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Which FreeBSD file should I download for Parallels?

MacBH928

MacBH928

macrumors G3
Original poster
May 17, 2008
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Hello, I would like to create a virtual machine to check FreeBSD out. I tried to download FreeBSD installer and launch it on Parallels but no use. I think I got a DOS like screen but it never went on, said something about no disk or similar. Which file on this site should I download?
www.freebsd.org

Get FreeBSD

FreeBSD is an operating system used to power modern servers, desktops, and embedded platforms.
www.freebsd.org www.freebsd.org

I downloaded the "Installer images-amd64" and "Virtual Machine Images-amd64". I was not successful.
 
lowendlinux said:
IIRC free BSD is a partially manual install, why not Ghost BSD?
Click to expand...

NomadBsd, GhostBSD, OpenBSD, FreeBSD...there is a lot of BSDs and its hard to tell whats the difference between each just like on Linux where every distro promises to be the easy and friendly Linux distro. I always wanted to run FreeBSD specifically.
 
MacBH928 said:
NomadBsd, GhostBSD, OpenBSD, FreeBSD...there is a lot of BSDs and its hard to tell whats the difference between each just like on Linux where every distro promises to be the easy and friendly Linux distro. I always wanted to run FreeBSD specifically.
Click to expand...
FreeBSD have a guide for installing with Parallels here: https://docs.freebsd.org/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/virtualization-guest-parallels.html

Just to be clear, as @lowendlinux hinted, FreeBSD installation is not a slick GUI based one. If you got a 'DOS like screen' up then that's the kind of basic cli shell you'll be left with after a succesful install. From there, you'll need to install and configure an X Windowing system etc.

It's not the sort of thing I'd start with this is your 1st foray into installing a *nix system. Start with one of the better supprted Linux distros, poke around with it and then some of the concepts you'll be dealing with on FreeBSD might be more familiar to you.
 
mick2 said:
FreeBSD have a guide for installing with Parallels here: https://docs.freebsd.org/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/virtualization-guest-parallels.html

Just to be clear, as @lowendlinux hinted, FreeBSD installation is not a slick GUI based one. If you got a 'DOS like screen' up then that's the kind of basic cli shell you'll be left with after a succesful install. From there, you'll need to install and configure an X Windowing system etc.

It's not the sort of thing I'd start with this is your 1st foray into installing a *nix system. Start with one of the better supprted Linux distros, poke around with it and then some of the concepts you'll be dealing with on FreeBSD might be more familiar to you.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help. I tried GhostBSD and I got what I believe same error message I got with FreeBSD which is a CLI saying:

Error: cannot open /boot/lua/loader.lua : no such file or directory
type '?' for a list of commands, 'help' for more detailed help.
Click to expand...
 
Flint Ironstag said:
I ran FreeBSD as my primary desktop for a while - over a year (many moons ago). You can get a similar experience by doing everything via MacOS terminal.
Click to expand...

I gave up on it. These FOSS community always rant on how great and amazing FOSS is but they make it very difficult for the average joe to pick their software up. Then try to explain to you stuff in posix hieroglyphs language. Not all of us can be programmers with 10 years experience with POSIX software just so we could start using an OS. You buy a Macbook, press the ON button, everything works.

Here I would like to acknowledge the great efforts made by many to break this obstacle, I am specifically speaking for Linux Mint which I found actually easier to use than Windows. Others that make great FOSS software for the average human being: Mozilla, PiHole, VLC, Audacity, Transmission torrent, handbrake, and Kodi.
 
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lowendlinux said:
Free BSD isn't intended to be user friendly.
Click to expand...

I am okay with that so long as its users don't look down at Windows/Mac users and tell them how great and amazing FreeBSD over those closed source operating systems they are being enslaved by.
 
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MacBH928 said:
Intel Macbook



If you can RTFM you can be a doctor or a car mechanic. You can rebuild your own car's gearbox. Some other software does not need RTFM to function like Mac, Windows, iOS, Android...heck even Linux mint.
Click to expand...

The Linux Mint user is not the part of the target user group for Free BSD, Gentoo, Slackware, Arch.

If you want to just put a thumb drive in and next>next your way to a running system in 10 minutes there are hundreds of distro’s that will do just that. If you want to compile and customize everything in your system there are distro’s for that my computer, my way is the point of FOSS software.
 
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lowendlinux said:
The Linux Mint user is not the part of the target user group for Free BSD, Gentoo, Slackware, Arch.

If you want to just put a thumb drive in and next>next your way to a running system in 10 minutes there are hundreds of distro’s that will do just that. If you want to compile and customize everything in your system there are distro’s for that my computer, my way is the point of FOSS software.
Click to expand...

thats ok and understandable I just wish they dont promote it as a Windows alternative for average people. Not that FreeBSD specifically said this, but in general a lot FOSS community claim so. Its true to some FOSS but not all FOSS.
 
MacBH928 said:
Error: cannot open /boot/lua/loader.lua : no such file or directory
type '?' for a list of commands, 'help' for more detailed help.
Click to expand...

Did you (or anyone) ever get this working, and if so, how? I just got the same error on my 2013 Mac Pro w/Parallels 17.1 over a year since you got that error. I tried FreeBSD 13.0 and 13.1 (amd64 ISO's). Parallels can't detect the OS, so I selected FreeBSD manually.
 
JohnD said:
Did you (or anyone) ever get this working, and if so, how? I just got the same error on my 2013 Mac Pro w/Parallels 17.1 over a year since you got that error. I tried FreeBSD 13.0 and 13.1 (amd64 ISO's). Parallels can't detect the OS, so I selected FreeBSD manually.
Click to expand...

no but what I learned that there is something called bootloader I think that you have to choose where to install and if you install it in the wrong place it won't work.

I really do not remember the specifics but I think you should choose to install in a place called UEFA or something like that. I am sure some one who is more knowledgable than I am can tell you about it
 
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