Trying to install BSD on an old MacBook 2006 laptop

M

magentron

I have managed to install FreeBSD 12.4 on an old 2006 (white) MacBook laptop, the installation went well, the only problem is that I cannot download any packages, as the pkg command to download the pkg tool cannot find the repros, there is an internet connection via the RJ45, and I can ping 0.0.0.0 and establish connection & packets. From my understanding, the FreeBSD 12.4 repros (like other older versions of BSD) are no longer maintained and are available to download any software or updates from. How does one go about installing software if the repros have been deleted? I have tried to install later versions of BSD but the boot process fails just after loading the Kernel modules I get a frame buffer error and the system then just hangs, so It would appear that the highest BSD version I can get running on this MacBook is version 12.4
I am happy to accept that it's at the EOL and that it's not maintained, but without being able to download any packages or the pkg tool or ports related to that version because the repros have been taken down, and having just a basic shell is pointless. I suspect that even trying to upgrade to a later version BSD would fail due to the hardware. and CPUs.

I want to be able to build and turn this old Macbook into just a basic desktop with a GUI and browser and make it more up-to-date wi-fi than the Mac OS. I have installed various versions of Linux Ubuntu works well but is slow and is too bloated for this hardware. That is why I would like to try BDS also to learn more about BDS in the process.

Is it possible to switch the repros and ports, using 12.4 Stable? if so how?
 
FreeBSD 12.4 has been EoL since December 2023 and is not supported any more. Install a supported version.

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Thanks, sorry I did not release that the forums are only for the supported version, is there anywhere where unsupported versions questions can be asked?

In reply, I have tried to install a supported version, i.e. 13.2 / 14.2 and it fails just after loading the kernel at the framebuffer stage, cannot find the path with the entropy file (I can provide all the necessary info), the process then just hangs.

I have used a USB with 13.2 /14.2 version with the disk1.iso to boot the system, also tried using the memory img too, still get the same problem.

I don't think burning a CD and booting from the CD would make any difference in trying to install a supported version 13.2/14.2, the CPU are intel and 64-bit capable.

Also have tried to upgrade to a supported version which I have an issue with and have an additional post for.
 
I have a white Macbook 2008. It has a 64-bit processor, and EFI 32-bit. I did not installed FreeBSD 32-bit, but installed Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. Everything works fine.
 
I have Freebsd 14.1 installed
on a Macbook Air 2011 and a Macbook Pro Retina 2015

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Thanks for your replies, I did some searching on the EFI and Macbooks, and apparently, Apple locked 64EFI booting on some products, even though the Intel CPU was 64bits, and could run a 64 Bit Kernel

On the following website everymac.com/mac-answers/snow-leopard-mac-os-x-faq/... there is a list showing a range of Apple products listing the CPUs EFI (firmware) & boot.

for a Macbook Core 2 Dual 2.0 GHz 13" (white/06) the CPU is 64 Bit the EFI is 32 Bit and Boot is 32 Bit
for a MacBook Core 2 Dual 2.1GHz 13" (white/08) the CPU is 64 Bit the EFI is 64 Bit and Boot is 32 Bit
some Mac's with 64 Bit CPUs with a 64 Bit EFI firmware can be unlocked to boot into a 64Kernel, one method is to press the 6 and 4 keys on boot until the Apple logo appears, a more permanent method is to edit a system configuration file in the terminal.

So the Macbook I am trying to install BSD onto had a 64bit CPU with 32Bit EFI firmware and 32 bit Boot which is not compatible with FreeBSD version 13 onwards. So back to a Linux distro.
 
magentron said:
So the Macbook I am trying to install BSD onto had a 64bit CPU with 32Bit EFI firmware and 32 bit Boot which is not compatible with FreeBSD version 13 onwards.
Click to expand...
Just BIOS boot it instead. This only means that you cannot UEFI boot FreeBSD. There never was (and likely never will) be support for 32 bit (U)EFI.
 
I don't think you can get into a Mac BIOS, is there a BIOS on a Mac? I think Apple was the first company to use U(EFI ) way before the PC manufacturers and Microsoft Windows adopted UEFI, so there is no relevance in using BIOS on an Apple product as hardware and software are both integral to each other.
With the latest hardware Apple M1/M2/M3/M4 and T2, and with Microsoft pushing the TPM version 3 crypto chip for Windows 11. I think we will probably start to see BIOS as a setup option disappear in time as hardware becomes more OS-centric, following on from Apple's example, and Microsoft's push for the TMP crypto chip. Another attempt to stop other independent open-source OS (in terms of market size) from sharing or using new hardware in the future, in my view.
 
There is a way to "BIOS" boot on these devices. Back in the day people used it to boot windows, which had no support for (U)EFI booting.
 
I think you are talking about the Boot Camp app, that allowed Windows 95/XP to run as a dual boot, it would be a bit more difficult on older hardware to run Windows 7, Vista, or 10 with NTFS file systems, maybe OK on latter Mac's with i3/i7 CPUs and different graphics - But I still would like to know how you access a Mac BIOS?
 
if you boot a mac and press alt with a usb drive plugged in with Freebsd or any linux distro on the usb drive,
you get the option to install using uefi

you can still install install freebsd, openbsd, linux on a mac without using uefi

many years ago i installed openbsd on a mac from a disc without using uefi

pressing F12 on a mac during boot doesnt bring up a bios screen like on a pc
because macs dont have a bios screen
 
Reply to NapoleonWilsO: Using the OPTION/ALT key when powering on as soon as the chimes are heard and releasing the OPTION/ALT key when the Apple logo boots will show the bootable EFI Drives, i.e. the internal Apple MAC OS and the external USB drive. This is exactly what I have done for FreeBSD Vers 11/12 /13/14 I am yet to try 15, the Versions that boot and can be installed are 11 and 12, the ones that cannot boot are 13 and 14 they just Frezze and hang at the cursor.

I believe from one of your last posts all your Macs are from 2012/15 onwards if you have a Mac boot 2006 please try and boot FreeBSD14 and let us know if it works. I have a range of Macs I will try out all the FreeBSD Versions from 11 through to 15 and will produce a table showing the results.

So what method do you use to boot the Mac in non-UEFI mode?
 
hi mate, from memory

i install openbsd on an old black macbook 2006
using a cd and pressing c when the mac booted up

i also installed linux on my old 2011 macbook air wihout uefi ( before i switched to freebsd )
by plugging in the usb stick and pressing alt

the usb stick showed up but the drive wasnt marked efi
i think it may have been marked as WINDOWS

the reason i remember was because booting without uefi took about 30 seconds before it got to grub
so i had to manually create the efi partition which reduced the time to boot to the grub menu to a couple of seconds

the issue was it would try to boot uefi for 30 seconds before it fell back to the legacy boot

cant remember what linux distro it was

the macbook air 11 inch 2011 is running freebsd 14.1 now

from my old notes

boot in to mac recovery by pressing option and selecting
disable sips on the mac so we can use the bless comand on the efi partition for freebsd

Code: 
sudo csrutil disable

shut the mac from recovery mode

reboot the mac hold down alt and boot into mac osx, needed so sip is disabled
shutdown the mac, reboot hold down alt and boot into the macs recovery parition

open the terminal
bless the freebsd efi partition

Code: 
# bless --device /dev/disk0s1 --setBoot --legacy --label FreeBSD

# bless --device /dev/disk0s1 --setBoot --legacy
# bless --device /dev/disk0s1
 
Many thanks for all the information, that is another area to try, I do not have any issues with the MAC recognizing the USB and booting from it.

I have not used the <bless> command, I have used the <dd> command on the Linux terminal to burn the iso image to the USB drive, and also used USB iso tools Blanch Etcher, also Rufus.
,
The USB with the image/iso is being seen by the MAC for all FreeBSD versions when it starts up in the boot screen and in the install mode. It loads the Kernel it then fails at the framebuffer stage, and then hangs and Freezes.

I have another thread that details all the info. One of the developers suggested that in the new versions of FreeBSD 13 there are now three types or flavors of boot files, in the loader(8) and that I could try each of them in turn, but no information was given explaining on how to do this.
 
Maybe this is reminiscent of the issues I had installing FreeBSD after version 11 on a mid-2007 macmini (model 2,1).

My workaround was to install the last bootable version, then upgrade the machine from source which worked and it booted without issue.
 
reply to trev: So what you are suggesting is that I install FreeBSD 12.2 which I can boot from and install to the hard disk, then upgrade to say FreeBSD 14.2 but from source rather than allowing the normal process, do you have any instructions from the FreeBSD publications on how to install from source? Can the build from the source determine what parts of the installed FreeBSD 12.2 can be upgraded, without upgrading the booting files, would the kernel be upgraded during this build process?
 
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