Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2007 12:10:15 -0600 From: Jason Joines <joines@okstate.edu> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: will freebsd run on apple intel xserve Message-ID: <fkeb67$ur9$1@ger.gmane.org> In-Reply-To: <fju555$i37$1@ger.gmane.org> References: <fjoucv$evr$1@ger.gmane.org> <18272.27362.622233.540876@almost.alerce.com> <476259C2.4020502@evotex.ch> <fju555$i37$1@ger.gmane.org>
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Jason Joines wrote: > Gabriel Rossetti wrote: >> George Hartzell wrote: >>> Jason Joines writes: >>> > I'm a Linux guy who has inherited some apple xserve boxes. > >>> Surprisingly I've discovered that I really hate os x. For the intel >>> > xserve boxes, Linux isn't an option. The CPUs are amd64 >>> architecture. >> AMD64....on an Intel X-Serve box? I think you got it wrong there....... >> Anyways, EFI support for Xeon CPUs should work without a problem, even >> for linux. >> I'm not sure about EFI support, I think it's fine in CURRENT, from what >> I've read on the net. >> >> Good luck, >> Gabriel >>> > The EFI capable Linux bootloader, has had beta support for amd64 >>> since > July. However, the Linux kernel just got support to boot >>> via EFI and > amd64 in a release candidate patch this month. It'll >>> probably be quite > a while before a distribution has an installer >>> with what I need. >>> > > At any rate, I've always wanted to try one of the BSDs. >>> Will > FreeBSD install on an apple intel xserve? If not does anyone >>> know if > another BSD or some other open source NIX will work? >>> >>> I can't give you a direct answer, but I was running 6-STABLE on an >>> 8-way mac pro up until a couple of weeks ago (I had to give it back to >>> it's owners and I'm waiting until after the next wwdc to buy my >>> own...). >>> >>> I used bootcamp to partition a spare disk, then just booted from a >>> freebsd cd and installed onto that partition. I ended up using refit >>> as a boot doohickey (initially from an refit cd, eventually taking a >>> chance on installing it onto the disk itself). >>> >>> There wasn't anything too surprising. >>> >>> g. > > > > > Nope, it is the AMD64 architecture on apple intel xserve. Intel > cloned it and called it Intel 64 and EM64T among other names. More > vendor neutral names are x86-64 and x64. At any rate, many Linux > distributions, and FreeBSD, release a version they call amd64 that runs > on CPUs with this instruction set regardless of whether AMD or Intel > created it. > EFI support may be fine for amd64 xeon's but the elilo boot loader > wouldn't work with amd64 until the latest beta. Even though the boot > loader became capable in that beta, the Linux kernel wouldn't work with > elilo on amd64 until 2.6.24-rc4. > It may be fine with x86 xeons and it has always worked with ia64, > just not amd64. > > I just don't know enough about FreeBSD to know if it or the > bootloader(s) it uses have any of the same issues Linux does or not. > Hopefully I'll get to go onsite soon and give it a try. > > > Jason > =========== Well I tried the amd64 version of FreeBSD 6.2 from the bootonly.iso and it didn't work either. Just like the Linux CDs, the xserve didn't even recognize it as bootable. Jason ===========
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