I got an Apple Mac Pro (NOT MacBook Pro) to play with. I tried to install FreeBSD and succeeded to a high degree of usefulness on this Mac. First problem was to open/close the CD tray reliable. Holding down the 'F12' key while switching on the power makes it open the tray, but one needs to be patient: it takes MANY seconds. Second problem was to boot the CD reliable. Holding down the 'C' Key while switching on the power makes it boot from CD. Then I tried to boot a FreeBSD 6.1-STABLE CD from Jun 5 2006. It booted up to the point where the hard disk was recognized 'ad0: 238475MB <WDC WD2500JS-41SGB0 20.06....' , but it booted not further. I did not debug this further but then tried 6.2-RC2-i386-disc1.iso as of Dec 26 2006. This booted all fine into sysinstall. I installed FreeBSD minimally scrubbing the MacOS X completely (this seem to be an important detail, see later). The then booted GENERIC kernel showed the following dmesg: Jan 4 11:16:25 newsyslog[634]: logfile first created Jan 4 11:16:25 syslogd: kernel boot file is /boot/kernel/kernel Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: Copyright (c) 1992-2006 The FreeBSD Project. Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: Copyright (c) 1979, 1980, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: FreeBSD is a registered trademark of The FreeBSD Foundation. Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: FreeBSD 6.2-RC2 #0: Sun Dec 24 23:42:30 UTC 2006 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: root@dessler.cse.buffalo.edu:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/SMP Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: Timecounter "i8254" frequency 1193182 Hz quality 0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: CPU: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU 5150 @ 2.66GHz (2665.34-MHz 686-class CPU) Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: Origin = "GenuineIntel" Id = 0x6f6 Stepping = 6 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: Features=0xbfebfbff<FPU,VME,DE,PSE,TSC,MSR,PAE,MCE,CX8,APIC,SEP,MTRR,PGE,MCA,CMOV,PAT,PSE36,CLFLUSH,DTS,ACPI,MMX,FXSR,SSE,SSE2,SS,HTT,TM,PBE> Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: Features2=0x4e3bd<SSE3,RSVD2,MON,DS_CPL,VMX,EST,TM2,<b9>,CX16,<b14>,<b15>,<b18>> Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: AMD Features=0x20100000<NX,LM> Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: AMD Features2=0x1<LAHF> Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: Cores per package: 2 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: real memory = 2125381632 (2026 MB) Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: avail memory = 2074652672 (1978 MB) Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: ACPI APIC Table: <APPLE Apple00> Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: FreeBSD/SMP: Multiprocessor System Detected: 4 CPUs Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: cpu0 (BSP): APIC ID: 0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: cpu1 (AP): APIC ID: 1 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: cpu2 (AP): APIC ID: 6 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: cpu3 (AP): APIC ID: 7 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: ioapic0 <Version 2.0> irqs 0-23 on motherboard Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: lapic0: Forcing LINT1 to edge trigger Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: kbd0 at kbdmux0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: ath_hal: 0.9.17.2 (AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, RF5111, RF5112, RF2413, RF5413) Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: acpi0: <APPLE Apple00> on motherboard Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: acpi_ec0: <Embedded Controller: GPE 0x11, ECDT> port 0x62,0x66 on acpi0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: acpi_bus_number: can't get _ADR Jan 4 11:16:25 last message repeated 7 times Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: acpi0: Power Button (fixed) Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: acpi_bus_number: can't get _ADR Jan 4 11:16:25 last message repeated 3 times Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: Timecounter "ACPI-fast" frequency 3579545 Hz quality 1000 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: acpi_timer0: <24-bit timer at 3.579545MHz> port 0x408-0x40b on acpi0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: cpu0: <ACPI CPU> on acpi0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: cpu1: <ACPI CPU> on acpi0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: cpu2: <ACPI CPU> on acpi0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: cpu3: <ACPI CPU> on acpi0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pcib0: <ACPI Host-PCI bridge> port 0xcf8-0xcff on acpi0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pci0: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pcib1: <ACPI PCI-PCI bridge> at device 2.0 on pci0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pci1: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib1 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pcib2: <ACPI PCI-PCI bridge> irq 16 at device 0.0 on pci1 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pci2: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib2 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pcib3: <ACPI PCI-PCI bridge> at device 0.0 on pci2 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pci3: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib3 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pcib4: <PCI-PCI bridge> at device 1.0 on pci2 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pci4: <PCI bus> on pcib4 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pcib5: <ACPI PCI-PCI bridge> at device 2.0 on pci2 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pci5: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib5 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: em0: <Intel(R) PRO/1000 Network Connection Version - 6.2.9> port 0x2020-0x203f mem 0x92c20000-0x92c3ffff,0x92800000-0x92bfffff irq 18 at device 0.0 on pci5 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: em0: Ethernet address: 00:17:f2:04:b2:90 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: em1: <Intel(R) PRO/1000 Network Connection Version - 6.2.9> port 0x2000-0x201f mem 0x92c00000-0x92c1ffff,0x92400000-0x927fffff irq 19 at device 0.1 on pci5 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: em1: Ethernet address: 00:17:f2:04:b2:91 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pci1: <base peripheral, interrupt controller> at device 0.1 (no driver attached) Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pcib6: <PCI-PCI bridge> at device 0.3 on pci1 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pci6: <PCI bus> on pcib6 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pcib7: <ACPI PCI-PCI bridge> at device 4.0 on pci0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pci8: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib7 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pci8: <display, VGA> at device 0.0 (no driver attached) Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pci0: <base peripheral> at device 8.0 (no driver attached) Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pci0: <multimedia> at device 27.0 (no driver attached) Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pcib8: <ACPI PCI-PCI bridge> at device 28.0 on pci0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pci12: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib8 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pcib9: <PCI-PCI bridge> at device 28.1 on pci0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pci13: <PCI bus> on pcib9 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pcib10: <ACPI PCI-PCI bridge> at device 28.2 on pci0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pci14: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib10 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pcib11: <ACPI PCI-PCI bridge> at device 28.3 on pci0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pci15: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib11 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pci15: <network> at device 0.0 (no driver attached) Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhci0: <UHCI (generic) USB controller> port 0x30a0-0x30bf irq 19 at device 29.0 on pci0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhci0: [GIANT-LOCKED] Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: usb0: <UHCI (generic) USB controller> on uhci0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: usb0: USB revision 1.0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhub0: Intel UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhub0: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhci1: <UHCI (generic) USB controller> port 0x3080-0x309f irq 20 at device 29.1 on pci0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhci1: [GIANT-LOCKED] Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: usb1: <UHCI (generic) USB controller> on uhci1 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: usb1: USB revision 1.0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhub1: Intel UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhub1: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhci2: <UHCI (generic) USB controller> port 0x3060-0x307f irq 21 at device 29.2 on pci0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhci2: [GIANT-LOCKED] Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: usb2: <UHCI (generic) USB controller> on uhci2 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: usb2: USB revision 1.0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhub2: Intel UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhub2: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhci3: <UHCI (generic) USB controller> port 0x3040-0x305f irq 22 at device 29.3 on pci0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhci3: [GIANT-LOCKED] Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: usb3: <UHCI (generic) USB controller> on uhci3 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: usb3: USB revision 1.0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhub3: Intel UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhub3: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: ehci0: <EHCI (generic) USB 2.0 controller> mem 0x93104800-0x93104bff irq 19 at device 29.7 on pci0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: ehci0: [GIANT-LOCKED] Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: usb4: EHCI version 1.0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: usb4: companion controllers, 2 ports each: usb0 usb1 usb2 usb3 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: usb4: <EHCI (generic) USB 2.0 controller> on ehci0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: usb4: USB revision 2.0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhub4: Intel EHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 2.00/1.00, addr 1 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhub4: 8 ports with 8 removable, self powered Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pcib12: <ACPI PCI-PCI bridge> at device 30.0 on pci0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pci16: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib12 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: fwohci0: <Texas Instruments TSB82AA2> mem 0x92f04000-0x92f047ff,0x92f00000-0x92f03fff at device 11.0 on pci16 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: fwohci0: OHCI version 1.10 (ROM=0) Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: fwohci0: No. of Isochronous channels is 4. Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: fwohci0: EUI64 00:16:cb:ff:fe:70:df:c8 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: fwohci0: invalid speed 7 (fixed to 3). Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: fwohci0: Phy 1394a available S800, 3 ports. Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: fwohci0: Link S800, max_rec 4096 bytes. Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: firewire0: <IEEE1394(FireWire) bus> on fwohci0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: fwe0: <Ethernet over FireWire> on firewire0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: if_fwe0: Fake Ethernet address: 02:16:cb:70:df:c8 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: fwe0: Ethernet address: 02:16:cb:70:df:c8 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: fwe0: if_start running deferred for Giant Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: sbp0: <SBP-2/SCSI over FireWire> on firewire0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: fwohci0: Initiate bus reset Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: fwohci0: node_id=0xc800ffc1, gen=1, CYCLEMASTER mode Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: firewire0: 2 nodes, maxhop <= 1, cable IRM = 1 (me) Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: firewire0: bus manager 1 (me) Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: fwohci0: phy int Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: isab0: <PCI-ISA bridge> at device 31.0 on pci0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: isa0: <ISA bus> on isab0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: atapci0: <Intel 63XXESB2 UDMA100 controller> port 0x30e8-0x30ef,0x30fc-0x30ff,0x30e0-0x30e7,0x30f8-0x30fb,0x30c0-0x30cf irq 20 at device 31.1 on pci0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: ata2: <ATA channel 0> on atapci0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: ata3: <ATA channel 1> on atapci0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: atapci1: <Intel 63XXESB2 SATA300 controller> port 0x30d8-0x30df,0x30f4-0x30f7,0x30d0-0x30d7,0x30f0-0x30f3,0x3020-0x302f mem 0x93104400-0x931047ff irq 21 at device 31.2 on pci0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: ata4: <ATA channel 0> on atapci1 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: ata5: <ATA channel 1> on atapci1 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pci0: <serial bus, SMBus> at device 31.3 (no driver attached) Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: acpi_button0: <Power Button> on acpi0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: battery0: <ACPI Smart Battery> on acpi0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: pmtimer0 on isa0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: ata0 at port 0x1f0-0x1f7,0x3f6 irq 14 on isa0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: ata1 at port 0x170-0x177,0x376 irq 15 on isa0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: ppc0: parallel port not found. Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: sc0: <System console> at flags 0x100 on isa0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: sc0: VGA <16 virtual consoles, flags=0x300> Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: sio0: configured irq 4 not in bitmap of probed irqs 0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: sio0: port may not be enabled Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: sio0 at port 0x3f8-0x3ff irq 4 flags 0x10 on isa0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: sio0: type 8250 or not responding Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: sio1: configured irq 3 not in bitmap of probed irqs 0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: sio1: port may not be enabled Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: vga0: <Generic ISA VGA> at port 0x3c0-0x3df iomem 0xa0000-0xbffff on isa0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhub5: Cherry GmbH Cherry GmbH USB-Hub, class 9/0, rev 1.10/2.10, addr 2 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhub5: 5 ports with 4 removable, bus powered Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: ukbd0: Cherry GmbH Cherry GmbH USB-Keyboard, rev 1.10/2.10, addr 3, iclass 3/1 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: kbd1 at ukbd0 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhub6: Mitsumi Electric Hub in Apple Extended USB Keyboard, class 9/0, rev 1.10/4.00, addr 4 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhub6: 3 ports with 2 removable, bus powered Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: ukbd1: Mitsumi Electric Apple Extended USB Keyboard, rev 1.10/4.00, addr 5, iclass 3/1 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: kbd2 at ukbd1 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: uhid0: Mitsumi Electric Apple Extended USB Keyboard, rev 1.10/4.00, addr 5, iclass 3/1 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: ukbd2: vendor 0x05ac product 0x1000, rev 2.00/19.65, addr 2, iclass 3/1 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: kbd3 at ukbd2 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: ums0: vendor 0x05ac product 0x1000, rev 2.00/19.65, addr 2, iclass 3/1 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: ums0: 5 buttons. Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: Timecounters tick every 1.000 msec Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: acd0: DVDR <PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-111D/AB09> at ata2-master UDMA66 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: ad8: 238475MB <WDC WD2500JS-41SGB0 20.06C04> at ata4-master SATA150 Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: lapic1: Forcing LINT1 to edge trigger Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: SMP: AP CPU #1 Launched! Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: lapic6: Forcing LINT1 to edge trigger Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: SMP: AP CPU #2 Launched! Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: lapic7: Forcing LINT1 to edge trigger Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: SMP: AP CPU #3 Launched! Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: Trying to mount root from ufs:/dev/ad8s1a Jan 4 11:16:25 kernel: acpi_smbus_read_2: AE_ERROR 0x10 All immediately necessary hardware is recognized: CPU, ATA, disk, cd, USB, keyboard, network, vga/syscons, I installed my reference installation via network (with NFS and rsync): FreeBSD 6.2-STABLE kernel and userland as of 8.1.2007 (make installword) /usr/X11R6 (X.Org 6.9.0) , /usr/compat/linux (from ports), /usr/local (selfmade, multi gigabytes), and a customized /etc and /var/local. All went well until I rebooted. The kernel locked hard when starting the gettys (even no more response for ICMP Echo Request/ping). The culprit was a left over /etc/ttys entry for /dev/ttyd0: the device was there (see dmesg output above) but there is no hardware. This seemingly resulted in a locked kernel. I did not debug this further. I removed the offending /etc/ttys entry and noted to myself to exclude 'device sio' in the customized kernel config I planned to create later. I noticed, that rebooting the machine oftentimes resulted in locks with this console message: Keyboard reset did not work, attempting CPU shutdown Rebooting works reliable after excluding 'device atkbdc' and 'device atkbd' from the kernel config I created later. After installing and booting a customized kernel I got a boot lockup just after recognizing the hard disk. A bit of searching revealed that 'device atapicam' was the culprit. Without 'device atapicam' the boot went all OK. Next thing to try was the X server. This is not a FreeBSD specific issue alone. I tried my /usr/X11R6 reference installation based on a 'make World' of X.org 6.9.0. The Xorg server crashed with 'signal 8'. I did not debug this further. I tried installing a different graphics card (ATI RV380 FireGL V3200 instead of the NVidia GeForce 7300 GT delivered with the Mac Pro). The Mac Pro did not even show a sign of booting nor initializing with this card. I tried to install the ATI RV380 as a secondary card (the NVidia as the primary) but I did not get a X server runnging on this secondary card (but I had not tried hard). Next thing to try was the NVidia Driver from NVidia's web site (with the GeForce 7300 as the only graphics card). It compiled and installed OK, the kernel part loaded OK and recognized the card with this messages: Jan 9 14:21:38 test-joerg kernel: nvidia0: <GeForce 7300 GT> port 0x1000-0x107f mem 0x91000000-0x91ffffff,0x80000000-0x8fffffff,0x9000000 0-0x90ffffff irq 16 at device 0.0 on pci8 Jan 9 14:21:38 test-joerg kernel: nvidia0: [GIANT-LOCKED] Starting the X server with a 'Driver "nvidia"' line in xorg.conf resulted in a crash of the machine. I did not debug this any further. Next thing was to look whether X.Org made any progress on supporting NVidia cards. And see: there was! I backported some changes of the nv driver in xf86-video-nv-X11R7.1-1.1.1.tar.gz in respect to the nv driver in xf86-video-nv-X11R7.0-1.0.1.5.tar.gz, which is the identical driver source as in X.org 6.9.0. Finetuning of the xorg.conf file is in the works. But the first X sessions on the local displays were all OK. Outstanding tests: sound, multiboot, burning CDs and DVDs. I did not yet tried any sound modules yet. On multibooting FreeBSD and other operating systems I tried to create an additional slice: one more slice created with sysinstall/fdisk makes that the Mac Pro does not boot from disk at all any more! Looks like this is something for 'boot camp' (whatever this is, I'll give this to our Apple Mac OS X people). I prefer cdrecord for burning CDs and DVDs. But this will not work until the 'device atapicam' problems are resolved somehow. More informations are available on request. I can run tests on the machine if anyone is interested. Joerg -- Mail: Joerg.Lehners@Informatik.Uni-Oldenburg.DE Tel: 2198 Real: Joerg Lehners, Informatik ARBI, Uni Oldenburg, D-26111 Oldenburg Unwoerter: Kostensenkung - Gewinnmaximierung - billig, billig, billig