Building a custom kernel for 1.2.3?

allan · Jan 12, 2011, 10:31 AM

Sorry if this has been asked before, but I couldn't find anything about it in a forum search… I'm currently having problems with a machine running pfSense 1.2.3 and a pair of RealTek 8111c NICs. I know these cards are considered sub-standard, but they're what I have to work with. I'm hoping that maybe the FreeBSD drivers from the RealTek web site will work better than the ones in FreeBSD 7.2. I would like to build the pfSense 1.2.3 kernel without the re driver, so that I can compile the re driver from RealTek as a module and then use that driver instead.

I'm currently setting up a FreeBSD 7.2 VM according to the instructions listed at http://devwiki.pfsense.org/DevelopersBootStrapAndDevIso, but I have no idea if this is the right path to go down. What's the right way to build and install my own custom pfSense 1.2.3 FreeBSD kernel?

mark0978 · Jan 31, 2011, 1:35 PM

I have yet to get that set of instructions to work. Bits and pieces fail to compile all over the place (20-50 errors about missing files and other compilation errors.

There seems to be a concerted effort to make all the developer ISOs disappear since not one single mirror has them. Of course they might not have them because no one can build them…..

I think if portsnap were available on the non-developer ISO I could get by with that, but alas, that isn't there either....

jimp · Jan 31, 2011, 6:18 PM

The Developer ISO was discontinued, as none of the developers used it any longer. We all build things in a VM or jail based on the same OS as the pfSense install being worked on, and then move binaries over to the firewall.

Setup a VM for FreeBSD 7.2 and you can probably compile the driver fine there, and move over the resulting .ko file to the firewall.

If you have a driver issue, you're better off trying out 2.0 at this point to see if it behaves any better.