UNSUPPORTED / ABANDONED PROJECT - MAINTAINER WANTED

As of March 2019, I no longer have access to any MacBook Pro hardware. As such, this module is now officially unsupported and abandoned. A new maintainer is wanted, if anyone would like to adopt it. Please see Issue 16 for details and to comment.

Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. Requirements
3. Hardware Support Status
4. Reference - An under-the-hood peek at what the module is doing and how
5. Limitations - OS compatibility, etc.
6. Development - Guide for contributing to the module
7. Other References - Information on Arch Linux

Overview

Puppet module and accompanying documentation to install/setup Arch linux on a MacBook Pro Retina using Puppet (version 4 or 5).

This is the puppet module I use to manage my shiny new MacBook Pro Retina (mine is a MacBookPro11,4).

• Generated Documentation: http://jantman.github.io/puppet-archlinux-macbookretina/

Important Notice: It is highly recommended that you only run this module on a brand new system; it makes some opinionated choices that may cause problems on existing systems.

Requirements

• A MacBook Pro Retina (currently tested with Mid-2015 "11,4" model) with a brand new install of Arch Linux
• Whatever version of Puppet ships with Arch Linux
• A minimal install, ideally following the instructions in my workstation-bootstrap repository.
• This module is only tested alongside my archlinux_workstation module.
• A pacman repo providing AUR packages: macfanctld, bcwc-pcie-dkms and bcwc-pcie-firmware; you can use jantman/archlinux_workstation archlinux_workstation::repos::jantman for that.

Hardware Support Status

Mid-2015 MacBookPro11,4 as of 2018-02-02

Working

Or mostly-working:

• Touchpad using Kernel 4.2+ and xf86-input-synaptics; works for tap-to-click, drag, two-finger scroll, and 2- or 3-finger taps (sometimes) for different mouse buttons.
• Networking on MacBookPro 11,4
  • USB ethernet adapter A1277 works out-of-the-box
  • BCM43602 AirPort Extreme (14e4:43ba) works with kernel built-in brcmfmac driver, autodetected, both 2.4GHz and 5GHz.
• Sound - Works. Under KDE/Phonon, needed to unmute/enable the "Built-in Audio Analog Stereo" (detected "Built-in Audio Digital Stereo (HDMI)" as default).
• Video - video works with the proprietary nvidia driver, the default in this module.
  • External Displays - Tested OK using both direct HDMI and Thunderbolt to HDMI (1 or 2 external monitors); works seamlessly.
  • Display/Desktop Scaling - This can be fixed within KDE:
    • System Settings -> Fonts: check off "Force fonts DIP" and set to 144
    • System Settings -> Icons -> "Advanced" tab: set them all to 48
    • Click the menu button on the far right edge of the Panel, then drag the "Height" box up until the scale/size looks good
  • Screen Backlight Adjustment - works using /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/brightness, the sliders on 'KDE5 System Settings -> Energy Saving' or the keyboard function keys.
• Hibernate / Suspend to Disk - doesn't wake up without long hold of power button & then turn back on. Session resumes once that's done.
• SD Card Reader - Working out of the box.
• Fans - macfanctld (AUR)
• Webcam - This works properly in Linux using the bcwc-pcie-dkms and bcwc-pcie-firmware AUR packages.
• Bluetooth - Per wiki, fully supported as of kernel 4.4.0. Works with my bluetooth mouse.

Broken

• Suspend to RAM - (haven't tested in many months; I never use this) doesn't wake up; long hold of power button & then turn back on gives a fresh boot.
• Lid Close - suspends to ram and doesn't wake up, but this could be a configuration issue. I never use this functionality.

Untested / To Do

• Partially-complete - SSD optimizations via sysctl settings, mount /dev/sda* noatime and discard (TRIM), use deadline scheduler on non-rotational disks
• Power Saving - https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/MacBookPro11,x#Powersave and https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Laptop_Mode_Tools
• Laptop Mode Tools - ArchWiki and/or TLP - ArchWiki (started looking into this, very involved configuration and I don't really need it right now)
• I'm left handed. Use udev/xorg to reverse buttons on USB mice but keep trackpad the same. See https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/All_Mouse_Buttons_Working http://www.smop.co.uk/blog/index.php/2010/02/15/udev-rules-for-logitech-g7-mouse/ or might be able to do this with udev triggering "xinput set-button-map"
• the stuff in Maximizing Performance - ArchWiki
• implement the stuff in Enhancing Arch Linux Stability - ArchWiki
• SMART/other SSD health check, with warnings if problems are found
• look into replacing macfanctld with mbpfan / fan-control-daemon are two options that are less abrupt

Reference

For full automatically-generated documentation see: http://jantman.github.io/puppet-archlinux-workstation/

Limitations

This module is only usable with Arch Linux on a MacBook Pro Retina.

It assumes that you have a relatively vanilla base install of Arch, such as the one I document in my workstation-bootstrap module, pretty much the same as the Arch Linux Installation Guide documents.

Development

See CONTRIBUTING.md for information about development and contributing.

Other References

• First, many thanks to eli meister for being the office linux-on-MBP retina guinea pig
• MacBookPro Retina - ArchWiki
• MacBook - ArchWiki
• Installation Guide - ArchWiki
• Beginners' Guide - ArchWiki
• Solid State Drives - ArchWiki
• Laptop - ArchWiki
• Enhancing Arch Linux Stability - ArchWiki
• Arch Linux System Maintenance - ArchWiki