Installing OpenBSD 5.7 on a Dell Latitude E6500 laptop

I purchased a new SSD drive (240GB) to replace existing 320GB hard drive. I started the install, but when it came time to install the sets, there was no hard drive to install to. Oh, bugger. Had I just wasted my money? Research on the web made the reason soon become apparent; the default SATA mode on the Dell is IRRT. Once this was changed to AHCI, OpenBSD happily detected the SSD drive.

Everything works, except the wireless adapter (Broadcom B43 device). The Broadcom device requires a binary firmware blob to operate, so that is right out as far as OpenBSD is concerned. Sound is OK, as is X (no xorg.conf required). Compiling the kernel takes 4 minutes, userland about an hour (c.f. the Toshiba, 2 hours and 16 hours respectively)

Stole (wholesale) the setup to blank the console from the FAQ, with some minor modifications:

  display.vblank=on               # enable vertical sync blank
  display.screen_off=300000       # set screen blank timeout to 5 minutes
  display.kbdact=on               # Restore screen on keyboard input
  display.outact=on               # Restore screen on display output

I am really impressed how OpenBSD operates on this thing.

Dmesg below:

  OpenBSD 5.7-stable (GENERIC.MP) #0: Sun Aug  2 16:37:08 BST 2015
  root@magenta.hydrus.org.uk:\
    /usr/src/sys/arch/amd64/compile/\
    GENERIC.MP
  real mem = 8523141120 (8128MB)
  avail mem = 8292339712 (7908MB)
  mpath0 at root
  scsibus0 at mpath0: 256 targets
  mainbus0 at root
  bios0 at mainbus0: SMBIOS rev. 2.4 @ 0xf6540 (57 entries)
  bios0: vendor Dell Inc. version "A19" date 12/21/2009
  bios0: Dell Inc. Latitude E6500
  acpi0 at bios0: rev 2
  acpi0: sleep states S0 S3 S4 S5
  acpi0: tables DSDT FACP HPET DMAR APIC ASF! MCFG TCPA SLIC SSDT
  acpi0: wakeup devices PCI0(S4) PCIE(S4) USB1(S0) USB2(S0) USB3(S0) USB4(S0) USB5(S0) USB6(S0) EHC2(S0) EHCI(S0) AZAL(S3) RP01(S4) RP02(S4) RP03(S4) RP04(S3) RP05(S3) [...]
  acpitimer0 at acpi0: 3579545 Hz, 24 bits
  acpihpet0 at acpi0: 14318179 Hz
  acpimadt0 at acpi0 addr 0xfee00000: PC-AT compat
  cpu0 at mainbus0: apid 0 (boot processor)
  cpu0: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8800 @ 2.66GHz, 2660.38 MHz
  cpu0: FPU, VME, DE, PSE, TSC, MSR, PAE, MCE, CX8, APIC, SEP, MTRR, PGE, MCA, CMOV, PAT, PSE36, CFLUSH, DS, ACPI, MMX, FXSR, SSE, SSE2, SS, HTT, TM, PBE, SSE3, DTES64, MWAIT, DS-CPL, VMX, SMX, EST, TM2, SSSE3, CX16, xTPR, PDCM, SSE4.1, XSAVE, NXE, LONG, LAHF, PERF
  cpu0: 3MB 64b/line 8-way L2 cache
  cpu0: smt 0, core 0, package 0
  mtrr: Pentium Pro MTRR support, 7 var ranges, 88 fixed ranges
  cpu0: apic clock running at 266MHz
  cpu0: mwait min=64, max=64, C-substates=0.2.2.2.2, IBE
  cpu1 at mainbus0: apid 1 (application processor)
  cpu1: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8800 @ 2.66GHz, 2660.01 MHz
  cpu1: FPU, VME, DE, PSE, TSC, MSR, PAE, MCE, CX8, APIC, SEP, MTRR, PGE, MCA, CMOV, PAT, PSE36, CFLUSH, DS, ACPI, MMX, FXSR, SSE, SSE2, SS, HTT, TM, PBE, SSE3, DTES64, MWAIT, DS-CPL, VMX, SMX, EST, TM2, SSSE3, CX16, xTPR, PDCM, SSE4.1, XSAVE, NXE, LONG, LAHF, PERF
  cpu1: 3MB 64b/line 8-way L2 cache
  cpu1: smt 0, core 1, package 0
  ioapic0 at mainbus0: apid 2 pa 0xfec00000, version 20, 24 pins
  ioapic0: misconfigured as apic 0, remapped to apid 2
  acpimcfg0 at acpi0 addr 0xf8000000, bus 0-63
  acpiprt0 at acpi0: bus 3 (PCIE)
  acpiprt1 at acpi0: bus -1 (AGP_)
  acpiprt2 at acpi0: bus 11 (RP01)
  acpiprt3 at acpi0: bus 12 (RP02)
  acpiprt4 at acpi0: bus 13 (RP03)
  acpiprt5 at acpi0: bus 14 (RP04)
  acpiprt6 at acpi0: bus -1 (RP05)
  acpiprt7 at acpi0: bus -1 (RP06)
  acpiprt8 at acpi0: bus 0 (PCI0)
  acpiec0 at acpi0
  acpicpu0 at acpi0: C3, C2, C1, PSS
  acpicpu1 at acpi0: C3, C2, C1, PSS
  acpitz0 at acpi0: critical temperature is 107 degC
  acpibtn0 at acpi0: LID_
  acpibtn1 at acpi0: PBTN
  acpibtn2 at acpi0: SBTN
  acpiac0 at acpi0: AC unit online
  acpibat0 at acpi0: BAT0 model "DELL C207203" serial 5003 type LION oem "Samsung SDI"
  acpibat1 at acpi0: BAT1 not present
  acpivideo0 at acpi0: VID_
  acpivideo1 at acpi0: VID_
  acpivout0 at acpivideo1: LCD_
  acpivideo2 at acpi0: VID2
  cpu0: Enhanced SpeedStep 2660 MHz: speeds: 2668, 2667, 2134, 1600, 800 MHz
  pci0 at mainbus0 bus 0
  pchb0 at pci0 dev 0 function 0 "Intel GM45 Host" rev 0x07
  vga1 at pci0 dev 2 function 0 "Intel GM45 Video" rev 0x07
  intagp0 at vga1
  agp0 at intagp0: aperture at 0xe0000000, size 0x10000000
  inteldrm0 at vga1
  drm0 at inteldrm0
  inteldrm0: 1920x1200
  wsdisplay0 at vga1 mux 1: console (std, vt100 emulation)
  wsdisplay0: screen 1-5 added (std, vt100 emulation)
  "Intel GM45 Video" rev 0x07 at pci0 dev 2 function 1 not configured
  em0 at pci0 dev 25 function 0 "Intel ICH9 IGP M AMT" rev 0x03: msi, address 00:26:b9:bf:2e:70
  uhci0 at pci0 dev 26 function 0 "Intel 82801I USB" rev 0x03: apic 2 int 20
  uhci1 at pci0 dev 26 function 1 "Intel 82801I USB" rev 0x03: apic 2 int 21
  uhci2 at pci0 dev 26 function 2 "Intel 82801I USB" rev 0x03: apic 2 int 22
  ehci0 at pci0 dev 26 function 7 "Intel 82801I USB" rev 0x03: apic 2 int 22
  usb0 at ehci0: USB revision 2.0
  uhub0 at usb0 "Intel EHCI root hub" rev 2.00/1.00 addr 1
  azalia0 at pci0 dev 27 function 0 "Intel 82801I HD Audio" rev 0x03: msi
  azalia0: codecs: IDT 92HD71B7, Intel/0x2802, using IDT 92HD71B7
  audio0 at azalia0
  ppb0 at pci0 dev 28 function 0 "Intel 82801I PCIE" rev 0x03: msi
  pci1 at ppb0 bus 11
  ppb1 at pci0 dev 28 function 1 "Intel 82801I PCIE" rev 0x03: msi
  pci2 at ppb1 bus 12
  "Broadcom BCM4315" rev 0x01 at pci2 dev 0 function 0 not configured
  ppb2 at pci0 dev 28 function 2 "Intel 82801I PCIE" rev 0x03: msi
  pci3 at ppb2 bus 13
  ppb3 at pci0 dev 28 function 3 "Intel 82801I PCIE" rev 0x03: msi
  pci4 at ppb3 bus 14
  uhci3 at pci0 dev 29 function 0 "Intel 82801I USB" rev 0x03: apic 2 int 20
  uhci4 at pci0 dev 29 function 1 "Intel 82801I USB" rev 0x03: apic 2 int 21
  uhci5 at pci0 dev 29 function 2 "Intel 82801I USB" rev 0x03: apic 2 int 22
  ehci1 at pci0 dev 29 function 7 "Intel 82801I USB" rev 0x03: apic 2 int 20
  usb1 at ehci1: USB revision 2.0
  uhub1 at usb1 "Intel EHCI root hub" rev 2.00/1.00 addr 1
  ppb4 at pci0 dev 30 function 0 "Intel 82801BAM Hub-to-PCI" rev 0x93
  pci5 at ppb4 bus 3
  cbb0 at pci5 dev 1 function 0 "Ricoh 5C476 CardBus" rev 0xba: apic 2 int 19
  "Ricoh 5C832 Firewire" rev 0x04 at pci5 dev 1 function 1 not configured
  sdhc0 at pci5 dev 1 function 2 "Ricoh 5C822 SD/MMC" rev 0x21: apic 2 int 18
  sdmmc0 at sdhc0
  "Ricoh 5C843 MMC" rev 0x11 at pci5 dev 1 function 3 not configured
  cardslot0 at cbb0 slot 0 flags 0
  cardbus0 at cardslot0: bus 4 device 0 cacheline 0x10, lattimer 0x20
  pcmcia0 at cardslot0
  pcib0 at pci0 dev 31 function 0 "Intel 82801IEM LPC" rev 0x03
  ahci0 at pci0 dev 31 function 2 "Intel 82801I AHCI" rev 0x03: msi, AHCI 1.2
  scsibus1 at ahci0: 32 targets
  sd0 at scsibus1 targ 0 lun 0: <ATA, KINGSTON SV300S3, 603A> SCSI3 0/direct fixed naa.50026b775605cd58
  sd0: 228936MB, 512 bytes/sector, 468862128 sectors, thin
  cd0 at scsibus1 targ 1 lun 0: <TSSTcorp, DVD+-RW TS-U633F, D500> ATAPI 5/cdrom removable
  ichiic0 at pci0 dev 31 function 3 "Intel 82801I SMBus" rev 0x03: apic 2 int 17
  iic0 at ichiic0
  spdmem0 at iic0 addr 0x50: 4GB DDR2 SDRAM non-parity PC2-6400CL6 SO-DIMM
  spdmem1 at iic0 addr 0x52: 4GB DDR2 SDRAM non-parity PC2-6400CL6 SO-DIMM
  usb2 at uhci0: USB revision 1.0
  uhub2 at usb2 "Intel UHCI root hub" rev 1.00/1.00 addr 1
  usb3 at uhci1: USB revision 1.0
  uhub3 at usb3 "Intel UHCI root hub" rev 1.00/1.00 addr 1
  usb4 at uhci2: USB revision 1.0
  uhub4 at usb4 "Intel UHCI root hub" rev 1.00/1.00 addr 1
  usb5 at uhci3: USB revision 1.0
  uhub5 at usb5 "Intel UHCI root hub" rev 1.00/1.00 addr 1
  usb6 at uhci4: USB revision 1.0
  uhub6 at usb6 "Intel UHCI root hub" rev 1.00/1.00 addr 1
  usb7 at uhci5: USB revision 1.0
  uhub7 at usb7 "Intel UHCI root hub" rev 1.00/1.00 addr 1
  isa0 at pcib0
  isadma0 at isa0
  pckbc0 at isa0 port 0x60/5
  pckbd0 at pckbc0 (kbd slot)
  pckbc0: using irq 1 for kbd slot
  wskbd0 at pckbd0: console keyboard, using wsdisplay0
  pms0 at pckbc0 (aux slot)
  pckbc0: using irq 12 for aux slot
  wsmouse0 at pms0 mux 0
  pms0: ALPS Dualpoint, version 0x6222
  wsmouse1 at pms0 mux 0
  pcppi0 at isa0 port 0x61
  spkr0 at pcppi0
  ugen0 at uhub4 port 1 "Broadcom Corp 5880" rev 1.10/1.01 addr 2
  uhidev0 at uhub6 port 2 configuration 1 interface 0 "Microsoft Microsoft 5-Button Mouse with IntelliEye(TM)" rev 1.10/3.00 addr 2
  uhidev0: iclass 3/1
  ums0 at uhidev0: 5 buttons, Z dir
  wsmouse2 at ums0 mux 0
  vscsi0 at root
  scsibus2 at vscsi0: 256 targets
  softraid0 at root
  scsibus3 at softraid0: 256 targets
  root on sd0a (660795fa2a3e9604.a) swap on sd0b dump on sd0b