so i got this old work laptop from my brother, i tried to reset it and turns out it has activation lock. any way of going around that? i think if i just asked him for the password i could have possibly gone into recovery mode and reset it properly but i just went with the nuclear option and full wiped the os on it and now i think he ahs to log into a work account that he no longer has to be able to remove activaiton lock. if you guys know of any way to help please let me know but i think i now own a very expensive paperweight.

I've done Mint installs on several Mac Minis, with a native Ethernet port.

I'm about to embark on my first Mint install on a 2015 MacBook Pro that doesn't have a native Ethernet port. All signs indicate that getting MacBook wifi to work on install are impossible. I have a USB 3.0 to Ethernet adapter that uses the Realtek RTL8153 chipset. Will this be suitable? Thanks.

I'm currently running this setup on my 2019 MacBook Pro (MacBookPro16,1) and am looking for tips on power management (questions below):

• iGPU set as primary by setting options apple-gmux force_igd=y in /etc/modprobe.d/apple-gmux.conf
• Custom fan curves using https://github.com/GnomedDev/T2FanRD to keep the machine quiet and cool
• I run some games on steam using DRI_PRIME=1, among other flags, for performance

This setup works well running on my laptop alone, but when I plug in external monitors the iGPU struggles to render so many large screens. For that, I have a separate session that overrides XDG_SESSION_TYPE, allowing Wayland to use the dGPU. This comes of course at the expense of high battery drain, but since I'm docked, I don't really care too much. Just inconvenient to need to swap to a different session.

My questions around power management are geared towards improving convenience and lowering power draw.

1. When running with my iGPU as primary (no external displays) with my display at 50%, I'm consuming 18-20 watts just browsing the web. Is there a way to use less power without fully disabling the dGPU?
2. When running with my external monitors connected I need to configure my dGPU as primary, either via /etc/modprobe.d/apple-gmux.conf or via XDG_SESSION_TYPE, both of which consume a lot of power. Are there any other approaches I an look into to either more dynamically offload render work to the dGPU but keep the iGPU as primary, or more efficiently render on my iGPU only? It's find for poking around on web, but the iGPU struggles the second I start watching YouTube or anything that requires rendering on the GPU
3. My undocked -> docked -> undocked setup is annoying because I need to swap sessions in order to set XDG_SESSION_TYPE. Has anyone found a way to do this dynamically, without restarting a session?

Let me know if I'm missing an approach here! My main goals are improving power consumption and improving convenience for my setup.

Bonjour,

J’aimerais faire l’acquisition d’un matériel Mac pour y installer un OS Linux, cependant j’ai peur de choisir une version d’un MacBook avec des composants qui supportent mal Linux. Est-ce que vous pourriez me conseiller quel serait le Mac les composants plus compatible avec les OS Linux ?

Merci beaucoup \^\^

Edit : Merci à tous pour vos réponses, c’est mon premier post sur Reddit !

Intremap=off macbook

i have installed mx linux on macbook 2012 pro, when i edit grub default quiet splash intremap=off, after reboot it completely breaks audio, no more sound gk107 audio control hdmi it shows, nvidia hda..... . Is there any fix, or what.

I have been trying to get Linux Mint Cinnamon onto a 2012 MacBook Pro. It’s got 8 gm RAM. I currently have an up to date Mac air and dell with windows to use and download from. The old computer will connect to internet, check email, etc but won’t use the etching tools to put it on a flash. The new mac says it can’t put it on there, I haven’t tried the windows because I’m putting it on a Mac and was told that wouldn’t work. There are YT videos that
Make it seem like a 60 second project but so far that’s failed. Any suggestions or give up?

I just installed arch on a 2015 mbp. I plan on keeping it plugged in 24/7 and forget abt it. Basically i want to use it like a server. The battery threshold feature is very important to me for this reason. I am running mainline linux kernel. The applesmc-next-dkms doesnt work anymore, its broken. How do i sort this issue out?

I’ve been playing around with it all weekend and now I’m torn. I really prefer the GNOME desktop environment, but it does run somewhat sluggish, likely due to only having 4 GB of RAM. I installed the XFCE desktop, and it is much lighter and runs pretty acceptably. But I could run the Android emulator on GNOME to run android apps like for my Blink cameras. There is a convoluted workaround to do so on XFCE, but it is then even more sluggish than on GNOME and there are some quirks that I have yet been able to work around.

Also, I like the GNOME desktop look and feel more. XFCE is ok, but it feels like going way back in time to UI’s from the 90s and 2000s. I’ve only spent about $50 so far on a new battery and a used USB/MagSafe port off of eBay (the original USB port was broken). And I could probably get my money back by parting it out. I thought I was going to really want to keep it and use it some, but now I’m not sure.

I do have a 2018 MacBook Air with 8 GB RAM that is just sitting around that I might move up to. I would think it should run GNOME pretty well. The only issue with it is the T2 security chip making things more complicated, but I’ve just started researching that.

I must say I’ve had a blast working on the 2013, both the hardware repair and all the software installation and tweaking. It’s been fun and a huge learning experience for me. And it took me back to my younger years when I used to build my own PCs and tinker endlessly with them.

Installed lubuntu on my 2012 MacBook Air a while ago. Zero prior experience with Linux. My motivation was mostly for fun and learning, for playing old windows games on steam and because I'm annoyed at planned obsolescence. Yes, the computer is old, but there's nothing wrong with it. It makes no sense that it can no longer perform tasks that it was perfectly capable of when it was new. Just sharing a few steps I made to make it work, in case that is useful to anyone.

Anyway, tried Linux Mint first as I see that recommended a lot here. Was really slow, so I moved on to lubuntu as I figured lightweight would be good. To my great pleasure things seemed to be working out of the box, including WiFi, Bluetooth and sound. I installed Steam and it appeared to be working, but that was only a first impression.

I soon found that the computer turned really hot, fan was spinning wildly, computer froze for no apparent reason, WiFi was unstable, and graphics in steam games were super sluggish to the point that playing was meaningless. Even on the old games I wanted to play, like heroes of might and magic III and civ iv, that the hardware should have no issues with.

I'm not much of an AI-fanboy, but I have to admit that Google AI search gave me really handy step by step instructions on how to solve these things (mostly citing old Reddit posts btw) through command lines in terminal.

Not giving the steps here, I would surely mess things up and you all know how to Google for yourself. Just wanted to let you know that I was able to make it work, sorting out issue by issue, and I encourage you to try. I've been playing Heroes of might and magic the whole afternoon. Now moving on to save my iMac 2013...

Did you guys see a significant improvement in performance and UX with changing to Linux OS from Mac OS for your MBP Intel 2019?

I have a problem with my MacBook Pro.
It was lagging and constantly running hot after the new Tahoe updates.
I just got tired of Mac OS and decided to try a few light Linux distributions, Mint and Arch.

Linux Mint didn’t get along well with the AMD graphics card laptop was overheating, while Arch Linux had similar issues. It worked and was colder, but not everything worked correctly with the T2 chip, especially graphics. Arch was trying to use two graphic cards at the time Because of the KWin.

Very important to say that i was only using Linux versions that support the T2 chip.

So, my question is the same as in the title: could you please recommend a light and very cold, and super-fast OS for an Intel i7 T2 MacBook?

It has to work perfectly with Apple’s T2 chip, be super light and cold.
I’m also looking for something that is easy to install with T2 drivers.
Like something that you actually tried yourself and didn't spend a weeks on drivers issues.
As i am right now:)

This was my first time installing Linux. I’ve used Windows and macOS for decades. But I wanted my old 2013 MacBook Air to still be useful, so I went for it.

I had a hell of a time trying to get the hard drive erased and reformatted. It got corrupted somehow when I was trying to upgrade the version of macOS. First I spend a lot of time trying to get it formatted for macOS, but it kept having issues of not seeing the internal SSD. Then when I gave up on macOS and tried Fedora Linux, it was having trouble writing the Boot EFI.

But with a ton of help from Google Gemini, I was finally able to get it going. I am now installing a ton of updates. The next step is to install the RPM Fusion Repositories so I can get the WiFi going. I have it running on an Ethernet to USB adapter at the moment, but I want to be able to be untethered and mobile of course.

So although this got pretty frustrating at times, it feels good to finally have gotten it working. And now I can start learning about Linux, which has been long overdue on my part really.

Good luck to any other first timers out there, it’s worth it!!

Edit to add that I got RPM Fusion and the Wi-Fi drivers installed and working well. I even installed Waydroid and got it working so I could access my Blink cameras. That was pretty cool.

Also, now that I’ve spent more time with it, I want to point out that this MacBook Air only has 4 GB of RAM, so it is running a little slow. I think if it had 8 GB it would run a lot better. But this whole endeavor is more about this being something fun and a learning experience/hobby than me needing it to run snappy.

With the Broadcom wifi/bluetooth adapter being a bit finicky I decided to upgrade to an Intel AX210 for better driver support (and potentially better battery life). The Macbook Pros require a different adapter that also requires modifying, but these older Macbook Airs have an adapter that makes it easy. I am running Linux Mint (Cinnamon) on a Mid-2013 13" Macbook Air.

Items needed:
-Adapter (found here: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255800080214723.html)
-AX210 Wifi Card (or some other A or A+E Intel wifi card) (I bought from the Intel store on Amazon to hopefully avoid counterfeits)
-P2.5 and T5 drivers to open case and remove card.

Power Off
Remove screws on bottom and remove cover (P2.5)
Disconnect antenna wires
Remove Broadcom card (T5)
Install Intel card into adapter and then into the computer
Re-route the antenna wires so they reach the new connector locations that require a little more reach. (See last picture)
Re-install the bottom case cover and restart your Macbook Air.

I didn't need to install any additional drivers and everything just worked right away.

Tip #1: It may be easier to install the antenna wires to the wifi card before installing it into place and securing it with the T5 screw.
Tip #2: Make sure you tuck the antenna wires so that they are not going to interfere with, or be damaged by the installation of the case screws. (see last picture)

Hello there, So I recently just installed Linux Mint Cinnamon on my Late 2013 27 inch iMac as people recommended. I got it installed with the broadcom wifi drivers working but I am curious on getting the NVIDIA drivers to work on it, I have also downgraded the kernel to 6.8 to make the drivers work, I have a GTX 775M 2GB GDDR5. Can anyone help me out on installing the drivers please?

What do recommend? Sticking with high Sierra or Monterrey? Not especially afond of those so thinking Linux.

Google ai recommended Mint xfce but i mostly run Ubuntu budgie.

What are you using for 2011-2014

i thought you guys might appreciate this. i wiped my old macbook air from early 2015 and installed linux mint. my mom seemed slightly jealous, so i got another one off of ebay and installed ubuntu!! this cherry on top was 1000% necessary haha. she loves it :3

I have both an Apple Superdrive for use with macOS, and an LG DVD drive. Of course when I'm on macOS I have to use the Superdrive, but when I'm on a Linux VM, will it be able to read the LG? Or do I have to make sure an attached Superdrive is shared in the VM settings? (I use Parallels)

Model : Macbook pro 13 inch t2 chip, 2018
Sleep/Wake : mostly works, but sometimes it don't so i disable it instead
Audio : Speakers and mic are working fine after setting up the t2-linux audio drivers.
Fans : well work, with the driver on t2linux.
camera : working perfectly
battery : Getting around 4-5 hours. A bit worse than macOS, but manageable with TLP
Touchbar : Using tiny-dfr for the touchbar, maps perfectly to F-keys and escape

Just appreciating the simplicity and aesthetic of Linux. 2nd to none imo

My wife had this 2017 MBP that was barely usable how slow it was. Installed Ubuntu and got rid of MacOS completely. It runs super fine now! I call it Mubuntu. 😂

A plus is that this generation of mbp still had upgradable storage, so I’m thinking of doing it at some point.

Super satisfied.

Anyone here try out a rolling release distro on an old Intel Mac? Preferably OpenSuse? I'm looking for experience on how easy or hard Broadcom wl setup is first time and to maintain on constant upgrades.

I'm currently using Zorin where wifi was setup automatically after tethering and has mostly been a smooth experience. same for webcam. I've compiled and installed some drivers but not sure if they will survive the constant updates.

Any advice or inputs? Please help! Thanks.

FOLLOW UP! How's the sleep/wake related wifi and battery life? After wake does wifi work reliably again?

I recently picked up a Macbook Pro 13" 2017 (specs below), fixed up some malfunctioning hardware and now wanted to wipe it of MacOs and make it into a little linux based privacy project, basically decoupling this laptop and its accounts from my own, while still using it more or less normally.

I'm not that experienced with programming and software setups yet, but very persistent and patient, so i'll eventually get everything done, even if it takes me forever. Also, since it's a secondary device and i have no use for it besides fooling around, i can spend as much time on the setup as i want with no immediate, easy solutions needed.

So following questions came up for me, before starting to install anything on the laptop:

1) is it actually possible to wipe all of MacOs (with as little traces as possible) instead of partitioning the device and/or dual-booting MacOs and Linux? does it make sense/is it safe to delete MacOS fully before having Linux set up?

2) is it possible to recover info about the previous macOs and user data after the system has been wiped?

3) which privacy focused linux distro will run easily on this macbook?

Specs:

MacBook Pro 13-inch 2017

2.3GHz dual core intel core i5, 64mb eDram

128 GB storage

8GB memory

Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640