Re: Intel Macs, FreeBSD, and drivers
On 4/28/06, Gayn Winters [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The consensus of the group is that FreeBSD should run fine on an Intel Mac. I'm interested in the time lag between the availability of drivers on an Intel Mac and on FreeBSD. Question1: If there is a driver for a device that works on an Intel Mac (under OS X), will that driver work under FreeBSD? For example, suppose a very new Intel Mac has a new disk controller, is there some process by which we can get its driver into FreeBSD? E.g. via a download from either Apple or the chip set vendor? Nope, the kernels are not that similar. Porting might be a short way in many cases, but we don't live in a world where all drivers/specs are open. Question2: Can we expect the volume of Intel Macs to improve (shorten) the time delay between the existence of new hardware and the availability of supporting drivers on FreeBSD? FreeBSD usually target popular hardware. So, basically, yes - the more Macs, the better support. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Intel Macs, FreeBSD, and drivers
On Apr 29, 2006, at 5:02 PM, Andrew Pantyukhin wrote: Question1: If there is a driver for a device that works on an Intel Mac (under OS X), will that driver work under FreeBSD? For example, suppose a very new Intel Mac has a new disk controller, is there some process by which we can get its driver into FreeBSD? E.g. via a download from either Apple or the chip set vendor? Nope, the kernels are not that similar. Porting might be a short way in many cases, but we don't live in a world where all drivers/specs are open. While the kernels are not all that similar there already is Darwin on Intel, lots of former key FreeBSD talent now works for Apple, and then without any fanfare MacOS X is found to support several hardware items which have been near and dear to FreeBSD in the past such as the Intel Etherexpress Pro NIC. Simply pulled a PCI NIC from my FreeBSD PC and dropped it right into my G4 PowerMac. Same holds true for several other commodity NICs. Mostly the same for a $10 5-port NEC chipset USB2 card. I can wake from sleep thru the Intel Etherexpress NIC but can not wake from sleep with the NEC USB2. That's not necessarily a bad thing, in fact now that I know it, its a feature. Plugged printers into the NEC and now if the Mac is sleeping and I see the printer is still on I can turn the printer off without waking the Mac. Previously any activity on the USB bus would wake the Mac. -- David Kelly N4HHE, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Whom computers would destroy, they must first drive mad. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Intel Macs, FreeBSD, and drivers
The consensus of the group is that FreeBSD should run fine on an Intel Mac. I'm interested in the time lag between the availability of drivers on an Intel Mac and on FreeBSD. Question1: If there is a driver for a device that works on an Intel Mac (under OS X), will that driver work under FreeBSD? For example, suppose a very new Intel Mac has a new disk controller, is there some process by which we can get its driver into FreeBSD? E.g. via a download from either Apple or the chip set vendor? Question2: Can we expect the volume of Intel Macs to improve (shorten) the time delay between the existence of new hardware and the availability of supporting drivers on FreeBSD? Thanks, -gayn Bristol Systems Inc. 714/532-6776 www.bristolsystems.com ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
