Hello. Newbie here... sort of. I ran FreeBSD on three home desktops (dual-booted) back in the latter half of the 90's. I've been away for awhile but want to get back into it. (Partially because I miss being able to mold a system the way I want it and partially because I'm fed up with Micro$oft's new licensing terms under v10. Privacy, whether I need it or not, is a big thing with me and I resent having to acquiesce to someone else' snooping around my computer just to use it, no matter how innocuous they claim their snooping to be.)
Here's the deal: I'm about to get the above-named laptop for Christmas. I have searched the forums here and Googled high and Binged low and cannot find any stories from someone who has attempted to run FreeBSD on this machine. Does anyone know if FreeBSD (or, failing that, any other BSD variant) will run on this machine? If not, I'm even considering Linux. (Yes, I'm desperate. No disrespect to Linux fans, but I'm an old, old-school ex-UNIX sysadmin who's kind of stuck in his ways -- and it was troubles with keeping old Linux systems running (Debian, Red Hat, Slackware, and a few others) that led me to try FreeBSD to begin with. When I discovered how bulletproof it was, I was left scratching my head, wondering why anyone ever bothered with Linux... but that was a long time ago. I've read Linux has improved much over the years.)
As for how I'm going to use the machine, it will be mostly using apps that are readily available for FreeBSD, but I will probably want to enjoy the gaming capabilities once in a great while. I'm not a bleeding-edge gamer; my most up to date games are Civ III (or is it IV?) and Flight Simulator from several years ago -- but I might want to try something new, just to see what the box will do. I'll need to run DOS Box for some oldies but goodies, too. (I've been programming and playing with computers for over 35 years, off and on, and still remember the magic in some of those games when they first came out.) The bottom line is, I did a lot of research to find a computer with the most bang for the bucks we had as far as good keyboard, build quality, speed, and storage (volatile and otherwise) is concerned. I think I found it in this machine -- and will drop in an M.2 SSD to boot and run apps from. The problem is, I know that it takes time for the FreeBSD community to come up with drivers for new hardware. So, I wonder if FreeBSD is an option or if I'll have to stick it out with Windows for awhile. (I might even buy Win 8.1 and install Classic Shell, just to avoid Win 10.
)
Any help or advice will be appreciated very much.
Here's the SSD I intend to install:
Crucial MX300 525GB M.2 (2280) Internal Solid State Drive (CT525MX300SSD4)
Here's the rest of the laptop arrangement, per ASUS' web site. (I noticed some components do not have make or model specified; I realize this may be problematic.):
ASUS ROG GL752VW-DH71 Intel i7 2.6GHz 16GB DDR4 1TB HDD GTX960M 2GB 17.3-inch Gaming Laptop
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7 6700HQ Processor
Operating System: Windows 10
Chipset: Intel® HM170 Chipset, Intel® HD Graphic 530
Graphic: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960M with 2G GDDR5 VRAM
Memory: DDR4 2133 MHz SDRAM, 16 GB SDRAM
Display: 17.3" FHD (1920x1080) matte
Storage: 1TB HDD 7200 RPM
Optical Drive: DL DVD±RW/CD-RW
Card Reader: 3 -in-1 card reader ( SD/ SDHC/ SDXC/ MMC)
Camera: 1.2MP HD Camera
Networking: Integrated 802.11 ac, Built-in Bluetooth™ V4.0
Interface
1 x Microphone-in/Headphone-out jack
1 x USB 3.1 TYPE C port(s)
1 x USB 3.0 port(s)
2 x USB 2.0 port(s)
1 x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert
1 x HDMI
Audio
Built-in Speakers And Microphone
ICESound support
Battery: 4Cells 3200 mAh 48 Whrs
Power Adapter
Output: 19 V DC, 6.32 A, 120 W
Input: 100 -240 V AC, 50/60 Hz universal
3/ 2 pin compact power supply system
Here's the deal: I'm about to get the above-named laptop for Christmas. I have searched the forums here and Googled high and Binged low and cannot find any stories from someone who has attempted to run FreeBSD on this machine. Does anyone know if FreeBSD (or, failing that, any other BSD variant) will run on this machine? If not, I'm even considering Linux. (Yes, I'm desperate. No disrespect to Linux fans, but I'm an old, old-school ex-UNIX sysadmin who's kind of stuck in his ways -- and it was troubles with keeping old Linux systems running (Debian, Red Hat, Slackware, and a few others) that led me to try FreeBSD to begin with. When I discovered how bulletproof it was, I was left scratching my head, wondering why anyone ever bothered with Linux... but that was a long time ago. I've read Linux has improved much over the years.)
As for how I'm going to use the machine, it will be mostly using apps that are readily available for FreeBSD, but I will probably want to enjoy the gaming capabilities once in a great while. I'm not a bleeding-edge gamer; my most up to date games are Civ III (or is it IV?) and Flight Simulator from several years ago -- but I might want to try something new, just to see what the box will do. I'll need to run DOS Box for some oldies but goodies, too. (I've been programming and playing with computers for over 35 years, off and on, and still remember the magic in some of those games when they first came out.) The bottom line is, I did a lot of research to find a computer with the most bang for the bucks we had as far as good keyboard, build quality, speed, and storage (volatile and otherwise) is concerned. I think I found it in this machine -- and will drop in an M.2 SSD to boot and run apps from. The problem is, I know that it takes time for the FreeBSD community to come up with drivers for new hardware. So, I wonder if FreeBSD is an option or if I'll have to stick it out with Windows for awhile. (I might even buy Win 8.1 and install Classic Shell, just to avoid Win 10.
)Any help or advice will be appreciated very much.
Here's the SSD I intend to install:
Crucial MX300 525GB M.2 (2280) Internal Solid State Drive (CT525MX300SSD4)
Here's the rest of the laptop arrangement, per ASUS' web site. (I noticed some components do not have make or model specified; I realize this may be problematic.):
ASUS ROG GL752VW-DH71 Intel i7 2.6GHz 16GB DDR4 1TB HDD GTX960M 2GB 17.3-inch Gaming Laptop
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7 6700HQ Processor
Operating System: Windows 10
Chipset: Intel® HM170 Chipset, Intel® HD Graphic 530
Graphic: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960M with 2G GDDR5 VRAM
Memory: DDR4 2133 MHz SDRAM, 16 GB SDRAM
Display: 17.3" FHD (1920x1080) matte
Storage: 1TB HDD 7200 RPM
Optical Drive: DL DVD±RW/CD-RW
Card Reader: 3 -in-1 card reader ( SD/ SDHC/ SDXC/ MMC)
Camera: 1.2MP HD Camera
Networking: Integrated 802.11 ac, Built-in Bluetooth™ V4.0
Interface
1 x Microphone-in/Headphone-out jack
1 x USB 3.1 TYPE C port(s)
1 x USB 3.0 port(s)
2 x USB 2.0 port(s)
1 x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert
1 x HDMI
Audio
Built-in Speakers And Microphone
ICESound support
Battery: 4Cells 3200 mAh 48 Whrs
Power Adapter
Output: 19 V DC, 6.32 A, 120 W
Input: 100 -240 V AC, 50/60 Hz universal
3/ 2 pin compact power supply system
