MacBook Pro 5,1 - Thunderbolt Issues

[mscav]

I just installed MX Linux on an old 2008 MacBook Pro 5,1 and I am unable to get the Thunderbolt 2 port functioning. When I run lsmod, I don't see any mention of a Thunderbolt module being installed. I used the package manager to install bolt and related, but this didn't make any difference. I'm not sure what I need or how to get it installed. I'm a moderately experienced user who can follow instructions, but online searching hasn't dug up the info I need. Any help would be appreciated.

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System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-38-amd64 [6.1.147-1] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-38-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet 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: Portable System: Apple product: MacBookPro5,1 v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required> Chassis:
    type: 8 v: Mac-F42D86C8 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Apple model: Mac-F42D86C8 v: Proto serial: <superuser required> UEFI: Apple
    v: MBP51.88Z.007E.B06.1202061253 date: 02/06/12
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 40.4 Wh (99.8%) condition: 40.5/50.1 Wh (80.7%) volts: 12.5 min: 10.9
    model: SMP bq20z951 type: Li-ion serial: N/A status: full cycles: 583
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core2 Duo T9400 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Penryn level: v1 built: 2008
    process: Intel 45nm family: 6 model-id: 0x17 (23) stepping: 6 microcode: 0x60F
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 2 smt: <unsupported> cache: L1: 128 KiB desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB
    L2: 6 MiB desc: 1x6 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2123 min/max: 1596/2527 scaling: driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: ondemand
    cores: 1: 2123 2: 2123 bogomips: 10082
  Flags: ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 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: tsa status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA G96CM [GeForce 9600M GT] vendor: Apple driver: nouveau v: kernel 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 ports: active: none
    off: LVDS-2 empty: DP-2 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:0647 class-ID: 0300 temp: 69.0 C
  Device-2: NVIDIA C79 [GeForce 9400M] vendor: Apple driver: nouveau v: kernel 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 ports: active: LVDS-1 empty: DP-1 bus-ID: 03:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:0863 class-ID: 0300 temp: 68.0 C
  Device-3: Apple Built-in iSight type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-4:2 chip-ID: 05ac:8507
    class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 compositor: xfwm v: 4.20.0 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: nouveau gpu: nouveau display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1440x900 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 382x239mm (15.04x9.41") s-diag: 451mm (17.74")
  Monitor-1: LVDS-1 pos: primary model: Apple 0x9c84 built: 2008 res: 1440x900 hz: 60 dpi: 111
    gamma: 1.2 size: 331x207mm (13.03x8.15") diag: 390mm (15.4") ratio: 16:10 modes: max: 1440x900
    min: 640x350
  Monitor-2: LVDS-2 mapped: LVDS-1-2 note: disabled model: Apple 0x9c84 built: 2008 res: 1440x900
    dpi: 111 gamma: 1.2 size: 331x207mm (13.03x8.15") diag: 390mm (15.4") ratio: 16:10 modes:
    max: 1440x900 min: 640x350
  API: OpenGL v: 3.3 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: NVAC direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA MCP79 High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:08.0
    chip-ID: 10de:0ac0 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-38-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.21 status: off tools: jack_control,jack_mixer,qjackctl
  Server-2: 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: NVIDIA MCP79 Ethernet driver: forcedeth v: kernel port: 41e0 bus-ID: 00:0a.0
    chip-ID: 10de:0ab0 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Broadcom BCM4322 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN vendor: Apple AirPort Extreme driver: wl
    v: kernel modules: ssb pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 04:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:432b
    class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Apple Bluetooth Host Controller type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 4-1.1:3
    chip-ID: 05ac:8213 class-ID: fe01 serial: <filter>
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: down bt-service: N/A rfk-block: hardware: no
    software: yes address: <filter>
  Info: acl-mtu: 1021:5 sco-mtu: 64:1 link-policy: rswitch hold sniff park
    link-mode: peripheral accept
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 298.09 GiB used: 12.64 GiB (4.2%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Seagate model: ST9320421ASG size: 298.09 GiB block-size:
    physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 1.5 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter> rev: AP15
    scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 297.84 GiB size: 292.1 GiB (98.07%) used: 12.64 GiB (4.3%) 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: 5.8 MiB (0.3%) priority: -2 file: /swap/swap
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 68.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
  GPU: device: nouveau temp: 68.0 C device: nouveau temp: 69.0 C mV: 900.00
Repos:
  Packages: pm: dpkg pkgs: 2496 libs: 1299 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://mirror.math.princeton.edu/pub/mxlinux/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
Info:
  Processes: 226 Uptime: 3h 35m wakeups: 5 Memory: 3.57 GiB used: 2.15 GiB (60.2%) 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

There is also something unusual with it seeming to think there are two video cards. Not sure what that is about, but it doesn't seem to be causing any obvious problems.

[CharlesV]

Welcome in!

If you go to MX Packing Installer and search for thunderbolt, then switch to the Enabled Repo's tab.. you will see several thunderbolt drivers and tools. I believe you want to install all three ( minus the Plasma one )

[mscav]

These have already been installed and still no thunderbolt. :/

[CharlesV]

You may need to go to a liquorix kernel ( you may also need the ahs repo and some of the later drivers - but I would thing your machine is old enough to not require that - thunderbolt may though.)

If yo do the following in a terminal do you see any thunderbolt devices?

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boltctl list

And if you do see any, you should enroll them as follows:

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boltctl enroll <device-uuid>

and you may find some info on how to in some of these threads too
search.php?keywords=thunderbolt

[mscav]

it doesn't list any devices when I run boltctl list
is there a way to manually install the missing module without needing to change to a different kernel? that seems to be the problem

[CharlesV]

That I do not know. I know we have had people install a liquorix kernel (all that I run ) and it has helped resolve issues for quite a few people.

You might investigate that search, or hang until someone with more knowledge of thunderbolt drops by.