08-29-2021, 07:00 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-30-2021, 10:36 AM by evantaylor.)
The latest release from sleepwalker and his PersonalBSD project is working quite well now (there was a previous mouse/keyboard driver issue that has been resolved).
Go through base/installer image from PersonalBSD.org sd-card (if your u-boot supports USB it will also work that way), you can run the PersonalBSD image as your FreeBSD setup, or install it as I did using bsdinstall.
No built in wifi, so I use a rtl8188 based usb adapter which uses the rtwn driver.
just requires modifying /etc/rc.conf:
# wifi setup
wlans_rtwn0="wlan0"
ifconfig_wlan0="WPA SYNCDHCP"
and adding my network to /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
network={
ssid="wifi_ssid_name"
psk="wifi_password"
}
Desktop Setup/Packages
If you absolutely need packages not in the PersonalBSD repos, modify /usr/local/pkg/repos/FreeBSD.conf to enable the normal FreeBSD repo.
FreeBSD: {
enabled: yes
priority: 0
}
follow step5 onward for XFCE4 desktop from this walkthrough (https://leonardcucos.com/how-to-install-...ce-4-2021/), and the command ee is your friend if you hate modifying config files with vi.
I did not enable HALD as that has not been necessary for some time, but its in all the older guides.
Caveats:
FreeBSD 13 does not understand big.LITTLE scheduling yet, so worse performance across the board.
There is no ETA on the wifi driver for the built in adapter, given how horribly it performed recently on NetBSD, it will likely be a while if it ever gets supported.
There will not nearly be as much support for FreeBSD as linux distros for the PBP, so unless you're comfortable applying patches to ports yourself this may not be the OS for you (this is above even my pay grade).
The FreeBSD Quarterly Repo has more packages than Latest, so I wouldn't bother switching to it. Firefox is still only v87, sadly.
Package Conflicts are annoying, some things break when using multiple repos, try building things from ports.
P.S.
Had to use right-ctrl for tmux/screen window switching as the default key map differentiates them.
Edit:
Be ready to compile from ports as package repos are not completely working for all desktop apps.
Go through base/installer image from PersonalBSD.org sd-card (if your u-boot supports USB it will also work that way), you can run the PersonalBSD image as your FreeBSD setup, or install it as I did using bsdinstall.
No built in wifi, so I use a rtl8188 based usb adapter which uses the rtwn driver.
just requires modifying /etc/rc.conf:
# wifi setup
wlans_rtwn0="wlan0"
ifconfig_wlan0="WPA SYNCDHCP"
and adding my network to /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
network={
ssid="wifi_ssid_name"
psk="wifi_password"
}
Desktop Setup/Packages
If you absolutely need packages not in the PersonalBSD repos, modify /usr/local/pkg/repos/FreeBSD.conf to enable the normal FreeBSD repo.
FreeBSD: {
enabled: yes
priority: 0
}
follow step5 onward for XFCE4 desktop from this walkthrough (https://leonardcucos.com/how-to-install-...ce-4-2021/), and the command ee is your friend if you hate modifying config files with vi.
I did not enable HALD as that has not been necessary for some time, but its in all the older guides.
Caveats:
FreeBSD 13 does not understand big.LITTLE scheduling yet, so worse performance across the board.
There is no ETA on the wifi driver for the built in adapter, given how horribly it performed recently on NetBSD, it will likely be a while if it ever gets supported.
There will not nearly be as much support for FreeBSD as linux distros for the PBP, so unless you're comfortable applying patches to ports yourself this may not be the OS for you (this is above even my pay grade).
The FreeBSD Quarterly Repo has more packages than Latest, so I wouldn't bother switching to it. Firefox is still only v87, sadly.
Package Conflicts are annoying, some things break when using multiple repos, try building things from ports.
P.S.
Had to use right-ctrl for tmux/screen window switching as the default key map differentiates them.
Edit:
Be ready to compile from ports as package repos are not completely working for all desktop apps.
