# FreeBSD Hardware Compatibility?



## MBLBOSS (Mar 1, 2015)

Hi, I'm buying a computer this month. I want to install FreeBSD, but I don't know what hardware is compatible. I've looked everywhere, but I haven't found any answers. So, whoever runs FreeBSD, please share your system specs. Also if you have information, please share it. Thank you.


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## ondra_knezour (Mar 1, 2015)

http://www.freebsd.cz/releases/10.1R/hardware.html


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## Deleted member 9563 (Mar 1, 2015)

Intel Core i3-3220 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 55W Dual-Core Desktop Processor
Foxconn Z68A-S LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Crucial 2x4GB DDR3 RAM
Western Digital WD Black WD5002AALX 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive
Western Digital Red NAS Hard Drive WD10EFRX 1TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
SAMSUNG DVD Burner SATA Model SH-224DB/BEBE
Radeon 3450


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## NewGuy (Mar 2, 2015)

While ThinkPenguin is technical more of a Linux shop, they claim their hardware should be compatible with any open source operating system. You might want to get in touch with them to see if they will test and ship a FreeBSD system. https://www.thinkpenguin.com/


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## tobik@ (Mar 2, 2015)

AMD FX-6100 CPU
ASUS M5A97 R2.0 Mainboard
ASUS GTX760-DC2OC-2GD5 GPU
G.Skill 2x8 GB + 2x4 GB = 24 GB DDR3 RAM
Crucial m4 128 GB SSD
2x Western Digital WD10EZEX 1 TB Hard Drive
No-name DVD Burner with cheap IDE->SATA adapter

Note however that suspend/resume does not seem to work reliably with FreeBSD in this configuration...
But everything else works just fine.


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## hamid ali (Mar 2, 2015)

AMD A6-6400K
MSI A78M-E35 MoBo
4GB DDR3 Generic Memory
Nvidia 9600 GSO 768MB GPU
WD 300GB HDD

Everything works perfectly using FreeBSD 10.1


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## rmoe (Mar 4, 2015)

Even a stupid search "FreeBSD supported hardware" immediately led me to https://www.freebsd.org/relnotes/CURRENT/hardware/support.html

There are - and have been since about the stone age - detailed lists available from, by, and for FreeBSD in all versions. For 10.1 that list is at https://www.freebsd.org/releases/10.1R/hardware.html

So, I'm wondering what "everywhere" in "_I've looked everywhere_" means.


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## Deleted member 9563 (Mar 4, 2015)

You're right rmoe, it's easy to find. Still, some reassurance is good when you're new. I've installed FreeBSD on numerous computers now and feel comfortable that it generally works fine and any little problem can be worked around if needed. That said, I'd be more careful if I was going to install on a laptop. The OP might also like to see the wiki laptop page.


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## diizzy (Mar 4, 2015)

MBLBOSS

Where do you live?
Do you want a desktop, laptop?
Prebuilt? Any type of budget?
//Danne


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## Mike Proctor (Mar 8, 2015)

I just installed 10.1 on a 2005 mac-mini with a 40GB hard drive, 1GB ram and 1.2Ghz powerpc processor.  I was just playing around but it ran nginx, postgres, and several other ports just fine.  You would probably have to work to find a machine that you couldn't run 10.1 on...


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## sidetone (Mar 9, 2015)

HP printers work well with FreeBSD. PC-BSD had a package for Epson printers. Cups supports many printers, but I don't know about their functionality with FreeBSD.
As for video cards, I stick with ATI cards.


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## diizzy (Mar 9, 2015)

Mike Proctor
By running you probably imply something more than just being able to boot, on a laptop you probably want screen brightness, video (X and friends), power management and wlan to work which is an issue even on Linux on new/recent hardware platforms. Keep in mind that Linux does have more manpower (and commercial support) than FreeBSD so it lags behind even more though people are working hard keeping it up to date.

sidetone
As for printers, they (any brand) really need to support PCL and/or Postscript to work satisfactory which leaves you with mid-range Laser Printers and/or MFPs (I've yet to find an inkjet that does PCL/PS). The low-end stuff usually don't have any logic at all processing data and solely relies on the host (driver) which works as you'd expect even on Windows. PCL and/or Postscript is why you see these Universal/Unified drivers these days. CUPS does have drivers for inkjet printers but I wouldn't count on them in production...
//Danne


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## Mike Proctor (Mar 9, 2015)

diizzy said:


> Mike Proctor
> By running you probably imply something more than just being able to boot, on a laptop you probably want screen brightness, video (X and friends), power management and wlan to work which is an issue even on Linux on new/recent hardware platforms. Keep in mind that Linux does have more manpower (and commercial support) than FreeBSD so it lags behind even more though people are working hard keeping it up to date.


I don't run Linux or FreeBSD with a GUI, I only use them as servers.  I'm guessing pcbsd.org would be the site to check for running FreeBSD as a desktop replacement.


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## rmoe (Mar 9, 2015)

I beg to differ. I (like many many others) am running FreeBSD since eternities as a normal workstation incl. watching movies, surfing, and the whole shebang.

PC-BSD is _not_ the FreeBSD for Desktop users. PC-BSD is the BSD for unexperienced users who need something easy to click and go.


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## Mike Proctor (Mar 9, 2015)

rmoe said:


> I beg to differ. I (like many many others) am running FreeBSD since eternities as a normal workstation incl. watching movies, surfing, and the whole shebang.
> 
> PC-BSD is _not_ the FreeBSD for Desktop users. PC-BSD is the BSD for unexperienced users who need something easy to click and go.


I was assuming the OP was exactly what you described and was looking for more of a click and go solution.  I have used FreeBSD and Linux for my workstation in the past but I've become an Apple fanboy on the desktop since I bought the Mac mini in 2005 when apple released a $499 machine.  I still load distros to play with and check stuff out but I've been spoiled by the hardware/software integration of the apple ecosystem.  Servers are where I do most of my playing now days and I always seem to end up with a FreeBSD server sitting somewhere.


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## sidetone (Mar 9, 2015)

Mac's OS is directly based on FreeBSD sourcecode. I'm sure you know this, but I couldn't help saying it.


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## Mike Proctor (Mar 9, 2015)

sidetone said:


> Mac's OS is directly based on FreeBSD sourcecode. I'm sure you know this, but I couldn't help saying it.


Exactly!


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## Deleted member 9563 (Mar 9, 2015)

What happened to the OP anyway?

I wouldn't think he was looking for a click and go solution if he was willing to consider hardware and software as separate concerns. In any case I presume that PC-BSD is better now, but after running for a year I didn't find it easy to deal with. I have since settled on FreeBSD with KDE and have that on two desktop machines. As far as I'm concerned, that's about as good as it gets. I only run Linux now when I want a quick and dirty solution or need to comply with some Linux only application like Airtime.


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## jjthomas (Mar 10, 2015)

I'd start with https://www.freebsd.org/commercial/hardware.html  It may be more than what the OP wants to spend.  

OTOH, I installed *BSD on several different computers.  My laptop does not support FreeBSD or PC-BSD, but OpenBSD runs flawlessly.  Works for me.  I have run into hardware incompatibles.  Choice is, troubleshoot or find other hardware.

If the OP needs a stable FreeBSD in a production server environment, then the above list would be were I would start.  If they want something to learn FreeBSD on, go to the local pawn shop or Goodwill and get a used computer.  Nothing will teach one an OS better than troubleshooting some obscure hardware.  

-JJ


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