* 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
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