From owner-freebsd-ppc@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Feb 2 20:19:52 2011 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-ppc@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0935F106566B for ; Wed, 2 Feb 2011 20:19:52 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from mdinon@gmail.com) Received: from mail-qy0-f175.google.com (mail-qy0-f175.google.com [209.85.216.175]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 947C08FC0C for ; Wed, 2 Feb 2011 20:19:51 +0000 (UTC) Received: by qyk8 with SMTP id 8so5641154qyk.13 for ; Wed, 02 Feb 2011 12:19:50 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date :message-id:subject:from:to:cc:content-type; bh=yGywE29BWKiBHFZPN0h4n4rnxns+u73cNZSherABs3Q=; b=wJ/GtYrLmZVNcyse0w/XZmiuOxqPqU+8yTh8qBEJa03MfxQqorkxtS3iS+ZF6HEhUj si3KQuSfw9VkQA5s0mwEwBayW2boy5KVdfC1G8xXCAtjiXXifXkViIgoa+qrPa/Rtism peWfllx+RPC6LgBKXiP9Fnv1hymHE2v4j0rmc= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to :cc:content-type; b=dDJ1toDnogz2YtTXPB/cJe1GEp7jKyrjHDEKhG+2bl0uKsUHgrR6EBT/D8H+dLdx3y wNDC2IB/80rIeR0EhOakYdAD4axvZZP1GKo20HHgiymMufG/oTWBh4p0e556AdpODv2D 4TGBmr7CnVrBwwFFPDkcu9618I8GRTNysKrHA= MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.229.80.77 with SMTP id s13mr8560986qck.242.1296677990172; Wed, 02 Feb 2011 12:19:50 -0800 (PST) Received: by 10.229.110.11 with HTTP; Wed, 2 Feb 2011 12:19:50 -0800 (PST) In-Reply-To: References: Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2011 12:19:50 -0800 Message-ID: From: Michael Dinon To: Nathan Whitehorn Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.5 Cc: freebsd-ppc@freebsd.org Subject: Re: FreeBSD on ibook G4 circa 2004 X-BeenThere: freebsd-ppc@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Porting FreeBSD to the PowerPC List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:19:52 -0000 On Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 12:06 PM, Nathan Whitehorn wrote: > > > On Wed, 2 Feb 2011, Michael Dinon wrote: > > Hello, >> >> I am looking for viable alternatives to keep an old ibook I have running >> relevant software. I have in the past used Debian and various other Linux >> distros but support for PPC seems to be becomes less and less viable. I >> had >> looked previously at the BSD's as an option for PPC and found various >> information although somewhat limited. I am curious how well supported is >> PPC by FreeBSD, is there anyone on this list running similar hardware and >> using FreeBSD on as a laptop as opposed to server duty? I know the >> Broadcom >> Airport Extreme card is not well supported by most opensource OS's. When >> looking at some of the FreeBSD info on PPC I saw that at one point certain >> keyboards and trackpads were not supported which required USB keyboards, >> is >> that still true? I also stumbled on a new installer bsdinstall, has >> anyone >> used this on similar hardware? Also does one need to keep an hfs >> partition >> still? I seem to remember Linux required an hfs partition, not sure if >> that >> is true of the BSD. I don't plan on needing OSX. Anyway thank you in >> advance for any help or suggestions. >> > > Hi Michael -- > > I'm typing you this message over wireless on a 1.4 Ghz G4 iBook in FreeBSD, > so it works pretty nicely. The wireless driver (bwn) has some kind of issue > with the antenna gain, so I need to be closer to the AP than in OS X, but > otherwise the system works quite well. All hardware is supported except the > internal modem. > -Nathan > Well that is definitely good to hear. If I am correct you are the person who is working on the bsdinstall installer I ran across. Is there anything I need to be aware of from a installer point of view? Does automatic partitioning work on PPC, do I need to create any special hfs partitions or does the installer handle it without much intervention? Thank you for such a quick reply. -- Mike