[wplug] Kyocera KPC650/verizon - with linux

[Ryan Moszynski]

I've noticed we have some verizon people on the board.  I'm going to
get the Kyocera KPC650 - evdo card

<http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controller?item=planFirst&action=viewPhoneDetail&selectedPhoneId=1600>

with the intention of setting it up to work with Mepis on my laptop.  
I know that this card can be made to work with linux, however

<http://kenkinder.com/evdo-pc5740/>

says that you must:
""""Install with Windows

Boot up to Windows and get the card activated and working in Windows.
It will ask you to download the latest coverage maps. I'm not sure,
but I think when you do that it actually reflashes the card with some
information about signals to broadcast. The coverage map update is
superstition on my part, but I think you do need to activate the card
in Windows before it will even work in Linux. Correct me if I'm wrong
(or not).""""

Now, i used to have a dual boot machine, with mepis and windows, but i
wiped out my windows partition so i could build a /linux from scratch/
system (which was great fun by the way and i highly recommend the
experience.)

So, I would be greatly pleased to learn that the above website is
wrong, and that i am not going to have to replace mepis with windows,
initialize the card, reinstall mepis after reformating the windows
partition and then configure the card to work with mepis.  Now that i
think about it, if i need windows to initialize, i'll probably need to
boot into it every once in a while to update the card which would mean
i would have to find some room for a permanent xp install(can windows
live on 7gigs?)

So, if anyone knows anything about this card or verizon evdo w/ linux
cards in general, i'd appreciate the help.

ryan