MX23.1 KDE Live USB on a Macbook Air 2011

[FadeToGrey]

Out of curiosity: did anyone here successfully run / install MX23.1 KDE on a Macbook Air 4.1 from 2011?

I tried a Live USB from the current ISO (created with the MX Live USB tool) , and the Mac booted nicely from it... just to completely freeze after a short time - the timewhen it does that varies between seconds to 10..15min. Boot options "failsafe" and "nomodeset" did not help either. So far, I have no clue how to find out what causes this - the only thing I can say at the moment is that a) the logs I could check at the times it let me did not show anything weird and that b) KUbuntu (which uses a 6.5 kernel) runs nicely. I would however prefer to use MX in order to have the same system on both my desktop and the notebook... not much, sadly.

Any hints how I might proceed in order to find the culprit? The only thing I can think of of right now would be to try to update the krenel on the live USB on my desktop PC and then try to let it boot on the notebook.

[CharlesV]

There are a few people that run older macbooks here, 2006 is I think the oldest I have seen. You can do a topic search for macbook and find quite a few.

If you post your QSI for the liveUSB it will help us know what your base is.. but I would head for a 6.4.15 or 6.5.x liquorix kernel as your starting place.

A quick look around one of these might help you:

viewtopic.php?p=747702#p747702

viewtopic.php?p=747155#p747155

viewtopic.php?p=737003#p737003

[FadeToGrey]

@CharlesV thanks! I had searched here a bit before I posted, but what I found (your links were among the results) did not reflect the issue with the live USB stick I have.

Then let me switch the live USB stick to a 6.5 kernel first and see what happens :-)

[FadeToGrey]

Okay, here is an update... the new kernel (tried both 6.5 and 6.6) did not solve the issue, but I got a hint nevertheless: KUbuntu crashes as well - but only if I actually work with the computer. It seems the cooling fan does not work for some reason with Linux running O.o

Anyway, here is the QSI. I just about managed to safe it before the computer froze again:

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System:
  Kernel: 6.6.7-1-liquorix-amd64 [6.6-8~mx23ahs] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0 parameters: audit=0
    intel_pstate=disable rcupdate.rcu_expedited=1 BOOT_IMAGE=/antiX/vmlinuz quiet splasht nosplash
    lang=de_DE kbd=de tz=Europe/Berlin
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.27.5 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 7 dm: SDDM Distro: MX-23.1_KDE_x64 Libretto
    October 15 2023 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Apple product: MacBookAir4,1 v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required> Chassis:
    type: 10 v: Mac-C08A6BB70A942AC2 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Apple model: Mac-C08A6BB70A942AC2 v: MacBookAir4,1 serial: <superuser required>
    UEFI: Apple v: 135.0.0.0.0 date: 06/14/2019
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 30.1 Wh (100.0%) condition: 30.1/36.5 Wh (82.5%) volts: 8.3 min: 7.6
    model: ifixit bq20z451 type: Li-ion serial: N/A status: full cycles: 15
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i5-2467M bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Sandy Bridge gen: core 2 level: v2
    built: 2010-12 process: Intel 32nm family: 6 model-id: 0x2A (42) stepping: 7 microcode: 0x2F
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 2 tpc: 2 threads: 4 smt: enabled cache: L1: 128 KiB
    desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB L2: 512 KiB desc: 2x256 KiB L3: 3 MiB desc: 1x3 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 801 high: 804 min/max: 800/1601 boost: enabled scaling: driver: acpi-cpufreq
    governor: ondemand cores: 1: 800 2: 800 3: 804 4: 800 bogomips: 12801
  Flags: avx ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW, STIBP: conditional, RSB
    filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics vendor: Apple
    driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-6 code: Sandybridge process: Intel 32nm built: 2011 ports:
    active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1, DP-2, DP-3, HDMI-A-1, HDMI-A-2, HDMI-A-3, VGA-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0
    chip-ID: 8086:0116 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Apple FaceTime Camera type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-2:3 chip-ID: 05ac:850a
    class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.9 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: crocus gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1366x768 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 361x203mm (14.21x7.99") s-diag: 414mm (16.31")
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: Apple Color LCD built: 2011 res: 1366x768 hz: 60 dpi: 133 gamma: 1.2
    size: 260x140mm (10.24x5.51") diag: 295mm (11.6") ratio: 16:9 modes: 1366x768
  API: OpenGL v: 3.3 Mesa 23.1.2-1~mx23ahs renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 3000 (SNB GT2)
    direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:1c20 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.6.7-1-liquorix-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: Broadcom BCM43224 802.11a/b/g/n vendor: Apple AirPort Extreme driver: wl v: kernel
    modules: bcma pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:4353
    class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlan0 state: dormant mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Apple Built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR HCI type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-1.1.3:9
    chip-ID: 05ac:821f class-ID: fe01
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 2.1 lmp-v: 4.0
    sub-v: 229c hci-v: 4.0 rev: 171d
  Info: acl-mtu: 1021:6 sco-mtu: 64:1 link-policy: rswitch sniff link-mode: peripheral accept
    service-classes: rendering, capturing, object transfer, audio, telephony
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 244.78 GiB used: 5.66 GiB (2.3%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Apple model: SSD SM256C size: 233.76 GiB block-size:
    physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 9A1Q scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 type: USB vendor: Generic model: USB Flash size: 3.75 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 0.00 scheme: MBR
  SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure?
  ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 type: USB vendor: Toshiba model: TransMemory-Mx size: 7.27 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: PMAP scheme: MBR
  SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure?
Partition:
  Message: No partition data found.
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found.
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 63.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
  Packages: pm: dpkg pkgs: 2441 libs: 1345 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala 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://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/mxlinux/packages/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
    2: deb http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/mxlinux/packages/mx/repo/ bookworm ahs
Info:
  Processes: 287 Uptime: 0m wakeups: 3 Memory: 3.75 GiB used: 1006.4 MiB (26.2%) 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

According to https://github.com/linux-on-mac/mbpfan I need to activate the kernel modules "applesmc" and "coretemp" and then install and run mbpfan.

If I understand the "repacking" process that is part of the Live USB kernel upgrade correct, I should get that done by booting into the live USB, then doing those changes and doing that process afterwards. Correct?

[Charlie Brown]

mbpfan is already in repos, just install it:

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sudo apt update ; sudo apt install mbpfan -y

Also add

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coretemp
applesmc

into /etc/modules file before the loop line, (They're already in kernel, you just need to make/force them be loaded)

then "MX RemasterCC" to make the changes permanent...


(You can again do these on another pc)

[FadeToGrey]

... before the loop line, (They're already in kernel, you just need to make/force them be loaded)

then "MX RemasterCC" to make the changes permanent...

Thanks a lot! I would have missed that

One step further: the modules are loaded and I can access and manually control the fan with

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

followed by

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echo [enter fan speed here] > /sys/devices/platform/applesmc.768/fan1_output

This brings down the temperatures nicely - but it did not solve the freezing issue. Apple...

After quite some searching I found this post in the Fedora forums: https://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthre ... ss-chipset
According to that post, the Linux kernel drivers for the Broadcom BCM43224 Wifi chip (which the Macbook Air 4,1 from 2011 has as well) are broken and freeze Linux. Replacing those with either the "wl" driver ( https://wiki.debian.org/wl - edit: according to the QSI I posted above, MX uses that one out of the box?) or with a custom driver from https://github.com/antoineco/broadcom-wl is supposed to solve this.
Let's try that - back to remastering.

[Charlie Brown]

Replacing those with either the "wl" driver ( https://wiki.debian.org/wl - edit: according to the QSI I posted above, MX uses that one out of the box?)

Yep. Already wl:

Broadcom BCM43224 802.11a/b/g/n vendor: Apple AirPort Extreme driver: wl

(That's already the Broadcom-sta package from Debian)

[Charlie Brown]

You can do this: Unload and blacklist the wl,

Load brcmsmac (previously called brcm80211 ) the alternative driver for that chip.


Menu => "MX Network Assistant".


(Normally they're blacklisted when wl is enabled, to prevent conflict. So, you'll do the reverse).

[FadeToGrey]

You can do this: Unload and blacklist the wl,

Load brcmsmac (previously called brcm80211 ) the alternative driver for that chip.

Menu => "MX Network Assistant".

(Normally they're blacklisted when wl is enabled, to prevent conflict. So, you'll do the reverse).

Okay... an update: with the other driver, the computer freezes as well. It does run with all Wifi kernel modules disabled.

But I noticed that the notebook quickly gets rather warm on the top right, around the place where that wifi module is located... something that does not really happen with Windows or MacOS running. And I also noticed that if I reboot directly after a freeze, MX Linux does not even get to loading the GUI. And that even happens when no Wifi kernel driver is loaded. The fan does not really change that even if I crank it up manually since it pretty much focuses on the CPU.

That led me to trying a

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iwconfig power wlan0 on

to activate power management on that wifi chip... and bingo: the computer did not freeze with the wl driver active and even with Wifi connected to my network... well, at least as long as no significant data was transferred over the network. Opening Firefox and loading a website was enough to cause a freeze

This leads me to the conclusion that the drivers should be basically okay, but something deep within Linux (or the lack of it) seems to overheat the Wifi module... my blind guess would be by causing or not correcting an overvoltage. Module overheated --> module freezes --> Linux freezes. How that happens is however well over my head I fear.

I guess I'd better start looking for a similarly small (11...12") notebook that is better suited for Linux... another option would be a USB wifi module, but that would render one of those two precious USB ports useless.

[jonno]

I too have a 2011 MacBook Air and have been experiencing the freezing problem. It is definitely related to WiFi and It happens with all the drivers I've tried (wl, brcmsmac) and is not confined to MX - the freeze occurs with all Linux distros using kernels version 6 and above. The freeze does not occur on Mint 21.3, which uses a 5.15 kernel. Booting AntiX 23.1 with the legacy 5.10 kernel also works well, with no freezing.

So the problem seems to be a change that was introduced in the version 6 kernel but I haven't tried to work out what this change is yet.