Hi folks,
My laptop is the Macbook pro retina 10,1.
Here is a URL that seems be the correct one that I have. My goal is to get OpenBSD + GNOME working on this laptop (possibly dual boot to MacOS) without rEFInd (if that's even possible). I would like to encrypt the OpenBSD (again if possible).
I have searched around and read some other threads/websites on this subject but I guess I have not found what I need yet. My dummy understanding is that if I boot this laptop via EFI or else via BIOS emulation then it will result in a different graphics card being used.
In my attempts to figure out how to get startx working, I have installed OpenBSD 6.1 (release) onto a USB stick and I can boot it to the text console. My idea is that if I can figure it out on the USB stick then I will take the next step to wiping the hard drive. But I don't want to get ahead of myself until I understand what the heck I'm doing, what will work & what won't, etc.
So far, I used the EFI bootloader by creating the MSDOS partition after installation, and I copied the OpenBSD EFI bootloader to the correct folder on that partition. I can boot this USB stick by powering on the laptop and holding down the Option key until I see the MacOS boot menu---I mean the boot menu that comes installed with MacOS, I do not have rEFInd (at this time). After that I can plug in the USB and 2 options will show up: one of them says something like BIOS or MBR or DOS and the other says EFI. If I boot to the EFI it works fine to the text console.
When I boot the laptop this way I see the VEEEEEERY small font. When I type startx, it fails. Note: I did install a USB wifi which comes up as athn0 and got it working by doing fw_update + fiddling (I guess I bought a piece of junk one?), but that is neither here nor there.
Since my experience doesn't really seem to fit with what a lot of other people experience I think I am doing something obviously wrong.
Would anyone be able to let me know what big/major/obvious thing I've gotten wrong, any obvious mistake I made? Am I remotely on the right track and which turn did I miss?
There is a lack of details since I am mostly curious to find out if I'm on the right track. I can upload an error log or dmesg, I just figured I'd ask the basic question first "Is this totally wrong".
In my next attempt I might like to wipe the USB stick and re-install OpenBSD, except this time use the regular boot method instead of the EFI boot method. I seem to recall when I did that before, that the font was the normal/big size. But it could be that my memory is failing me.
Thanks in advance for any info/guidance/etc.