Sorry I didn't respond earlier. To make the story short: I had to return that laptop to previous state, that is, I had to install Windows. So, no go on this one.
However, I got new laptop (Gericom Blockbuster Xcellent 7000 - Celeron 1.5, 512MB, Radeon 9700 Mobility 256MB...). I installed Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG card in it.
I played with Gentoo on it; and I had no problems overheating or stuff, even with long compiles such as GNOME.
(I tried Xfce as well, it's quite good actually!)
Almost everything worked in Gentoo, except wireless which fails with error
Code:
dmaWaitSync Failed
<next 3 lines are firmware load error>
I checked source code of ipw2200 driver, and there is the line which contains that error, however, I can't figure out what it means since my coding knowledge is somehow limited.
However, it seems that FreeBSD's ipw/iwi driver doesn't contain the line. Also, from what I heard it's included in kernel in 6.0 release. This makes FreeBSD worth trying on this laptop, and I'm giving it a shot. Even if I don't succed, I will still probably learn something new and interesting.
Let's put it this way. I installed it and I get the prompt. So, can you please explain how to use ports? Good exmaple would be how to install the firmware for ipw/iwi driver.
P.S.
I wouldn't ask such questions if FreeBSD handbook wasn't 1000 pages long
Makes you wonder how hard that OS must be (j/k)
