# FuryBSD - New FreeBSD Desktop OS



## JoshDW19 (Nov 3, 2019)

Hey everybody,

I'm new to the FreeBSD forums and have read through the rules, so hopefully, I won't have any faux pas. If there's a better place to post this, please let me know or feel free to move it. I'd appreciate it greatly.

I wanted to let everybody know that a few of us have gotten together and launched a new FreeBSD-based desktop project called FuryBSD. It's completely Free, Open Source, and available in a hybrid, live image right now. The goal of FuryBSD is to maintain tight integration with FreeBSD, meaning we use the tools provided in FreeBSD to maintain the OS, including updating and installing. There won't be any unnecessary tuneables. We hope that this effort will mean that users wanting a desktop experience can enjoy FreeBSD without having the Frankenstein's monster issue of additional layers of failure from custom utilities that are unsustainable to maintain. The test image is available for download from the website here.

If anyone has any questions, I'm happy to answer them, but I just wanted to try to get the word out there that there's a new FreeBSD Desktop in town. Thanks, everybody!

*Disclosure: *I work for iXsystems, but FuryBSD is not an iXsystems project. FuryBSD is a wholly community-driven and open-source effort. I don't want anyone to be surprised if you've seen my name before as I am involved in many other open-source projects and communities. 

Thanks,

Joshua


----------



## Alain De Vos (Nov 3, 2019)

Interesting but,
"the Frankenstein's monster issue of additional layers of failure from custom utilities that are unsustainable to maintain."
Could you provide a list of the utilities ?


----------



## JoshDW19 (Nov 3, 2019)

Thanks for your response. I'd rather not get specific because I'm not looking to call any other past BSD desktop projects out on their design decisions and utilities. I can say from personal experience I think it's better to have tighter compatibility with FreeBSD rather than diverging too much, creating new utilities and changes that are difficult to keep up with. As an example, if we were to build our own installer and something changes upstream, it creates an additional layer of failure or something extra to maintain. Eventually, it becomes unsustainable for a small desktop development team because there are just too many moving parts.


----------



## Deleted member 30996 (Nov 4, 2019)

So much for losing Trident. You took up that slack and welcome to it.

I downloaded the live image and will give it a fair try since I see Joe is on the team. I still need to update my W520 from 11.2 and have it offline for the moment so no time constraints. I don't use Telegraph but will let you know my honest opinion of the first time user experience as a favor.


----------



## shkhln (Nov 4, 2019)

Can't say I'm particularly thrilled, anything with even a tangential connection to iXsystems automatically makes me suspicious at this point. Is FuryBSD based on TrueOS or plain FreeBSD? What are the differences from GhostBSD?


----------



## vermaden (Nov 4, 2019)

JoshDW19 said:


> Hey everybody,
> 
> I'm new to the FreeBSD forums and have read through the rules, so hopefully, I won't have any faux pas. If there's a better place to post this, please let me know or feel free to move it. I'd appreciate it greatly.
> 
> ...


Why not join GhostBSD or NomadBSD team? How your goals are different then their?


----------



## malco_2001 (Nov 4, 2019)

Hi guys I'm Joe Maloney in case you didn't already know.  This is soley a community project.  All costs for this are coming out of my pocket, all the development is coming only out of my free time, and I want to keep it that way.  I do work with Eric very closely.  I helped write the later iterations of his LiveCD which this new project is based on, and we still collaborate together a lot even in the last week.  

I hope to collaborate with NomadBSD as well and perhaps contribute to dsbdriverd which I have enabled but have not pushed yet.  Currently the ISO is nothing more than stock FreeBSD with a wrapper script that calls a lot of bsdinstall modules.  The key difference is I am using dump, and restore which are FreeBSD utilities to clone the live file system after the user creates a pool with bsdinstall.  I will not make an alternate installer, alternate update system, pkg-base, etc.  This project uses FreeBSD tools.  

My goals are ship XFCE as the default supported image at 1.2GB which allows the user to boot up into a fully read write file system without persitance.  Persistance support may or may not come in the future because it is not my main goal.  I don't want to step on NomadBSD too much either because I like that project, and would like to work with them.  My main goal is simply to automate booting a FreeBSD desktop, provide some tools to make repetivie tasks easier, a hardware info tool, etc.  

I plan to offer KDE, and Gnome images in the future.  If the users makes changes, enables network, installs nvidia-driver, the installer will commit the changes after the user is happy with the changes.  So in that way persistence is a thing, but you have to install it to get the persistence.  It's not meant to live on USB stick forever other than to test hardware compatibility before committing to disk.  It's a fancier version of my ansible playbooks with my LiveCD work co-developed with Eric.  Stock FreeBSD all the way otherwise with custom theming coming to make it look nice, and some other tools like directory services integration.  I will also be offering a PXE boot capable ISO.


----------



## balanga (Nov 4, 2019)

malco_2001 said:


> I will also be offering a PXE boot capable ISO.



That sounds interesting. Any idea when that will be available?


----------



## malco_2001 (Nov 4, 2019)

balanga said:


> ounds interesting. Any idea when that will be available?



Maybe just another week or so for the PXE support.  It's not hard to do as I've already done it elsewhere.  Just need to find a little time to get it added, pushed.


----------



## Barney (Nov 4, 2019)

Have you improved/expanded touchscreen support?


----------



## malco_2001 (Nov 4, 2019)

Barney said:


> Have you improved/expanded touchscreen support?



Not yet.  To the best of my knowledge this still requires a patch to ports with 12.1 to use libinput properly.  I have been looking at it, and will poke the right people for updates once I can confirm the patches work.  I want to avoid committing anything for that to FuryBSD until it's official in ports.


----------



## vermaden (Nov 4, 2019)

@ malco_2001


Thank you for explanation.


----------



## balanga (Nov 4, 2019)

Will I be able to stick a SIM card in my ThinkPad X1 Carbon and have Internet access almost immediately without jumping through lots of hoops?

I haven't actually figured out how to do this yet on FreeBSD, but on Windows it's a breeze.


----------



## malco_2001 (Nov 4, 2019)

balanga said:


> Will I be able to stick a SIM card in my ThinkPad X1 Carbon and have Internet access almost immediately without jumping through lots of hoops?
> 
> I have actually figured out how to do this yet on FreeBSD, but on Windows it's a breeze.



We might need some extra modules for SIM card.  I can confirm in the near future.  Also networking is not setup automatically but can be enabled using bsdconfig.


----------



## xtremae (Nov 4, 2019)

Best of luck with your project.


----------



## Barney (Nov 4, 2019)

Sounds like another project that might be worth looking at in 2 years.


----------



## toorski (Nov 4, 2019)

I try almost anything once, sometimes even twice. But, If I don't see or hear something new and interesting about Lumina or a new and exciting news regarding deployment, employment and management of FreeBSD jails or/and bhyve, within FreeBSD, then I'm not interested in yet another FreeBSD-like OS with GUI for dummies. We have plenty "out_of_control" point&click/smart-ass GUI/OS implementations:  MS-Windows, Mac/OSX, iOS, Android OS and so many Linux-inside with GUI distributions that can make one's frontal cortex useless.  But, this is only my personal rumbling and view. I wish anyone, who tries, all the best, no matter the outcome. It's better to try something and hope for the best than let your knowledge and imagination go to waist.

Good Luck!


----------



## Alain De Vos (Nov 4, 2019)

Some people leave freebsd after they tried to install it once and failed the first time. Just like I failed in installing Arch linux and never tried that linux distribution again.


----------



## toorski (Nov 4, 2019)

Alain De Vos said:


> Some people leave freebsd after they tried to install it once and failed the first time. Just like I failed in installing Arch linux and never tried that linux distribution again.


When I installed and configured FreeBSD for the 1-st time, over a year ago, it worked for me the first time. But  if it didn't,  I'd have tried 2-nd time, if I had to. And, I'm as dumb as the come  Tho, I do have more luck than brains - heh


----------



## balanga (Nov 4, 2019)

Alain De Vos said:


> Some people leave freebsd after they tried to install it once and failed the first time. Just like I failed in installing Arch linux and never tried that linux distribution again.



I quite like Arch Linux and got it installed fairly easily using this guide:-





_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqh9AQt3nho_


Not sure that this tutorial works any more as Arch Linux is a quickly changing target.

I have it set up on my PXE server so I can boot it up on any of my systems quite easily if I need access to a Linux system.


----------



## balanga (Nov 4, 2019)

toorski said:


> When I installed and configured FreeBSD for the 1-st time, over a year ago, it worked for me the first time. But  if it didn't,  I'd have tried 2-nd time, if I had to. And, I'm as dumb as the come  Tho, I do have more luck than brains - heh



The problem for most Linux users trying FreeBSD, is that they expect a GUI and are somewhat confused by a command prompt. IMV it's probably better have a GUI bolted on for new users so that they can get used to FreeBSD and what it has to offer. Of course getting a GUI installed is a lot easier than it used to be, but then there is problem of knowing which to chose, and each one has its own configuration and this abundance of choice leaves such a installation error prone.


----------



## Deleted member 30996 (Nov 4, 2019)

malco_2001 said:


> If the users makes changes, enables network, installs nvidia-driver, the installer will commit the changes after the user is happy with the changes.  So in that way persistence is a thing, but you have to install it to get the persistence.  It's not meant to live on USB stick forever other than to test hardware compatibility before committing to disk.



I had planned to wait till FreeBSD 12.1-RELEASE came out to update my W520 and have other laptops to use so I'll go ahead and install it to disk to see how it goes. I prefer LXDE as a DE but have used XFCE and like it better than Lumina so it's all good.

It's the least I can do, all things considered.


----------



## Barney (Nov 4, 2019)

toorski said:


> I try almost anything once, sometimes even twice. But, If I don't see or hear something new and interesting about Lumina or a new and exciting news regarding deployment, employment and management of FreeBSD jails or/and bhyve, within FreeBSD, then I'm not interested in yet another FreeBSD-like OS with GUI for dummies. We have plenty "out_of_control" point&click/smart-ass GUI/OS implementations:  MS-Windows, Mac/OSX, iOS, Android OS and so many Linux-inside with GUI distributions that can make one's frontal cortex useless.  But, this is only my personal rumbling and view. I wish anyone, who tries, all the best, no matter the outcome. It's better to try something and hope for the best than let your knowledge and imagination go to waist.
> 
> Good Luck!



I think if you want to gain interest for a new project like this, you have to have at least 1 thing that's glaringly missing or wrong with the standard dist. Its like a bar advertising that they have booze and music; well so does everyone else.


----------



## 20-100-2fe (Nov 4, 2019)

I pay a lot more attention to the psychological side of software development now than I've ever used to. What I've noticed on my first steps in the BSD world is that I expected everything to work instantly and magically, and it looks like so do a great many people on this planet. [ I understand the reasons for this but it would be even more off-topic.  ]

A concrete example is keyboard mapping selection in the OpenBSD installer. It took me several attempts to find the code for my mapping. It had been there all the time, of course, but I had only seen it after I had finally accepted to go slowly through the installation process.

FreeBSD's installer is light years ahead of OpenBSD's and FreeBSD comes with a comprehensive and well-written documentation - not always quite up-to-date yet always helpful, at least as a good starting point. Plus the whole load of information in the forums.

So what could go wrong for someone giving a try to FreeBSD, if it was not for his/her unrealistic expectations?

To some extent, newcomers can be gently guided on the way to serenity and simplicity (a guidance also known as "User eXperience Design"), but no one can travel in their place.

This raises a series of "philosophical" questions:

- What brings together the people developing FreeBSD?
- What brings together the people using FreeBSD?
- What is the deepest, most fundamental reason for FreeBSD to exist, that makes it unique and irreplaceable?
- What does it mean for someone to give FreeBSD a try?
- What does that person get in return for her efforts, big or small, successful or not?
- Would that person get as much if her efforts were alleviated?

I've been active in the software development field for 30+ years and I've constantly verified that technology is never a limiting factor, nor a root cause of project failure. Failures are always the consequence of unresolved psychological issues, or incompatibility with psychological requirements. A common example of this is when the deployment of a new application threatens the fragile balance of a group (e.g. company, subsidiary, department, team).

Furthermore, technology is never meaningful in itself, it is just a tool. Things such as meaning, purpose, motivation, etc. arise from relationships, hence the importance of psychology.

This is why I think it would be greatly beneficial to the developers involved to seriously address the questions above, and probably even more, before engaging into the development effort of any "user-friendly" flavor of FreeBSD. Answering these questions will help them determine if they will reach any user community, what kind of community, and how to best reach it and serve it in the long term.


----------



## malco_2001 (Nov 4, 2019)

Trihexagonal said:


> I had planned to wait till FreeBSD 12.1-RELEASE came out to update my W520 and have other laptops to use so I'll go ahead and install it to disk to see how it goes. I prefer LXDE as a DE but have used XFCE and like it better than Lumina so it's all good.
> 
> It's the least I can do, all things considered.


Cool.  I highly recommend the 12.1 image released just a few minutes ago on github.  I just committed dsbdriverd from the NombadBSD project as well.


----------



## mark_j (Nov 5, 2019)

20-100-2fe said:


> FreeBSD's installer is light years ahead of OpenBSD's and FreeBSD comes with a comprehensive and well-written documentation - not always quite up-to-date yet always helpful, at least as a good starting point. Plus the whole load of information in the forums.



And yet compared to most Linux distributions, FreeBSD's installer is positively 1990s. Good or bad, a lot look at this and think, "What, am I installing a slackware distribution"...





20-100-2fe said:


> This raises a series of "philosophical" questions:
> 
> - What brings together the people developing FreeBSD?
> - What brings together the people using FreeBSD?
> ...



1. I can't speak for developers, but I would think there are 3 major things:
       a) Well documented.
       b) Small kernel.
       c) A truly free license.

2. I've been a FreeBSD user since it was 386BSD and the spin off thereafter. I want a system I can install what I want, how I want. Compared to Linux, you take what you're given by a distribution. 
I place the scale of knowledge and perseverance required of a system this way (from highest to lowest):
    - FreeBSD (and perhaps NetBSD)
    - Linux
    - Windows XX
    - macOS

(Of course, I am only discussing desktop systems widely used; omitting Android, Solaris etc.)

So, the people who install FreeBSD don't mind a challenge and are quite happy to read a manual/handbook and ask questions. Hurdles are things to jump over, not throw a tantrum at.

People who install Linux are less inclined to want to read a manual. They want X installed with Y options. They don't want to choose too much. They are more "tech-savvy" than your average Windows users.

Windows users want even less to read a manual. They expect everything works. They expect malware and viruses, as well.

MacOS users just want to open the laptop lid and be instant desktop publishers and graphic designers. Manuals are things for bookshelves and dust gathering.

3. FreeBSD or any OS is not irreplaceable. Uniqueness is probably a harbinger of extinction.

4. See 2.

5. See 2.

6. See 2.


Finally, back on topic. Any expansion of FreeBSD's reach with a desktop version out of the box, is a good thing. The developers and backers should receive our support/kudos/bug reports and (when warranted) our displeasure.


----------



## Deleted member 30996 (Nov 5, 2019)

mark_j said:


> And yet compared to most Linux distributions, FreeBSD's installer is positively 1990s.



The installer is what made me think FreeBSD was beyond my skill level in '98, which it was to ever get to a desktop. I found a fledgling FreeBSD flop that came with a desktop installed by default. Once I got to the desktop that's all I needed and could figure it out from there.

My sister works at a computer all day and freely admits she couldn't follow my tutorial to set one up.


----------



## 20-100-2fe (Nov 5, 2019)

mark_j said:


> FreeBSD or any OS is not irreplaceable. Uniqueness is probably a harbinger of extinction.



I should have added "at the time you make your choice".

At the time you chose your partner, he/she was unique and irreplaceable. If years later you came to a different conclusion and regretted your choice, it was then in very different conditions, both on your side and his/hers.

One thing I've noticed is the commitment of people involved in open source projects exceeds by far the material rewards they get. At work, they seldom use the software they contribute to, which is confined to a limited portion of their life. This also means that the real impact of the technical benefits they put forward when they talk about it is very limited too.

In such a context, it is clear that the reward for their commitment is mainly emotional. And because we are social animals, the highest emotional rewards we can get are those coming from our relationships.

This implies that an open source software is never chosen for strictly technical reasons, but chiefly for emotional and relational reasons.

More precisely, we choose a given open source OS because it connects us to people sharing values of the utmost importance to us.

Furthermore, values are the foundations on which our identity builds up, and our identity can only make sense in relationships, themselves supported in the long term by a shared vision - sometimes also called "mission", "spirituality" or "philosophy".

This is why the open source OS we choose is always unique and irreplaceable at the time of our choice. And if, later in time, we perceive a change in the values of its community, we'll feel orphaned and/or betrayed and we'll actively look for another alternative.

If we _really_ just needed a good technological commodity, we would certainly make an easier choice. Why would we care so much for a soulless digital tool?


----------



## Deleted member 30996 (Nov 5, 2019)

20-100-2fe said:


> This is why the open source OS we choose is always unique and irreplaceable at the time of our choice. And if, later in time, we perceive a change in the values of its community, we'll feel orphaned and/or betrayed and we'll actively look for another alternative.



More true words were never spoken.


----------



## Sevendogsbsd (Nov 5, 2019)

Funny but I actually find the FreeBSD installer to be dead simple. I do UFS installs though so those are easy. Only thing I have to do that is extra is drop to a shell during install and `cp /boot/loader.efi /mnt/EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.efi`. The lengthy part is configuring for a desktop. The OS install typically takes me less than 10 minutes.


----------



## Hakaba (Nov 6, 2019)

For the installer, I will be very happy if there was a way to test hardware and have a report with information about compatibility.
For the desktop «out of the box», I always have an issue with TrueOS, GhostBSD and other because of hardware support lack.
My reaction was not «how can I find a way to install it despite this error»
I have no time, so I installed linux (I am not happy with that situation, but I need to produce on my laptop...)
For my servers, I am very happy with FreeBSD. 
For me desktop OS out of the box need a previous step : comprehensive  hardware rapport issue and tools to correct errors.

(For the story, I try GhostBSD and TrueOS on 2 laptops. Once need old NVidia support and the second is a MSI with bad EFI config for FreeBSD and a lot of «usupported» hardware).
I started a step by step guide in this forum for compatibility detection and I hope I will have more time in future to improve it...


----------



## eax.qbyte (Nov 7, 2019)

I think another honorable BSD native software or game is a better choice to work.


----------



## scottro (Nov 9, 2019)

This seems as if it will be a nice thing to test various hardware. Maybe it will become  the next FreesBIE the one with the fluxbox desktop that was great for testing new hardware as a live CD.


----------



## teo (Nov 9, 2019)

JoshDW19 said:


> Hey everybody,
> 
> I'm new to the FreeBSD forums and have read through the rules, so hopefully, I won't have any faux pas. If there's a better place to post this, please let me know or feel free to move it. I'd appreciate it greatly.
> 
> ...



Wishing you luck in your effort to try FreeBSD by default for desktop, hopefully you'll succeed and not get lost like other desktop projects.  


My question is, the FuryBSD test system a complete system? The desktop system is made for the end user and does not have to deal with the vulnerabilities that the system detects either by quarterly repositories or the latest current repositories ?


----------



## unitrunker (Nov 10, 2019)

I feel like much of this could be done as a meta-port.

http://scratching.psybermonkey.net/2009/08/freebsd-how-to-use-meta-ports-to.html

This does not prevent someone from downloading an ISO for a complete install, but would complement that by allowing existing users of the base install to drop fury on top of base to give fury a test drive.


----------



## teo (Nov 10, 2019)

vermaden said:


> Why not join GhostBSD or NomadBSD team? How your goals are different then their?



Your efforts in your many guides should be compensated by default with a complete FreeBSD vanilla system with a graphical environment for the end user, and not die trying as projects (TrueOS-PCBSD) that ended up offering your software as an OpenRC integrated server for your new Trident and GhostBSD project far from the basics that arose for FreeBSD.



			
				Sevendogsbsd said:
			
		

> The OS install typically takes me less than 10 minutes.



Currently the installation of FreeBSD with desktop environment is tortuous, and depending on the capacity of the machines are usually old a basic system takes about two days to install as a minimum because part of the software is in the port repositories and the compilation is tedious that harms the eyes.


----------



## malco_2001 (Nov 10, 2019)

teo said:


> Wishing you luck in your effort to try FreeBSD by default for desktop, hopefully you'll succeed and not get lost like other desktop projects.
> 
> 
> My question is, the FuryBSD test system a complete system? The desktop system is made for the end user and does not have to deal with the vulnerabilities that the system detects either by quarterly repositories or the latest current repositories ?



We track FreeBSD quarterly repositories.


----------



## malco_2001 (Nov 10, 2019)

unitrunker said:


> I feel like much of this could be done as a meta-port.
> 
> http://scratching.psybermonkey.net/2009/08/freebsd-how-to-use-meta-ports-to.html
> 
> This does not prevent someone from downloading an ISO for a complete install, but would complement that by allowing existing users of the base install to drop fury on top of base to give fury a test drive.



All of the tools being developed are being turned into ports that can be brought into FreeBSD.


unitrunker said:


> I feel like much of this could be done as a meta-port.
> 
> http://scratching.psybermonkey.net/2009/08/freebsd-how-to-use-meta-ports-to.html
> 
> This does not prevent someone from downloading an ISO for a complete install, but would complement that by allowing existing users of the base install to drop fury on top of base to give fury a test drive.



The safer approach would be to provide the tools as individual ports.  Then create a single port that installs a script to that can be run to bootstrap much like desktop installer. Otherwise you can lose the ability to customize which packages are on your system.


----------



## Sevendogsbsd (Nov 11, 2019)

teo said:


> Currently the installation of FreeBSD with desktop environment is tortuous, and depending on the capacity of the machines are usually old a basic system takes about two days to install as a minimum because part of the software is in the port repositories and the compilation is tedious that harms the eyes.



I wouldn't describe it as "torturous " but I use packages and not ports. It takes about 10 minutes to install the OS and about 2 hours to configure everything.  I do not use a desktop environment  though so my configuration is very simple.


----------



## drhowarddrfine (Nov 11, 2019)

balanga said:


> Not sure that this tutorial works any more as Arch Linux is a quickly changing target.


Advantage FreeBSD.


balanga said:


> The problem for most Linux users trying FreeBSD, is that they expect a GUI and are somewhat confused by a command prompt.


Which is why I always say FreeBSD is a professional operating system for professionals and serious amateurs, not average users.


balanga said:


> IMV it's probably better have a GUI bolted on for new users so that they can get used to FreeBSD and what it has to offer.


No they won't. They'll get used to the point and click methodology and learn nothing. Just look at your average Linux and Window user as proof..

And not to mention this


balanga said:


> but then there is problem of knowing which to chose, and each one has its own configuration and this abundance of choice leaves such a installation error prone.



It should be noted that GUI environments are, in a way, off topic for FreeBSD because they have nothing to do with installing and running the operating system.


----------



## Alain De Vos (Nov 11, 2019)

When you install freebsd for the first time you should know :
For the bootcode & partitioning :
=>man gpart
For the filesystems :
=>man newfs
=>man zpool
----------------------------------
It took me a while, and you can not expect everybody to know this immediately.


----------



## cynwulf (Nov 11, 2019)

drhowarddrfine said:


> No they won't. They'll get used to the point and click methodology and learn nothing. Just look at your average Linux and Window user as proof..


Yes and we have coming on for two decades of this in the "Linux sphere" as rather compelling evidence.

Distributions such as Ubuntu undoubtedly brought people on board using that OS, the majority of which were migrants from Windows, of which the majority wanted a replacement for Windows which could do everything Windows does.  Essentially a lot of dev work going into making things 'easy' for consumer type end users.

The Ubuntu developers in particular created their own flakey tools for GUI package installs and upgrades, their own init replacement and their own gnome desktop fork.  All of their work was mostly based on hiding the command line, to mimic an OS like Windows (incidentally most of that is now gone).

The result was that you simply had the web awash with forums posts and "bug reports" containing "same problem", "me too!", "help!", looking for a quick fix - i.e. exactly what you see in various Windows user support channels.  People deceived by an OS which supposedly didn't require use of the CLI anymore, found themselves up the proverbial creek without a paddle.  The rest is history.

Does it need repeating yet again, when a gazillion Linux "products" already exist for this purpose...?


----------



## scottro (Nov 11, 2019)

Yes, the rest is history. Ubuntu became popular and suddenly hardware and software manufacturers started paying attention to Linux. Mock it all you want, but in my arrogant opinion, both Linux and FreeBSD users owe Ubuntu a lot of thanks since many things developed for Linux can be made useful for FreeBSD users.  Sorry, I get the Ubuntu hatred for those who feel it was a bad thing to lower the bar but I think that that lowering is what made hardware and software makers more conscious of Linux and is the reason that it's become so easy to use Linux on almost new hardware. (The BSDs are a bit behind there, but can also usually work on new hardware.)


----------



## teo (Nov 12, 2019)

Sevendogsbsd said:


> I do not use a desktop environment  though so my configuration is very simple.


But here the topic is the implementation of a default extended FreeBSD vanilla system for desktop environment, which is currently a torture to install manually and takes more than a day to install and leave it on a basic system for daily use.


----------



## unitrunker (Nov 12, 2019)

malco_2001 said:


> Then create a single port that installs a script to that can be run to bootstrap much like desktop installer.


I think you just described a meta-port. The individual ports are still there. Here's an example that you've likely used:





__





						FreshPorts -- x11/xorg: X.Org complete distribution metaport
					

This is a metaport for many of the X.Org packages available in the ports tree.




					www.freshports.org


----------



## Hakaba (Nov 12, 2019)

In the wiki page, I didn't find how to build usb bootable from linux.

```
sudo fdisk -l
#find you usb stick
mkfs.vfat /dev/XXX -I
dd if=[path to iso] of=/dev/XXX
```


----------



## CraigHB (Nov 12, 2019)

drhowarddrfine said:


> It should be noted that GUI environments are, in a way, off topic for FreeBSD because they have nothing to do with installing and running the operating system.



And if they ever did bundle a GUI environment in base I'd be very disappointed in FreeBSD, but I'm sure that would never happen.

I think it's good to offer that kind of thing for those that want it, but one of the things I really like about FreeBSD is the fact base installation ends at a console.  Then you set things up yourself from there.  Makes the system more flexible and configurable.


----------



## Hakaba (Nov 17, 2019)

Unfortunately, the iso image has no intel wifi support. Or I miss something ?
The hardware rapport is very usefull, but can we have the information «a driver exists» (and the level of support) ?
I a general maner, I stop trying to install freebsd (native/ghost/trident/...) because I didn't find a simple repeatable way to know wich driver I have to install.
I will retry FuryBSD with an ethernet connection (but how to pass this point with laptop without ethernet ?)
I realy like the concept (just launch freebsd tool instead of reinvent them).


----------



## scottro (Nov 17, 2019)

Yeah, I also found it didn't support my Intel wireless card. These days, for better or worse, wireless support is almost essential in a live CD (IMHO). It did work fine with ethernet though.


----------



## balanga (Nov 17, 2019)

I've just created a FuryBSD USB stick and am wondering where all the space went...


```
root@Vbox:~/Downloads# gpart show da0
=>      3  2955503  da0  GPT  (7.3G) [CORRUPT]
        3       29    2  freebsd-boot  (15K)
       32       48       - free -  (24K)
       80     1600    1  efi  (800K)
     1680  2953826       - free -  (1.4G)
```

Is it possible boot from the iso image if copied to a partition on a hard disk?


----------



## obsigna (Nov 17, 2019)

balanga said:


> I've just created a FuryBSD USB stick and am wondering where all the space went...
> 
> 
> ```
> ...



See the description of the recover command in gpart(8):

```
recover       Recover a corrupt partition's scheme metadata on the geom
                   geom.  See the section entitled RECOVERING below for the
                   additional information.

                   The recover command accepts these options:

                   -f flags    Additional operational flags.  See the section
                               entitled OPERATIONAL FLAGS below for a
                               discussion about its use.
...
RECOVERING
     The GEOM PART class supports recovering of partition tables only for GPT.
     The GPT primary metadata is stored at the beginning of the device.  For
     redundancy, a secondary (backup) copy of the metadata is stored at the
     end of the device.  As a result of having two copies, some corruption of
     metadata is not fatal to the working of GPT.  When the kernel detects
     corrupt metadata, it marks this table as corrupt and reports the problem.
     destroy and recover are the only operations allowed on corrupt tables.

     If one GPT header appears to be corrupt but the other copy remains
     intact, the kernel will log the following:

           GEOM: provider: the primary GPT table is corrupt or invalid.
           GEOM: provider: using the secondary instead -- recovery strongly advised.

     or

           GEOM: provider: the secondary GPT table is corrupt or invalid.
           GEOM: provider: using the primary only -- recovery suggested.

     Also gpart commands such as show, status and list will report about
     corrupt tables.

     If the size of the device has changed (e.g., volume expansion) the
     secondary GPT header will no longer be located in the last sector.  This
     is not a metadata corruption, but it is dangerous because any corruption
     of the primary GPT will lead to loss of the partition table.  This
     problem is reported by the kernel with the message:

           GEOM: provider: the secondary GPT header is not in the last LBA.

     This situation can be recovered with the recover command.  This command
     reconstructs the corrupt metadata using known valid metadata and
     relocates the secondary GPT to the end of the device.

     NOTE: The GEOM PART class can detect the same partition table visible
     through different GEOM providers, and some of them will be marked as
     corrupt.  Be careful when choosing a provider for recovery.  If you
     choose incorrectly you can destroy the metadata of another GEOM class,
     e.g., GEOM MIRROR or GEOM LABEL.
```

In your case call the following for repairing the [CORRUPT] GPT partition scheme and by this reclaiming the space of your memstick:
`# gpart recover da0`


----------



## balanga (Nov 17, 2019)

Well that worked!

```
root@Vbox:~/Downloads# gpart show da0
=>      3  2955503  da0  GPT  (7.3G) [CORRUPT]
        3       29    2  freebsd-boot  (15K)
       32       48       - free -  (24K)
       80     1600    1  efi  (800K)
     1680  2953826       - free -  (1.4G)

root@Vbox:~/Downloads# gpart recover da0
da0 recovered
root@Vbox:~/Downloads# gpart show da0
=>       3  15280181  da0  GPT  (7.3G)
         3        29    2  freebsd-boot  (15K)
        32        48       - free -  (24K)
        80      1600    1  efi  (800K)
      1680  15278504       - free -  (7.3G)
```

So does this efi partition contain FuryBSD? Can't figure out how this works at all...


----------



## malco_2001 (Nov 19, 2019)

scottro said:


> Yeah, I also found it didn't support my Intel wireless card. These days, for better or worse, wireless support is almost essential in a live CD (IMHO). It did work fine with ethernet though.





Hakaba said:


> Unfortunately, the iso image has no intel wifi support. Or I miss something ?
> The hardware rapport is very usefull, but can we have the information «a driver exists» (and the level of support) ?
> I a general maner, I stop trying to install freebsd (native/ghost/trident/...) because I didn't find a simple repeatable way to know wich driver I have to install.
> I will retry FuryBSD with an ethernet connection (but how to pass this point with laptop without ethernet ?)
> I realy like the concept (just launch freebsd tool instead of reinvent them).



I worked with the author of dsbdriverd from the NomadBSD project to make iwn work out of box already in the most recent image on github.  With another update soon I should have iwm working with FreeBSD's out of box tool devmatch.  Then there will be mechanisms in place to load all of the correct firmwares, drivers automatically as much as possible.


----------



## teo (Nov 22, 2019)

In ArchiveOS , many projects for FreeBSD desktop environment have failed in their attempts and sleep eternally in oblivion.









						BSD - ArchiveOS
					

0-9                                                 	 	 2.11BSD 	 	 	 386BSD 	 	 	 	 	      A




					archiveos.org


----------



## Hakaba (Nov 23, 2019)

teo said:


> In ArchiveOS , many projects for FreeBSD desktop environment have failed in their attempts and sleep eternally in oblivion.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



That is why an «official» freebsd project that handle the wm parts is for me a good idea. It prevent dispertion...


----------



## kpedersen (Nov 23, 2019)

Hakaba said:


> That is why an «official» freebsd project that handle the wm parts is for me a good idea. It prevent dispertion...




```
# pkg install xorg
# pkg install openbox
```

Done!


----------



## Hakaba (Nov 24, 2019)

Doesn't work on my mbp 2009 neither on my MSI P65...


----------



## teo (Nov 24, 2019)

malco_2001 said:


> I worked with the author of dsbdriverd from the NomadBSD project to make iwn work out of box already in the most recent image on github.  With another update soon I should have iwm working with FreeBSD's out of box tool devmatch.  Then there will be mechanisms in place to load all of the correct firmwares, drivers automatically as much as possible.



I have been waiting a long time (2010) the Broadcom BCM4313 card wireless driver for compatibility with FreeBSD and we are now at the gates of 2020, in Linux that driver works correctly.



			
				kpedersen said:
			
		

> ```
> # pkg install xorg
> # pkg install openbox
> ```
> ...



The problem is not only that, but you have to manually do many additional steps for a decent desktop environment such as setting the keyboard, language, or configure to detect devices (USB, CD/DVD, SmartPhone, Tablet, others) as other systems do automatically when installing without going through the cumbersome torture of installing package by  package,  because most end users in the world have no idea.


----------



## Hakaba (Nov 24, 2019)

On my mbp 2009, after installing furybsd and nvidia-driver-340, my computer reboot on startx command (and reboot when I let boot go on).

[Edit]
I'm not alone...


			https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/1038086/freebsd/crash-on-freebsd-11-2-with-nvidia-driver-340-107-on-geforce-320m/


----------



## Deleted member 30996 (Nov 24, 2019)

teo said:


> In ArchiveOS , many projects for FreeBSD desktop environment have failed in their attempts and sleep eternally in oblivion.



So you do know how to use Google.



teo said:


> without going through the cumbersome torture of installing package by  package,  because most end users in the world have no idea.



And you're the one who has been torturing themselves...


----------



## 20-100-2fe (Nov 24, 2019)

With any Linux distribution, you can of course install in graphical mode, but you still have a long post-installation phase before you get something usable. With Ubuntu, my post-install scripts used to take 90 mn, only 30 mn with Void, Devuan was somewhere between these extremes.

The only difference with FreeBSD is that you start your post-install script directly from the command line instead of opening the terminal window of your DE.

Furthermore, if you want to use a 100% GPL Linux distribution, you'll have as many hardware support issues as with FreeBSD (wifi seldom works with these, for instance).

If it weren't for the sheer pleasure of learning (and for the people I meet and share with throughout this adventure), I wouldn't use any open source OS.

After all, the easiest OS to install is MS Windows: you unpack your fresh-from-the-shop computer, turn it on and it's there. No one can beat that.

And above all, the most difficult part of an installation is neither going through the installer, nor executing post-install customization.

No, *the worst part of an installation is to get into the BIOS and configure it* so you can boot from your USB stick.

All PCs have a different BIOS, so this cannot be documented to help newcomers. If you don't have a strong computer background, the only thing you'll ever be able to boot is your preinstalled Windows. PC manufacturers do all they can to prevent you from doing anything else - and they're really good at that!

This implies that if you've been able to boot from your Linux or BSD installation medium, you have all the required knowledge to go through the rest of the process, or you'll be able to find any missing information as the need arises.



teo said:


> The problem is not only that, but you have to manually do many additional steps for a decent desktop environment such as setting the keyboard, language, or configure to detect devices (USB, CD/DVD, SmartPhone, Tablet, others) as other systems do automatically when installing without going through the cumbersome torture of installing package by  package,  because most end users in the world have no idea.


----------



## CraigHB (Nov 24, 2019)

20-100-2fe said:


> After all, the easiest OS to install is MS Windows: your unpack your fresh-from-the-shop computer, turn it on and it's there. No one can beat that.



That's true until you want to customize the behavior of Windows.  Yeah I can install to a working OS in some minutes, but I spent literally months tweaking things to get Windows running the way I want going from 7 to 10.  Of course I keep all my tweaks in scripts so I don't have to do that every time I load a new instance of Windows, but it took quite a bit of effort to get there.  If they decide to do a major revision to the OS I'll have to go through that again.

I do the same for FreeBSD, all my configuration is scripted, but it took a small fraction of the time to customize the behavior of FreeBSD to get it running the way I want.  Major revision changes usually allow me to send those scripts straight across with some small tweaks.  There is a world of difference in the ability to customize things between the two systems.


----------



## Deleted member 30996 (Nov 24, 2019)

I spent a full day locking down Win10Pro, finding a program here or there to do this or that and still felt like the Sword of Damocles was hanging over my head the whole time I was online.

It takes just about as long to set up and configure one of my FreeBSD desktops and tweak the third party programs I choose to suit my needs, and those programs only which all come from the ports tree.

I used to do 5 laptops at once when I installed the latest build and the only issue was keeping track of where I was in ports with each machine, since every one runs at a slightly different speed. My i386 was slowest and came in dead last, but it still only took about 24 hours. Now I use my gaming fan when  compiling ports and do one at a time.

I can state with all certainty that compiling www/firefox-esr now takes longer than x11/xorg on my machina. I don't find it to be torturous in the least and enjoy using ports, but that's only my opinion and personal preference.

I've been busy and haven't had the chance to install Fury but it's on my list of things to do.


----------



## jdrch (Dec 4, 2019)

As a Project Trident (BSD) refugee who migrated to GhostBSD over the weekend, I'm very much looking forward to trying out the FuryBSD KDE spin. KDE is my favorite DE, and combining it with pure FreeBSD (read: the original rc.d instead of OpenRC) with ZFS root is something I've been wanting for a very long time. I like the approach here a lot; if it could be metaported(?) to FreeBSD proper that would be even better. But 1 step at a time  Desktop FreeBSD FTW!


----------



## jdrch (Dec 4, 2019)

Alain De Vos said:


> Some people leave freebsd after they tried to install it once and failed the first time. Just like I failed in installing Arch linux and never tried that linux distribution again.



I can relate. I dropped GhostBSD in 2018 and installed Trident instead after I couldn't get the former's installation USB to boot.



drhowarddrfine said:


> No they won't. They'll get used to the point and click methodology and learn nothing. Just look at your average Linux and Window user as proof..



I probably learned more about (mostly) POSIX (compliant) OSes in the year I used Trident than in my previous 18 of using other various other non-BSDs. Never underestimate the power of an intuitive GUI combined with solid documentation of the underlying OS (except for OpenRC. I kept having to work around that.) Poor/incomplete/nonexistent documentation is the bane of Linux.



drhowarddrfine said:


> It should be noted that GUI environments are, in a way, off topic for FreeBSD



Good thing we're in the Off-Topic section of the forum 



cynwulf said:


> The Ubuntu developers in particular created their own flakey tools



The only trouble I've had with Ubuntu (now on 19.10) tools is 
	
	



```
unattended-upgrades
```
 doesn't work the way it does on Debian Buster (which I also run.) Which it to say it doesn't work, and I haven't had the time to figure out how to make it work yet. But the rest works flawlessly.



cynwulf said:


> The result was that you simply had the web awash with forums posts and "bug reports" containing "same problem", "me too!", "help!", looking for a quick fix - i.e. exactly what you see in various Windows user support channels.  People deceived by an OS which supposedly didn't require use of the CLI anymore, found themselves up the proverbial creek without a paddle.  The rest is history.



This is what happens when any technology goes mainstream. Car accidents skyrocketed after motor vehicles became widespread, too. But I think we can all agree our quality of life in general is better due to motorized personal transportation.



scottro said:


> Yes, the rest is history. Ubuntu became popular and suddenly hardware and software manufacturers started paying attention to Linux. Mock it all you want, but in my arrogant opinion, both Linux and FreeBSD users owe Ubuntu a lot of thanks since many things developed for Linux can be made useful for FreeBSD users.  Sorry, I get the Ubuntu hatred for those who feel it was a bad thing to lower the bar but I think that that lowering is what made hardware and software makers more conscious of Linux and is the reason that it's become so easy to use Linux on almost new hardware. (The BSDs are a bit behind there, but can also usually work on new hardware.)



Nailed it.



20-100-2fe said:


> you still have a long post-installation phase before you get something usable.



"Usable" is pretty subjective. I often compare setting up an OS with moving into a house. Sure, you can sleep in it immediately, but it takes a while for it to feel like home. And "feels like home" varies widely from user to user.



20-100-2fe said:


> No, *the worst part of an installation is to get into the BIOS and configure it* so you can boot from your USB stick.



Hahaha you should try installing OpenIndiana sometime. The installer boots only in UEFI mode, which is odd because the documentation specifically says the OS doesn't support UEFI. But since the OS supports legacy boot only, unless you remember to reenter the BIOS and change the boot mode back to legacy your brand new installation will fail to boot. There are some other fun aspects too, such as a Live USB that can boot but fail to initialize the SATA controller, resulting in it being unable to detect any disks to install to. But the installer doesn't tell you this, instead it just fails to launch the installation GUI when you click the shortcut. No error message from CLI invocation either. I had to create Github wiki page to keep track of all the tweaks I was making just to get the darn thing to work. Good times


----------



## drhowarddrfine (Dec 4, 2019)

jdrch said:


> Good thing we're in the Off-Topic section of the forum


That misses my point. My point was that desktop software is not the realm of the FreeBSD operating system; that is, FreeBSD does not develop such things and is not responsible for their creation or development.


----------



## drhowarddrfine (Dec 4, 2019)

jdrch said:


> I probably learned more about (mostly) POSIX (compliant) OSes in the year I used Trident than in my previous 18 of using other various other non-BSDs.
> 
> Poor/incomplete/nonexistent documentation is the bane of Linux.


I'm pretty sure that is the reason and not the use of a GUI. A GUI is always more restrictive than terminal usage but that subject has been done to death.


----------



## jdrch (Dec 5, 2019)

drhowarddrfine said:


> That misses my point. My point was that desktop software is not the realm of the FreeBSD operating system; that is, FreeBSD does not develop such things and is not responsible for their creation or development.



True, but I don't see what bearing that has on this discussion, given that it's located exactly where it's allowed to be  Those who don't like it because it's "off-topic" are free to limit themselves to other sections of the forum not explicitly named Off-Topic.



drhowarddrfine said:


> I'm pretty sure that is the reason and not the use of a GUI.



As a visual learner who had difficulty understanding abstract, non-spatial concepts in school, it's both GUI _and_ documentation. GUIs help me map concepts spatially in my head. Without them, I rapidly get confused and lost. It's OK if you don't understand or appreciate that, and I'm not saying this applies to anyone else. But I'm the only person qualified to speak about my own experience. All my OS installations - Windows 10, Debian, Raspbian, Ubuntu, GhostBSD, and OpenIndiana - have DEs. I just didn't point out the GUI factor in my "bane" statement because all the Linux distros I've used have DEs too.


----------



## drhowarddrfine (Dec 6, 2019)

jdrch said:


> given that it's located exactly where it's allowed to be


Again, I'll say, that has nothing to do with anything I said but I won't continue this.


----------



## Deleted member 30996 (Dec 6, 2019)

I downloaded the Live image today to try it out and see they now offer KDE and XFCE as a DE.



jdrch said:


> GUIs help me map concepts spatially in my head. Without them, I rapidly get confused and lost. It's OK if you don't understand or appreciate that, and I'm not saying this applies to anyone else. But I'm the only person qualified to speak about my own experience.



How does a Desktop Environment facilitate that beyond a menu? I'm genuinely interested.


----------



## Sevendogsbsd (Dec 6, 2019)

Not to drag this too off-topic but for me, the UI is irrelevant in terms of how I view the system. I personally think that a DE is really a convenience thing because one does not have to find a WM, then a file manager, etc. Functionally, they are identical. Some DEs being in all sorts of other functionality like vaults, search capability (baloo, tracker), plus others. Some may want this, some may not. Personal preference really.


----------



## freesoftware-man (Dec 6, 2019)

I've tried furybsd its perfect !! 
It has the fastest installation of any operating system i have tried it actually takes almost no time to install  lol how did you make it that way its fantastic !
At the beginning i was thinking that something went wrong the i rebooted my system and i was using furybsd !
The only things i would like to improve is about hardware detection and graphics drivers, for example i have an amd rx580 so you should use drm-kmod and amdgpu driver and not radeon 
also please apply to /boot/loader.conf this parameter hw.syscons.disable=1  so it can boot using amdgpu via efi .
Wireless network support is nice but i think the applet takes some time to load and connect.
Overall is very good and if you ask me its the best of all other easy freebsd/trueos graphical installations/ distros ?? and i have tried nomadbsd & ghostbsd.
Its the best this is my opinion and is so painless to install freebsd and less time consuming it saves you a lot of time that you can use for doing other things .
If you want to be the best of all you must do something with graphics drivers detection and if its possible to give the user the abillity to select which desktop wants to install, nothing else really !


----------



## Amzo (Dec 6, 2019)

Isn't xfce4 not feature complete on BSD due to  linuxism in it. I'd be more interested if it used KDE by default as it bundles more easily with notifications, integrated emails, password manager and a more feature rich desktop environment overall which you'd expect of a modern day operating system. Is XFCE4 solely for the live system?


----------



## Deleted member 30996 (Dec 6, 2019)

They are bundled separately and you choose the .iso with the DE you want, like with Debian.

I have my T61 running the Live USB with XFCE now. It recognized all the hardware and I'm listening to Tool on youtube now through Firefox.

It's kind of slow running from the USB stick with only 4GB RAM but everything works to the point of boring, just like Debian. I believe that was their intent. 

It doesn't have a firewall set up, TCP port 80 is open to nmap from the LAN. There is some text editing to do like there is with a new FreeBSD install, like delete the toor account from /etc/passwd.

The file system is different in that there is no /usr/ports directory so I'll have to look it over a while. I've only had it running about 10 minutes and given it a cursory glance but will install it to disk on my W520.

It doesn't look like it has the full suite of programs I would expect from XFCE, whether or not that is my unfamiliarity with it I can't say. But I don't like a lot of programs chosen for me so that's a plus. The Live .img doesn't have audio or video player, games and a lot of useless gadgetry.


----------



## freesoftware-man (Dec 7, 2019)

The only problem for me was with the graphics driver but i can configure it after i have installed it , its the first serious attempt to create an easy installer for freebsd !
It works and installation is fast on my pc with nvme ssd it takes 1 minute maximum including disk configuration.
Congratulations to the team , good job ! Finally a really good project ! (that installs actual FreeBSD not trueos ) 



Trihexagonal said:


> They are bundled separately and you choose the .iso with the DE you want, like with Debian.
> 
> I have my T61 running the Live USB with XFCE now. It recognized all the hardware and I'm listening to Tool on youtube now through Firefox.
> 
> ...


----------



## scottro (Dec 7, 2019)

FWIW, I am pretty sure that if you don't choose to install ports during the install from a normal FreeBSD install image, there won't be a  /usr/ports directory.  either. (I don't install ports during installation. I figure it will be out of date, so I just add a /usr/ports directory and run `portsnap fetch extract` after installation.)

Trihexagonal, I only  see the one download link, and it seems to be for xfce.  I don't see any links for other desktops. (Though I suppose you could add a different desktop or window manager after installation).


----------



## Deleted member 30996 (Dec 7, 2019)

At the top there is a dropdown menu under "Download NOW!" with an XFCE and KDE option. Incidentally, it's twice the size of the XFCE .iso at 3GB. I used `dd` to write the .iso to USB same as a memstick.img file.


----------



## freesoftware-man (Dec 7, 2019)

This is the best freebsd project ever , it just needs to put some efforts on graphics drivers/hardware detection and it will be perfect, i like that and i have tried many project like this, this is the best so far .  You just had to configure the graphics by yourself if you have amd for example .




Trihexagonal said:


> At the top there is a dropdown menu under "Download NOW!" with an XFCE and KDE option. Incidentally, it's twice the size of the XFCE .iso at 3GB. I used `dd` to write the .iso to USB same as a memstick.img file.
> 
> View attachment 7288


----------



## scottro (Dec 7, 2019)

Thanks Trihexagonal.  Actually I was hoping for an openbox version, though as I said I assume one could install it afterwards.  Regardless, it's still a nice tool to quickly test hardware.


----------



## Hakaba (Dec 8, 2019)

I build the furyBSD iso from a laptop with FreeBSD 12.0 installed.
But when I boot on the usb stick, I have a black screen with the dock and menu. Nothing seams to be active.

I will be a great thing if we can chose the keyboard map.


----------



## scottro (Dec 11, 2019)

Going back to the BIOS thing, when secure boot was first introduced, MS promised they would make it easy to disable. Years later they said, "Backsies". Too lazy to google both their promise and withdrawal of it but despite my great age, pretty sure I have that correct.


----------



## christhegeek (Dec 12, 2019)

FuryBsd is simply the best ! I just don't think kde is that stable on freebsd , at least on my pc with amd gpu.


----------



## christhegeek (Dec 13, 2019)

Have you tried switch to a console with alt+f2 for example ?
Furybsd has some scripts to easily install nvidia drivers and intel drivers but none for amd gpu i tried furybsd on my amd graphics card  it is installed with the radeon driver and 
i switch it to amdgpu drm_kmod driver , its very simple !
FuryBsd is my favorite project i just don't prefer the plasma version.




KenGordon said:


> Well, at this point, I am not too pleased with FuryBSD.
> I have so far attempted to install FuryBSD on two computers, an Acer laptop with an Intel video, and a desktop with an Nvidia video adapter. Both end the same way in the  install process, with a black screen with the install system awaiting input which I cannot see, so I must abort the install.
> 
> There is at least one other post here from another user who ended up the same way as I have.
> ...


----------



## Deleted member 30996 (Dec 13, 2019)

I tried FuryBSD from the USB stick on my W520 with Nvidia Optimus.  It gave me what looked like 800x600 resolution and appeared to default to the x11/nvidia-driver-340 while mine uses x11/nvidia-driver-304. I tried changing it from the applet to no avail so I installed it to disk.

I installed the right driver from pkg but still got the same 800x600 resolution. The applet was no longer available and the Display settings only had the "Default" settings which was disabled. 

I did not think to install x11/nvidia-settings and x11/nvidia-settings like I normally do and could probably have fixed things since I already had a desktop. But it was a full moon and time was wasting so I opted to install FreeBSD instead, and that takes most of a day.

It appeared to work fine on my T400 with Switchable Graphics with Intel GMA 4500MHD and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470, which is using the Intel driver.

It was a lot better first time experience than I had with TrueOS. Everything worked and I went straight to the desktop, I wasn't stranded at the desktop and forced to use another DE to get a terminal, it wasn't over-encumbered with a lot of useless programs by default and didn't make the decision for me that I should use security/sudo instead of `su`. 

Don't think I didn't want to be the first one to post a FuryBSD screenshot in their forum but still give it my Seal of Approval.


----------



## Deleted member 30996 (Dec 14, 2019)

KenGordon said:


> ...a screen pops up with Live User and asking for a userID and password. Dunno what this is.



The default password is FuryBSD. Shhh... Don't tell anybody.



KenGordon said:


> OK. I see what is happening: it is running off the memstick. Also, the mouse no longer works. Not sure why yet. It WAS working.



It's not meant to run full time off the memstick. If you've left it running for a while that may be why your mouse quit working.


----------



## Deleted member 30996 (Dec 15, 2019)

KenGordon said:


> Doesn't work for Live User. Still asks me for password.



I got it from their site and is what I used.



KenGordon said:


> I guess I'll just wait to see what, if anything, eventually happens. I would really like it if the install system would ask me to add a user and a root password though.



It will. You'll be able to watch the whole thing from a terminal on the desktop. It asks you to create a root password and gives you the chance to make a usr account just like the default FreeBSD installer.


----------



## userxbw (Dec 15, 2019)

Mine got stuck at boot. connecting .. disconnecting mouse I gave up....


----------



## KenGordon (Dec 15, 2019)

Wonderful! Works! BTW, the Live password is furybsd all lower case.

Now, I am trying to install fldigi and not having much luck.....so far.

Ken Gordon


----------



## KenGordon (Dec 15, 2019)

userxbw said:


> Mine got stuck at boot. connecting .. disconnecting mouse I gave up....



I booted from a memstick on which I had written the ISO with Rufus. I also plugged a USB mouse into a USB port. Then, it booted just fine, but eventually came up with a Live User on-screen prompt. Turns out the password is furybsd all lower case.

Then I double-clicked on the install icon on the desktop and away it went. Finally it asked for a root password, and asked to add a user, which I did. After that, it rebooted itself and I removed the memstick.

It then came up just fine and works well. Kinda slow since the laptop I am running it on is old and slow, but otherwise is good.

Does that help you?

Ken Gordon


----------



## Deleted member 30996 (Dec 15, 2019)

KenGordon said:


> BTW, I really like FuryBSD....it is much better than the TrueOS I tried a few years ago and STILL have not been able to update that. I'm going to kill that and switch to FuryBSD asap.



You do know this is a FreeBSD forum. What you might not know that discussion of spinoffs is generally frowned upon.

Mods haven't said anything, and I've tried to be especially helpful because I know malco_2001, but if you're planning on using FuryBSD this probably isn't the place to discuss it. They do have a forum where it would be more appropriate.


----------



## KenGordon (Dec 15, 2019)

Trihexagonal said:


> You do know this is a FreeBSD forum. What you might not know that discussion of spinoffs is generally frowned upon.



Ah! I was not aware of that. Thank you. I'll delete any of my previous posts here which are inappropriate.



Trihexagonal said:


> Mods haven't said anything, and I've tried to be especially helpful because I know malco_2001, but if you're planning on using FuryBSD this probably isn't the place to discuss it. They do have a forum where it would be more appropriate.



I was not aware that there was a forum dedicated to FuryBSD. If you could point me to that, I would be grateful.

Ken Gordon


----------



## Deleted member 30996 (Dec 15, 2019)

Here you go:


JoshDW19 said:


> The test image is available for download from the website here.


----------



## Beastie (Dec 15, 2019)

KenGordon said:


> Ah! I was not aware of that.


The Off-Topic forum description says:


> Have some non-FreeBSD related questions, or want just to chit-chat about anything that is not related to FreeBSD? This is the forum for you. Note: this is NOT a forum for technical questions about non-FreeBSD operating systems!


Also this thread in the forum rules: https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/pc-bsd-freenas-xigmanas-and-all-other-freebsd-derivatives.7290/



KenGordon said:


> I was not aware that there was a forum dedicated to FuryBSD. If you could point me to that, I would be grateful.


https://forums.furybsd.org/


----------



## LakeCowabunga (Dec 24, 2019)

I don't agree that derivatives shouldn't be discussed here, other than the (owners?) don't like it. And since it's their house, then it's their rules. I'll agree to disagree, but abide by their rules. (Just don't ask me to like it.)


----------



## Hakaba (Dec 30, 2019)

FuryBSD.org is down ?


----------



## Luca79 (Dec 30, 2019)

Hakaba said:


> FuryBSD.org is down ?



Was looking to get it, and is down for me too.


----------



## rsronin (Dec 31, 2019)

Luca79 said:


> Was looking to get it, and is down for me too.


Down here too


----------



## Luca79 (Jan 1, 2020)

rsronin said:


> Down here too



Now is working!


----------



## gvia66 (Apr 7, 2020)

I like your project, because i come from Linux and want to past to FreeBSD.
But for now it's not working on my Lenovo Thinkpad T550 : i can charge it, but a get 640x480 resolution, i think because my Intel HD graphic 5500 not reconeized. Wifi card seams ok : Wireless-AC 7265 #2 but i could not test it due to screen resolution and english keyboard.


----------



## Minbari (Apr 7, 2020)

gvia66 said:


> But for now it's not working on my Lenovo Thinkpad T550 : i can charge it, but a get 640x480 resolution, i think because my Intel HD graphic 5500 not reconeized.


FreeBSD works on Thinkpad T550. You need to install graphics/drm-kmod.


----------



## gvia66 (Apr 7, 2020)

Minbari said:


> FreeBSD works on Thinkpad T550. You need to install graphics/drm-kmod.


yes i know that, but it's not well autodetected in furyBSD liveDVD, i was just pointing at that.


----------



## Minbari (Apr 7, 2020)

gvia66 said:


> yes i know that, but it's not well autodetected in furyBSD liveDVD, i was just pointing at that.


Nowhere in your post says that you are running a live session and none of us has a crystal globe to see that. Even if u you are running a live session there should be a Xorg log. What it says?


----------



## SirDice (Apr 7, 2020)

I suggest you report issues with FuryBSD on their forum, not here.

PC-BSD, FreeNAS, XigmaNAS, and all other FreeBSD Derivatives


----------



## christhegeek (Apr 12, 2020)

FuryBsd is one of the best freebsd projects. But still the joy to install freebsd from scratch is something you don't want to miss.
And freebsd installer is pretty fairly easy.


----------



## jdrch (Apr 12, 2020)

SirDice said:


> I suggest you report issues with FuryBSD on their forum, not here.
> 
> PC-BSD, FreeNAS, XigmaNAS, and all other FreeBSD Derivatives



FuryBSD installation is specific to FuryBSD, but everything after that is pure FreeBSD (+ DE ports.) The only difference between FuryBSD and FreeBSD is FuryBSD includes a DE in its installation image and streamlines/automates the DE setup from the live USB.

In fact, beyond the live USB/installation there is no FuryBSD. I do believe the project uses a separate name just for ease of reference (FuryBSD is easier to say than describing what it actually is) + of course not having the rights to the FreeBSD brand.


----------

