some fixes in the A1211 article

1 files changed, 31 insertions, 15 deletions

diff --git a/content/blog/archlinux-macbook-a1211.md b/content/blog/archlinux-macbook-a1211.md
index b244cfc..7da40cf 100644
--- a/content/blog/archlinux-macbook-a1211.md
+++ b/content/blog/archlinux-macbook-a1211.md
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ Here the specifications:
 * OSX 10.6.8
 * ATI Radeon X1600 256 MB RAM, 1440x900, 32 bit
 
-I didn't try any Sierra OS X hacks on old hardware and besides,
+I didn't try any Sierra OS X hacks (or installing a Capitan, rumours are,
+it works even on such an old laptop) on old hardware and besides,
 Archlinux is a better choice for a developer on a Mac. Although
 there are still MacPorts for OS X 10.6.x (no Brew though), it can be
 quite painful to get something compiled on a Mac OS that old.
@@ -50,10 +51,10 @@ dd if=archlinux-2018.09.01-x86_64.dmg of=/dev/disk2 bs=1m
 I used [ReFIT for MAC](http://refit.sourceforge.net/) to improve the
 somewhat limited EFI environment of an early Mac (don't get me wrong, it's
 pretty impressive that such an old machine already had EFI, but nowadays this
-EFI shows it's age).
+EFI shows its age).
 
 The firmware is a 32-bit EFI without a proper command line mode,
-causing trouble all along. I didn't take ReFind, as I didn't expect the 
+causing trouble all along. I didn't take ReFind as I didn't expect the 
 32-bit EFI to be currently supported, especially as I see Tianocore
 failing to build with more modern 32-bit binutils and gcc.
 
@@ -67,11 +68,11 @@ EFI environemnt with systemd-boot.
 I didn't want to boot into legacy mode to make the VGA BIOS visible, so
 I got a nice problem during KMS switching during early boot: the
 graphical output just froze. The irony here is that modern Linux and Xorg
-don't care at all about the old VGA/VESA BIOS, but for KMS, where the kernel
-has to rely on 16-bit firmware functions in the video BIOS to program
-the video chip for graphics mode.
+don't care at all about the old VGA/VESA BIOS, but they do so for KMS,
+where the kernel has to rely on 16-bit firmware functions in the video
+BIOS to program the video chip for graphics mode.
 
-So, all I got was the following kernel and Xorg error messages:
+All I got was the following kernel and Xorg error messages:
 
 ```
 [2.052705] [drm] initializing kernel modesetting (RV530 0x1002:0x71C5 0x106B:0x0080 0x00).
@@ -112,17 +113,17 @@ boot.
 
 The next problem was that the radeon module in the Linux kernel doesn't
 know about this firmware. There is a patch in https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=26891
-for older kernels, but it translates easily to last kernel. All
-it does is load the *vbios.bin* file from the right place, when all the other
-options failed.
+for older kernels, but it translates easily to the latest kernel. All
+it does is to load the *vbios.bin* file from the right place, when all the other
+options fail.
 
 My version of the module is [here](/text/blog/archlinux-macbook-a1211/radeon_bios.c), check
-out function *radeon_read_bios_from_firmware* and the calling code calling that function.
+out function *radeon_read_bios_from_firmware* and the code calling that function.
 
 Now, Archlinux needs the Radeon driver for KMS as early as possible, so
 I thought it's a nice idea to put it into the init-RAM-disk:
 
-So, I added to */etc/mkinitcpio.conf*:
+So, I added to */etc/mkinitcpio.conf* and rebuilt the ram disks:
 
 ```
 MODULES=(radeon)
@@ -143,7 +144,7 @@ xrandr --output LVDS --brightness 1
 (it did work later though to set the brightness between 0.0 and 1.0)
 
 The trick is to tell the radeon module to handle the LCD backlight, not
-one of the funny Apple brightness modules. In */etc/modprobe.d/radeon.conf* put:
+one of the Apple brightness modules. In */etc/modprobe.d/radeon.conf* put:
 
 ```
 options radeon backlight=1
@@ -155,7 +156,7 @@ across reboots and suspends.
 
 ### Function keys or special keys
 
-If you don't need the special volumes, brightness keys but instead the old
+If you don't need the special keys for controlling the volume and brightness but instead the old
 Fxx function keys, add the following to */etc/modprobe.d/hid_apple.conf*:
 
 ```
@@ -211,7 +212,8 @@ also lm_sensors had no problems to get its data.
 
 ### Power consumption
 
-cpupower seems to work fine.
+cpupower seems to work fine. Just make sure the 'p4-clockmod' module is loaded
+at boot.
 
 Note: I didn't try powertop or other tweaks. I got some worriesome ticking
 noises of the hard disk after a suspend and my battery is not that powerful
@@ -266,6 +268,20 @@ I need most often.
 
 I might add some Ctrl, Meta modifiers to get 2, 3 mouse button clicks later.
 
+## Philosophical Outro
+
+In a world where companies try hard to get people into their ecosystem (what they
+can do with the products they bought and own, what they can repair or let repair, what kind
+of operating system and software they are supposed to use), I think, it's the
+duty of any tech professional to invest some time to give old hardware some
+usage back (hence I'm also working on the Archlinux32 project). Also throwing
+away barely used machines, just because a company wants to earn billions, is an
+ecological disaster. Remember, companies have been invented to make money, don't
+get fooled by "we are there to make the world a better place" or any other marketing bs.
+As the company which should not be named is quite good at this kind of business, I
+expect all major vendors to follow soon. So that's why I keep a park of old machines
+around and I'm not buying new machines since 10 years (I do buy old ones from Ebay though).
+
 ## References
 
 * https://everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/specs/macbook-pro-core-2-duo-2.33-15-specs.html :