Dream Setup

[astyle]

Thanks,



September 2020: "There's a possibility of me gaining use of this notebook (no other)" was when, if I recall correctly, the HP ProBook 440 G7 was standard issue at my place of work.

Non-standard would have required a business case. July 2021:



More accurately:



There's more, but essentially:

• if I do not attempt to make a business case, what I like is irrelevant – I'll be given a standard issue HP, which FreeBSD 13.0-RELEASE can not boot
• I'd like additional memory, and additional storage
• I'll make a case for additional memory

– and on whatever I receive, I'll run FreeBSD 14.0-CURRENT.

You have the freedom to install 14-current on a machine that you expect to be issued at your workplace??? OK, now I'm beginning to see the picture. Thing is - you're gonna be largely on your own for adequately securing that machine to comply with your workplace policies, don't expect any privacy (a company has the right to inspect and properly maintain any equipment it issues, including laptops). And if there's a network area that you can't connect to for some reason, even if your work account supposedly has the right permissions - you'll be largely on your own to make sure that your company-issued equipment is working correctly. I work in a place with that kind of reality.

If your position allows you to get away with having 14-CURRENT on your work machine, then I'm envious. My work priority would be to have a machine that works correctly. If it doesn't - my workplace will give me a new machine that does, and it will be their problem, not mine, 'cuz they will still have to pay me.

 

[Cath O'Deray]

… you're gonna be largely on your own for adequately securing that machine to comply with your workplace policies, …

Posted by me in April:

Binding FreeBSD to Active Directory domain services

tl;dr binding was impossible for me due to bugs in FreeBSD, so I use a network that does not require binding.

The situation has improved, however I'll probably not attempt to bind my existing computer.

My work priority would be to have a machine that works correctly.

The same for me, in that:

Windows 10 is a requirement,

There's more,

More from the linked topic (before <https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/commit/?id=f75caed644a5c8c342a1ea5e7a6d5251f82ed0b1> was committed):

… FreeBSD can not boot the computer that I'll be given, so I'll:

• boot Windows 10, which is designed to work with the hardware
• make best use of Windows 10
• boot FreeBSD in VirtualBox
• free myself from some of the problems that are associated with FreeBSD.

…

On the HP computers where FreeBSD 13.0-RELEASE will not boot, it's now possible to boot FreeBSD 14.0-CURRENT then boot Windows 10 in VirtualBox.

 

[astyle]

Posted by me in April:

Binding FreeBSD to Active Directory domain services

tl;dr binding was impossible for me due to bugs in FreeBSD, so I use a network that does not require binding.

The situation has improved, however I'll probably not attempt to bind my existing computer.



The same for me, in that:





More from the linked topic (before <https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/commit/?id=f75caed644a5c8c342a1ea5e7a6d5251f82ed0b1> was committed):



On the HP computers where FreeBSD 13.0-RELEASE will not boot, it's now possible to boot FreeBSD 14.0-CURRENT then boot Windows 10 in VirtualBox.

Thanks, now it's adding up for me. Once again, if your workplace/job allows you something like that, I'm envious. At my workplace, I kind of have to be on the domain - just the way things are set up. Well, good luck. I'm gonna watch this one from the sidelines.

 

[Cath O'Deray]

Things now are clearer: improved amd64 UEFI boot was sponsored by the FreeBSD Foundation. From the status report:

… The updated loader automatically detects if the loaded kernel can handle in-place staging area ('non-copying mode'). If needed, this can be overridden with the loader’s copy_staging command. For instance, 'copy_staging enable' tells the loader to unconditionally copy the staging area to 2M regardless of kernel capabilities (default is 'copy_staging auto'). Also, the code to grow the staging area was made much more robust, allowing it to grow without hand-tuning and recompiling the loader.

So, there's no longer the wish for this:

Addition of boot to Focus Area 1 of the Technology Roadmap.

(Prior to the status report, I tracked the various bugs but I wasn't sure whether things had reached a conclusion.)

Postscripts

From 2021 in Review: Software Development | FreeBSD Foundation:

Improved amd64 UEFI boot

Konstantin Belousov modified the amd64 UEFI loader to start the kernel from the “staging area” without first copying it aside. Previously the kernel had to be copied to a fixed location, which was incompatible with some UEFI firmware implementations and had other limitations. This work addressed a number of outstanding issues in the FreeBSD problem report (bug) database.

<https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-...272dfb79f134772d4f7c619604ed3778d8427b0afR151>

 

[Cath O'Deray]

… #2 and #5 best-selling HP notebooks are amongst the models with FreeBSD boot failures

… the various ASUS, Dell, HP, Samsung and other computers in 2016 bug 209821 – UEFI - installation media hangs when booting on ASUS P6P67 DELUXE; in 2017 bug 219957 – FreeBSD Install freeze using UEFI; in 2020 bug 249226 – Freeze during early boot; in 2021 bug 255073 – boot (UEFI): loader: copy_staging: no progress beyond EFI framebuffer information; in the topics below (dcol rootbert beans10001 danbi huginn); (there may be other related bug reports and topics, of which I'm not aware) ….

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Time to celebrate!​

For FreeBSD 13.1-RELEASE, a fix is noted: <https://www.freebsd.org/releases/13.1R/relnotes/#boot-loader>