Will FreeBSD work on my hardware?

[Benjamin Meade]

apeak at softhome.net wrote:
> I'd like to try FreeBSD, but I have some problem hardware that I'm 
> having trouble getting Linux on.  It's an AMD64 with an NForce ethernet, 
> and an external Iomega Zip Drive plugged into the USB port.  Also, I 
> want to dual-boot with Window XP, and I want read access to the NTFS 
> partition.  Is it doable?

Everything is doable.

Firstly, decide on which release you want - 5.x or 4.x. 4.x is the stable 
version, but I don't know if it supports the amd64 chipset. According to the 
website (http://www.freebsd.org/platforms/amd64.html) it is a fully supported 
chipset, but I don't see mention of it under the 4.x release notes. Maybe 
somebody more familar with the 4.x series could fill in this blank.

For compatable hardware, see
http://www.freebsd.org/releases/5.2.1R/hardware.html
or
http://www.freebsd.org/releases/4.9R/hardware.html

Dual booting with windows should present no major problems as long as you read 
the manual before experimenting. And backup your data beforehand. Searching 
through the archives of this list seems to indicate that GAG is the way to go 
(http://gag.sourceforge.net/). I've never acutally used it, so do a bit of 
research before jumping in.

Readonly access to NTFS partitions should work fine. Writing is even supported 
to a limited extent. See 
http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=mount_ntfs&sektion=8
for more info.

Also, google can solve a lot of time. (Searching for, say, "howto dual boot 
freebsd windows xp"), and the freebsd website has a LOT of info.

Hope this helps.

-- 
Benjamin Meade
System Administrator
LanWest Pty Ltd
Ph:  +61 (8) 9440 3033
Fax: +61 (8) 9440 3370