Is GhostBSD a good Livecd to test FreeBSD hardware compatibility? reddit / freebsd ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Kuzakor · 2022-02-16 09:41 Title says it all. Is GhostBSD similar enough to test the hardware? Thanks. Also, is dual booting windows and FreeBSD an issue? Can I have grub-like menu or I have to boot one of them by f12 every time? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- spryfigure · 2022-02-16 11:57 I don't want to be snarky, but pressing F12 does give you a grub-like menu where you can choose from. Seriously, I am contemplating getting rid of grub on my linux machines because I don't see the added value. grub is just like booting into the UEFI boot menu. GhostBSD is the MATE DE on top of plain FreeBSD, so that should work for all hardware-compatibility investigations. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Kuzakor · 2022-02-16 14:07 Thanks ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CoolHwhipMike · 2022-02-16 18:15 GhostBSD is pretty similar to FreeBSD. Things to watch for: GhostBSD tracks FreeBSD Stable not Release. Some minor things might get added to Stable and not be present in the current release (Release 13.0). They will be in Release 13.1 when it comes out. Also, GhostBSD does a little more setup out of the box. If you run FreeBSD that will mostly, if not all, be up to you. GhostBSD has an option for refind in the installer, although I never used it so I'm not sure if it works. Either way you can install refind from source in either Windows or FreeBSD. I've done both and had each working, doing it inside FreeBSD seemed easier to set up but I have no idea how Windows internals work. You can also use the menu on you motherborad, usually by hitting Del, f2 orF12. But refind can be made to look fancy, if you're into that. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- grahamperrin · 2022-02-16 18:48 > GhostBSD tracks FreeBSD Stable not Release. Yep. Amongst other things: * GhostBSD can boot a variety of computers that FreeBSD 13.0-RELEASE can not. (Inability to boot is a *major* issue.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lbmn2 · 2022-02-16 18:55 I'm a "[copyfree](http://copyfree.org) fanatic", so I use FreeBSD regardless of hardware compatibility. I found that, in time, I find ways around all problems. Don't waste money on hardware that works poorly on FreeBSD, which means the manufacturer doesn't respect user freedom. Having more CPU power instead of GPU is good for a number of reasons. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Kuzakor · 2022-02-16 20:14 The thing that it is based on STABLE not RELEASE is an issue for me. I want to install FreeBSD 13.0-RELEASE so ghost may work, freebsd not. Do you know any diffrent Live cd for hardware testing with preinstalled DE (for testing video drivers) and based on RELEASE? Thanks a lot. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CoolHwhipMike · 2022-02-17 01:31 Might try [nomadbsd](https://nomadbsd.org/) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- grahamperrin · 2022-02-17 02:25 > Do you know any diffrent Live cd for hardware testing with preinstalled DE (for testing video drivers) and based on RELEASE? helloSystem 0.7.0 is based on 13.0-RELEASE, although I don't know whether it's the best barometer for telling whether a driver will work with 13.0-RELEASE without helloSystem, ---------------------------------------------------------------------- MonetizedSandwich · 2022-02-17 04:46 On my laptop, ghostbsd booted perfectly with full hardware support and FreeBSD did not. So maybe not ---------------------------------------------------------------------- grahamperrin · 2022-02-17 17:30 > FreeBSD Which version, exactly? `freebsd-version -kru ; uname -aKU`