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diff --git a/content/blog/archlinux-macbook-a1211.md b/content/blog/archlinux-macbook-a1211.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3df776a --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/archlinux-macbook-a1211.md @@ -0,0 +1,362 @@ ++++ +title = "Archlinux on a MacBook Pro 15'' Model A1211" +categories = [ "Operating System", "Archlinux", "MacBook" ] +date = "2018-11-12T16:55:39+01:00" +thumbnail = "/images/blog/archlinux-macbook-a1211/macbook-A1211.jpg" ++++ + +## History + +I got an old Mac from a collegue at work. Apple decided not to +support those devices anymore, anyway, they date back to 2006. +I think, it's a pitty, because this Mac has a solid case, a pretty fast +64-bit processor (sorry Archlinux32, no test machine for you) and +a graphic chip which is not melting away like in later models +(I don't name brand names here).. + +Here the specifications: + +* 2.3 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo +* 2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM +* OSX 10.6.8 +* ATI Radeon X1600 256 MB RAM, 1440x900, 32 bit + +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. + +As we will see later, we want to keep OS X around to be able to +change some settings, extract some firmware, etc. + +## Installation + +### Prepare for dual installation + +We have a whooping 120 GB hard disk space, so I shrank the OS X partition to 64 GB. +This can be done in the *Disk Utility.app*, just leave EFI in peace, set OSX to +64 GB and assign the rest of the hard disk as free space. + +Prepare the USB stick for installation, I had no luck with the standard ISO, +but a hand-crafted USB-stick worked: + +``` +hdiutil convert -format UDRW -o archlinux-2018.09.01-x86_64.img archlinux-2018.09.01-x86_64.iso +dd if=archlinux-2018.09.01-x86_64.dmg of=/dev/disk2 bs=1m +``` + +### EFI boot + +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 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 +32-bit EFI to be currently supported, especially as I see Tianocore +failing to build with more modern 32-bit binutils and gcc. + +I installed a 32-bit GRUB onto the EFI partition as a second boot option +along to OSX. This one then boots ArchLinux. This is easier than trying +to load a 64-bit kernel with kernel EFI stub support from an 32-bit +EFI environemnt with systemd-boot. + +### ATI VESA BIOS + +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 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. + +All I got was the following kernel and Xorg error messages: + +``` +[2.052705] [drm] initializing kernel modesetting (RV530 0x1002:0x71C5 0x106B:0x0080 0x00). +[2.052742] radeon 0000:01:00.0: Invalid PCI ROM header signature: expecting 0xaa55, got 0xa1a1 +[2.052817] [drm:radeon_get_bios [radeon]] *ERROR* Unable to locate a BIOS ROM +[2.052825] radeon 0000:01:00.0: Fatal error during GPU init +[2.053037] radeon: probe of 0000:01:00.0 failed with error -22 +... +[31.041] (EE) open /dev/dri/card0: No such file or directory +``` + +So this basically translates to: "I don't have a direct rendering interface, +because there is no video card, because there is no BIOS for that card". + +The key idea was to extract the VESA BIOS on a distribution which handles +the KMS switching correctly (in my case an old Ubuntu 10). + +``` +dd if=/dev/mem of=vbios.bin bs=65536 skip=12 count=1 +``` + +Verify that you actually got the right firmware. There is an error message +when booting the kernel saying: + +``` +[2.052742] radeon 0000:01:00.0: Invalid PCI ROM header signature: expecting 0xaa55, got 0xa1a1 +``` + +so we expect to find that signature at the beginning of the *vbios.bin* file: + +``` +hexdump -C vbios.bin | head -n 1 +00000000 55 aa 7d e9 7f 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |U.}.............| +``` + +This firmware comes into */lib/firmware/radeon/vbios.bin* to be available during +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 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 code calling that function. + + +In order to use the Radeon driver for KMS as early as possible, +I put it into the init-RAM-disk: + +So, I added to */etc/mkinitcpio.conf* and rebuilt the ram disks: + +``` +MODULES=(radeon) +FILES=(/usr/lib/firmware/radeon/vbios.bin) +``` + +### "Total Darkness" after 10 minutes + +Everything was running smoothly.. for about 10 minutes. Then my LCD display +just went pitch black. + +Setting the brightness manually didn't help: + +``` +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 Apple brightness modules. In */etc/modprobe.d/radeon.conf* put: + +``` +options radeon backlight=1 +``` + +Also handy is the https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/brightd/, though +I think also systemd-backlight can nowadays at least save the brightness +across reboots and suspends. + +### Function keys or special keys + +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*: + +``` +options hid_apple fnmode=2 +``` + +### Camera + +Here we come to iSight and why we need OS X around to extract the proper +firmware. + +https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mac#Webcam has a really nice walkthrough. + +Shortly, you need https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/hfsprogs/ to mount the HFS +partition. There you will find a file called *AppleUSBVideoSupport* in +*/System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext/Contents/MacOS*. + +You will also need https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/isight-firmware-tools/. +It contains tools to extract the file containg the firmware called *isight.fw* +from *AppleUSBVideoSupport*. + +Finally it contains an udev rule in */etc/udev/rules.d/isight.rules* which then makes +sure the firmware is also loaded on startup during detection of the camera via udev. + +### Wifi + +The wireless card was supported without any problems. Just some channels +were not visible. + +Install *wireless-regdb* and make sure to enable the proper regulatory domain in +*/etc/conf.d/wireless-regdom*: + +``` +WIRELESS_REGDOM="CH" +``` + +The regulatory domain has to be set properly, put it into */etc/modprobe.d/regdom.conf*: + +``` +options cfg80211 ieee80211_regdom=CH +``` + +(CH is for Switzerland, pick your own country here) + +Note: I think my method is deprecated and you can also specify the +regulatory domain directly in wpa_supplicant.conf, but then how +to use systemd-networkd with that? + +### Fans and sensors + +[macfanctl](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/macfanctld/) from the AUR works nicely, +also lm_sensors had no problems to get the sensor data. + +### Power consumption + +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 +anyway, so I'll run mostly on net power. + +### Mouse buttons + +Managers might like to use only one mouse button. Also keyboard fanatics may +be happy by just switching off the mousepad completly. + +The one button mouse is a disaster for people being used to Xorg copy- +paste or Oberon enthusiasts used to three mouse buttons. + +Scrolling with two fingers is nice, but per default they are enabled only for up and down. +I enabled also scrolling to the left and right. Besides, the keyboard is missing +PageUp, PageDown keys, which is a usability nightmare when you want to +scroll bigger source code files or web pages (yes, I know there is Fn-Page, +but having Ctrl, Alt, Meta and Fn all on the same spot doesn't make it +easier to find the right one). + +Side note: I'm using *Fn* for keyboard scrolling (PgUp, PgDown), *Ctrl* for Wordstar short-cuts, "Alt" for +Notion (window manager) shortcuts, and they are really _CLOSE_ together.. + +Change */etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-synaptics.conf* as follows to your likings: +``` +Section "InputClass" + Identifier "Touchpad Catchall" + Driver "synaptics" + MatchIsTouchpad "on" + Option "TapButton1" "0" + Option "TapButton2" "3" + Option "TapButton3" "2" + Option "VertTwoFingerScroll" "1" + Option "HorizTwoFingerScroll" "1" + Option "ClickFinger2" = 0 + Option "ClickFinger3" = 0 +EndSection +``` + +*TabButton1=1* only leads to all kind of frantic behaviour, because I +touch the touchpad by accident too often. *ClickButton* and *TapButton* +for the second and third button are just completly useless. Either no menu +appears for TapButton or a menu appears for ClickFinger, but I can no +longer do copy-pastes. + +The default modifiers Ctrl, Alt, Meta don't do anything with the mouse +or just very weird stuff, like Alt-2-fingers jumps to the beginning of +my text. + +For now, I choose TapButtons for copy-paste, as this is the function +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 (controlling +what users 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 back some +purpose (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 : + specifications of the A1211 model +* [https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=26891](https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=26891): the patch to radeon.ko, + enabling loading of file as VESA bios +* [https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=139511](https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=139511): some discussions about + the VESA radeon topic in the Archlinux forum. +* https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mac#Webcam: how to make the camera work + +## Addendum 19.2.2021 + +For kernel 5.7.6 updated version [here](/text/blog/archlinux-macbook-a1211/radeon_bios-5.7.6.c) . + +Also a small walkthrough on how to update the module (in a most likely not too official way): + +``` +wget https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/linux-5.7.6.tar.xz +tar xf linux-5.7.6.tar.xz +cd linux-5.7.6 +make mrproper +# use the the configuration of the new kernel! +zcat /proc/config.gz > .config +sed -i 's/.*CONFIG_LOCALVERSION=.*/CONFIG_LOCALVERSION="-arch1-1"/g' .config +sed -i 's/.*CONFIG_LOCALVERSION_AUTO.*/# CONFIG_LOCALVERSION_AUTO is not set/g' .config +make oldconfig +make scripts prepare modules_prepare +# copy radeon_bios.c to drivers/gpu/drm/radeon +make -C . M=drivers/gpu/drm/radeon +rm -f /lib/modules/5.7.6-arch1-1/kernel/drivers/gpu/drm/radeon/radeon.ko.xz +xz -c drivers/gpu/drm/radeon/radeon.ko \ + > /lib/modules/5.7.6-arch1-1/kernel/drivers/gpu/drm/radeon/radeon.ko.xz +depmod -av +mkinitcpio -P +cp /boot/initramfs-linux.img /mnt/efi/. +cp /boot/initramfs-linux-fallback.img /mnt/efi/. + +# Archlinux kernel compilation +https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Kernel/Traditional_compilation#Download_the_kernel_source +# build just one module +https://yoursunny.com/t/2018/one-kernel-module/ +``` + +Where /mnt/efi is the VFAT rEFIt EFI partition which contains grub and the kernel +image and RAM disk. + +## Addendum 18.6.2023 + +For kernel 6.3.8 updated version [here](/text/blog/archlinux-macbook-a1211/radeon_bios-6.3.8.c) . + +## Addendum 22.10.2023 + +Tried a kernel 6.5.8 (still working with the 6.3.8 version of the radeon_bios patch avaiable +[here](/text/blog/archlinux-macbook-a1211/radeon_bios-6.3.8.c)). + +Here is also another way to build the kernel and the patched radeon module: + +``` +mount /mnt/efi (before updating the kernel!) +pacman -Syyu +cp /boot/vmlinuz-linux /mnt/efi/vmlinuz-linux +cp /boot/initramfs-linux.img /mnt/efi/initramfs-linux.img +cp /boot/initramfs-linux-fallback.img /mnt/efi/initramfs-linux-fallback.img + +pkgctl repo clone linux +cd linux +makepkg -do +cp ~/radeon_bios-6.3.8.c src/linux-6.5.8/drivers/gpu/drm/radeon/radeon_bios.c +makepkg -s + +cp pkg/linux/usr/lib/modules/6.5.8-arch1-1/kernel/drivers/gpu/drm/radeon/radeon.ko.zst \ + /lib/modules/6.5.8-arch1-1/kernel/drivers/gpu/drm/radeon/radeon.ko.zst +depmod -av +mkinitcpio -P +cp /boot/initramfs-linux.img /mnt/efi/initramfs-linux.img +cp /boot/initramfs-linux-fallback.img /mnt/efi/initramfs-linux-fallback.img +``` |