Title: FreeBSD 12.1 on a laptop | |
Author: Solène | |
Date: 11 May 2020 | |
Tags: freebsd mate laptop | |
Description: | |
# Introduction | |
I'm using FreeBSD again on a laptop for some reasons so expect to read | |
more | |
about FreeBSD here. This tutorial explain how to get a graphical | |
desktop using | |
FreeBSD 12.1. | |
I used a Lenovo Thinkpad T480 for this tutorial. | |
# Intel graphics hardware support | |
If you have a recent Intel integrated graphic card (maybe less than 3 | |
years), | |
you have to install a package containing the driver: | |
pkg install drm-kmod | |
and you also have to tell the system the correct path of the module | |
(because | |
another i915kms.ko file exist): | |
sysrc kld_list="/boot/modules/i915kms.ko" | |
# Choose your desktop environnement | |
## Install Xfce | |
pkg install xfce | |
Then in your user `~/.xsession` file you must append: | |
exec ck-launch-session startxfce4 | |
## Install MATE | |
pkg install mate | |
Then in your user `~/.xsession` file you must append: | |
exec ck-launch-session mate-session | |
## Install KDE5 | |
pkg install kde5 | |
Then in your user `~/.xsession` file you must append: | |
exec ck-launch-session startplasma-x11 | |
# Setting up the graphical interface | |
You have to enable a few services to have a working graphical session: | |
- **moused** to get laptop mouse support | |
- **dbus** for hald | |
- **hald** for hardware detection | |
- **xdm** for display manager where you log-in | |
You can install them with the command: | |
pkg install xorg dbus hal xdm | |
Then you can enable the services at boot using the following commands, | |
order is | |
important: | |
sysrc moused_enable="yes" | |
sysrc dbus_enable="yes" | |
sysrc hald_enable="yes" | |
sysrc xdm_enable="yes" | |
Reboot or start the services in the same order: | |
service moused start | |
service dbus start | |
service hald start | |
service xdm start | |
**Note that xdm will be in qwerty layout.** | |
# Power management | |
The installer should have prompted for the service powerd, if you | |
didn't | |
activate it at this time, you can still enable it. | |
Check if it's running | |
service powerd status | |
Enabling | |
sysrc powerd_enable="yes" | |
Starting the service | |
service powerd start | |
# Webcam support | |
If you have a webcam and want to use it, some configuration is required | |
in | |
order to make it work. | |
Install the package webcamd, it will displays all the instructions | |
written | |
below at the install step. | |
pkg install webcamd | |
From here, append this line to the file `/boot/loader.conf` to load | |
webcam | |
support at boot time: | |
cuse_load="yes" | |
Add your user to the webcamd group so it will be able to use the | |
device: | |
pw groupmod webcamd -m YOUR_USER | |
Enable webcamd at boot: | |
sysrc webcamd_enable="yes" | |
Now, you have to logout from your user for the group change to take | |
place. And | |
if you want the webcamd daemon to work now and not wait next reboot: | |
kldload cuse | |
service webcamd start | |
service devd restart | |
You should have a /dev/video0 device now. You can test it easily with | |
the | |
package `pwcview`. | |
# External resources | |
I found this blog very interesting, I wish I found it before I struggle | |
with | |
all the configuration as it explains how to install FreeBSD on the | |
exact same | |
laptop. The author explains how to make a transparent lagg0 interface | |
for | |
switching from ethernet to wifi automatically with a failover pseudo | |
device. | |
[https://genneko.github.io/playing-with-bsd/hardware/freebsd-on-thinkpa | |
d-t480/](https://genneko.github.io/playing-with-bsd/hardware/freebsd-on | |
-thinkpad-t480/) |