it in the 15 foot case). 

So I'm contemplating putting the internal bluetooth daughter card in my X40. It
seems to be easy, and it's not very expensive. But this Zoom card has been good
enough for me for a year -- I use it every morning during my commute.

-- 
-John Sullivan
-http://www.wjsullivan.net
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