Raspberry PI 400 and 14.0 - not amused

[eternal_noob]

unless the OP has severe financial issues

No. I am working as a software developer 40 hours a week. I could easily afford a "real" computer.

But i like the Raspberry somehow. Don't want to toss it only because FreeBSD doesn't run properly on it. Linux works fine and reasonably fast so i guess i use that.

 

[Phishfry]

I am surprised we have not seen more i386/amd64 devices like these Atari/Apple II/BBC Micro/ clones

Minnowboard or UpBoard inside a keyboard would be better suited for a desktop.

Apple seeks patent for 'innovation' resembling 1980s micros

Cupertino seeks signoff on computer and keyboard in one unit – we've seen that somewhere before …

www.theregister.com

 

[sko]

Linux works fine and reasonably fast so i guess i use that.

"right tool for the job" can apply to the hardware as well as the used software, so just use and combine whatever works for your use-case.

 

[covacat]

i have a pi400 running linux/ubuntu (of sd) and an amlogic s905x3 running linux/armbian from emmc. the cpus in both have roughly the same performance. while usable they both kind of suck as a desktop and are clearly inferior to a nuc or nuc clone.

 

[Jose]

Aaaaand it runs fine under L*nux. Must be FreeBSD related.

Linux Firefox uses the mozjemalloc memory allocator, which does not work under Freebsd:

1153683 - mozjemalloc crashes on FreeBSD in malloc_init()

NEW (nobody) in Core - Memory Allocator. Last updated 2022-10-11.

bugzilla.mozilla.org

The irony is it was originally based on Freebsd's jemalloc(3)

https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/source/memory/build/mozjemalloc.cpp#9

https://www.bsdcan.org/2006/papers/jemalloc.pdf

So yeah, whatever it uses when mozjemalloc is not supported must be pretty bad. That's everywhere except Linux and Mac, BTW.

 

[eternal_noob]

Thanks, this is good info.

 

[dbdemon]

Just wanted to add that I had serious slowness problems with FreeBSD on my RPi400 initially. E.g. the extract & install phase of pkg upgrade was particularly painfully slow when there were many packages to upgrade. However, it now seems to work quite a lot better after I changed to a different brand of microSD card (from Samsung to SanDisk, which is what Raspian is installed on). I have no benchmarks or anything to show for this, but I read somewhere that not all microSD cards are the same with regards to performance.

I'm now tempted to try it on a proper harddrive (SSD or whatever).

I appreciate the posts about alternative hardware altogether, and that perhaps FreeBSD simply cannot run as well on RPi as Linux does. I might just try different hardware at some point. However, I want to see if I can bring it to a point where the RPi is actually usable, because I think I'm quite close to this right now.

 

[eternal_noob]

Yeah, a fast SD card is essential. I use the SanDisk's too, they're the best.

 

[Phishfry]

I use the SanDisk's too, they're the best.

I use SanDisk alot for SATA SSD and eMMC but for microSD cards I prefer Apacer.

Industrial Product - Apacer

Industrial SSD: Introducing Yuzhan's industrial SSD products. We offer a variety of form factors, including M.2 SSD and 2.5-inch SSD, to meet the diverse needs of industrial applications. Our industrial-grade SSDs feature high durability, excellent performance, and reliability, providing...

www.apacer.com

SwissBit is number two maybe Sandisk #3

My feeling is why cheap out on something so important as storage. Especially when it is the sole storage medium.

 

[tingo]

SwissBit industrial grade are good (if pricey). No failures yet.

 

[grahamperrin]

Firefox is an insane memory hog and often crashes or gets killed if it (again) filled up all available RAM/swap. This even happens on PCs with 32GB or more if you give Firefox enough time (few days)

That's not my experience, with 15.0-CURRENT and www/firefox from latest on an HP ZBook with 32 GB of memory. Maybe take this to a topic that's not about 14.0 on a Raspberry PI 400.

 

[Phishfry]

Maybe take this to a topic that's not about 14.0 on a Raspberry PI 400.

The whole point of this thread is Firefox does not run on RPI400 on either FreeBSD 13 or 14 for this user.

I don't agree that Firefox is that much a memory hog but I think is is worth considering it is a bloated program.
I have Firefox-ESR running on the same arch as OP with only 2GB RAM.
I am able to playback RTC video but no HDMI audio.

My though is that Firefox is pushing the limits of scfb. microSD card for it is another issue.

eternal_noob
Did you try to run firefox --headless from an xterminal and see what exactly is crashing?

 

[grahamperrin]

The whole point of this thread is Firefox does not run on RPI400 on either FreeBSD 13 or 14 for this user.

Yeah, that's why I'm encouraging the off-topic discussion to continue in a different topic.

eternal_noob are you still refusing to report a bug?

 

[dbdemon]

Apparently, using latest instead of quarterly, installing firefox-esr and then disabling webgl in firefox (type about:config) is the way to make firefox work on RPi400 with FreeBSD 14.0.

I just learnt this from Robonuggie's newest video (skip to around 16-21min):

Spoiler: video

View: https://youtu.be/thxnemnprPg?si=pYEF2dyKU6osoOe8&t=1043

 

[eternal_noob]

Phishfry : Yes, i did run it from the terminal and it said something about a *.c file, but i can't remember which one.
grahamperrin : I don't refuse to report a bug, but the bug tracker refuses to be intuitive and easy to work with.

 

[grahamperrin]

…

 

[grahamperrin]

… I am working as a software developer 40 hours a week. I could easily …

… the bug tracker refuses to be intuitive and easy to work with.

Fair enough. eternal_noob sorry for being snarky earlier.

I have my own reasons for using Codeberg instead of Bugzilla for bug reports; and Codeberg instead of the FreeBSD organisation's freebsd-doc repo for contributions to the organisation.

Near-total avoidance of Bugzilla, by a member of the Bugzilla triage team, might seem peculiar. These are peculiar times.

 

[smithi]

Near-total avoidance of Bugzilla, by a member of the Bugzilla triage team, might seem peculiar. These are peculiar times.

Please indicate where the members of the Bugzilla triage team are listed?

 

[Paul Floyd]

aslr has been bypassed so many times that it's no longer a security feature.

aslr is just a mild annoyance for the bad guys

 

[Deleted member 14531]

I find Firefox-esr with webGL disabled works fr me on the Raspberry Pi 400.
I recently did a video showing FreeBSD 14.0 on the Raspberry Pi 400 and some of the problems with Firefox and then the Esr version working well.
There are timestamps on the Youtube video in the description box.

Firefox Problem:

View: https://youtu.be/thxnemnprPg?t=983


Firefox-esr:

View: https://youtu.be/thxnemnprPg?t=1045

 

[jb1277976]

I find Firefox-esr with webGL disabled works fr me on the Raspberry Pi 400.
I recently did a video showing FreeBSD 14.0 on the Raspberry Pi 400 and some of the problems with Firefox and then the Esr version working well.
There are timestamps on the Youtube video in the description box.

Firefox Problem:

View: https://youtu.be/thxnemnprPg?t=983


Firefox-esr:

View: https://youtu.be/thxnemnprPg?t=1045

I subscribed to your channel on youtube. And getting used to FreeBSD. In one of your videos i think you compiled everything to a gui X desktop. So sweet. Glad i know I'm with good people on this Wonderful OS

 

[grahamperrin]

RoboNuggie please, have you reported a bug?

 

[Deleted member 14531]

RoboNuggie please, have you reported a bug?

To be honest I haven't....

 

[Deleted member 14531]

I subscribed to your channel on youtube. And getting used to FreeBSD. In one of your videos i think you compiled everything to a gui X desktop. So sweet. Glad i know I'm with good people on this Wonderful OS

Thank you for that!

 

[grahamperrin]

I haven't to be honest I haven't....

Fair enough.

If not RoboNuggie or eternal_noob, then can someone else, please, report the bug?

Someone who uses affected hardware. I don't have a Raspberry, or anything like it.

The FreeBSD Forums is not Bugzilla, it's not used by port maintainers for discovering or tracking faults.