Intel NUC

B

balanga

Has anyone installed FreeBSD on an Intel NUC?

If so which NUC and what do you use it for?

I'd like to use one for running something like XBMC but have no idea if the combination of
Intel NUC/XBMC/FreeBSD is usable or not.
 
Hi balanga

DutchDaemon is right. I own the Intel NUC D54250WYKH2 and I am running FreeBSD 10.0 without problems so far. I don't use XBMC, so I cannot help you with that. I do use it as a mail and web server (think ownCloud).

Kind regards,

Michael
 
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I have recently bought a fanless Intel NUC DE3815TYKH, which I believe is the least powerful of the Intel's present NUC range. I had some minor difficulties installing FreeBSD, but this evening I finally got it done satisfactorily.

Attempts at a memory-stick installation did not work for me, and neither did the UEFI DVD image, but I had success with the DVD image
FreeBSD-10.1-RELEASE-amd64-dvd1.iso.

As a preliminary, I accessed the Intel Visual BIOS screens during the boot process (key F2) and set things up on the Boot Order panel like this:

UEFI Tab:
UEFI boot CHECKED
Boot Drive Order: No Boot Drive
Legacy Tab:
Legacy Boot CHECKED
Boot Drive Order:
SATA : PORT 0 : Samsung SSD ...
MMC - SEM04G

I intend to use this machine as a backup server for my home network. It will replace a Raspberry Pi with external SSD running Debian Linux.

-- Mike
 
Another Intel NUC Atom here. Boot from USB stick (FreeBSD 10.1-RELEASE), in legacy mode (non-UEFI), but installed with GPT partitions:
Code: 
root@atom-1:~ # gpart show ada0
=>  34  1953525101  ada0  GPT  (932G)
  34  6  - free -  (3.0K)
  40  131072  1  efi  (64M)
  131112  256  2  freebsd-boot  (128K)
  131368  50331648  3  freebsd-ufs  (24G)
  50463016  12582912  4  freebsd-swap  (6.0G)
  63045928  37748736  5  freebsd-ufs  (18G)
  100794664  134217728  6  freebsd-ufs  (64G)
  235012392  16777216  7  freebsd-ufs  (8.0G)
  251789608  1701735527  - free -  (811G)
As you can see, I'm booting in BIOS-legacy mode, so the MBR uses the freebsd-boot partition. But I also made a EFI partition, so in the future, when the EFI code in FreeBSD support this model, I can boot with the new BIOS style.

(If I put the boot1.efi file in the EFI partiton, the system boots in UEFI mode, but the loader hangs while loading the kernel).

The hard disk is a Western Digital RED 2.5" 1TB.

Very nice system for experiments. I'm new to FreeBSD (but not Unix), this was my first FreeBSD install.

- Davor
 
I am glad I stumbled onto this thread. We are replacing our desktops at work with NUCs and my is not going to run Linux I can tell you that much :)
 
dch said:
FWIW I have a NUC5i3RYH up & running now more details here https://wiki.freebsd.org/IntelNUC I can report it boots using UEFI in FreeBSD 10.3 amd64, wired ethernet works fine, and I will check graphics, audio etc in future when I have HDMI available to try out.
Click to expand...

I switched to -CURRENT r297692 20160408 to see if I have more luck with wifi & the newer graphics stack:
  • wifi works with additional iwm driver loaded (kudos @wblock below)
  • sound out via 3.5mm jack port works - playing MP3
  • console output via HDMI works
  • X via HDMI doesn't work - https://wiki.freebsd.org/Graphics says Broadwell is not yet supported. If it's possible to use VESA somehow please let me know
  • sound out via HDMI doesn't (yet) this might be my bad
 
The Xorg x11-drivers/xf86-video-vesa driver should work on almost everything, although without acceleration and possibly with a limited choice of resolutions. With a UEFI boot, it is also possible to use the x11-drivers/xf86-video-scfb driver. I would expect the HDMI port to work for video but not for sound, but can't test.

The 7265 wireless does not appear to be included in the GENERIC kernel on -CURRENT. So load the module and firmware manually:
Code: 
# kldload if_iwm
# kldload iwm7265fw
 
Last edited:
Thanks!

After adding this:
Code: 
# /boot/loader.conf
# intel nuc wifi
if_iwm_load="YES"
iwm7265fw_load="YES"

Code: 
# /etc/rc.conf
wlans_iwm0="wlan0"
ifconfig_wlan0="WPA DHCP"

I get additional info in dmesg:

Code: 
iwm0: <Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 7265> mem 0xf7000000-0xf7001fff irq 19 at device 0.0 on pci2
iwm0: revision: 0x210, firmware 25.228 (API ver. 9)
wlan0: Ethernet address: 94:65:9c:cc:bb:aa

And it works :-)

Code: 
# ifconfig
wlan0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
   ether 94:65:9c:cc:bb:aa
   inet 10.0.0.55 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 10.0.0.255
   nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
   media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet OFDM/36Mbps mode 11g
   status: associated
   ssid foo channel 10 (2457 MHz 11g) bssid bc:f2:af:cc:bb:aa
   country US authmode WPA2/802.11i privacy ON deftxkey UNDEF
   AES-CCM 2:128-bit AES-CCM 3:128-bit txpower 0 bmiss 10 scanvalid 60
   protmode CTS wme roaming MANUAL
   groups: wlan
 
The stability of wifi was a bit dicey, but since r298855 / sha#be5da69 things have dramatically improved. I've pushed over 100GiB through today without issue, just a few weird messages on startup, since then all has been well.

Code: 
iwm0: <Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 7265> mem 0xf7000000-0xf7001fff irq 19 at device 0.0 on pci2
iwm0: revision: 0x210, firmware 25.228 (API ver. 9)
wlan0: Ethernet address: 94:65:9c:16:28:bc
iwm0: iwm_update_edca: called
wlan0: link state changed to UP
wlan0: link state changed to DOWN
wlan0: ieee80211_new_state_locked: pending SCAN -> AUTH transition lost
iwm0: iwm_update_edca: called
wlan0: link state changed to UP
 
Great success today, I have the awesome Lumina Desktop running now, using fcsb driver & the following minimal config:

Code: 
# /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Section "Device"
  Identifier  "Card0"
  Driver  "scfb"
EndSection

I ran pkg install lumina and then a simple xinit /usr/local/bin/Lumina-DE -- :0 & just to get started. You can see it here in its full projector-wall screen glory.
 
Great progress today:

- using mmacy's custom kernel
Code: 
FreeBSD nucl.skunkwerks.at 11.0-ALPHA1 FreeBSD 11.0-ALPHA1 #0 fd8cdb9(drm-next-4.6): Mon Jun  6 05:13:55 UTC 2016  mmacy@bedlam:/usr/home/mmacy/devel/build/usr/home/mmacy/devel/freebsd-base-graphics/sys/GENERIC  amd64
I get HDMI video output via the Intel driver he has been porting, *and* also sound over HDMI at the same time. Epic!

So far youtube works fine in firefox & chromium, but vlc produces no sound at all. audio/mpg123 works fine as well, but in all apps, the sound comes out at half speed which is ... weird. If I can't find a BIOS tunable, I'll open a link in the multimedia section of the forums.
 
Chiming in, yes I have a NUC i3 4010U running 10.3, it runs beautifully.

Also recently got an i3 6100U BRIX but haven't touched it much other than putting WIndows 10 on it.
 
Another update, running latest mmacy-provided kernel and xserver-next I have both sound and video at normal speeds.
 
I have successfully installed Intel NUC5CPYH with FreeBSD 10.3..
I noticed that the Intel NUC POST boot up runs slower after installing FreeBSD (about 1:15 min only to wait until Intel NUC display disappeared)..
and also the vga display is a bit flickering , but no problem for me since I only used it as headless machine..
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi to all and Intel NUCs owners! Sorry for my bad English...

I am have Intel NUC5PPYH and NUC DN2820FYKH (second revision, with CPU N2830).

1. NUC5PPYH tested on FreeBSD-11.0 & TrueOS12 (ex- PC-BSD, based on FreeBSD). NUC5PPYH is 4-Cores analog of 2-Cores NUC5CPYH.
Code: 
1.1 CPU: Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU N3700 @ 1.60GHz (1600.04-MHz K8-class CPU), 4-Cores.
1.2 Video: Cherryview (Braswell) Intel HD Graphics.
1.3. hdac0: <Intel (0x2284) HDA Controller> mem 0x81410000-0x81413fff irq 22 at device 27.0 on pci0
1.4 xhci0: <XHCI (generic) USB 3.0 controller> mem 0x81400000-0x8140ffff irq 20 at device 20.0 on pci0
1.5 re0: <RealTek 8168/8111 B/C/CP/D/DP/E/F/G PCIe Gigabit Ethernet> port 0xe000-0xe0ff mem 0x81204000-0x81204fff,0x81200000-0x81203fff irq 18 at device 0.0 on pci2
1.6.1 pcm0: <Realtek (0x0283) (Analog)> at nid 27 and 25 on hdaa0
1.6.2 pcm1: <Realtek (0x0283) (Front Analog Headphones)> at nid 33 on hdaa0
1.6.3 pcm2: <Realtek (0x0283) (Internal Digital)> at nid 30 on hdaa0
1.6.4 pcm3: <Intel (0x2883) (HDMI/DP 8ch)> at nid 7 on hdaa1
1.7.1 iwm0: <Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 3165> mem 0x81300000-0x81301fff irq 17 at device 0.0 on pci1
1.7.2 iwm0: hw rev 0x210, fw ver 16.242414.0.
1.7.3 --- ? --- iwm0: <Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 3165> (Third party, only works in 802.11 G, Does not associate in A, B, N, AC, or if SSID hidden) and does not work at AP mode.
1.8 SDXC: Bootable SDXC/HC Cardreader for FreeBSD/Linux, its possible to install FreeBSD to SD card.
1.9 BlueTooth not tested.
2. NUC DN2820FYKH second revision, with CPU Intel N2830, tested on FreeBSD 11.0 & TrueOS12 (ex- PC-BSD, based on FreeBSD).
Code: 
2.1 CPU: Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU N2830 @ 2.16GHz (2166.73-MHz K8-class CPU), 2-Cores.
2.2 Video: ValleyView (Bay Trail) Intel HD Graphics.
2.3 hdac0: <Intel BayTrail HDA Controller> mem 0xd0810000-0xd0813fff irq 22 at device 27.0 on pci0
2.4 xhci0: <Intel BayTrail USB 3.0 controller> mem 0xd0800000-0xd080ffff irq 20 at device 20.0 on pci0
2.5 re0: <RealTek 8168/8111 B/C/CP/D/DP/E/F/G PCIe Gigabit Ethernet> port 0xe000-0xe0ff mem 0xd0604000-0xd0604fff,0xd0600000-0xd0603fff irq 18 at device 0.0 on pc
2.6.1 pcm0: <Realtek (0x0283) (Left Analog)> at nid 33 and 25 on hdaa0
2.6.2 pcm1: <Intel (0x2882) (HDMI/DP 8ch)> at nid 4 on hdaa1
2.7 --- ? --- iwm0: <Intel Dual Band Wireless N 7260> (Third party, only works in 802.11 G, Does not associate in A, B, N or if SSID hidden) and does not work at AP mode.
2.8 BlueTooth not tested.
Issues:

1. NUC5PPYH

1.1 Very strange issue in NUC5PPYH: after install FreeBSD and reboot time of starting Bios from Intel Logo to the message F2,F7,F10 is very big, up to 1+ min. May be this is situation with GPT HDD structure on NUC & FreeBSD, I need more testing with Bios MBR and GPT HDD structure. Video: https://yadi.sk/i/09PbmhWAwtzFU But anyway in DragonFly BSD and Xubuntu / LinuxLiteOS this problem is not observed.
1.2. Headphones with mic on front panel does not record the sound.
1.3. Sound works only with sysctl dev.hdac.0.polling=1.
1.4. BlueTooth not tested yet.

2. NUC DN2820FYKH

2.1 Also strange issue on NUC DN2820FYKH: after install FreeBSD and reboot time of starting Bios from Intel Logo to the message F2,F7,F10 is more than in DragonFly BSD and Linux probably in GPT HDD mode.
2.2. Sound works only with sysctl dev.hdac.0.polling=1.
2.2. BlueTooth not tested yet.
 
Since this seems to have become a bit of a long-running NUC experience thread, I'd like to chime in too. I've had a NUC6i5SYH (the higher version of the i5 Skylakes with space for 2.5" SSD) for two weeks now, with cheap ADATA SP550 m.2, an old Crucial m500 2.5" SSD and 16 GB RAM. Works just fine with FreeBSD 11-STABLE.

The only thing I am a bit annoyed about is that the Intel 8260 WLAN driver (iwm0) does not support Access Point mode. Everything else, including SD card reader, no problem whatsoever. Serving a handful of bhyve-hosted virtual machines to the local network just fine, and with a bit of BIOS knob turning, it is absolutely silent (as in fan standing still) most of the time.

The only thing necessary in loader.conf is literally this (for WLAN; everything else works out of the box):

Code: 
if_iwm_load="YES"
iwm8000Cfw_load="YES"
 
dch said:
Another update, running latest mmacy-provided kernel and xserver-next I have both sound and video at normal speeds.
Click to expand...
I've been unable to replicate getting sound/video at normal speed, and I don't seem to have a snapshot from that time to roll back to. This is very odd, anybody have any ideas or suggestions what might be the cause of this? Is there anybody else with the same model NUC5i3RYH who could try the same build & packages to see what result they get?
 
dch said:
I've been unable to replicate getting sound/video at normal speed, and I don't seem to have a snapshot from that time to roll back to. This is very odd, anybody have any ideas or suggestions what might be the cause of this? Is there anybody else with the same model NUC5i3RYH who could try the same build & packages to see what result they get?
Click to expand...
I have NUC5CPYH but I will not have time until next year to play with it.
 
I have an older NUC, the BOXDCCP847DYE. This used to be a Kodibuntu-based media player, until the Kodi installation self-destructed when the auto-upgrade to Kodi 17.0 was applied (no video on mkv files, Confluence skin broken, database messed up). At that point I had it with the Penguin on that box (the pains of somehow getting DTS/AC3 pass-through to work!).

The little box has now been promoted to FreeBSD 11-STABLE, all packages built from port. As always, FreeBSD documentation and the forum were priceless and made progress smooth. Not quick though, it takes time to compile on that box. I upgraded the NUC to 8GB RAM, as I had some compatible RAM sitting in a drawer. It also has a m.SATA SSD, I would not have endured the build process from an USB stick.

I am using one HDMI for video output to a Panasonic 55" plasma, the second for audio output - some gizmo extracts the audio stream to a S/PDIF connection that goes to my trusty old Yamaha DSP-A1.

Installed software:
11-STABLE base on zroot
NFS client
X11 and xfce through desktop-installer (in ports)
Midori
Firefox
Kodi

Video is perfect with a pure Kodi session (no xfce loaded), with just the slightest tendency towards tearing on a XFCE session. I would appreciate hints how to fix that!

Audio worked right out of the box, with pass-through and everything. That is impossible with Pulseaudio under Linux and highly unlikely without it! :p The only real adjustment was setting hw.snd.latency=7 in /boot/loader.conf - with stock settings there were DTS dropouts every couple of minutes.

All in all, much better process than setting up the box under Xubuntu (took days to figure out audio issues and screen tearing), Linux Mint (failed due to Pulseaudio) and Kodibuntu (self-destruct on upgrade, again audio pass-through issues).
 
Last edited:
Antarex said:
1.1 Very strange issue in NUC5PPYH: after install FreeBSD and reboot time of starting Bios from Intel Logo to the message F2,F7,F10 is very big, up to 1+ min. May be this is situation with GPT HDD structure on NUC & FreeBSD, I need more testing with Bios MBR and GPT HDD structure. Video: https://yadi.sk/i/09PbmhWAwtzFU But anyway in DragonFly BSD and Xubuntu / LinuxLiteOS this problem is not observed.
Click to expand...

My problem with NUC5PPYH and 2820, when Bios starts too long after installing FreeBSD now is solved in TrueOS and problem was here: Lenovo fix in installation disk and after install by default. After remove Lenovo fix the problem is [SOLVED].
 
I had a slight video tearing in XFCE (11-Stable, NVidia card + driver). One way to solve was to replace the stock compositor with Compton. Another - disable the compositor completely.
 
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