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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