MX on Macs - all working as it should, except...

[dcbassman]

...for one machine, a 2007 17" Macbook Pro.
This has a fully-repaired Nvidia 8600M GT GPU. I I cannot control brightness, and cannot change desktop backgrounds.
I've done some research, and tried installing legacy drivers, but no joy.
Anyone have any insight into this, or is it an oddball that will never work properly?
TIA.

[Eadwine Rose]

According to the forum rules (please read): Please provide full Quick System Info from the menu, use copy for forum button, no edits.

LiveUSB version is OK if needed.

[dcbassman]

Apologies will get on it...

[dcbassman]

OK, here's QSI readout, and once more, apologies for their previous absence!

[code

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-37-amd64 [6.1.140-1] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-37-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet nomodeset splash
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.20.0 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.38 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm v: 4.20.0 vt: 7
    dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0 Distro: MX-23.6_x64 Libretto April 13  2025 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12
    (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Unknown System: Apple product: MacBookPro3,1 v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required> Chassis:
    type: 2 v: Mac-F42388C8 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Apple model: Mac-F42388C8 v: PVT serial: <superuser required> UEFI: Apple
    v: MBP31.88Z.0070.B07.0803051658 date: 03/05/08
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 73.6 Wh (99.9%) condition: 73.7/71.3 Wh (103.3%) volts: 12.5 min: 10.8
    model: TOP A1189 type: Li-ion serial: N/A status: full cycles: 6
  Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech M215 serial: <filter> charge: 55% (should be ignored)
    rechargeable: yes status: discharging
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core2 Duo T7700 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Core2 Merom level: v1 built: 2006-09
    process: Intel 65nm family: 6 model-id: 0xF (15) stepping: 0xA (10) microcode: 0x95
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 2 smt: <unsupported> cache: L1: 128 KiB desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB
    L2: 4 MiB desc: 1x4 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1440 high: 1448 min/max: 800/2400 scaling: driver: acpi-cpufreq
    governor: ondemand cores: 1: 1433 2: 1448 bogomips: 9576
  Flags: ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: indirect_target_selection status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT disabled
  Type: mds status: Vulnerable: Clear CPU buffers attempted, no microcode; SMT disabled
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass status: Vulnerable
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; STIBP: disabled; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not
    affected; BHI: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA G84M [GeForce 8600M GT] vendor: Apple driver: N/A alternate: nouveau non-free:
    series: 340.xx status: legacy (EOL) last: release: 340.108 kernel: 5.4 xorg: 1.20 arch: Tesla
    process: 40-80nm built: 2006-13 pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:0407 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Apple Built-in iSight type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 9-4:3 chip-ID: 05ac:8502
    class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 compositor: xfwm v: 4.20.0 driver: X:
    loaded: nouveau,vesa unloaded: fbdev,modesetting alternate: nv dri: swrast gpu: N/A
    display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1680x1050 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 445x278mm (17.52x10.94") s-diag: 525mm (20.66")
  Monitor-1: default res: 1680x1050 hz: 77 size: N/A modes: N/A
  API: OpenGL v: 4.5 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.6 128 bits) direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 82801H HD Audio vendor: Apple driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
    chip-ID: 8086:284b class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-37-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR5418 Wireless Network Adapter [AR5008E 802.11bgn]
    vendor: Apple AirPort Extreme driver: ath9k v: kernel modules: wl pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s
    lanes: 1 bus-ID: 0b:00.0 chip-ID: 168c:0024 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Marvell 88E8058 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet driver: sky2 v: 1.30 pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: 3000 bus-ID: 0c:00.0 chip-ID: 11ab:436a class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Apple Bluetooth HCI type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-1:3 chip-ID: 05ac:8205
    class-ID: fe01
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 1.2 lmp-v: 2.0
    sub-v: 7ad hci-v: 2.0 rev: 7ad
  Info: acl-mtu: 384:8 sco-mtu: 64:8 link-policy: rswitch hold sniff park
    link-mode: peripheral accept service-classes: rendering, capturing, object transfer, audio,
    telephony
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 223.57 GiB used: 10.55 GiB (4.7%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Crucial model: CT240BX500SSD1 size: 223.57 GiB block-size:
    physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 1.5 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: R013 scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 223.32 GiB size: 218.75 GiB (97.96%) used: 10.55 GiB (4.8%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 256 MiB size: 252 MiB (98.46%) used: 274 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 2 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 file: /swap/swap
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 56.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
  Packages: pm: dpkg pkgs: 2183 libs: 1090 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala,synaptic pm: rpm
    pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 0
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
    1: deb http://mxlinux.mirrors.uk2.net/packages/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
Info:
  Processes: 204 Uptime: 1m wakeups: 6 Memory: 3.82 GiB used: 1.06 GiB (27.9%) Init: SysVinit
  v: 3.06 runlevel: 5 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12
  Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.26
Boot Mode: UEFI

][/code]

[Freja]

@dcbassman Comment as MX user, If this case on me, I'll try bellow method.
It needs choose suitable parameters from these options for your Mac.

To use this method, from MX Tools -> "MX Boot Options".

Reference
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/ ... eters.html

Example:

Code: Select all

quiet splash acpi_backlight=native acpi_osi=!

(My old VAIO not works brightness, this works on VAIO YA-13inch intel)

acpi_backlight= [HW,ACPI]
{ vendor | video | native | none }
If set to vendor, prefer vendor-specific driver
(e.g. thinkpad_acpi, sony_acpi, etc.) instead
of the ACPI video.ko driver.
If set to video, use the ACPI video.ko driver.
If set to native, use the device's native backlight mode.
If set to none, disable the ACPI backlight interface.


acpi_osi= [HW,ACPI] Modify list of supported OS interface strings
acpi_osi="string1" # add string1
acpi_osi="!string2" # remove string2
acpi_osi=!* # remove all strings
acpi_osi=! # disable all built-in OS vendor
strings
acpi_osi=!! # enable all built-in OS vendor
strings
acpi_osi= # disable all strings

In my VAIO's case, it was dificult to choose right parameters. please try with carefully.

[dcbassman]

Many thanks, will give this some work and report back.

[dcbassman]

Well, have given some of these a try, buy no change. More investigation needed!

[Freja]

@dcbassman I think if installed right nvidia driver, brightness will work, current installed nvidia driver probably not right install.
Your Mac's "nvidia-settings" can run? if can not run nvidia-settings, partial success install of nvidia-driver.

I recommend look again nvidia driver relation. (but driver reinstall accompany danger).

Code: Select all

Device-1: NVIDIA G84M [GeForce 8600M GT] vendor: Apple driver: N/A alternate: nouveau non-free:
    series: 340.xx status: legacy (EOL) last: release: 340.108 kernel: 5.4 xorg: 1.20 arch: Tesla
    process: 40-80nm built: 2006-13 pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:0407 class-ID: 0300

340xx is famous ploblematic driver version, Probably MX Linux not support 340xx.
If this case on me, I'll try other version nvidia driver by install and run "nvidia-detect" from apt.

I troubled my nvidia VAIO at past, same 340xx driver not works. I tried "nvidia-tesla-418-driver" from apt... but this information not clear.

[Stevo]

It's not loading the nouveau driver at all,

Code: Select all

driver: N/A alternate: nouveau

We do have a 340xx legacy driver in the main MX repos...even the latest from Sid that builds on the most recent kernel versions. But first I'd check dmesg output to see if nouveau isn't loading because of some firmware problem, because it's quicker to get nouveau up and working than it is to build the Nvidia drivers on an older machine.

[dcbassman]

Doing a clean install, then loading the Nvidia driver, results in a black screen with a simple flashing cursor top left. If I tap the power button, the machine shuts down in what looks like a normal fashion. But... There are other anomalies showing up, like a hung reboot/shutdown, apart from that just described, and even in the live environment. So maybe there's more going on here than I realise. I'm going to have to leave it for a bit. To see if the machine throws up errors in its native state, I'm re-installing OS X El Capitan to see what happens. I'll also remove the Expresscard USB3 accessory that I'd forgotten was in there.
Thanks for all your help.
I'll be back...