Yeah, it is written funny. But what it means is that the Linux kernel already comes pre-packaged with the drivers necessary to communicate using the protocol used by this device (UART or USB). These Linux drivers (and by extension Raspbian) are natively capable of interfacing via the GPIO pins or via the USB connectors. It is not true that the device is “driver free” as you always need a driver for this, what they meant is that it is not necessary to install any additional drivers for Linux. So “free from installation” I suppose.

Windows does not come pre-packaged with these drivers, so you need to install them if you want to interface with the device via USB. The chip that the board uses for the UART -> USB conversion is the CP2102. This chip is a common chip used in some ESP32 boards, and I think it would work fine with the standard CP210x driver. But on their site they do provide a specific driver for free (SIMCOM_Windows_USB_Drivers_V1.0.2.exe)

The board finally arrived and it is indeed the SIM7600G-H, which is the global version.

I tried it on my raspberry pi 5 and struggled a bit because there was a change to the UART interface between the PI 4 and PI 5 and the documentation on this board describes the PI 4. But, after some fiddling around I figured out the correct setting and got it to work. The main difference is that the “UART0” needs to be explicitly turned on because the default debugging UART now uses the UART10 interface that is somewhere else on the board.

I agree, it looks like a nice board!

But… after ordering it I noticed that while the pictures in the website show the “SIM7600G-H” chip - which supports global GSM and LTE bands - the text description specifies that the chip included in the kit is the “SIM7600CE-T”, which supports the Chinese bands. I am not sure I will get the correct version now 😅 But there are other “SIM7600G-H” modules and USB dongles available out there, and from what I have found this chip is a nice option for GSM/LTE projects.

If only I could get my contacts to join me… I have two (real-life) friends in XMPP and none in Matrix 😅 I count my blessings and am thankful to have a few contacts that use Signal. I make sure to compensate them for their service with memes borrowed from Lemmy.

My Lemmy meme experience:

(sauce)

My Reddit meme experience:

I see - thank you for adding that context, I think that this title change is in itself quite interesting… Because then they did intend to use a sensationalist title, and only changed it later.

I have double-checked out of curiosity and I do see that your post’s title is the title indexed by google:

I am sorry for jumping into the assumption that you had changed the title yourself.

Good point - reported

Exactly! I was worried you wouldn’t be able to read in between my lines 😌

But in all seriousness this is such a huge failure of our media to resort to scaremongering instead of staring the facts.

I agree.

But in this case that is not what is happening… The linked article does not make the claim that is present in the title of this post at all!

The actual title of the linked article is: Leaked German military documents laid out a doomsday scenario where Russia wins in Ukraine then invades Europe

The article explicitly states:

The documents are not a prediction but part of worst-case-scenario planning, a common exercise within militaries. A German official called the scenario “extremely unlikely.”

So I don’t think that the title of this post is fair. Russia could go to war with NATO in 2024, and you don’t need a leaked document to tell you that. But there is nothing in this article that makes this possibility seem any more or less likely.