Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2020 18:49:04 +0000 From: Robert Crowston <crowston@protonmail.com> To: Vincent Milum Jr <freebsd-arm@darkain.com>, freebsd-arm@freebsd.org Subject: Re: FreeBSD under VMware ESXi ARM Fling Message-ID: <gkECxHG3AZsNQOlRwjvFTnG3WZNYizcF5LicaGDvV1_qzBWqtJW4kSNRSZ-GEI3J8GKEjifr7kq-xBnGb-SjjjQt33MgoLsSTTQUubYVyh8=@protonmail.com> In-Reply-To: <CAOWUMWF-%2BRg2syHnPZN28i1TB0-jr3P_eNsnSTL_48pZGqWjSw@mail.gmail.com>
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> The largest issue currently is that SMP will cause the FreeBSD kernel topanic during boot. Could you send the panic? I’m guessing lack of spintable support. — RHC. On Mon, Oct 19, 2020 at 07:19, Vincent Milum Jr <freebsd-arm@darkain.com> wrote: > Recently, VMware released what they're calling "ESXi ARM Fling" - an > ARM64/Aarch64 version of VMware ESXi server. > > Details of the release along with the download can be found here: > https://flings.vmware.com/esxi-arm-edition > > They support a number of ARM platforms already, most notably is the > Raspberry Pi > 4 (only 4GB and 8GB models). They have instructions on their site on how to > install and configure the UEFI firmware on the Pi for getting the ESXi > installer > and then ESXi itself up and running. > > UEFI builds of FreeBSD ARM64/Aarch64 mostly work "out of the box" under ESXi > ARM, whereas ARM 32-bit kernels are not supported by any guest OS under ESXi > ARM. > > There are, however, some areas that could use some improvement, or need some > massive work to get working. > > The largest issue currently is that SMP will cause the FreeBSD kernel to > panic > during boot. A VM with only one single vCPU however will boot and run just > fine. > > Prior to the 13.0-CURRENT snapshot 2020-10-15, the CD-Rom driver was not > included with the ARM64 builds, so the ISO would fail to mount itself on > boot. This > means the easiest way to try earlier versions, such as 12.1-RELEASE, you'll > need > to either convert the pre-built vmdk file from Workstation to ESXi format, > or > convert the raw disk image to ESXi vmdk format. This is how I initially got > FreeBSD up and running prior to the 2020-10-15 snapshot. > > Every version of FreeBSD I've tested on ARM is lacking several drivers by > default. > > uhci for USB 2.0 is not enabled by default. Ensure your VM is initially set > up > for USB 3.1 so the virtual keyboard and mouse will function. This is easy > enough > to fix post install with: uhci_load="YES" > > ums is the same as above. ESXi ARM uses USB instead of PS2 for the virtual > mouse, so add this post install if you want mouse support: ums_load="YES" > > vmxnet and pvscsi are not pre-compiled. However, they compile and operate > perfectly as expected without any modification on ARM. > > vmci has some x86 assembly that I've not dug into yet, so that is currently > not > working. > > I've documented in detail, and continue to update as I test more drivers > over on > my blog: > https://vincerants.com/freebsd-on-esxi-arm-fling-fixing-virtual-hardware/ > > The ESXi UI has a known bug in that it'll list some virtual hardware that > doesn't actually exist inside of the VM. These are all legacy devices, and > should be easy enough to figure out. There are no virtual IDE/ATA or PS2 > ports. > Keyboard and mouse now use the virtual USB controller instead. > > open-vm-tools has required a bit of work to make functional on FreeBSD under > ARM. There is currently a patch open with VMware with my changes to the > codebase > to make it functional. To make things easy, I've uploaded some pre-compiled > binaries to my blog, as well as included steps to compile this customized > package yourself. The blog will also be updated as development progresses > upstream with VMware. > https://vincerants.com/open-vm-tools-on-freebsd-under-vmware-esxi-arm-fling/ > > Xorg desktop runs, and is mostly functional. I've yet to get the > xf86-input-vmmouse or xf86-video-vmware working. Xorg can use sysmouse and > the > console framebuffer for rendering, and this is working okay for basic > testing > right now. > > I also have an early dmesg, but this was from before getting most drivers > working. > https://dmesgd.nycbug.org/index.cgi?do=view&id=5693 > > I welcome any additional feedback on getting FreeBSD to 100% under ESXi ARM! > > - Vince (darkain) > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-arm@freebsd.org mailing list > https://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-arm > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-arm-unsubscribe@freebsd.org"home | help
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