As I previously indicated, I have tested a couple more Minis and updated the
instructions with what I learned. Here is the revised version:
2.12 Installing FreeBSD on an Apple Mac Mini
The Mac Mini is an attractive server platform. Its small, runs cool, low
powered, and reasonably cheap. There a variety of configurations available.
However, the bottom of the line seems to be a powerful server.
There are a few issues with installing FreeBSD on the mini. Mostly they derive
from the newer hardware it uses and that it uses EFI rather than a BIOS for
booting. There is not a simple install that will get the unit working, but the
additional steps required are quite simple. The goal of these instructions is
to get FreeBSD 9.1-Release running as a headless server on a Late 2012 Mini,
Model No A1347. Its probably possible to setup the mini as a workstation, but
that would require some additional effort to test the display and mouse
interfaces and find fixes for any issues with those.
The original intent was to have the server without system source so that it
could be maintained using freebsd-update. However, that will probably have to
wait until 9.2-Release is available. In the meantime, freebsd-update has to be
used with care since I believe it will replace the modified bge files.
2.12.1 Preparing for the Install
2.12.1.1 Automatic Startup after Power is Restored
Generally servers need to be automatically restarted after a power failure.
Start up the Mini in OS-X. If this is a new unit, I go through the
registration so that Apple has it on record for use with AppleCare. Go to
System Preferences and select Energy Saver. I set Put hard disk to sleep when
possible, Wake for network access, Allow power button to put the computer to
sleep, and most importantly - Start up automatically after a power failure.
Note, shutting down the computer at this time will not permit it to come back
on when power is applied. You have to pull the power plug. Apparently this
setting is a bit mislabeled. Its more like Return the Power to the last status.
These settings work properly with Mac OS-X. I have not found a way to set the
startup settings while running FreeBSD yet. These settings do carry over to
the FreeBSD install. However, you may need to lock the energy saver
preferences for that to happen.
Shutdown the Mini.
2.12.1.2 Preparing FreeBSD for the installation
You can select either the i386 or the amd64 distributions. Both have been
tested with these procedures and yield a working server. The bottom of the
line mini comes with 4 GB of memory installed. The i386 distribution will only
use 2 GB. The remainder will not be used. The amd64 distribution builds
larger binary modules, but it will use all the memory.
Download the 9.1 Release distribution Memstick Image. You will need to copy
that to a memstick. There are instructions in section 2.3.5 for copying the
image to the memstick. Obtain a display and USB keyboard and connect them to
the mini.
With a browser go to svnweb.freebsd.org/base/head/sys/dev. Click on the bge
folder. Click on the name if_bge.c. Find Revision 245931. Click on the
download link and save the file.
Go back to the bge page and click on if_bgereg.h. Find Revision 243686. Click
on the download link and save the file. Edit the saved if_bgereg.h file and
add the following to the end:
#define PCIER_DEVICE_CAP 0x4
#define PCIER_DEVICE_CTL 0x8
#define PCIEM_CAP_MAX_PAYLOAD 0x00000007
#define PCIEM_CTL_RELAXED_ORD_ENABLE 0x0010
#define PCIEM_CTL_NOSNOOP_ENABLE 0x0800
#define PCIER_DEVICE_STA 0xa
#define PCIEM_STA_CORRECTABLE_ERROR 0x0001
#define PCIEM_STA_NON_FATAL_ERROR 0x0002
#define PCIEM_STA_FATAL_ERROR 0x0004
#define PCIEM_STA_UNSUPPORTED_REQ 0x0008
There was a change to some of the names in if_bgereg.h after the 9.1 Release
was created, but before the corrections to the bge driver were included. It
would be possible to grab the appropriate earlier verion of if_bgereg.h,
however, when rebuilding the kernel, there are other drivers that use the new
names. This seems to be the easiest approach. Also, it worked.
Go back to the dev page and click on the mii folder. Click on brgphy.c. Find
revision 244482. Click on the download link and save the file.
Copy the saved files to another memstick.
2.12.2 Installing the 9.1 Release
Boot the mini using the memstick. Hold down the Option key on the keyboard and
power up the mini. You will hear the hardware check beep and shortly
thereafter the screen will show one or more boot icons. Double click on the
one named "Windows". It will have a USB icon.
Continue through the normal installation procedure as detailed earlier in this
chapter. If you are building a FreeBSD only server, use the entire disk.
Also, be sure to install the system source. You will need it later.
You will need to setup the disk using MBR partitioning and not the default GPT.
This part is a bit involved, but not difficult. When during the install
process you get to the Partitioning screen, select Guided. Then select the
desired disk. I select Entire Disk as I only want FreeBSD on the system.
Find the correct disk in the Partition Editor. You will want to select it and
click on Modify. Change the partition type to MBR. Then when back at the
Partition Editor list, select the drive and click on Create. You will need to
then add the first item which will not have a mount point. Tab to OK and
click. Then click on Create again and add the / slice (freebsd-ufs). The root
partition must be first for the system to be able to boot. Then Click on
Create again and add a swap slice (freebsd-swap). Then continue on through the
normal install process.
At the end of the install you will be asked to reboot the mini. Here is where
the first problem may occur. If you used the default GPT partitioning, pop out
the memstick and let the system reboot, it will hang with an empty folder icon
in the center of the display.
The problem is that the EFI boot loader can't find anything to boot. There are
several approaches that may work. The Mac bless utility has been used to bless
the boot disk so the boot loader can find it. I found the following
instructions for this. However, they indicate that MBR partitioning is still
required.
a. We need to boot OSX from the install DVD again
b. Choose a language –> Utilities –> Terminal
c. Enter diskutil list –> see the 64k? It is something like
“/dev/disk0sX”
d. Enter bless –device /dev/diskXXX –setBoot –legacy (where diskXXX is
the identifier you found one step before)
e. Quit the “installation process”
f. Reboot into FreeBSD
The one way that has been shown to work is to make sure the memstick is removed
when you boot the mini. Once you get the empty folder icon, plug the memstick
back in. The system will shortly boot from the internal disk. There is no
known explanation for this phenomena other than "it just works".
If you used MBR partitioning, then on boot, the system will sit with a blank
screen for about a minute and then boot as normal. Perhaps blessing the disk
will speed this up.
2.12.3 Rebuilding the kernel to support the Ethernet Interface
Once the system has been rebooted, you will notice that ifconfig may not show
the ethernet interface. There are at least two different chips being used for
that interface. Some of the units work right out of the box. Others do not.
I have two units and the only visible difference is the Part No. Part Nu.
MC815LL/A appears to be the older unit and the bge interface worked on install.
Part No MD387LL/A is newer and has the newer chips that require the driver
update.
If the bge interface does not show, then the bge driver needs to be updated to
recognize the NIC. Mount the second memstick with the files retrieved earlier
and move them into the kernel source. I used the following commands:
cp -p brgphy.c /usr/src/sys/dev/mii
cp -p if_bgereg.h /usr/src/sys/dev/bge
cp -p if_bge.c /usr/src/sys/dev/bge
then rebuild the kernel. Note the instructions here are for GENERIC, but you
can use KERNCONF to specify a custom kernel.
cd /usr/src
make buildkernel
make installkernel
Reboot the server as before. Now ifconfig will show bge0 and it will work.
The mini is now running a useable version of 9.1-Release. There are still some
items remaining to be resolved: Updating the kernel with the recent security
patches, Disabling Bluetooth and Wireless to save power, and unattended
rebooting. These issues are still being addressed.
2.12.4 Running freebsd-update to get the Latest Security Updates
Freebsd-update provides a very convenient was to keep the system up to date
with security updates. It does require that you remain on the Release
distribution and not use modified kernels. Since the mini requires updates to
the bge driver that will not be incorporated into the 9.1-Release, the modified
bge files need to be save somewhere other than in /usr/src. Freebsd-update
will replace them in their normal locations with the "newer" ones that do not
support the mini's NIC. I saved a copy in my home directory along with a short
script that copies them into the kernel.
Run: freebsd-update fetch
Run: freebsd-update install
Check the differences between the updated bge files and those in the kernel
source. If they have changed, the rebuild the kernel. At the moment, the
security updates have not affected the kernel so it did not need to be rebuilt.
2.12.5 Disabling Bluetooth and Wireless
Mac OS-X provides a way to disable both of these. Ifconfig does not show
either. The Wireless NIC is not attached to a driver so is status is quite
difficult to determine. My guess is that the appropriate driver will need an
update to enable it to be found and controlled. The same seems to hold for the
Bluetooth controller.
2.12.6 Other Versions of the Mac Mini
I tried installing on a Mac Mini 1,1 (quite old) and was completely
unsuccessful. I use that machine as an off-site backup so about the only thing
it runs is rsync and cron. Both of those work under OS-X so I left it that way.
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