Using FreeBSD as Desktop OS

[Spartrekus]

Did you try using the loader from 11.2? That fixed the BTX Halted issues for me.

Is the loader of 12.0 working to fix btx issue?

 

[tedbell]

Is the loader of 12.0 working to fix btx issue?

It appears to have fixed other users BTX issues. I'm using UFS with MBR (BIOS) and it wouldn't boot with the 12.0 loader. It only boots with 11.2 . I can boot with the 13.0 loader but it's slower than 11.2.

 

[Spartrekus]

It appears to have fixed other users BTX issues. I'm using UFS with MBR (BIOS) and it wouldn't boot with the 12.0 loader. It only boots with 11.2 . I can boot with the 13.0 loader but it's slower than 11.2.

why could it be slower?

 

[tedbell]

why could it be slower?

I dunno. It pauses where 12.0 hangs but then continues. with the 11.2 it doesn't pause at all. This could be specific to my machine though.

 

[knightjp]

Did you try using the loader from 11.2? That fixed the BTX Halted issues for me.

How do I do that? Should bear in mind that I'm a novice and I just got my system up and running.

 

[tedbell]

How do I do that? Should bear in mind that I'm a novice and I just got my system up and running.

Do you have an 11.2 install medium available? If not make one. I guess find the install archives by browsing the medium and extract the file /boot/loader. I can't remember where those archives are on the install media so maybe someone else here can answer better. I backed mine up from a previous 11.2 install and if you want I can upload the file somewhere for you. Then

cp loader /boot/loader

reboot.

I don't know how far along your install is but if you can install 11.2 and then update you can grab and backup the file that way. But the file is located at /boot/loader. They must have changed something in it why it crashes.

 

[knightjp]

I don't know how far along your install is but if you can install 11.2 and then update you can grab and backup the file that way. But the file is located at /boot/loader. They must have changed something in it why it crashes.

Thanks for the advise, but it doesn't crash. It just makes gives me this annoying error.

I recall trying to install FreeBSD 11 and coming across the same thing. I believe I mentioned it at that time as well.

 

[olli@]

(Note: I have transcribed the screenshot via OCR, so it can be found by textual searches.)

Thanks for the advise, but it doesn't crash. It just makes gives me this annoying error.

BTX loader 1.00  BTX version is 1.02
Consoles: internal video/keyboard
BIOS drive C: is disk0
BIOS drive D: is disk1
BIOS drive E: is disk2
BIOS drive F: is disk3
BIOS drive G: is disk4
BIOS drive H: is disk5
BIOS drive I: is disk6
read 1 from 0 to 0xdcc86340, error: 0x31
read 1 from 0 to 0xdcc86340, error: 0x31
read 1 from 0 to 0xdcc86340, error: 0x31
read 1 from 0 to 0xdcc86340, error: 0x31
read 1 from 0 to 0xdcc86340, error: 0x31
read 1 from 0 to 0xdcc86340, error: 0x31
read 1 from 0 to 0xdcc86340, error: 0x31
read 1 from 0 to 0xdcc86340, error: 0x31
read 1 from 0 to 0xdcc86340, error: 0x31
read 1 from 0 to 0xdcc86340, error: 0x31
BIOS 621kB/3648064kB available memory

FreeBSD/x86 bootstrap loader, Revision 1.1

The BIOS error code 0x31 means “no media in drive”. I guess your drive I: (disk6) is a CD / DVD / BD drive, and there's no disk in the drive. You can simply ignore that message, it's completely harmless.

 

[Ogis]

The BIOS error code 0x31 means “no media in drive”. I guess your drive I: (disk6) is a CD / DVD / BD drive, and there's no disk in the drive. You can simply ignore that message, it's completely harmless.

Yes, you are absolutely right. I also see these messages in my system. I searched for the meanings of these messages and realized that it's completely harmless.

 

[knightjp]

I wish there was a way to stop those messages. Now the next step is to get my keyboard and trackball working. Specialized hardware doesn't do well with FreeBSD I think..

 

[olli@]

I wish there was a way to stop those messages.

I always wonder why some people want to get rid of messages that are known to be harmless. Does the word “error” hurt your eyes? Well, you've got the source code, so you can change it to “happy” or whatever you like. In fact you can change it directly in the /boot/loader binary with a hex editor because “error” and “happy” have the same length.
If you seriously decide to change it in the source, it's in the file stand/i386/libi386/biosdisk.c.

Now the next step is to get my keyboard and trackball working. Specialized hardware doesn't do well with FreeBSD I think..

Well, it depends. I have some specialized hardware that works well with FreeBSD, including two trackballs (a Logitech MX Ergo and a TrackMan Marble FX).
However, most hardware that uses non-standard protocols, requires proprietary drivers and lacks documentation for developers is unlikely to work with FreeBSD out of the box.

 

[ralphbsz]

I always wonder why some people want to get rid of messages that are known to be harmless.

That's a deeply philosophical question. And the answer is that in many cases you are correct, and one is better off living with the error message.

Here are two attempts at a counter-argument, both of limited validity: (1) For an expert who completely understands the error message and knows for sure it's harmless, that's OK. But an amateur should always worry about errors/warnings they don't understand, because they could be signs of something serious, which might bite you later. (2) Having too many error messages that one deliberately ignores may eventually cause one to get into the habit of ignoring them. And then a really important message shows up (like "your disk is about to fail"). This is about crying "wolf" one too many times.

Obvious joke: Mel Brooks Frankenstein: "Were wolf?" "There wolf, there castle". "Why are you talking like this?"

 

[ekingston]

Here are two attempts at a counter-argument, both of limited validity: (1) For an expert who completely understands the error message and knows for sure it's harmless, that's OK. But an amateur should always worry about errors/warnings they don't understand, because they could be signs of something serious, which might bite you later. (2) Having too many error messages that one deliberately ignores may eventually cause one to get into the habit of ignoring them. And then a really important message shows up (like "your disk is about to fail"). This is about crying "wolf" one too many times.

I wouldn't say they are of limited validity. They are both very valid. In the case of #1 the expert should be asking if it is nothing to worry about, why is it an error instead of a notice or warning? In the case of the amateur, researching what the errors actually mean is how they become experts. This non-error error is slowing down that learning process.

In the case of #2, many of the reported breaches were the result of monitoring teams getting used to errors being reported that weren't really significant and so ignoring the actual errors that would have alerted them to the bad-guys trying to break in. Too many false-positives hides the real positives from people's eyes. Tuning your systems error messages is important so that you are overloaded.

 

[olli@]

I wouldn't say they are of limited validity. They are both very valid. In the case of #1 the expert should be asking if it is nothing to worry about, why is it an error instead of a notice or warning?

In this case it is really a notice. It only contains the word “error” because the loader just quotes the error code that the BIOS reports back. And in case you want to boot from the CD/DVD drive, it is actually an error if there is no disc inserted. If you don't want to boot from it, then it's not an error.

However, I agree that it would be useful if the loader binary contained a list of the few dozen BIOS error codes and translated the numbers to text, so users don't have to guess what 0x31 means.

 

[PMc]

In this case it is really a notice. It only contains the word “error” because the loader just quotes the error code that the BIOS reports back. And in case you want to boot from the CD/DVD drive, it is actually an error if there is no disc inserted. If you don't want to boot from it, then it's not an error.

If this is indeed a BIOS error (don't know about these, I thought it is a regular errno.h error), then shouldn't it be possible to adjust the bootlist in the BIOS? Anyway, I also have an empty DVD that should be bootable, and never seen such error.

Besides, I'd like to agree to ekingston and ralphbsz - the unix tradition says, correct behaviour is signalled by *no message*, so over time one develops a view "from the corner of one's eye" that instinctively kicks adrenaline if there is some new output.

 

[shkhln]

Here are two attempts at a counter-argument...

Off-topic, but this misattributed quote really bothers me. Might be a mildly interesting bug.

 

[knightjp]

Interesting thing is I did put MacOS back on the main HDD. I did a fresh installation of FreeBSD on a second drive. When booting the system then, it goes to the Clover boot loader and then I choose the FreeBSD installation and when it boots there are no error messages.
So the question, what is in Clover Bootloader and removes those errors?

 

[olli@]

Interesting thing is I did put MacOS back on the main HDD. I did a fresh installation of FreeBSD on a second drive. When booting the system then, it goes to the Clover boot loader and then I choose the FreeBSD installation and when it boots there are no error messages.
So the question, what is in Clover Bootloader and removes those errors?

FreeBSD's boot loader uses a BIOS service (the so-called software interrupt 0x13, sometimes called “INT 13h”) to access disk drives. The error codes from the above messages (“error 0x31”) comes from that BIOS service. It is not uncommon that chaining boot loaders intercept that software interrupt for various purposes, e.g. to add more functions or to filter devices. According to your description it seems that the Clover Bootloader does that, too.

 

[knightjp]

FreeBSD's boot loader uses a BIOS service (the so-called software interrupt 0x13, sometimes called “INT 13h”) to access disk drives. The error codes from the above messages (“error 0x31”) comes from that BIOS service. It is not uncommon that chaining boot loaders intercept that software interrupt for various purposes, e.g. to add more functions or to filter devices. According to your description it seems that the Clover Bootloader does that, too.

Perhaps adjusting settings in the BIOS will remove the errors.

 

[knightjp]

its to heavy for my PC is there anything else

FreeBSD?
As far as my experience goes, it is quite light on system resources.

 

[fryshke]

Imagine that. FreeBSD doesn't natively run Windows and Microsoft frameworks.

Imagine that. Linux and macOS does natively run Windows (???) and Microsoft frameworks. It's like people actually care about Linux and macOS.

As for .NET Core... I hate to say but no-one uses it. It is just Microsoft's way of saying that they don't intend to maintain .NET for much longer and are gradually trying to cut it down in size until it fizzles out. This is exactly how large companies do product disposal without losing face.

Monster Jobs - Job Search, Career Advice & Hiring Resources | Monster.com | .net-core

www.monster.com

Hate to say but you're just poor Microsoft hating sob with huge fucking reality distortion field around you, plenty of .NET Core jobs out there, who knew.

 

[drhowarddrfine]

Imagine that. Linux and macOS does natively run Windows (???) and Microsoft frameworks.

They don't. Your lack of programming and operating system knowledge is showing.

 

[Crivens]

I don't care who stole whose toy spade in this sandbox. Stop this kind of personal attacks or go cool your heels. All of you.

Okay? Now shake hands and be friends.

 

[unix4you2]

Hi everybody,

For those that are interested in a simple way to have a FreeBSD desktop fully functional in less than 20 minutes this is my personal how-to to do it. It's in my native language (spanish) but I hope it help you. This have some links to another documents that teach how to install every desktop (Gnome, KDE, XFCE, E17... and even CDE!).

FreeBSD como sistema de Escritorio

FreeBSD como sistema de Escritorio GUÍA RÁPIDA DE INSTALACIÓN Y SUPERVIVENCIA Objetivo: Alcance: Tener un compendio de los aspectos clave a tener en cuenta durante la instalación de FreeBSD como un sistema de Escritorio Sistemas operativos FreeBSD 13.1+ Los procedimientos aquí indic...

docs.google.com

Regards

 

[kpedersen]

plenty of .NET Core jobs out there, who knew.

I think the conversation has moved on since September 13th! XD

But get back to me in a couple of years and I am pretty sure your opinion will have changed.

Also you should not take offense by technical predictions. The lifespan of a piece of Microsoft software is not a reflection upon VB.NET developers.