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Old 17th December 2009
ocicat ocicat is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg_Morgan View Post
I cannot run wires and hence am looking for
a wireless option. I do not want to buy a laptop and then wipe it for BSD.
Be aware that using wireless isn't as simple as wired configurations for a number of reasons:
  • Due to the competition between wireless vendors, they are quite nervous about releasing specifications to the public. This makes the development of wireless drivers difficult in the Open Source world (& in some cases, the Linux world allows use of binary blobs where vendors don't have to release any information at all...). In general, wireless chipsets from Atheros or Ralink have a higher probability of working with OpenBSD. Be forewarned that not all offerings from these vendors work with the OpenBSD drivers available. It is not uncommon for vendors to cripple their chipsets marketed to some customers; it all depends upon how contracts/deals are made/worded, so carefully verify the version number of installed wireless cards displayed in dmesg(1) output with what information can be found in the relevant manpages.
  • Because of these issues, you should study what chipset models are supported. The first place to go is to search for these vendors' names using apropos(1). Heed the information found in the associated manpages. Likewise, study Section 6.13 of the FAQ. It would also be to your benefit to search the misc@ mailing list archive for similar information. OpenBSD's misc@ archives can be found at various sites -- one being MARC.info.
Quote:
Can I buy some diskless units and connect to my "server"?
Note that only newer NIC's support PXE, so older hardware may not work. My suggestion is to go someplace local & discuss motherboard feature sets with the help. I have not set up a diskless workstation, but as I recall, the ROM's associated with newer NIC's initialize & contact the PXE server prior to the BIOS possibly freaking out that no drive is attached. Again, begin with studing Section 6.10 & look up PXE in Wikipedia. You will get bonus points for studying Intel's specification for PXE (Google for it...). On the server side, you will need to set up a tftp(1) server to serve the necessary files (one being pxeboot...), & note that tftp is not the same thing as ftp(1).
Quote:
I turn it on and the machine asks me for my login id & password. I type those in and I get a graphical desktop.
This isn't quite the question you are asking (yet), but I will point you to studying the xdm(1) manpage. Whenever a properly configured system is booted, it will boot directly into X. More information can be found in Section 11 of the FAQ. OpenBSD 4.6's new installer makes configuring xdm easy if this is what you want.
Quote:
Is this dream reasonable?
Yes, but with work, & a lot of educating yourself about a number of technologies.
Quote:
How do I "boot" my terminals? Is this where PXE comes?
Yes.
Quote:
What do I need to do to OpenBSD setup to accomplish this?
Various sections of the FAQ have already been mentioned. Study these & the manpages cited carefully.

OpenBSD's documentation is some of the best out there. Studying the entirety of the FAQ now, as a newbie, will save you a lot of future grief & frustration.

Basically, what you are envisioning is quite possible, but you are also implicitly putting yourself into the role of administrating & supporting such a configuration. To do this effectively, you will be learning the skill set needed by good sysadmin's. Learning to do the necessary research upfront is a necessary first step.
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