FreeBSD 7.0 on Lenovo SL500
as usual have got a new PC, a LENOVO SL500, and Windows has got zero chances of booting;
the first thing after power-on is insertion of FreeBSD 7.0 ISO and reboot.
anything nice (had choosen just some different HD partitions sizes) but NIC, it is simply not recognized.
this is the way i get to allow SL500 have an ethernet connection, hope can be helpful to you.
Problem description :
the NIC is not recognized.
Enviroment :
A FreeBSD 7.0 installation with following parameters
installation type : standard
selected components : custom, adding to required components
manual pages
ports
local
sources
in sources submenu :
base
src
Solution :
step 1 : get HW info
zeta#pciconf -lv
..............
re0@pci0:12:0:0: class=0x020000 card=0x210817aa chip=0x816810ec rev=0x02 hdr=0x00
vendor = 'Realtek Semiconductor'
device = 'RTL8168/8111 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC'
class = network
subclass = ethernet
..............
step 2 : get other-users-experience.
the best fitting one was this
Because of small differences in "patch" and in the real files, the few new rows has been added using "vi"; the final bheavior is almost the same as in the example.
step 3 : recompile the kernel.
optimal instruction to perform it can be found FreeBSD Handbook
there is no need to rename the new kernel, it is exactly the same (unles you want optimizations), but i name it SL500 to remind it is not the original one.
If you have not a dir named /usr/src/sys it is recommended the use of sysinstall command to add it properly.
step 4 : reboot and check.
the HW is now available, but tcpdump on both sides of a communication shows that only ARP can be performed, no IP/ICMP service is still available.
The host feel himself able to receive/send but the peer "sees nothing" coming from that one, while both can "see" packets directed to the FreeBSD 7.0 based host.
step 5 : got more infos about RTL8168/8111C.
the really interesting one was that, so i issued another command
zeta#ifconfig re0 -txcsum
That almost solves the matter : now packets are "seen" by both copies of tcpdump.
but communication are still unavailable.
a new matter has arised : the MAC is now 00:00:00:00:00:00 and it generate some mistake, so at
step 6 : set the MAC on NIC.
zeta#ifconfig re0 link aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff
don't forget to report such changes in /etc/rc.conf, them are not saved
anywhere until you do it.
maybe a line like ifconfig_re0="dhcp link aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff -txcsum" is what you need.
zeta#reboot
after reboot the system is ready for customizations as
zeta#cd /usr/ports/ports-mgmt/portupgrade-devel
zeta#make install distclean
that in minutes allow subsequent
zeta#cd /usr/ports
zeta#portsnap fetch
zeta#portsnap extract
zeta#make fetchindex
zeta#/usr/local/sbin/portsdb -u
zeta#/usr/local/sbin/portversion -v -l "<"
zeta#/usr/local/sbin/portupgrade -varRD
note 1 : portupgrade take longer time because of absence of fedora files in many of listed sites and the number of files needed, that reiterate the failures.
maybe you like to drop off some sites before the problem shows;
in order to keep anything simple : let's wait for fixup by the competent people.
after some upgrades the system is ready for the next step.
It is now time of GUI, i use KDE; maybe 3, maybe 4, will decide later. so let's take the safe way :
zeta#cd /usr/ports/x11/xorg
zeta#make install distclean
........some time.....
after tests : have got troubles both with 3 and 4 version;
it seem the case to use one like the actual-running on "old" PC (3.5.10).
zeta#cd /usr/ports/x11/kde3/
zeta#make install distclean
.......more time..........
With sufficient patience you will get a KDE 3.5 up & running but the mouse has become a "big" square of garbage, and there is no way to read an MP3 list in xmms, nor to do a lot of things that requires a working X enviroment.
I wasn't able to find a fix nor a workaround; so had start a new information research about Intel 4500 GMH drivers.
There is a lot, a very huge amount of useless infos, anywere; so it take a long time to find the "rigth suggestion" here.
A very short way to reach the goal is :
zeta#cd /usr/ports/x11-drivers/xf86-video-intel
zeta#make deinstall distclean
And that's all!
In other words: you can have it up & running also without indeep knowledge of the driver itself and with a very basic one about the OS.
Have fun.
$witched on 2008-10-15