FreeBSD on ARM 5?

I have just installed Arch Linux on a Seagate GoFlex Home device following instructions on that web page and wondered if it would be be possible to use FreeBSD instead since it has ARM support, but I don't know if anyone has ever built FreeBSD for ARMv5te which is what the device uses.
 
According to the link you posted this device is based on the Marvell Sheeva Plug. And that one is mentioned in the "Boards with unknown support" list. So it may or may not work. And there's no guarantee if you can get it to boot everything else actually works.
 
This would take advanced skills to get working.
There is a dts file in FreeBSD source and a kernconf for the kernel compile options.
src/sys/boot/fdt/dts/sheevaplug.dts
src/sys/arm/conf/SHEEVAPLUG
Marvell stuff here: src/sys/arm/mv/

https://wiki.freebsd.org/FreeBSDMarvell

I am unsure which version of uboot is used for building it.

https://cooltrainer.org/freebsd-kirkwood/building/
This is from 2010 but contains the basic workflow
https://github.com/okeeblow/FreeBSD-kirkwood

Such a small amount of ram...
https://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-arm/2014-April/007917.html

It sure would be nice to have crochet handling some of these challenging Arm builds.
 
This would take advanced skills to get working.
Such a small amount of ram...
https://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-arm/2014-April/007917.html

Bill Gates once famously said that
640K software is all the memory anybody would ever need on a computer

My first proper computer - an IBM PS/2 Model 80 came with a MASSIVE 2MB! This device has 60 times as much!!! :)

I'm no hacker, but I'll see how far I can get with this attempt at replacing Arch Linux with FreeBSD on this Seagate device. It looks like a steep learning curve but might be fun to do...
 
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I think you need to investigate u-boot as it is the only thing I can't find info on.
search http://www.freshports.org and query=u-boot
If you look through this list you will see the parent of every device supported on FreeBSD Arm.
I don't see anything like Marvell, Kirkwood or Sheeva. So I think finding out which u-boot to use is important.
You must manually install it from ports/packages.

I was not trying to be a smart aleck about it, but with no serial console the task really becomes advanced.

Look here. This is a u-boot forum with a developer.
http://forum.doozan.com/read.php?8,22230,22234,quote=1
 
This would take advanced skills to get working.
There is a dts file in FreeBSD source and a kernconf for the kernel compile options.
src/sys/boot/fdt/dts/sheevaplug.dts
src/sys/arm/conf/SHEEVAPLUG
Marvell stuff here: src/sys/arm/mv/

https://wiki.freebsd.org/FreeBSDMarvell

I am unsure which version of uboot is used for building it.

https://cooltrainer.org/freebsd-kirkwood/building/
This is from 2010 but contains the basic workflow
https://github.com/okeeblow/FreeBSD-kirkwood

Such a small amount of ram...
https://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-arm/2014-April/007917.html

It sure would be nice to have crochet handling some of these challenging Arm builds.


Look what I just found

https://sites.google.com/site/tingox/seagate_dockstar
 
FWIW, my DockStar is currently bricked, therefore I can't try FreeBSD on it anymore. I might attempt to unbreak it someday. Don't hold your breath.
 
I'm away from my GoFlex Home unit at the moment, but will be sure to follow up on that post when I get back home.
 
I'm back home now, and would like to get up to speed with my GoFlex Home unit, but am confused about what is the difference between SHEEVA and DOCKSTAR.

To get up and running I'm thinking of following this guide but reading through it, I'm already wondering how I can connect to it since it does not appear to be accessible from the network.
 
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