Install latest FreeBSD on MacBook Air

K

kleber.povoacao

Hi,

I'm trying to find a tutorial step by step how to install latest release (12.1 today) on MacBook Air. I found a lot outdated manual. From partitioning disk without lose my Mac OS X system to booting and using FreeBSD. I want use Mac in one partition and FreeBSD on another. I tested FreeBSD on live USB stick most of things worked well for me.
 
kleber.povoacao said:
Hi,

I'm trying to find a tutorial step by step how to install latest release (12.1 today) on MacBook Air. I found a lot outdated manual. From partitioning disk without lose my Mac OS X system to booting and using FreeBSD. I want use Mac in one partition and FreeBSD on another. I tested FreeBSD on live USB stick most of things worked well for me.
Click to expand...
Hi Mate

I run Freebsd 12.1 on a 2011 11inch Macbook Air and a 2014 Mac mini
I wrote a guide on blessing the efi partition on mac hardware but not dual booting

Here are my notes on installing installing freebsd on a macbook air
Collection of notes about freebsd on github

To be honest i wouldnt dualboot for several reasons

1 - its more complicated to set up

2 - when you update osx it will overwrite the bootloader and you wont be able to boot into freebsd without fixing the bootloader

Even if install osx on an external usb and boot into osx on the external drive and then update osx it will overwrite the bootloader on the internal drive

Just warning you that osx will bite you in the arse and wipe the bootloader one day after you run an update on osx
 
You may not be able to run FreeBSD on a 2018 or newer MacBook Air. Not that I own a MacBook, but >=2018 Macs use the Apple T2 NVMe controller which is not supported by FreeBSD, not to mention the proprietary SPI keyboard and touchpad and the fact that Apple loves Broadcom Wi-Fi (that sadly affects most Intel-based Macs).

Any Air older than 2018 should work.
 
NapoleonWils0n said:
Hi Mate

I run Freebsd 12.1 on a 2011 11inch Macbook Air and a 2014 Mac mini
I wrote a guide on blessing the efi partition on mac hardware but not dual booting

Here are my notes on installing installing freebsd on a macbook air
Collection of notes about freebsd on github

To be honest i wouldnt dualboot for several reasons

1 - its more complicated to set up

2 - when you update osx it will overwrite the bootloader and you wont be able to boot into freebsd without fixing the bootloader

Even if install osx on an external usb and boot into osx on the external drive and then update osx it will overwrite the bootloader on the internal drive

Just warning you that osx will bite you in the arse and wipe the bootloader one day after you run an update on osx
Click to expand...
I'll second that!! This scenario,in my case, is what really ended the love affair with the most successful UNIX/BSD on the globe, MacOS! The bootloader will be expunged, it will even mess with the Recovery Partition, ...I've been there. I run the following from USB storage by using REFInd and pressing the option/alt key : NomadBSD, GhostBSD and Linux Mint 19.3..., all with excellent results. Vintage PC's do not give anywhere near the aggravation that Macs tend to. I have in my possession two crusty old Netbooks which both run NomadBSD 1.3.1 32-bit brilliantly....with 2GB of RAM and an Intel Atom N270 processor.

By the way I am an owner of a MacBook Air Late-2010. Guess what? Neither NomadBSD or GhostBSD have ever booted even in live mode!!
Bummed!..- , by Apple...-, again!:mad:
 
There's always Fusion Player from VMware (latest v12 is free for personal use). It works a lot better than Parallels Desktop 16 as Fusion allows setting the screen resolution to fullscreen (a feature that disappeared for FreeBSD after Parallels Desktop 14).

My 2018 Mac mini VMs are on an external Samsung T7 2TB SSD which flies.
 
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