1. FreeBSD Driver Installation
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  3. Updating the driver on an existing FreeBSD system:
  4. In this case the kernel image has to be updated the new driver module. Following are the steps to update the kernel with new driver.
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  6. 1) Make sure that kernel source has been installed on the system. If the kernel sources have been installed then there will be /usr/src/sys directory.
  7. 2) Move to the arch/conf directory and copy the GENERIC configuration file to the name you want to give your kernel. For example:
  8. # cd /usr/src/sys/i386/conf
  9. For 64 bit the path is
  10. # /usr/src/sys/amd64/conf
  11. # cp GENERIC MYKERNEL
  12. 3) Perform the following steps.
  13. a) Comment the following line in the file MYKERNEL by placing # at the
  14. beginning of the line.
  15. device cbb #cardbus (yenta) bridge
  16. b) Add the following line to the file /usr/src/sys/conf/files
  17. dev/mfi/mfi_syspd.c optional mfi
  18. (Note add this line next to the line which has dev/mfi/mfi_cam.c optional mfi)
  19. 4) Copy the zip (mfi.zip) file under the path /usr/src/sys/dev (Before proceeding to next step make sure that the directory with name “mfi” does not exist under path /usr/src/sys/dev/. If already a directory with name “mfi” exists, move it to some other folder. For example type, mv /usr/src/sys/dev/mfi /root/mfibackup).
  20. 5) Go to the directory /usr/src/sys/dev and run the following command to unzip the source.
  21. tar –x –f mfi.zip
  22. 6) To compile the kernel go to /usr/src directory and type
  23. make buildkernel KERNCONF=MYKERNEL
  24. 7) To install the new kernel type
  25. make installkernel KERNCONF=MYKERNEL
  26. 8) The new kernel will be copied to the /boot/kernel directory as /boot/kernel/kernel and the old kernel will be moved to /boot/kernel. old/kernel. Reboot the system to use the new kernel, which has the latest driver.
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  28. Note:
  29. Same driver can be used for OS versions 7.0, 7.1, 7.2 & 8.0
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  31. Limitations:
  32. FreeBSD OS does not support supplying DUD’s (Driver update disks) at installation time. The kernel that comes with the installation CD has driver statically linked in it but not as a module. Hence it is not possible to override the driver binary that is part of the kernel with the new driver module. Following table gives the list of OS version’s on which installation of OS on a VD is supported.
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  34. O.S Release Gen2 Skinny
  35. 7.0 No No
  36. 7.1 Yes (OS can be installed on VD) No
  37. 7.2 Yes (OS can be installed on VD) No
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