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Re: Bay Trail 32bit UEFI

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John Baldwin

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Mar 1, 2016, 8:29:47 PM3/1/16
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On Sunday, February 28, 2016 07:00:06 AM Joe Holden wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Apologies if this is the wrong list...
>
> Is there any plan to support booting FreeBSD on 32bit UEFI systems (with
> or without 64bit kernel/userland)? Obviously there is no i386 efi loader
> currently so neither is possible...

I don't think anyone is actively working on it. I think it shouldn't be
that much work once the i386 loader is resurrected. The i386 kernel just
needs to use the EFI memory map and I think the rest of it should generally
just work.

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John Baldwin
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Lundberg, Johannes

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Mar 1, 2016, 8:45:41 PM3/1/16
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CherryTrail devices/boards with 64bit UEFI are already out. Upgrading the
hardware is one solution (I did).

I never did try FreeBSD on BayTrail but for running Linux on BayTrail I
used special built Grub that was 32bit but could load 64bit OS. Could this
kind of Grub boot a 64bit FreeBSD, I wonder?

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Joe Holden

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Mar 2, 2016, 5:10:35 AM3/2/16
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On 02/03/2016 01:45, Lundberg, Johannes wrote:
> CherryTrail devices/boards with 64bit UEFI are already out. Upgrading
> the hardware is one solution (I did).
>
I'm thinking of the sticks etc, they all have 32bit UEFI and no
CSM/legacy boot, but have 64bit cpus

> I never did try FreeBSD on BayTrail but for running Linux on BayTrail I
> used special built Grub that was 32bit but could load 64bit OS. Could
> this kind of Grub boot a 64bit FreeBSD, I wonder?
>
I looked at this but honestly it looked like a giant nightmare - I did
get grub loading on a test platform (tablet, for display etc) but didn't
manage to make it boot anything
>
> On Tue, Mar 1, 2016 at 5:20 PM, John Baldwin <j...@freebsd.org
> <mailto:j...@freebsd.org>> wrote:
>
> On Sunday, February 28, 2016 07:00:06 AM Joe Holden wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > Apologies if this is the wrong list...
> >
> > Is there any plan to support booting FreeBSD on 32bit UEFI systems (with
> > or without 64bit kernel/userland)? Obviously there is no i386 efi loader
> > currently so neither is possible...
>
> I don't think anyone is actively working on it. I think it shouldn't be
> that much work once the i386 loader is resurrected. The i386 kernel
> just
> needs to use the EFI memory map and I think the rest of it should
> generally
> just work.
>
> --
> John Baldwin
> _______________________________________________
> freebsd...@freebsd.org <mailto:freebsd...@freebsd.org>
> <mailto:freebsd-curre...@freebsd.org>"

John Baldwin

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Mar 2, 2016, 12:26:46 PM3/2/16
to
On Tuesday, March 01, 2016 05:45:04 PM Lundberg, Johannes wrote:
> CherryTrail devices/boards with 64bit UEFI are already out. Upgrading the
> hardware is one solution (I did).
>
> I never did try FreeBSD on BayTrail but for running Linux on BayTrail I
> used special built Grub that was 32bit but could load 64bit OS. Could this
> kind of Grub boot a 64bit FreeBSD, I wonder?

Mmm, booting an amd64 kernel from an i386 UEFI loader would be a bit more
work. OTOH, in the non-UEFI case we use an i386 loader that boots an
amd64 kernel, so it isn't impossible.

Lundberg, Johannes

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Mar 2, 2016, 2:01:13 PM3/2/16
to
On Wed, Mar 2, 2016 at 2:10 AM, Joe Holden <ma...@m.jwh.me.uk> wrote:

> On 02/03/2016 01:45, Lundberg, Johannes wrote:
>
>> CherryTrail devices/boards with 64bit UEFI are already out. Upgrading
>> the hardware is one solution (I did).
>>
>> I'm thinking of the sticks etc, they all have 32bit UEFI and no
> CSM/legacy boot, but have 64bit cpus

Yeah and it sucks. All to adapt to Microsoft who couldn't make 64bit UEFI
boot loader in time (or so I heard)...
I heard though that newer (Linux) versions of Intel Compute Stick would
have 64bit UEFI but I'm not sure.


>
> I never did try FreeBSD on BayTrail but for running Linux on BayTrail I
>> used special built Grub that was 32bit but could load 64bit OS. Could
>> this kind of Grub boot a 64bit FreeBSD, I wonder?
>>
>> I looked at this but honestly it looked like a giant nightmare - I did
> get grub loading on a test platform (tablet, for display etc) but didn't
> manage to make it boot anything
>

This page contains some instructions and a downloadable booti32.efi image
that you can put in the EFI folder. That will boot a 64bit grub that should
be able to boot a 64bit OS.

http://liliputing.com/2013/10/booting-ubuntu-asus-transformer-book-t100.html

I do have customized Arch Linux memstick image with Grub and this
booti32.efi image so it boots on these systems. This can be used to install
a Grub bootloader that maybe can boot FreeBSD.

One question is, would Grub's filesystem drivers for FreeBSD work in this
mode?

Maybe I should give it a shot today..

--

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and intended solely for the addressee.
Disclosure, copying, distribution or any other action of use of this
email by person other than intended recipient, is prohibited.
If you are not the intended recipient and have received this email in
error, please destroy the original message.

Lundberg, Johannes

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Mar 2, 2016, 2:46:20 PM3/2/16
to
On Wed, Mar 2, 2016 at 11:37 AM, Jakob Alvermark <ja...@alvermark.net>
wrote:

> On Wed, March 2, 2016 20:00, Lundberg, Johannes wrote:
> > On Wed, Mar 2, 2016 at 2:10 AM, Joe Holden <ma...@m.jwh.me.uk> wrote:
> >
> >
> >> On 02/03/2016 01:45, Lundberg, Johannes wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>> CherryTrail devices/boards with 64bit UEFI are already out. Upgrading
> >>> the hardware is one solution (I did).
> >>>
> >>> I'm thinking of the sticks etc, they all have 32bit UEFI and no
> >>>
> >> CSM/legacy boot, but have 64bit cpus
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > Yeah and it sucks. All to adapt to Microsoft who couldn't make 64bit UEFI
> > boot loader in time (or so I heard)... I heard though that newer (Linux)
> > versions of Intel Compute Stick would have 64bit UEFI but I'm not sure.
>
> The Intel Compute sticks can boot both 32 and 64 bit. It doesn't matter if
> you have the Windows or Linux version. (The difference between the is the
> amount of RAM and onboard storage, the firmware is the same)
>
> I have the Windows one and it boots 64 bit just fine.
> You can select it in the settings. (OS setting: Windows=32 bit, Linux=64
> bit)
>

That's great. However, as for all other BayTrail devices out there that
does not support Linux officially I think you're stuck with 32bit.


>
> Jakob

Jakob Alvermark

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Mar 2, 2016, 3:05:43 PM3/2/16
to
On Wed, March 2, 2016 20:00, Lundberg, Johannes wrote:
> On Wed, Mar 2, 2016 at 2:10 AM, Joe Holden <ma...@m.jwh.me.uk> wrote:
>
>
>> On 02/03/2016 01:45, Lundberg, Johannes wrote:
>>
>>
>>> CherryTrail devices/boards with 64bit UEFI are already out. Upgrading
>>> the hardware is one solution (I did).
>>>
>>> I'm thinking of the sticks etc, they all have 32bit UEFI and no
>>>
>> CSM/legacy boot, but have 64bit cpus
>>
>
>
>
> Yeah and it sucks. All to adapt to Microsoft who couldn't make 64bit UEFI
> boot loader in time (or so I heard)... I heard though that newer (Linux)
> versions of Intel Compute Stick would have 64bit UEFI but I'm not sure.

The Intel Compute sticks can boot both 32 and 64 bit. It doesn't matter if
you have the Windows or Linux version. (The difference between the is the
amount of RAM and onboard storage, the firmware is the same)

I have the Windows one and it boots 64 bit just fine.
You can select it in the settings. (OS setting: Windows=32 bit, Linux=64 bit)

Jakob

Joe Holden

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Mar 2, 2016, 5:18:30 PM3/2/16
to
On 02/03/2016 19:45, Lundberg, Johannes wrote:
> On Wed, Mar 2, 2016 at 11:37 AM, Jakob Alvermark <ja...@alvermark.net
> <mailto:ja...@alvermark.net>> wrote:
>
> On Wed, March 2, 2016 20:00, Lundberg, Johannes wrote:
> > On Wed, Mar 2, 2016 at 2:10 AM, Joe Holden <ma...@m.jwh.me.uk <mailto:ma...@m.jwh.me.uk>> wrote:
> >
> >
> >> On 02/03/2016 01:45, Lundberg, Johannes wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>> CherryTrail devices/boards with 64bit UEFI are already out. Upgrading
> >>> the hardware is one solution (I did).
> >>>
> >>> I'm thinking of the sticks etc, they all have 32bit UEFI and no
> >>>
> >> CSM/legacy boot, but have 64bit cpus
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > Yeah and it sucks. All to adapt to Microsoft who couldn't make 64bit UEFI
> > boot loader in time (or so I heard)... I heard though that newer (Linux)
> > versions of Intel Compute Stick would have 64bit UEFI but I'm not sure.
>
> The Intel Compute sticks can boot both 32 and 64 bit. It doesn't
> matter if
> you have the Windows or Linux version. (The difference between the
> is the
> amount of RAM and onboard storage, the firmware is the same)
>
> I have the Windows one and it boots 64 bit just fine.
> You can select it in the settings. (OS setting: Windows=32 bit,
> Linux=64 bit)
>
>
> That's great. However, as for all other BayTrail devices out there that
> does not support Linux officially I think you're stuck with 32bit.
>
>
> Jakob
>
My point was that it is possible to boot amd64 bit kernels from 32bit
UEFI, grub (and therefore, linux) does it.
I think even openbsd at least has a 32bit loader, I'd settle for 32bit
but the problem is I can't easily boot it.
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