On Fri, Jun 9, 2023 at 2:47 AM Teemu Likonen <tliko...@iki.fi> wrote:
> * 2023-06-08 19:32:13-0400, Timothy M. Butterworth wrote: > > > I have a 2012 MacBook Pro that I am going to install Debian Bookworm on. > I > > will not be keeping OSX on the Mac as it is no longer supported for > > updates. Does anyone have any tips or tricks for installing Debian on a > > MacBook Pro? > > I don't have that same machine but I believe you won't need any or much > tricks: it should install and work nicely. I have Apple Macbook Air 2012 > and I have had Debian in it since 2016 or 2017. I reinstalled Debian 11 > last year and all went smoothly again with firmware installer image. > > > https://cdimage.debian.org/images/unofficial/non-free/images-including-firmware/ > > Debian 12's (Bookworm) official installer will include non-free firmware > files. > > A couple of tricks I have made. I created /etc/modprobe.d/apple-fn.conf > file to modify function keys (F1-F12). Normally those keys have various > special functionality and to access real F1-F12 keys user needs "fn" > modifier key. I don't like that so I reversed the behavior with the > following settings: > > # /etc/modprobe.d/apple-fn.conf > # fnmode=1 F1-F12 keys need "fn" > # fnmode=2 F1-F12 keys work without "fn" > > options hid_apple fnmode=2 > > Apple computers have annoying startup sound ("chime") which can't be > modified easily from Linux side. I wanted to silence it and the trick > that works in my Macbook Air is described in Arch Linux wiki (the > "chattr" and Bash "printf" trick): > > https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/mac#Mute_startup_chime > > I turned that information into a Bash script: > > #!/bin/bash > > f=/sys/firmware/efi/efivars/SystemAudioVolume-7c436110-ab2a-4bbb-a880-fe41995c9f82 > chattr -i "$f" > # Must be Bash "printf"! > printf "\x07\x00\x00\x00\x00" > "$f" > chattr +i "$f" > > The settings are persistent so probably that script is needed only once. > If you set the startup sound silent from Mac OS side before installing > Linux, that setting persists over to the Linux installation. > > -- > /// Teemu Likonen - .-.. https://www.iki.fi/tlikonen/ > // OpenPGP: 6965F03973F0D4CA22B9410F0F2CAE0E07608462 > Teemu Thanks for the info. I successfully installed Debian 12 on the MacBook Pro. I received a nice surprise as I discovered that Apple restricted the CPU to 2 cores at 2.5 GHz. With Linux I know have 4 cores at 3.1 GHz! Almost like buying a new machine. Even with the improved CPU capabilities it still feels a bit sluggish. At first I thought the problem was that I needed a RAM upgrade but I have been monitoring the RAM and I have not used all of it. The only thing I do not like is the bright white screen that shows up with the chime. It stays on for a long time with no status display before it eventually starts Grub. I have been looking for a way to enter EFI settings but I have not found anything successful so far. I tried holding down option but that just took me to a screen to choose which OS to boot. I tried holding down S, Control+S, Command+S, Command+Control+S, Command+Control+O+F. None of them worked. Do you know how to get into the EFI to change the POST settings? Thanks Tim - ⢀⣴⠾⠻⢶⣦⠀ ⣾⠁⢠⠒⠀⣿⡁ Debian - The universal operating system ⢿⡄⠘⠷⠚⠋⠀ https://www.debian.org/ ⠈⠳⣄⠀⠀
