Mac Mini intel dual-core and FreeBSD

capkvern · #1 May 13th, 2009, 02:06

I was wondering if anybody out there have RECENTLY try macmini+FreeBSD .
I'm a old FreeBSD fan and I haven't touched it for a while. I'm currently running linux on that macmini . But for a relatively low effort/time ,I'd like to try.

trev · #2 May 18th, 2009, 15:39

Yep, I ran up FreeBSD 7.1 on my Mac Mini using a live CD-ROM just for kicks. Seemed to work fine.

capkvern · #3 May 19th, 2009, 15:41

thx trev.
yeah i did test that too.
But what worried me is the first reboot and the install. I had issues with the install of ubuntu and rEFIt . And even today when it reboot i have 10s "pause" with a blank screen. That's an issue I will run into only during the install. And maybe Freebsd will bring its own beast

. And i still cannot find a recent howto or feedback on the subject.

pamdirac · #4 May 19th, 2009, 18:11

It's not an how-to but .....

http://wiki.freebsd.org/IntelMacMini

indulekha · #5 August 31st, 2010, 15:59

Sorry this reply is so late, but perhaps someone will find it useful.

My Mac Mini runs FreeBSD 8.0, it's a core2duo 2Ghz with only 1GB RAM, Intel 945GM integrated graphics, Intel HDA (Sigmatel STAC9221) audio.

In 8.0 everything except the remote (LIRC) works pretty much perfectly. Of course you have to jump through a few small hoops if you want to dual boot OS X -- sysinstall doesn't understand GUID disks and will screw it up but you can recover it relatively easily. The important thing I learned was while in OS X use the command line to invoke diskutil to create blank space with no partition on which to install. If you format it with Disk Utility and then convert the partition to a BSD slice in sysinstall there will be trouble (OS X will mount your BSD slice as whatever partition type you initially assigned, and after doing that a few times it will probably be toast). If you don't want to dual-boot then it's pretty much like installing on any PC.

With 8.1 there is currently an issue with sound with the snd_hda driver on the Mini. Hardly my area of expertise, so in fact it may be something as simple as changing the pinout in sysctl.conf. As soon as I find the workaround I will post it here unless someone has already. Meanwhile, 8.0 is working very well here and I am confident 8.1 will be fine for someone who knows more about using sysctl.conf.

indulekha · #6 September 3rd, 2010, 15:59

Chronos on comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc solved the sound problem for me (thanks, Chronos!). The solution is to add to /boot/device.hints the following two lines:

Code:

hint.hdac.0.cad0.nid10.config="as=2"
hint.hdac.0.cad0.nid12.config="as=4"

And now sound and everything else is working properly on the Mac Mini core2duo 2GHz running 8.1. This fix may also work for some iMacs and Mac laptops which use the Sigmatel STAC9221 chipset for sound.

indulekha · #7 September 3rd, 2010, 16:18

"And now sound and everything else "
Except the remote and bluetooth that is. Those may be simple to get working, but I don't really use them so haven't looked into it.

indulekha · #8 September 3rd, 2010, 17:21

Chronos has informed me that a better fix is to use the following in device.hints, rather than the two lines given above:

Code:

hint.hdac.0.cad0.nid12.config="as=15"

Tested and working here.

mabar · #9 February 13th, 2011, 10:14

How to do a standalone 8.1 install on a mac-mini? just boot it up with the DVD and install it?
Anything I must keep in mind?

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