How To
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Contents
- 1 Introduction to Tips and Tricks
- 2 OS related
- 2.1 If you have a fresh GhostBSD 20.03 installation and cannot install packages
- 2.2 How to move from Trident to GhostBSD?
- 2.3 How to pack a FreeBSD installation image with custom content
- 2.4 How to install GhostBSD/FreeBSD on a ThinkPad T530.
- 2.5 How to get some information about your running system
- 2.6 How to get more information about your running system
- 2.7 How to upgrade from a prerelease
- 2.8 For anyone wanting to play with a GhostBSD livecd without X
- 2.9 Some tips if you try to set up dualboot
- 2.10 Filesystem repairs
- 3 Desktop related
- 4 Sound related
- 5 Virtualization
- 6 Software
- 6.1 How to find Software on GhostBSD
- 6.2 How to install software?
- 6.3 You have installed an application but no starter is in your application list
- 6.4 How to Run Orchestrator on Ghost/FreeBSD
- 6.5 Using Ports
- 6.6 Looking for devtools?
- 6.7 Like to change the display manager
- 6.8 Migrate from Linux to GhostBSD and take your E-Mails and bookmarks with you
- 6.9 Is there a way to block a program for accessing network/internet?
- 6.10 If i want only a specific program to block access internet
- 7 Hardware / Kernel / Driver related
- 7.1 How to find out if my hardware is detected
- 7.2 How can I find out if my hardware is supported
- 7.3 Qualified Vendor List for RAM support
- 7.4 How to get information about loaded modules into the kernel
- 7.5 How to get information about loadable kernel modules
- 7.6 How to load kernel modules
- 7.7 GhostBSD does not support APM at the moment
- 7.8 Radeon Mobility HD 4200: Invisible Mouse Cursor
- 7.9 How to install driver to graphic card Park (Mobility Radeon HD 5430/5450/5470)
- 7.10 How to set mouse cursor if bit too sensitive and fast
- 7.11 How is the battery optimization for GhostBSD
- 7.12 drm-fbsd12.0-kmod
- 7.13 How to install Nvidia drivers?
- 7.14 Hints for the use of Graphic Carts
- 7.15 Test Results Webcam Useability on GhostBSD
- 8 Network related
- 9 Files and file systems
- 10 Mount / unmount
- 11 System management
- 12 More tips and tricks
- 13 How to Report Issues
Introduction to Tips and Tricks
On this page we will collect some tips and tricks from users to users. It is not always sure, that a tip helps for your issue, but if so, you can comment on the Discussions page or write you solution in this list with your name as source.
It is not a forum. If you have a question and no answer yet, go to GhostBSD Forums.
But if you got a solution for your issues, you are welcome to describe it here in a short way.
Some proposals need to get there own pages, because of there volume. (see the blue links)
If you have a fresh GhostBSD 20.03 installation and cannot install packages
Try to remove /usr/local/etc/pkg/repos/GhostBSD.conf
sudo rm /usr/local/etc/pkg/repos/GhostBSD.conf
Post on the forum by ericbsd » Fri Apr 24, 2020 8:53 am
How to move from Trident to GhostBSD?
Here you will find a Step by step tutorial on GitHub.
How to pack a FreeBSD installation image with custom content
Packmule packs a FreeBSD installation image with custom content, making it useful for generating install images with all your normal utilities included. The added packages are installed along with the regular contents of FreeBSD. Generated images have the form FreeBSD-*-packed.iso. Installation can proceed as normal with the packed software showing up on the newly installed system alongside the FreeBSD base.
How to install GhostBSD/FreeBSD on a ThinkPad T530.
Here you will find a guide to a fully functional installation
How to get some information about your running system
- Get some system information, kernel version, release date by using sysctl
- With
uname -a
You get: FreeBSD yourname.ghostbsd-pc.home 12.1-STABLE FreeBSD 12.1-STABLE GENERIC amd64
It is a summary of kernel information, you can get with sysctl NAME.
- More information to uname on the man page.
How to get more information about your running system
-
pkg info | grep os-generic
-
uname -U
How to upgrade from a prerelease
Eric Turgeon, [12.03.20 02:07] on Telegram
-
os pkg upgrade
For anyone wanting to play with a GhostBSD livecd without X
I have one at ftp://219.121.16.20/pub/GhostBSD/experimental/GhostBSD-2020-03-19-nox-experimental.iso
It is not very useful at the moment, but may be of interest to some. It does not come with an installer yet.
For network, run: dhcpcd
It is read-writable, and packages can be added. Tip from Vic Thacker on Telegram on 19.3.2020 at 6:38
Some tips if you try to set up dualboot
Eric Turgeon, [19.03.20 21:29] till 19.03.20 21:36] on Telegram
- Grub on linux does not see FreeBSD same for Grub on FreeBSD it does not see Linux.
- The best thing I have comeup with is Refind, but it only work with efi.
- You can set up Grub to config file to add GhostBSD, but it is diferent on MBR, GPT, UEFI, legacy boot
- If you google it for FreeBSD you will find the way you need to set it.
Lucy Randall, [20.03.20 00:57] till [20.03.20 01:10]on Telegram
- Refind is pretty easy.
- Copy "loader.efi" to the folder: /EFI/freebsd/ in the ESP partition.
- For a temporary solution.
- To make it permanently available use EFIFS's UFS2 driver, place it in the "/EFI/refind/driver_x64", and edit the edit the "refind.conf" to distinguish which "/boot/*.efi" should be loaded and visible at boot.
- Don't know the exact configuration, but that's the gist.
Filesystem repairs
Vic Thacker, [24.03.20 09:21] on Telegram
[In reply to Lyman Hazelton]
Assuming you are using UFS, I would refer to Section 1 (Filesystem repairs) of this document.
https://nsrc.org/workshops/2007/linuxchix-ke/po/recovery/recovery-exercise.pdf
How to adjust lcd screen brightness?
Eric Turgeon, [02.03.20 14:12] [In reply to Hiencv] acpi_video_load="YES" is needed in /boot/loader.conf for that to work
Neville Goddard, [02.03.20 14:09] [In reply to Hiencv] Does this work? xrandr --output HDMI-0 --brightness 0.9
Hiencv, [02.03.20 14:15]
[In reply to Neville Goddard]
It works for me. Tks!
Did you try to use the brightness from your keyborad? - It doesn't work.
If you are unable to resume your desktop after suspend (lid closed)
This tips could help:
- FreeBSD 12.0 Suspend and Resume
- 11.13. Power and Resource Management
- Neville Goddard, [18.03.20 23:39] on Telegram
Suspend resume worked perfectly on my laptop with GhostBSD and drm-legacy-kmod and Intel graphics
My laptop suddenly shuts down often and my firefox config and sysctl.conf gets reset
Kitteh | ASK TO TOUCH | they/them, [22.03.20 23:07] on Telegram
My laptop suddenly shuts down often and my firefox config and sysctl.conf gets reset
Vic Thacker, [22.03.20 23:37] on Telegram
[In reply to Kitteh | ASK TO TOUCH | they/them]
My first thought is microcode.
$ pkg install devcpu-data
$ vi /boot/loader.conf
cpu_microcode_load="YES"
cpu_microcode_name="/boot/firmware/intel-ucode.bin"
$ reboot
Vic Thacker, [22.03.20 23:38] on Telegram
In the past, I have had servers suddenly shutdown due to a microcode issue. I might be wrong in my assumption, but that is what comes to mind.
Vic Thacker, [22.03.20 23:40] on Telegram
https://www.thomas-krenn.com/en/wiki/Update_Intel_Microcode_on_FreeBSD
I would suggest updating the system's bios, as well.
How to solve if no USB Sound 2.1
Hints from the Community
Virtualization
How to install VirtualBox on GhostBSD
Guide to install VirtualBox on GhostBSD
Software
How to find Software on GhostBSD
- Go to GhostBSD Wiki or Applications
- Than to Application Management and choose your preferred method for installation.
How to install software?
- Go to Application Management
You have installed an application but no starter is in your application list
- To find the location of your application write the command
whereis foo
- Right click on your desktop, take application launcher editing, choose a name and select a command
- Click on the icon symbol and choose that suits
How to Run Orchestrator on Ghost/FreeBSD
Use this tip: percona
Using Ports
"Don't use FreeBSD ports via portsnap on GhostBSD
Install it from GhostBSD ports
sudo git clone https://github.com/ghostbsd/ghostbsd-ports/ /usr/ports
Source: ericbsd
Looking for devtools?
"Devtools are not installed by default" on GhostBSD
You have to install them:
sudo pkg install os-generic-userland-devtools
Source: ericbsd
Like to change the display manager
sudo rc-update delete lightdm
sudo rc-update add gdm
Tip from Eric on Telegram at 27.01.2020 17:09
Migrate from Linux to GhostBSD and take your E-Mails and bookmarks with you
You would like to move from a Linux OS to GhostBSD and take your settings and E-Mails from Thunderbird and bookmarks from Firefox to GhostBSD.
Go on Linux to .thunderbird and .mozilla in your home directory and safe each folder /xyz.default and insert the contents in the folder /xyz.default-release on GhostBSD. xyz is only a replacement for bk3yc9n7 or something similar.
This worked from Debian to GhostBSD. Tested by Slughorn
Is there a way to block a program for accessing network/internet?
Vic Thacker, [24.05.20 15:14] on Telegram
- Review the files in
/usr/share/examples/pf
- Copy
/usr/share/examples/pf/pf.conf
to/etc/pf.conf
- Edit
/etc/pf.conf
to your liking - Add to
/etc/rc.conf
:pf_enable="YES"
- Add to
/etc/rc.conf
:pf_rules="/etc/pf.conf"
sudo rc-service add pf
sudo rc-service pf start
If i want only a specific program to block access internet
Vic Thacker, [24.05.20 16:02]
- use sudo with -g switch
How to find out if my hardware is detected
Use the dmesg command or look into the file /var/run/dmesg.boot.
How can I find out if my hardware is supported
The first step should be: Look on both pages: Kernel and Modules first.
See also
- FreeBSD 12.0-RELEASE Hardware Notes,
- FreeBSD 12.1-RELEASE Hardware Notes.
- AMD GPU Support
- Intel GPU
- Graphics
- on GitHub Vic Thacker on Telegram at 6.4.2020
Qualified Vendor List for RAM support
Suggestion from Vic Thacker on 28.3.2020 at 6:34
How to get information about loaded modules into the kernel
- You get some information with the command
kldstat
- The kldstat utility displays the status of any files dynamically linked into the kernel. More information on FreeBSD
How to get information about loadable kernel modules
- Loadable kernel modules related to hardware, firmware, graphics driver. and virtual machines you will find in the directory of your system: /boot/modules/ and /boot/kernel/
All files end with .ko.
How to load kernel modules
Once the machine has booted, you may load a module with the command kldload
, unload with kldunload
and list with kldstat
.
Modules can also be loaded from the loader before the kernel starts, automatically if you makes an entry in the /boot/loader.conf.
For example:
fuse_load="YES"
vboxdrv_load="YES"
See also: Kernel Competence
GhostBSD does not support APM at the moment
Vic Thacker, [18.03.20 22:29] on Telegram [In reply to Gerard van Breemen] GhostBSD does not support APM at the moment.
case ${SYSCTL_N} hw.machine_arch in i386) # Warn user about acpi apm compatibility support which # does not work with apmd. if [ ! -e /dev/apmctl ]; then ewarn "/dev/apmctl not found; kernel is missing apm(4)" fi ;; *) return 1 ;; esac
Radeon Mobility HD 4200: Invisible Mouse Cursor
Unread post by sweeney » Tue Feb 04, 2020 4:46 am GhostBSD Forum
"I have an interesting issue. When I boot into GhostBSD 20.01 on my old Toshiba Satelitte, BSD does detect and uses the AMD Radeon Mobility 4200HD chipset (RS880) sucessfully, but I have a missing mouse cursor. You are still able to click and move the cursor, but it rather difficult to use as you cannot see it current location. I installed GhostBSD using VESA mode and then installed the radeonkms driver using pkg. I have added kld_list="/boot/modules/radeonkms.ko" to rc.conf using sysrc but xorg does not use the driver. The driver seems loading as the console changes screen resolution but xorg does not recognise it. So currently I stuck at a lower screen resolution and without hardware acceleration. The FreeBSD forums do mention a similar issue but I cannot get xorg to use the radeonkms driver in order to try the workaround. Can I edit the live ISO to try the workaround and reinstall? https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/invi ... ter.70572/ https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_ ... ?id=237642
I managed to get it working.
I had to change the /etc/X11/xorg.conf from "VESA" to "radeon" under the Section "Device" and rebooted. Done!
As per the following post: https://forums.ghostbsd.org/viewtopic.p ... 7958#p7958":
How to install driver to graphic card Park (Mobility Radeon HD 5430/5450/5470)
Post by sweeney » Tue Feb 04, 2020 5:31 am on GhostBSD Forum:
"I've got mine working! Make sure that have the drm-kmod package installed (of which you may already have). Run the following commands as root:
pkg install drm-kmod
This should make sure that drivers are installed. Being a Radeon Mobilty HD 7000 and earlier, we need to set to set the radeondms driver to load at startup:
sysrc kld_list="/boot/modules/radeonkms.ko"
Next edit the /etc/X11/xorg.conf so the "Device" section looks like this:
- Section "Device"
- Identifier "Card0"
- Driver "radeon"
- EndSection
Note: It is better to move or delete the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file and force xorg to auto-detect. Now reboot. If the driver is loading at startup, you will see the console output change screen resolution before xorg starts. Note the screen resolution will have not changed, but you should be able to go to System => Preferences => Hardware => Displays, and if xorg is using the right driver, you should be able to set the desired resolution. I hope this helps"
How to set mouse cursor if bit too sensitive and fast
mouse cursor - bit too senstive and fast even on lowest setting
How is the battery optimization for GhostBSD
Eric Turgeon, [21.02.20 11:50] [In reply to Jared] sudo rc-update add powerd default helps a lot.
drm-fbsd12.0-kmod
Very important: when I send the next @GhostBSD packages everyone that uses drm-fbsd12.0-kmod need to make a sudo pkg upgrade -f drm-fbsd12.0-kmod or pkg upgrade -f if not on reboot you will have a kernel panic at less for intell."
Source: Eric on Telegram 4.2.2020 15:23
How to install Nvidia drivers?
Look on the linked pages:
Hints for the use of Graphic Carts
On the GhostBSD Forum
Test Results Webcam Useability on GhostBSD
Thank to our community member Fred Finster: Webcam Test with GhostBSD
HowTo setup Wifi Edimax EW-7811utn USB Dongle for GhostBSD
HowTo setup Wifi Edimax EW-7811utn USB Dongle for GhostBSD
How to setup RealTek RTL8188CE Wii-Fi PCI network hardware
RealTek RTL8188CE Wii-Fi PCI network hardware setup
Some issues with WLAN/WiFi
Proposals from the community see on special page WLAN
Using USB Tethering on GhostBSD with Android
- Tethering on FreeBSD
- Hint from FastVoteFred
- FreeBSD Handbook Chapter: 31.4. USB Tethering
- Thanks for the hints from Wb7odyfred
Wireless Support
Handbook Chapter: 31.3. Wireless Networking
Looking for Bluetooth support?
Handbook Chapter 31.5. Bluetooth
Files and file systems
Search for Files on GhostBSD
There is a very useful application called catfish that can be used to search your computer for files. Read more on the GhostBSD Forum. Author: Neville Goddard
Mount / unmount
How to mount Ext4 internal SSD
Show USB devices
- Connect USB device
- Open a terminal
- Change to root
- Write: # gpart show
- gpart will show you the device dax and the partition sx
mount NTFS
- Do first
gpart show
- Install: ntfs-3g
- Write:
# ntfs-3g /dev/da5s1 /mnt
- da5s1 is an example
- /mnt is the mountpoint you wish
- open Thunar and go to /mnt
- Thunar shows you the content of your device and you can work with it
- Caja does not allways
Source: Tested by Slughorn
Thanks to:user hunghung
- Addition from Alessandro “Sasha” Dimichino, [26.04.20 15:10] on Telegram: "I would specify if possible that the package to be installed to have the ntfs-3g command is fusefs-ntfs".
mount FAT32
See also msdosfs
- Do first
gpart show
- Write:
# mount -t msdosfs /dev/da5s1 /mnt
- da5s1 is an example
- /mnt is the mountpoint you wish
- open Thunar and go to /mnt
- Thunar shows you the content of your device and you can work with it
- Caja does not always
Tested by Slughorn
Thanks to:user hunghung
System management
rc Shell
Command scripts for auto-reboot and daemon startup|br/> See: Man Page
pkg is locked by an other process
sudo killall -9 pkg && sudo pkg update -f && sudo pkg upgrade -y
Suggestion from #hd_scania on Telegram on 25.01.2020 at 11:10
System sticks during shutdown
If your system sticks during shutdown at: Saving dependencies cache
- Do:
sudo rc-update delete savecache shutdown
That will remove save cache.
Tip from Eric
How to find multiple interface language packs on GhostBSD
- Go to Profile
How to set OpenRC parallel service startup
Put in
/etc/rc.conf
rc_parallel="YES"
"But I don't think it works properly yet."
Source: Neville Goddard on Telegram on 16.02.2020 at 15:40
What to do if after reboot the sshd stops
- With status: stopped
Neville Goddard, [12.03.20 00:09] on Telegram
[In reply to Ulf Danielsson]
To keep the service going after reboot run
rc-update add sshd
Where can I find OpenRC documented
See link above and the following:
More tips and tricks
- on the GhostBSD Forum
- FreeBSD Wiki
- The FreeBSD Forums
- If you look for something special, we recommend Howtos from FreeBSD
How to Report Issues
Eric Turgeon, [08.04.20 13:46] on Telegram
We moved our project management to GitHub and we will be using GitHub for bug and feature reports.
- If you need to report a bug related to the ISO or installation report them at
ISO-Issues. - If you need to report a bug related to OS, kernel, drivers report them at
Kernel issues - If you need to report a bug related to software report them at
Software issues
- If you need help or want to give feedback please visit
GhostBSD-Forum
or
on Telegram
Eric Turgeon, [08.04.20 13:47]
- I think an new feature request should go at ghostbsd-build.
How to report a bug:
Vic Thacker, [28.04.20 08:21] on Telegram
- Sign-up for a free github account: GitHub
Then go to issues
- Add issue.
- Add title.
- Add description.
- Add image.
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