OpenBSD hardware support on Mac Air & Asus Zenbook

[sysfu]

I'm curious if anyone here has experience running OpenBSD on either the Mac Air or Asus Zenbook UX21/31 platforms. I'm considering purchasing an ultraportable laptop and want to know which one is best supported.

Here's a post about OpenBSD on the UX21

[ocicat]

Originally Posted by srf21c

I'm curious if anyone here has experience running OpenBSD on either the Mac Air or Asus Zenbook UX21/31 platforms.[/URL]

When it comes to compatibility questions, it is best to search through the archives of the official misc@ mailing list. For the Macbook Air:

http://marc.info/?l=openbsd-misc&w=2...acbook+air&q=b

I saw no mention of the Zenbook.

Other archive sites can be found at the following:

http://www.openbsd.org/mail.html

My recommendation would be to:

• find a shop which has the model you are interested in, & plead with the powers at be to allow you to attempt to boot OpenBSD.
• be very clear about the return policy before purchase.

[sysfu]

Originally Posted by ocicat

When it comes to compatibility questions, it is best to search through the archives of the official misc@ mailing list. For the Macbook Air:

http://marc.info/?l=openbsd-misc&w=2...acbook+air&q=b

Thanks for the link. I read through the "Which laptops do the developers use?" thread and found that pretty informative w/regards to the Mac notebooks.

My takeaway was that all the macs use the Nvidia display chip which is not well supported and according to one dev "not worth bothering with"

Researching the Zenbook display adapter chipset now..

Originally Posted by ocicat

My recommendation would be to:

• find a shop which has the model you are interested in, & plead with the powers at be to allow you to attempt to boot OpenBSD.
• be very clear about the return policy before purchase.

Duly noted.

[ocicat]

Originally Posted by srf21c

My takeaway was that all the macs use the Nvidia display chip which is not well supported and according to one dev "not worth bothering with"

Life will be much more pleasant if you can avoid nVidia altogether.

[sysfu]

Maybe I spoke too soon, looks like the current Macbook Air specs feature Intel HD Graphics 3000 processors

[Oko]

Originally Posted by srf21c

Maybe I spoke too soon, looks like the current Macbook Air specs feature Intel HD Graphics 3000 processors

Why would you want to replace OS X with OpenBSD to begin with on Macbook Air? OS X is a very nice desktop operating system for people who actually know how to use it. OS X 10.7 includes the most up to date version of PF of any BSD like system except OpenBSD itself. MAC Ports are really OK so the price you are paying (lack of centralized rc.conf file) to get all proprietary software running is really small in my point of view.

[sysfu]

Mostly out of security concerns, e.g. the FinFisher iTunes update.

OS X is a nice operating system, I use and know it well. I really like the fact that Lion now supports FDE (Full Disk Encryption).

After doing further research I'm actually leaning more towards the Thinkpad X300/301 or X1 in lieu of a Zenbook or Macbook Air.

[Oko]

Originally Posted by srf21c

Mostly out of security concerns, e.g. the FinFisher iTunes update.

You should be able to take care of that with custom pf.conf file but I (not a regular OS X user) imagine that there is a way to kill those daemons (probably not simple because of lack of rc.conf).

I personally like Thinkpad hardware better than Macbook Air but you will have to run then vanilla OpenBSD as the OS which comes with them is not usable.