Date: Tue, 12 Oct 2010 07:39:59 -0400 From: "Jud" <judmarc@fastmail.fm> To: "freebsd-questions" <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: FBSD on MacBook Pro w/ Core 2 Duo? (was Re: Which OS for notebook) Message-ID: <1286883599.2865.1399617949@webmail.messagingengine.com> In-Reply-To: <AANLkTikeAW9BN_M7qHWsQ2ytf4k_F0KAuirdyBgCoiAs@mail.gmail.com> References: <AANLkTin644c3dZ0NNbJzeqXvuyLwTF67Ed=zJSoM9w6g@mail.gmail.com><20101009175535.GA1567@hogwarts.local> <AANLkTikeAW9BN_M7qHWsQ2ytf4k_F0KAuirdyBgCoiAs@mail.gmail.com>
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On Sun, 10 Oct 2010 10:20 -0500, "Brandon Gooch" <jamesbrandongooch@gmail.com> wrote: > On Sat, Oct 9, 2010 at 12:55 PM, Arvid Warnecke > <arvid.warnecke@gmail.com> wrote: > > I have been thinking about FreeBSD on the Macbook Pro dual booting (I > > need Mac OSX for photography software), but I am not sure if the > > hardware will be supported that well. > > Here's an excellent place to start your research: > > http://wiki.freebsd.org/AppleMacbook I'd posted a question about this to this list a couple of weeks ago, but without a descriptive title. Apologies for that, and hoping a more descriptive title plus a more detailed message on my part elicits more specific answers. I've got a 13" MacBook Pro, version 5,5 specifically, with an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU and 4GB RAM (and a 256GB SSD, though I'm reasonably sure that's not problematic). I'm dual booting Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.4 and Win 7 64-bit using rEFIt. I want to install FreeBSD as a 3rd OS alongside OS X and Win. Here are a couple of questions that arose during my research: - I'd like to run a 64-bit version of FreeBSD. My reading on the FreeBSD website appears to indicate that the correct 64-bit version for the Core 2 Duo would be ia-64, and IIRC the website references indicated problems running X.Org on that platform. Additionally, problems are mentioned with various (unnamed) other ports. I do want to use FreeBSD as a desktop. Is the info about problems with X.Org and other ports on ia-64 current and correct, ruling out its use as a desktop on the MacBook Pro for now? Am I correct in thinking from what I've read that the amd-64 version of FreeBSD would not work with the Core 2 Duo? Does this leave 32-bit FreeBSD as the only version I could reasonably install to use as a desktop on this machine? - If I follow the plain install instructions on the wiki page linked in the quoted message above (after first making space for FreeBSD using the Mac OS X disk utility), will rEFIt Just Work, i.e., recognize FreeBSD and include it as an option in its boot menu? Or is there something else I've got to do? Thanks in advance for any help you can offer on these questions. Comments on other 'gotcha' items I may have missed are also welcome. Jud -- "I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day." - Douglas Adams
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