Hardware info on main page. This machine runs the i386 version of FreeBSD.
The primary ata drive (ad0) is sliced up as follows:
ad0s1 - 60 GB - FreeBSD (currently 8.1)
ad0s2 - 60 GB - FreeBSD (currently 7.2)
External usb drive (Samsung 80 GB), used for testing
da0s1 - xx GB - FreeBSD (currently 7.1)
da0s2 - xx GB - FreeBSD (currently 6.4)
work log so far.
2012-01-29: ad0s1 - after switching to a new ISP, the external network interface on the machine had to be reconfigured to use dhcp. From /etc/rc.conf:ifconfig_xl0="DHCP"
Unfortunately, using dhcp has as side-effect that /etc/resolv.conf gets overwritten each time dhclient gets an address. Since I run a local nameserver (bind) on this machine, this side-effect is unwanted. Luckily, I found this post on the forums. So I created /etc/dhclient-enter-hooks and put this in it:root@kg-omni1# more /etc/dhclient-enter-hooks# avoid overwriting /etc/resolv.confadd_new_resolv_conf() { # We don't want /etc/resolv.conf changed # So this is an empty function return 0}
Seems to work.
2011-11-02: I switched to machine 2. slice 1 - dmesg output: normal.
2010-10-17: slice 1 - I upgraded to latest FreeBSD 8.1-stable. dmesg output: normal, verbose.
2010-10-16: slice 1 - I installed FreeBSD 8.1-release. dmesg output: normal, verbose.wlans_ath0="wlan0"ifconfig_wlan0="WPA DHCP"
are the wireless settings in /etc/rc.conf. In addition you need a /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf file.
2008-11-08: slice 1: ath_hal version 0.10.5.6 works nicely with FreeBSD 6.4-prerelease:
root@kg-i82# uname -a
FreeBSD kg-i82.kg4.no 6.4-PRERELEASE FreeBSD 6.4-PRERELEASE #1: Sat Nov 8 22:02:34 CET 2008 root@kg-i82.kg4.no:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/I81K i386
root@kg-i82# dmesg | grep ath
ath_hal: 0.10.5.6 (AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, AR5416, RF5111, RF5112, RF2413, RF5413, RF2133, RF2425, RF2417)
ath0: <Atheros 5416> mem 0xf4010000-0xf401ffff irq 10 at device 0.0 on cardbus1
ath0: Ethernet address: 00:13:f7:6f:2f:45
ath0: mac 13.10 phy 8.1 radio 13.0
ath0: link state changed to UP
2008-11-08: slice 2: I upgraded ath_hal to version 0.10.5.6 (found here) and the ath0 card still works. dmesg messages:
tingo@kg-i82$ dmesg | grep ath
ath_hal: 0.10.5.6 (AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, AR5416, RF5111, RF5112, RF2413, RF5413, RF2133, RF2425, RF2417)
ath0: <Atheros 5416> mem 0xf4010000-0xf401ffff irq 10 at device 0.0 on cardbus1
ath0: [ITHREAD]
ath0: WARNING: using obsoleted if_watchdog interface
ath0: Ethernet address: 00:13:f7:6f:2f:45
ath0: mac 13.10 phy 8.1 radio 13.0
tingo@kg-i82$ pciconf -lv | grep ath -A 4
ath0@pci0:5:0:0: class=0x028000 card=0xee061113 chip=0x0023168c rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
vendor = 'Atheros Communications Inc.'
device = 'AR5008 Wireless Network Adapter'
class = network
2008-11-08: slice 2: it seems that the SMC SMCWCB-N cardbus nic isn't supported in FreeBSD 7.1-prerelease. I updated ath_hal to version 0.9.30.13, rebuilt the kernel, and now the cad is detected as:
ath_hal: 0.9.30.13 (AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, AR5416, RF5111, RF5112, RF2413, RF5413, RF2133)
ath0: <Atheros 5416> mem 0xf4010000-0xf401ffff irq 10 at device 0.0 on cardbus1
ath0: [ITHREAD]
ath0: WARNING: using obsoleted if_watchdog interface
ath0: Ethernet address: 00:13:f7:6f:2f:45
ath0: mac 13.10 phy 8.1 radio 13.0
ath0: link state changed to UP
ath0: link state changed to DOWN
ath0: link state changed to UP
and it seems to be working well.
2008-10-30: slice 1 updated to FreeBSD 6.4-prerelease. dmesg output: normal, verbose.
2008-10-29: slice 2 updated to FreeBSD 7.1-prerelease. dmesg output: normal.
2008-10-10: I booted (with PLoP cd again) FreeBSD 7.1-prerelease from an usb hard drive. dmesg output: normal.
2008-10-10: With the help of PLoP boot manager on a CD, I booted FreeBSD 6.4-prerelease from an usb hard drive. dmesg output: normal. It seems lik PLoP only can boot when the usb hard drive is connected to the top usb port (on the back of the machine).
2008-09-21: I tested ufdformat on this machine, with FreeBSD 7.0-stable:
root@kg-i82# uname -a
FreeBSD kg-i82.kg4.no 7.0-STABLE FreeBSD 7.0-STABLE #3: Wed May 28 15:59:38 CEST 2008 root@kg-i82.kg4.no:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/I81K i386
root@kg-i82# ./ufdformat da0
Geometry: 80 cyl 2 heads 18 secpercyl 512 bytespersec
current: 2880 blocks, 512 bytes-per-block formatted
0: 2880 blocks, 512 bytes-per-block
1: 1232 blocks, 1024 bytes-per-block
2: 2400 blocks, 512 bytes-per-block
Format 1440K floppy `da0'? (y/n): y
Processing VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV done.
ufdformat works as advertised on this machine.
2008-05-18: updated to latest FreeBSD 6.3-stable (slice 1). dmesg output.
2008-05-18: updated to latest FreeBSD 7.0-stable (slice 2): dmesg output.
2008-05-16: FreeBSD 7.0-stable: pciconf -lv output.
2008-03-17: I tried to boot from a dvd that I burned. It didn't work. The dvd booted fine in another machine, so there is something wrong here. A cd I burned with a partial copy of the dvd boots fine. Perhaps the Inspiron 8100 can't boot from dvds?
2008-03-02: upgraded to FreeBSD 7.0-stable. dmesg output and verbose dmesg output.
2008-03-01: installed FreeBSD 7.0-release from CD (disc1) on second slice (ad0s2). dmesg output. Realized that I had just 256 MB memory in the machine, and quickly put in another DIMM to get the memory up to 512 MB. Note: the second dimm is 512MB in size, but is recognized as 256 MB. dmesg output.
2008-02-17: upgraded to FreeBSD 6.3-stable. dmesg output.
2007-11-29: Trying to boot the machine with acpi disabled generates a "kernel trap 12: page fault while in kernel mode". It doesn't matter if i disable acpi with the boot menu or with unset acpi_load from the boot loader prompt.
2007-10-27: upgraded to FreeBSD 6.3-prerelease - dmesg.
2007-10-26: network boot is supported. Press F12 on boot, then select "Mini-PCI NIC" (or "Cardbus NIC") and then press enter. Can be configured with Ctrl+Alt+B. You can choose boot method from PXE, TCP/IP, NetWare, RPL. It supports PXE version 2.01.
2007-10-26: acpiconf -i 0 gives information about the (optional)battery in the left hand slot. Normally, there is a floppy drive in this slot.
2007-02-27: acpiconf -i 1 wll give you information about the standard (right hand side) battery. Whether an optional battery in the left hand side slot will be battery 2 or 0 (zero), I do not know.
2007-02-25: devinfo -voutput, includes a Billionton LNA-100B PCCard NIC.
2007-02-18: FreeBSD 6.2-stable installed, dmesg.
2007-02-15: FreeBSD 6.2-release installed, dmesg.
- The Dell Inspiron 8100 have two memory slots for SDRAM memory in an SO-DIMM package, but due to the specific chipset used, the machine can have a maximum of 512MB memory. The machine also have a 1600x1200 LCD, which is very nice. Boot keys: F2 will get you into BIOS setup, F12 will show you a boot menu. Boot from USB device is NOT supported. BIOS version: currently A15.