[Bug 229727] bge watchdog timeout with MacBook Pro (Mid-2010)

[Bruce Evans]

On Mon, 16 Jul 2018 a bug that doesn't want replies at freebsd.org wrote:

> https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=229727
>
> --- Comment #37 from Eugene Grosbein <eugen at freebsd.org> ---
> (In reply to Stephan Neuhaus from comment #35)
>
> If this model does not support old BIOS-style boot mode, try using text mode of
> vt(4) driver:
>
> echo hw.vga.textmode=1 >> /boot/loader.conf
>
> instead of "kern.vty=sc" (remove it from the loader.conf).

Surely Macs don't support text mode (?), so that is surer to fail than sc,
where text mode is the default and this is hard to change.

I'm surprised that any Mac works under FreeBSD.  Google knows very little
about this, especially since ~2013 when Macs started getting more specialized
hardware.

I inherited a early 2009 iMac with broken graphics hardware that can
sometimes be fixed by overheating it to reflow its solder.  This system
is difficult to boot even as a Mac when the solder has gaps or you are
not a Mac export, and I got nowhere trying to boot FreeBSD, Linux or
Windows on it (I only tried even older boot media and nothing got
further than hanging with no useful error message).

I'm evn more suprised thhan reflowing solder sometimes gives working
hardware instead of a short circuit.

Bruce