how to apply patches on a system that doesnot have functional network device ?

[Michael Neumann]

2009/10/21 Saifi Khan <saifi.khan at datasynergy.org>
Hi:

Here is a situation that i'm facing on a Compaq C301TU laptop.

The NIC card (Realtek)   does not work due to driver issue.
The WLAN card (Broadcom) does not work due to driver issue.

Currently, i review the possible patch visually on an identical
laptop (running FreeBSD-8) and then type out the code on the
other laptop in sys/dev/netif/rl/if_rl.c file.

Is there a better way to apply patches on a system that doesnot
have functional network devices ?

i'm leaning towards USB-Ethernet and was wondering if there is a
USB-Ethernet device that is known to work fine with DragonFly
BSD 2.4.1 ?

Please accept my apologies for this newbie query and look
forward to suggestions from the more experienced folks on this
matter.I have an USB WLAN device supported by the ural(4) driver which works fine.Regards,  Michael