Hello - i5 processors and,Nvidia GPUs

Manish Jain bourne.identity at hotmail.com
Sat Nov 12 13:16:24 UTC 2016



On 11/12/16 17:30, freebsd-questions-request at freebsd.org wrote:
> I have read in the handbook that FreeBSD 11 supports all i5 processors and
> Nvidia GPUs. That much I know. I am contacting you just to make sure that I
> am not dishing $$$??? for something that will not work. I am a newbie not
> just to FreeBSD but to all things IT.

Hi,

Your question is a bit too generic for anyone to offer any realistic 
help. Generally, freebsd-questions is the most helpful forum on the web, 
now, in the past and in the future - as long as you ask specific questions.

a) Yes, i5 processors are supported out-of-the-box and most Nvidia 
graphics cards are supported by the nvidia kernel module. But you 
probably will find things easier with a Radeon R5 230 graphics card - 
that works nicely, is easier to set up and produces better font rendering.

For nvidia, remember to install system sources (the src tarball) when 
installing FreeBSD. Then log in as root and use the following commands :

	
	a) cd /root
	b) pkg install xorg
	c) pkg install nvidia-driver # (Omit this step for Radeon)
	d) kldload nvidia # (or 'kldload radeon' if your card is Radeon)
	e) Xorg -configure
	f) mv xorg.conf.new /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Now test things with the command 'startx'. If you get bad results, post 
to this forum with a detailed problem report and output.

If you get good results (a couple of windows with xterm running nicely), 
go ahead down the road further (assuming you want the K desktop 
environment; for GNOME, use gnome3 instead of kde and gnome_enable in 
place of kdm4_enable) :

	g) pkg install kde # (this will take a couple of hours)
	h) echo 'kldload nvidia' >> /etc/rc.local
	i) echo 'kdm4_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf
	j) reboot

With everything working nicely, you now have a shining new desktop under 
FreeBSD.

b)
> PS > May I make a suggestion? why does not the FreeBSD project sell
> computers that are fully compatible with FreeBSD. The proceeds would go
> straight to the project to fund + r&d. Just an idea. I would certainly buy
> a computer from you guys. The confusion surrounding compatibilities etc is
> mind boggling. It does not have to be this way. It could be so much
> simpler, I think. Well, i am not an expert so maybe I am talking nonsense.

Ah, FreeBSD is essentially a server. It works nicely as a desktop, but 
this needs some time and user skills. For making available a new and 
retailed computer that works out-of-the-box, I have set up a website 
last month. You can have a look at my website. If you like my website, I 
shall be delighted to honour you as my first customer. I offer free 24x7 
support.

Regards
Manish Jain


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