Is the ZOTAC ZBOX AMD Hardware Compatible with FreeBSD?

[zzatskl]

Hello,

I have just purchased a ZOTAC ZBOX AD06 Mini Barebone PC AMD (E2-1800) 1.7 GHz WLAN (AMD Radeon HD 7340 Graphics) http://www.zotac.com/products/mini-pcs/ ... d06-1.html with:
Crucial Technology Crucial 8 GB DDR3 1333 MT/s (PC3-10600) CL9 SODIMM 204pin
Hitachi TRAVELSTAR 7K1000 1 TB 9.5MM 6 GB 2.5IN HTS721010A9E630

I want to install FreeBSD 9.2 on the system for initially web development (Apache, MySQL, PHP etc), then install MythTV and connect the box to a projector to roll some video output onto 3M film in my shop window for advertising purposes.

Not being that hardware savvy, I panic now that the AMD chip and other hardware may not be compatible with FreeBSD.

Please can someone confirm or deny the chosen hardware is compatible before I open the box. If it is compatible, I would also be grateful for any comments on using this box with MythTV and connecting to a projector peripheral (but perhaps that's another post).

Thanks for your help in this matter.

 

[wblock@]

The processor is probably fine, support of the built-in Radeon card may or may not be possible with the experimental Radeon KMS driver. Hard drive and memory are fine.

I have never tried MythTV on FreeBSD, but my experience on other platforms has unfortunately, never been successful, possibly due to not having a compatible tuner card, or just not knowing what to enter for all the magic values.

 

[SirDice]

The Zotac boxes should work fine. Not sure about the AMD models but I have two Intel Zotac boxes. I would suggest getting a model with an NVidia card though. The x11/nvidia-driver is a lot better than Radeon support.

 

[zzatskl]

Thank you for your helpful replies. I think my selection is narrowed down to one option (which seems to be on reduced sale offer at the moment):

ZOTAC ZBOX ID42 Barebone PC Intel (Dual-Core) 1.1 GHz WLAN (NVIDIA GeForce GT 610)

I guess this is an older model, which should be good as the drivers are more likely to be available?

As a matter of interest, are the drivers for Intel HD Graphics 4600 (and others) readily available in FreeBSD? This card would seem overkill for what I propose to use the box for, but if all goes well I might obtain another one for a HTPC.

Thanks in advance for any further kind feedback.

 

[SirDice]

ZOTAC ZBOX ID42 Barebone PC Intel (Dual-Core) 1.1 GHz WLAN (NVIDIA GeForce GT 610)

I have that same model, it's running FreeBSD 9.2 and recently 10.0-BETA3 without problems.

 

[zzatskl]

Just to let you know my Zotac miniPC has been running FreeBSD 10 like a dream for a few months now.



It is so quiet I hardly notice it on my desk. I started using it to develop websites using Samba to a PC LAN. I now run production websites on it over a FTTC 8MB upload line.

I'm going to lock it away soon as the data on it is getting valuable. When I do I'll disable the blue LED logo light in the BIOS.

It's so much better than having a noisy old PC consuming who knows what in electricity and worrying it will break down any moment. I'm thinking of buying another one for a separate location at home and setting up some form of mirror for backup security.

A happy Zoctac fan.