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Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on MacBookPro14,1

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Re: Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on MacBookPro14,1

#41

Post by gorgoiler »

heelix wrote: post #31
pansa2 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do the latest Macs still support running Windows via Boot Camp? What would you recommend if I need to run both Linux and Windows alongside MacOS? Virtualisation? Or would I be better off using more than one machine?

I run VMWare fusion on my Mac for virtualization. Being able to bump the Linux desktop to what the full retina screen can handle is glorious (though I had to fiddle with sizes on the terminal to find something that my eyes could work with). Got a Windows VM for the occasional MSI things that head my way. Nice access to the hardware - disk, cpu, memory - with a lot of snapshot management. I've got both Oracle's Virtua…

What’s superior with VMWare? I’m a virtual box user (via vagrant) but would switch for a compelling feature set. Performance, IPv6?

Re: Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on MacBookPro14,1

#42

Post by inanutshellus »

Narann wrote: post #15
fcanesin wrote: post #7

Buy a XPS-13 developer edition.

Honest question: Having Linux on a Mac a decade ago had sense has Mac hardwares were special enough to provide value, but now you have XPS-like hardware, why would people buy a Mac to install a Linux on it? Dual boot? What does Mac hardware have that others don't?

Here's some anecdata:

I have a 2011 MBA whose battery still lasts an hour and it can do all the "daily driver" tasks except gaming.

(Meanwhile I replaced my other laptop's battery 3 times in that time!)

THe MBA's mobo finally went out so I'm in the market for a new laptop NOW and want to justify buying an EIGHTH GEN i5 MBP for over $1000 when there are laptops with TENTH gen i7's and >1tb hdd's for similar money.......

Re: Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on MacBookPro14,1

#43

Post by veidr »

pansa2 wrote: post #13
Dunedan wrote: post #6

I used MacBooks with Linux starting in 2006 till the end of last year. That's when I finally gave up. I really love the hardware Apple produces, but we're at a point where I believe it's not feasible anymore to use Linux on MacBooks. For the MacBook Pros 2016 and up I put significant effort into trying to get mainline Linux running as smoothly as possible by documenting and coordinating the efforts to have drivers fo…

Do the latest Macs still support running Windows via Boot Camp? What would you recommend if I need to run both Linux and Windows alongside MacOS? Virtualisation? Or would I be better off using more than one machine?

Yes, absolutely virtualization works so much better. In fact you can boot Mac and run VMWare Fusion, or boot into Windows 10 and use either Windows Subsystem for Linux or VMWare Workstation, and you will have a pretty great experience with Linux.

OTOH if you try to install Linux on any recent MacBook Pro, you are in for hours and hours of googling weird shit with like only 2 comments on forums you have never heard of, and you will still never get Wi-Fi, sound, and sleep/hibernation all working at the same time.

It's just not worth it. If you are so hardcore about software freedom that you demand to install Linux natively on the metal then you should absolutely not, now or ever, buy a Mac.

OTOH if you just need to like, build some shit that only builds and runs on Linux, and you have $200 — VMWare. I don't like VMWare in theory (the Monsanto of tech companies) but I sure like them a lot in practice.

I have needed a Mac/Windows/Linux laptop for my job for the past decade. In former times, I installed Windows and Mac OS X, and ran the latest Ubuttnu in either VMWare Workstation or VMWare Fusion.

But since 2016 I just use VMWare Fusion for both Windows and Linux. If you want to use a Mac, I am confident that's the "best" approach.

(For me, that means "runs all GUI and CLI programs reasonably well, with the minimum hours per year spend fucking with shit just to make it work. But if you actually need efficient GPU acceleration or real high performance (like not a web app or GUI app, but some kind of computationally expensive whatever) under Linux — well, then get something other than a Mac.)

Re: Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on MacBookPro14,1

#44

Post by insideBig3 »

Sangeppato wrote: post #38
Narann wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: Having Linux on a Mac a decade ago had sense has Mac hardwares were special enough to provide value, but now you have XPS-like hardware, why would people buy a Mac to install a Linux on it? Dual boot? What does Mac hardware have that others don't?

Yeah I don't get it either. Without macOS, a MacBook doesn't make any sense IMHO

This is why I can't understand the appeal of a MacBook. You have the Apple burden, the Apple costs, what benefits? The touchpad? The showoff luxury of a lighted logo?

Re: Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on MacBookPro14,1

#45

Post by insideBig3 »

jimsmart wrote: post #27
Narann wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: Having Linux on a Mac a decade ago had sense has Mac hardwares were special enough to provide value, but now you have XPS-like hardware, why would people buy a Mac to install a Linux on it? Dual boot? What does Mac hardware have that others don't?

A lot of folk like the trackpads on the MacBooks. No idea how the XPS ones compare? Another thing is Thunderbolt, but IDK if that’s supported under Linux? So that might be a moot point anyhow.

I can't even imagine buying a computer for a trackpad.

All my years of StarCraft have me a wiz at mouse and keyboard. Plus I doc to 3 screens.

Onthego, I have touch screen which I use surprisingly often.

Re: Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on MacBookPro14,1

#46

Post by amaccuish »

Dunedan wrote: post #6

I used MacBooks with Linux starting in 2006 till the end of last year. That's when I finally gave up. I really love the hardware Apple produces, but we're at a point where I believe it's not feasible anymore to use Linux on MacBooks. For the MacBook Pros 2016 and up I put significant effort into trying to get mainline Linux running as smoothly as possible by documenting and coordinating the efforts to have drivers fo…

Yes, I have a 2015 MacBook Air that runs great apart from the bluetooth using headphones is not usable, super choppy. But it took ages to get here and I've still got weird scripts I don't really understand to allow me to close the lid and open reliably. As an aside, I'm finding battery and performance much better on Ubuntu 20.04 and kernel 5.4+

Re: Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on MacBookPro14,1

#47

Post by inanutshellus »

aguyfromnb wrote: post #36
dijit wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You directly implied that people are buying Apple products for the logo. I don’t believe I misinterpreted that.

> You directly implied that people are buying Apple products for the logo. Apple makes kick-ass machines, but I see Macbook Pros everywhere . How many people in the real world need a $2000+ computer? If these people aren't buying it for the logo, what are they buying it for? Apple has positioned themselves as a lifestyle brand. How can you deny that?

One counterpoint - Trust in quality.

I'm looking at buying a laptop right now and I can either buy an apple MBP ... OR a MONSTER laptop with much better specs for the same-or-less price. I'm hand-wringing over it.

With past laptops I've only been disappointed by the non-Apple laptops I've had. Bad ram, bad battery, bad battery again, bad battery AGAIN, slow-for-hardware-misfiring issues... or the Apple that has been a truly reliable machine for going on nine years.

Trust in Quality.

That's my "denial".

Re: Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on MacBookPro14,1

#48

Post by pcr910303 »

For people who want to install Ubuntu on MBP14,2 or 14,3 (the new MBPs with four thunderbolt 3 ports) — this[0] might help. (It'll be probably trivial to update the article for Ubuntu 20.04 - just ignore the upgrading the kernel parts.)

It mentions adding the touchbar, keyboard drivers[1] and fixes for the non-working wifi[2], all without an external keyboard or anything. You can just boot up your Ubuntu virtual machine, execute some commands in the chroot environment & make an bootable ISO.

This gist[3] and this GitHub repo[4] might also be worth to check out - although it looks like a bit lagging in information (the wifi fix, added last November isn't reflected yet).

This is my command checklist (tweaked from this[0] to match my prefs), might be helpful for someone?

   ### check if pwd is ~/Download
   
   # ask password beforehand
   sudo -v
   
   # mounting iso and copying to current file
   sudo mkdir -p /mnt/iso
   sudo mount ubuntu-20.04-desktop-amd64.iso /mnt/iso
   mkdir customiso
   rsync -a --exclude=casper/filesystem.squashfs /mnt/iso/ customiso/
   sudo unsquashfs /mnt/iso/casper/filesystem.squashfs
   sudo umount /mnt/iso
   
   # chrooting
   sudo mount --bind /dev squashfs-root/dev/
   sudo chroot squashfs-root/
   PS1="(chroot) $PS1"
   LC_ALL=C
   HOME=/root
   export PS1 HOME LC_ALL
   
   mount -t proc none /proc
   mount -t sysfs none /sys
   mount -t devpts none /dev/pts
   
   # updating
   mv /etc/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.conf.bak
   echo 'nameserver 1.1.1.1' | tee /etc/resolv.conf
   
   ### change apt mirror list
   
   apt update
   apt upgrade
   apt dist-upgrade
   apt autoremove
   apt -f install
   
   # installing driver
   apt install git dkms
   
   echo -e "\n# macbook12-spi-drivers\napplespi\nappletb\nspi_pxa2xx_platform\nintel_lpss_pci" >> /etc/initramfs-tools/modules
   
   git clone https://github.com/roadrunner2/macbook12-spi-driver.git /usr/src/applespi-0.1
   dkms install -m applespi -v 0.1
   
   cat > /etc/udev/hwdb.d/61-evdev-local.hwdb  /etc/udev/hwdb.d/61-libinput-local.hwdb
[0]: https://nixaid.com/linux-on-macbookpro/

[1]: https://github.com/roadrunner2/macbook12-spi-driver

[2]: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=193121

[3]: https://gist.github.com/roadrunner2/1289542a748d9a104e7baec6...

[4]: https://github.com/Dunedan/mbp-2016-linux

Re: Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on MacBookPro14,1

#50

Post by pcr910303 »

Dunedan wrote: post #6

I used MacBooks with Linux starting in 2006 till the end of last year. That's when I finally gave up. I really love the hardware Apple produces, but we're at a point where I believe it's not feasible anymore to use Linux on MacBooks. For the MacBook Pros 2016 and up I put significant effort into trying to get mainline Linux running as smoothly as possible by documenting and coordinating the efforts to have drivers fo…

Ok, I was planning to put a PR on this repo - might be just faster to inform the maintainer directly! :-)

> Audio doesn't work properly, Wifi does neither (expect for the non-TouchBar models, like the one the OP uses)

Wifi has a (pretty stable) proper workaround now, you might want to see this[0].

[0]: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=193121#c52

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