EeePC and FreeBSD page
Putting FreeBSD onto my EeePC
OK, finally get around to it. First read John's info on the wiki: http://wiki.meraka.csir.co.za/wiki/index.php/Category:ASUS_eeePC
Then copy John's FreeBSD EeePC distribution (img.tgz) to my PC. Follow Werner's instructions to get the distro on USB memory stick
fdisk -I da0 fdisk -B da0 bsdlabel -w da0s1 auto bsdlabel -B da0s1 newfs /dev/da0s1a mount /dev/da0s1a /mnt tar -xvf img.tgz -C /mnt/ echo /dev/da0s1a / ufs rw 1 1 > /mnt/etc/fstab echo ifconfig_DEFAULT=DHCP > /mnt/etc/rc.conf echo hostname=demo >> /mnt/etc/rc.conf umount /mnt
Plug into USB port on EeePC. Select boot form USB (Press ESC at bootup to get menu) Boot FreeBSD Dump WinXP image on a USB disk
dd if=/dev/ad2 of=/dev/da2 bs=4k
Follow instructions above to get FreeBSD on ad2
fdisk -I ad2 fdisk -B ad2 bsdlabel -w ad2s1 auto bsdlabel -B ad2s1 newfs -U /dev/ad2s1a mount /dev/ad2s1a /mnt tar -cf - --exclude /mnt / | tar -xvpf - -C /mnt echo /dev/ad2s1a / ufs rw 1 1 > /mnt/etc/fstab
Enable ipv6, ssh and moused in /etc/rc.conf
ipv6_enable="YES" sshd_enable="YES" moused_enable="YES"
Shutdown and reboot.
Install Xorg and KDE
setenv PACKAGEROOT ftp://ftp2.za.freebsd.org pkg_add -r xorg pkg_add -r kde-lite
Enable and test sound. Add the following line in /boot/loader.conf
snd_hda_load="YES"
Search for app that can show the battery status in X. Install and test desktopbsd-tools. Battery status works. Test wifi install gui. Not impressed, it only supports WEP
pkg_add -r desktopbsd-tools
Battery status works. Test wifi install gui. Not impressed, it only supports WEP. Delete package and search for other battery apps. See that KDE has a package that can show battery status. Install klaptopdaemon.
pkg_add -r kdeutils-klaptopdaemon
Battle to get it to work. Eventually find out that you have to load AMP (advanced power management). Edit /etc/rc.conf and add the following lines.
amp_enable="YES" ampd_enable="YES"
Shutdown and reboot
Login and start KDE. Enable battery monitor under kde "Start" "Settings" "Power control" "Laptop Battery". Yes, I get a new battery icon. Remove power and test it. Battery shows power, but reporting of "time left" is broken.
Enable power manager to preserve power while running on battery. Add following to rc.conf
powerd_enable="YES"
and lower CPU speed. Add the following to /etc/sysctl.conf
dev.cpu.0.cx_lowest=C3
Try to get dstumbler to work so that we can use the EeePC as a wireless measurement PC. Install BSD-airtools (dstumbler part of it), but it looks like the package is broken. Search for other packages that we can use, but I can't find anything. Start looking at what command line stats available.
Try to enable virtual screen resolution in Xorg. Add the following in the Screen section of xorg.conf
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0 Depth 24 Virtual 1200 720
EndSubSection
Restart X, but it doesn't work. Do a lot of reading and playing, but I cannot get it to work.