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Dronecatcher

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jun 17, 2014
5,281
7,941
Lincolnshire, UK
Is anyone using Linux on a 2.4Ghz MacBook (or similar)? I might dedicate mine to Linux as a means to having a contemporary and compatible browser - on my Mac Pro I sometimes have to crank up Windows 8 under Parallels to reach certain sites.
 
Yep. I'm running Elementary OS on that very machine. It's blazingly fast. I'd be running Debian Buster, but I'm having issues with libinput and synaptics not playing nicely with each other and making my trackpad use a living hell. Funnily enough, the same two drivers work great with eOS (synaptics is a necessity due to libinput's ultra-sensitivity. Installing xserver-xorg-input-synaptics tames this sensitivity; nothing else needed to be done).
 
Thanks. I used Elementary OS when it first came out on PC hardware - nice to know it's still going strong. Not likely to be using it but does the iSight camera work too?

You have to backup the firmware from an actual Mac OS X installation (the file is "AppleUSBVideoSupport"; you can always download it somewhere by searching for it), then in your Linux installation, install isight-firmware-tools via apt. As it installs, it'll ask you where your firmware is. Point it at that file, it'll install the firmware, reboot, and your camera will work.
 
Is anyone using Linux on a 2.4Ghz MacBook (or similar)? I might dedicate mine to Linux as a means to having a contemporary and compatible browser - on my Mac Pro I sometimes have to crank up Windows 8 under Parallels to reach certain sites.
You mean the white MacBook 2008, don't you?
It's a pity them being limited to Lion - same with my white c2d iMacs.
I'm using Firefox ESR 45.9.0. Would you recommend anything else/better for browsing?
 
You mean the white MacBook 2008, don't you?
It's a pity them being limited to Lion - same with my white c2d iMacs.
I'm using Firefox ESR 45.9.0. Would you recommend anything else/better for browsing?

Firefox Legacy, a version of FF Quantum for legacy machines- parrotgeek.org

You can always use MacPostFactor 1.0.1 to install Mountain Lion on the Macbook 2,1 to 4,1, with full video acceleration (but some glitches, like Google Maps). If you go this route, DON'T use a newer version, as it doesn't install the graphics kexts correctly- http://macpostfactor.toile-libre.org/older_versions.html
 
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@Dronecatcher: Oh, I wasn't aware of TenSixFox (and I don't like Chrome somehow - since there certainly won't be updated for SL/Lion, I think I won't bother ...). Since Firefox ESR 45.9.0 currently does fine, ArcticFox currently is a backup for now. May any Opera-version for SL/Lion be an advantage over the others? - I mean, has it been working at certain occasions, when the others fail?
@swamprock: I once tried MacPostFactor but I havn't be either eager or clever enough, so I stayed with Lion. Maybe I have to give it a second try ... same for Quantum.
Thanks!
 
I triple boot on mine. 10.6 and 10.8 on internal drive with Ubuntu 18.04 on usb drive. AF on 10.6 w/PM28 XP fork running on XP in a virtual machine for anal sites. On 10.8 I use PM28 and FF Legacy. Ubuntu I use PM28 and chromium.

Cheers
 
I triple boot on mine. 10.6 and 10.8 on internal drive with Ubuntu 18.04 on usb drive. AF on 10.6 w/PM28 XP fork running on XP in a virtual machine for anal sites. On 10.8 I use PM28 and FF Legacy. Ubuntu I use PM28 and chromium.
Cheers
That's how it is: I'm only on foot ... and you're off with a Ferrari. I mean mentally ... BTW chapeau & thanks for AF!
(in real life I drive a little Fiat. Kind of a Ferrari. At least when it comes to the first character "F" in it's name) :)
 
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@Dronecatcher if you haven't yet, try the 27.9.18a1 build. We found 2 patches that broke JS/CSS on a handful of sites. They have been removed in this build. It fixes some broken forums that I'm aware of, but id be interested to know if it helped on the sites that didn't work before for you. This affected AF all the way back to 27.9.11.

Cheers
 
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Hi Drone,

Personally I've only used macpostfactor to get sierra on a macbook pro 2009 core2duo 2.53ghz with an
NVIDIA 9400 integrated GPU, the only problem reported was that some models had wifi issues because of
the wifi adapter version but could be solved by replacing it with a more recent version.
Regarding performance I think as long as you put an SSD inside it will be fine.
I have the 2009 with core2duo and 4gb ram running el capitan with an SSD without
any performance issues.

Best regards,
voidRunner
 
Hi all,

as mentioned here

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/update-el-capitan-on-macbook-white-early-2008.2007317/

you can get at least yosemite running using macpostfactor 1.0.1.
I think this way you can get all the latest browsers and software running
on your macbook.

Best regards,
voidRunner

You will not get graphics acceleration on a X3100 machine though, which causes a very slow UI and glitches. At least that was my experience with Yosemite on a 4,1, leading me to do something rather drastic.
 
Attempting to install Elementary OS for the fourth time - works from USB stick, crashes on install - now attempting an earlier version.

That is not supposed to happen. Ever. I've never had anything crash on me with any machine I've used.

If you're running a Live environment when it crashes (and if I remember the Live environments correctly), do Ctrl + Alt + F1 to switch to a virtual console, then enter 'sudo more /var/log/syslog' to check the logs for what happened. Use the page down button.
 
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That is not supposed to happen. I've never had anything crash on me with any machine I've used.

If you're running a Live environment when it crashes (and if I remember the Live environments correctly), do Ctrl + Alt + F1 to switch to a virtual console, then enter 'sudo more /var/log/syslog' to check the logs for what happened. Use the page down button.

Wasn't crashing in Live mode - it would crash after installing to hdd - take 10 minutes to boot and then go silent with a black screen.
Managed to install version 4 and it booted without crashing but everything is impossibly slow and apps freeze - going to wipe the hdd and give one more try then try Lubuntu or go back to OSX.
[doublepost=1566494091][/doublepost]
Just go with ubuntu 18.04. I can verify it works on said machine. ;)

Well EOS works for @swamprock and it works fine off USB stick...just more fun and games....
 
Wasn't crashing in Live mode - it would crash after installing to hdd - take 10 minutes to boot and then go silent with a black screen.
Managed to install version 4 and it booted without crashing but everything is impossibly slow and apps freeze - going to wipe the hdd and give one more try then try Lubuntu or go back to OSX.

That sounds like a hardware problem.

OS X didn't misbehave?
 
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