Re: will freebsd run on apple intel xserve

2007-12-20 Thread Jason Joines

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.   

AMD64on 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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Re: will freebsd run on apple intel xserve

2007-12-14 Thread George Hartzell
Jason Joines writes:
  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. 
 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.
   
  
  
  
   I didn't even know there was such a thing as an 8-way mac pro. 
  Unfortunately that probably doesn't mean much as far as the xserve boxes 
  go, at least not the intel xserve boxes.  I'm running Linux on an intel 
  imac and an intel powerbook pro, and others are on the intel powerbook 
  and it runs on all the PowerPC stuff.  However, all the intel boxes just 
  mentioned have BIOS emulation.  The intel xserve boxes do not, boot camp 
  won't run on them and isn't supported on them.

Well, I'm pretty fuzzy about what's hidden inside the various intel
macs, but if will let you partition a disk from an os x install cd,
will boot a freebsd boot disk from the cd (so you can do the install),
and will boot from an refit cd (or via refit installed into the efi
[sic?] boot area) then it'll go.  FreeBSD doesn't need much from the
bios, does it?

If you send me an intel xserve, I'll take a shot at it :)

g.
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Re: will freebsd run on apple intel xserve

2007-12-14 Thread Erik Trulsson
On Fri, Dec 14, 2007 at 11:24:02AM +0100, 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. 

 AMD64on an Intel X-Serve box? I think you got it wrong there...

I doubt he got it wrong.  Almost all of Intel's recent CPUs implement the
AMD64 (aka x86-64) architecture (although Intel of course does not call it
AMD64.  They used to call it EMT64, but I think they call it something else
now.)




-- 
Insert your favourite quote here.
Erik Trulsson
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Re: will freebsd run on apple intel xserve

2007-12-14 Thread Gabriel Rossetti
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. 
   
AMD64on 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.
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Re: will freebsd run on apple intel xserve

2007-12-14 Thread Jason Joines

George Hartzell wrote:

Jason Joines writes:
  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. 
 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.
   
  
  
  
   I didn't even know there was such a thing as an 8-way mac pro. 
  Unfortunately that probably doesn't mean much as far as the xserve boxes 
  go, at least not the intel xserve boxes.  I'm running Linux on an intel 
  imac and an intel powerbook pro, and others are on the intel powerbook 
  and it runs on all the PowerPC stuff.  However, all the intel boxes just 
  mentioned have BIOS emulation.  The intel xserve boxes do not, boot camp 
  won't run on them and isn't supported on them.


Well, I'm pretty fuzzy about what's hidden inside the various intel
macs, but if will let you partition a disk from an os x install cd,
will boot a freebsd boot disk from the cd (so you can do the install),
and will boot from an refit cd (or via refit installed into the efi
[sic?] boot area) then it'll go.  FreeBSD doesn't need much from the
bios, does it?

If you send me an intel xserve, I'll take a shot at it :)

g.




It will partition a disk from an os x cd but I haven't got it to 
boot anything but os x from refit.  I haven't got to try the FreeBSD 
boot disk yet, hopefully I'll get to go on site and do that soon.


I don't know what FreeBSD nees from the bios.  Linux doesn't 
normally need much.  This issue is particular to EFI, elilo and the 
amd64 architecture.  It works just fine with EFI, elilo,  and ia64 and 
as far as I know works just fine with EFI and x86.


Sure wish I could give 'em to ya.


Jason
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Re: will freebsd run on apple intel xserve

2007-12-14 Thread Jason Joines

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. 
  

AMD64on 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
===

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Re: will freebsd run on apple intel xserve

2007-12-13 Thread George Hartzell
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. 
  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.
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Re: will freebsd run on apple intel xserve

2007-12-13 Thread Jason Joines

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. 
  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.





I didn't even know there was such a thing as an 8-way mac pro. 
Unfortunately that probably doesn't mean much as far as the xserve boxes 
go, at least not the intel xserve boxes.  I'm running Linux on an intel 
imac and an intel powerbook pro, and others are on the intel powerbook 
and it runs on all the PowerPC stuff.  However, all the intel boxes just 
mentioned have BIOS emulation.  The intel xserve boxes do not, boot camp 
won't run on them and isn't supported on them.



Jason
===

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