Linux on the Apple MacBook Pro 5,5 (Summer 2009)

Howto guide for Debian GNU/Linux on the Apple MacBook Pro 5,5 (Summer 2009)

Last updated: Mon Jun 21 07:40 UTC 2010

Contents:

   Status

   Installation

   Booting Linux by default

   Upgrade to Sid

   Kernel

   Graphics drivers

   Wireless

   Touchpad

   Keyboard

   Sound

   LCD Brightness

   Fan control

   Recommended packages

   Resources

Appendices:

   Building the latest rc kernel

   Problems upgrading dkms packages

   System Information

I'm dual booting OS X 10.6.1 and Debian Sid AMD64. Specs of my 13" MBP:

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Model Name: MacBook Pro Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,5 Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor Speed: 2.53 GHz Number Of Processors: 1 Total Number Of Cores: 2 L2 Cache: 3 MB Memory: 4 GB Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz Boot ROM Version: MBP55.00AC.B03 SMC Version (system): 1.47f2

Status

Not working yet:

-Expose and Dashboard hotkeys

Works (out of the box):

-Bluetooth

-Camera

-Suspend and resume

Works (after some tweaks):

-Wireless (via proprietary Broadcom STA module).

-Sound with headphone sensing and digital (optical) switch (via manual ALSA build). See important note below about volume balance.

-NVIDIA 9400M GPU with HDMI out over Mini DisplayPort (via proprietary NVIDIA drivers). Note: hardware does NOT support HDMI audio -- Mini DisplayPort cannot carry audio signals.

-Touchpad two finger scrolling, two finger right click, three finger 3rd button, click-and-drag (via bcm5974-dkms).

-Rebooting and halting the machine works with 2.6.31 and later but not .30 or earlier

-Light sensor (via pommed).

-Keyboard backlight, adjustment with F5 and F6 (via pommed).

-LCD backlight adjustment with F1 and F2 (via pommed and nvidia-bl).

Installation

Step 1. Upgrade to Snow Leopard. (optional)

Step 2. Resize primary partition to 120GB (or whatever). Open the Terminal (from Applications->Utilities) and run:

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diskutil list sudo diskutil resizevolume disk0s2 120G

Where 120G is 120GB or however much space you want to leave for OS X out of your whole disk.

Step 3. Reboot.

Step 4. Create MS-DOS partition in Disk Utility (from Applications->Utilities) to fill up free space. Do not choose a different partition type besides MS-DOS.

Step 5. Install rEFIt. If rEFIt doesn't show up immediately upon rebooting, in OS X open the Terminal (from Applications->Utilities) and run:

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cd /efi/refit ./enable.sh

You may need to enter your password (or press enter for a blank password).

Step 6. Burn Debian 5.0.3 AMD64 Netinst ISO and reboot holding the C key (note: the latest Squeeze daily build did not work for me it would hang after setting console mode to UTF-8).

Step 7. Start Debian installer with Ethernet plugged in, go through first steps.

Step 8. Choose manual partitioning and delete the MS-DOS partition. In its space create a primary Linux and swap partitions. Other partitions for sharing data are optional. Format the partitions and make sure the primary Linux partition is bootable.

Step 9. Configure package sources and install base system. Choose software and install the rest of the system up until the bootloader.

Step 10. When prompted to install GRUB select 'Go Back'. Hit Fn+control+option+F2 to get to the terminal. Hit return. The partitions need to be synchronized:

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chroot /target aptitude install refit /sbin/gptsync /dev/sda

Step 12. Now install GRUB where /dev/sda4 is the linux system partition:

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aptitude install grub grub-install /dev/sda4 update-grub

Step 13. Hit Fn+control+option+F1, complete the installation and reboot.

Step 14. Choose Linux from the rEFIt menu and boot Debian.

Boot Linux by default

This is optional. If you want OS X to be your default OS, skip this section.

Boot OS X and open the Terminal. Run:

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nano +93 /efi/refit/refit.conf

You should start on a line that reads:

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#legacyfirst

Hit Fn+Delete to remove the # from the beginning of the line (to uncomment it).

Optional: If you want to change the timeout (default 5 seconds), it is at the top of the file. Press Control+w and type timeout and press return and you should see it.

Hit Control+o (the letter O NOT number 0) and press Enter/Return to save the file.

Upgrade to Sid

Edit your /etc/apt/sources.list (as root) to read:

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deb http://mirrors.kernel.org/debian/ sid main contrib non-free deb-src http://mirrors.kernel.org/debian/ sid main contrib non-free

Comment out (or delete) any other lines. Then update the package list and do the upgrade:

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apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade

Kernel

First get a few packages installed (as root):

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apt-get install build-essential kernel-package

Next, add your regular user account to the src group (as root):

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adduser yourname src

Copy over the kernel installation scripts (otherwise no initrd will be created and the system won't boot until a manual mkinitramfs) as root:

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cp /usr/share/kernel-package/examples/etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs /etc/kernel/postinst.d/ cp /usr/share/kernel-package/examples/etc/kernel/postrm.d/initramfs /etc/kernel/postrm.d/

Log out and back in (restart X) from System->Log Out.

After logging back in with your regular user account you will have write access on /usr/src. Next, download and build the kernel as a regular user (not root).

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cd /usr/src wget http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kern....31.13.tar.bz2 tar jxvf linux-2.6.31.13.tar.bz2 cd linux-2.6.31.13 export CONCURRENCY_LEVEL=2 wget -O .config http://allurgroceries.com/mbp55/config-2.6.31.6 make oldconfig && make prepare make-kpkg clean fakeroot make-kpkg --initrd kernel_image kernel_headers

This should take about an hour or so. After it finishes, install the .debs in the parent directory and update grub (as root):

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dpkg -i /usr/src/linux-image-2.6.31.13_2.6.31.13-10.00.Custom_amd64.deb /usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.31.13_2.6.31.13-10.00.Custom_amd64.deb update-grub

Now reboot and select the 2.6.31.13 kernel from the boot menu.

Graphics drivers

Hit Fn+control+option+F1 if you are in a graphical environment.

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/etc/init.d/gdm stop cd ~ wget http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree8...36.31-pkg2.run chmod +x NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-195.36.31-pkg2.run modprobe -r nvidia ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-195.36.31-pkg2.run -Nqa --ui=none nvidia-xconfig /etc/init.d/gdm start

Optional: install my xorg.conf which has PowerMizer enabled to throttle back the GPU when it's not being used by 3D apps. Also disables the NVIDIA logo on X startup. Do this as root (use sudo if needed):

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mv /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.old wget -O /etc/X11/xorg.conf http://allurgroceries.com/mbp55/xorg.conf

Wireless

First make sure that the b43 module is not installed and loaded because it does not support the BCM4322 in the MBP5,5 and it will cause conflicts (lockups).

Check to see if b43 is loaded (as root):

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lsmod | grep b43

If anything is listed, it means the module is loaded. Unload it (as root):

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modprobe -r b43

To prevent the module from loading on startup, add it to the blacklist (as root):

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echo "blacklist b43" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf echo "blacklist ssb" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

Now install the wireless drivers:

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apt-get update apt-get install wireless-tools cd /usr/src mkdir wl cd wl wget http://www.broadcom.com/docs/linux_s....91.9.3.tar.gz tar zxvf hybrid-portsrc-x86_64-v5.10.91.9.3.tar.gz KBUILD_NOPEDANTIC=1 make -C /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build M=`pwd` install -D -m 755 wl.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/wl.ko depmod -r modprobe wl echo wl >> /etc/modules

Touchpad

First, configure the touchpad by creating /etc/hal/fdi/policy/x11-synaptics-bcm5974.fdi. There is an example file here:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Ma...aunty#Touchpad

Next, install dkms and get a patched bcm5974-dkms that enables click-and-drag:

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apt-get install dkms wget http://launchpadlibrarian.net/248719...4_all_test.deb dpkg -i bcm5974-dkms_1.1.4_all_test.deb modprobe -r bcm5974 modprobe bcm5974

Click and drag will work, but you must click first and then place 2nd finger down to drag, otherwise it ends up a right click (remember -- two fingers to right click and three for the 3rd mouse button).

Keyboard

To get the keyboard backlight working (with F5 and F6 to control it):

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apt-get install pommed

Also see the resources section below on how to manually control the keyboard backlight level.

Sound

First install the build dependencies, then get the ALSA driver source, compile it, install, and reload ALSA. Note that the pulseaudio line is optional. If you are not running pulseaudio disregard that command below. Most Ubuntu users probably have it enabled.

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apt-get build-dep alsa-source wget ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/drive...1.0.21.tar.bz2 tar jxvf alsa-driver-1.0.21.tar.bz2 cd alsa-driver-1.0.21 ./configure make make install /etc/init.d/pulseaudio stop alsa force-reload

Sound will now work.* You may notice that the left channel is louder than the right at first. This is because the mixer has the 'Surround Speaker' switch off by default and its levels at 0. Enable the switch in your mixer (gnome-alsamixer for example) and turn up its channel and the levels should even out. This is by hardware design - the left speaker is above the Esc key and the right is below the return key, thus the left is more directly exposed and reflects off of the LCD. With the surround speaker ("subwoofer") enabled it will sound even between left and right channels.

*Ubuntu users: If sound doesn't work still, try this:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...68#post8076668

How to stop the terribly annoying volume adjustment sound. Edit /etc/pommed.conf

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# Audio support audio { # Use amixer or alsamixer/alsamixergui to determine the sound card # and the mixer elements to use here. # sound card to use card = "default" # initial volume [80] (0 - 100%, -1 to disable) init = -1 # step value (1 - 50%) step = 10 # beep on volume change beep = no

LCD Brightness

This requires nvidia-bl-dkms from the Mactel PPA along with pommed 1.29 or later.

First install nvidia-bl-dkms:

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wget https://launchpad.net/~mactel-suppor...~lucid_all.deb dpkg -i nvidia-bl-dkms_0.16.9~lucid_all.deb

Then, blacklist mbp_nvidia_bl and add nvidia_bl to /etc/modules:

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echo "blacklist mbp_nvidia_bl" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf echo "nvidia_bl" >> /etc/modules

Reboot and the backlight control with F1 and F2 should work now (inside X and at the terminal).

Update: pommed seems to be killing my backlight brightness now when I unplug from AC power. Also the step is too low so I have to hold down the brightness keys forever for it to change. Here's a workaround. Edit /etc/pommed.conf, the changes are in bold:

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# sysfs backlight control # nVidia machines, will fall back to nv8600gmt if not supported by the kernel lcd_sysfs { # The sysfs backlight control is a generic interface provided # by the Linux kernel for backlight control on most graphic cards. # The brightness range can differ depending on the hardware. # initial backlight level [12] (0 - 15, -1 to disable) init = -1 # step value (1 - 2) step = 32 # backlight level when on battery [6] (1 - 15, 0 to disable) on_batt = 1024 }

Then restart pommed:

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/etc/init.d/pommed restart

OBSOLETE: This is for reference if you used the previous method with a patched version of gnome-power-manager. Here is how to remove and reinstall the stock gnome-power-manager package:

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dpkg -P gnome-power-manager apt-get install gnome-power-manager

Fan control

With the use of the applesmc module the fan can be manually controlled:

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echo 1 > /sys/devices/platform/applesmc.768/fan1_manual echo 7000 > /sys/devices/platform/applesmc.768/fan1_min

Recommended packages

Preload "is an adaptive readahead daemon. It monitors applications that users run, and by analyzing this data, predicts what applications users might run, and fetches those binaries and their dependencies into memory for faster startup times."

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apt-get install preload

cpufrequtils: "utilities to deal with the cpufreq Linux kernel feature". Use with cpufreq-applet (part of the gnome-applets package).

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apt-get install cpufrequtils

blueman: Gnome applet to control bluetooth.

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apt-get install blueman

sensors-applet: Display readings from hardware sensors in your Gnome panel.

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apt-get install sensors-applet

Laptop Mode Tools "is a laptop power saving package for Linux systems. It allows you to extend the battery life of your laptop, in several ways. It is the primary way to enable the Laptop Mode feature of the Linux kernel, which lets your hard drive spin down. In addition, it allows you to tweak a number of other power-related settings using a simple configuration file."

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apt-get install laptop-mode-tools

Resources:

http://wiki.debian.org/MacBook

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBookPro5-5/Jaunty

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBookPro5-5/Karmic

Wireless:

http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php

Sound:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...17#post7627817

Touchpad click and drag:

https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/mact...rt/+bug/356317

Keyboard backlight (manual control):

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...945/comments/3

LCD backlight:

http://lists.alioth.debian.org/piper...09-October.txt (this patch is included in pommed 1.29).

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...1&postcount=13

NVIDIA drivers:

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=122606

Disassembly (teardown):

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBo...-Unibody/814/1

Building the latest rc kernel

THIS IS VERY OLD - for reference only.

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cd /usr/src wget http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kern...32-rc7.tar.bz2 tar jxvf linux-2.6.32-rc7.tar.bz2 cd linux-2.6.32-rc7 export CONCURRENCY_LEVEL=2 wget -O .config http://allurgroceries.com/mbp55/config-2.6.32-rc7 make oldconfig && make prepare fakeroot make-kpkg clean fakeroot make-kpkg --initrd kernel_image kernel_headers sudo dpkg -i /usr/src/linux-image-2.6.32-rc7_2.6.32-rc7-10.00.Custom_amd64.deb /usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-rc7_2.6.32-rc7-10.00.Custom_amd64.deb sudo update-grub

Problems upgrading DKMS packages

If you have trouble upgrading dkms packages with an error like 'bad config file' or similar, move the dkms files out of the way and reinstall the deb.

Example for nvidia-bl:

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mv /var/lib/dkms/nvidia_bl ~/nvidia_bl.old

Example for bcm5974:

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mv /var/lib/dkms/bcm5974 ~/bcm5974.old

Now reinstall the deb packages and there should be no errors.