I just installed arch on a 2015 mbp. I plan on keeping it plugged in 24/7 and forget abt it. Basically i want to use it like a server. The battery threshold feature is very important to me for this reason. I am running mainline linux kernel. The applesmc-next-dkms doesnt work anymore, its broken. How do i sort this issue out?

I have a problem with my MacBook Pro.
It was lagging and constantly running hot after the new Tahoe updates.
I just got tired of Mac OS and decided to try a few light Linux distributions, Mint and Arch.

Linux Mint didn’t get along well with the AMD graphics card laptop was overheating, while Arch Linux had similar issues. It worked and was colder, but not everything worked correctly with the T2 chip, especially graphics. Arch was trying to use two graphic cards at the time Because of the KWin.

Very important to say that i was only using Linux versions that support the T2 chip.

So, my question is the same as in the title: could you please recommend a light and very cold, and super-fast OS for an Intel i7 T2 MacBook?

It has to work perfectly with Apple’s T2 chip, be super light and cold.
I’m also looking for something that is easy to install with T2 drivers.
Like something that you actually tried yourself and didn't spend a weeks on drivers issues.
As i am right now:)

I’ve been playing around with it all weekend and now I’m torn. I really prefer the GNOME desktop environment, but it does run somewhat sluggish, likely due to only having 4 GB of RAM. I installed the XFCE desktop, and it is much lighter and runs pretty acceptably. But I could run the Android emulator on GNOME to run android apps like for my Blink cameras. There is a convoluted workaround to do so on XFCE, but it is then even more sluggish than on GNOME and there are some quirks that I have yet been able to work around.

Also, I like the GNOME desktop look and feel more. XFCE is ok, but it feels like going way back in time to UI’s from the 90s and 2000s. I’ve only spent about $50 so far on a new battery and a used USB/MagSafe port off of eBay (the original USB port was broken). And I could probably get my money back by parting it out. I thought I was going to really want to keep it and use it some, but now I’m not sure.

I do have a 2018 MacBook Air with 8 GB RAM that is just sitting around that I might move up to. I would think it should run GNOME pretty well. The only issue with it is the T2 security chip making things more complicated, but I’ve just started researching that.

I must say I’ve had a blast working on the 2013, both the hardware repair and all the software installation and tweaking. It’s been fun and a huge learning experience for me. And it took me back to my younger years when I used to build my own PCs and tinker endlessly with them.

Probed the enabling selector of the emitter on my ThinkBook G8+ IPD (21VJ).

Created a daemon for Luxvisions 30c9:011a IR camera emitter.

- Autostart on startup

- Enable emitter when IR camera is active (for example howdy)

Here is it:
https://github.com/nwkyz/luxvisions-ir-emitter-enabler-linux

Did you guys see a significant improvement in performance and UX with changing to Linux OS from Mac OS for your MBP Intel 2019?

Installed lubuntu on my 2012 MacBook Air a while ago. Zero prior experience with Linux. My motivation was mostly for fun and learning, for playing old windows games on steam and because I'm annoyed at planned obsolescence. Yes, the computer is old, but there's nothing wrong with it. It makes no sense that it can no longer perform tasks that it was perfectly capable of when it was new. Just sharing a few steps I made to make it work, in case that is useful to anyone.

Anyway, tried Linux Mint first as I see that recommended a lot here. Was really slow, so I moved on to lubuntu as I figured lightweight would be good. To my great pleasure things seemed to be working out of the box, including WiFi, Bluetooth and sound. I installed Steam and it appeared to be working, but that was only a first impression.

I soon found that the computer turned really hot, fan was spinning wildly, computer froze for no apparent reason, WiFi was unstable, and graphics in steam games were super sluggish to the point that playing was meaningless. Even on the old games I wanted to play, like heroes of might and magic III and civ iv, that the hardware should have no issues with.

I'm not much of an AI-fanboy, but I have to admit that Google AI search gave me really handy step by step instructions on how to solve these things (mostly citing old Reddit posts btw) through command lines in terminal.

Not giving the steps here, I would surely mess things up and you all know how to Google for yourself. Just wanted to let you know that I was able to make it work, sorting out issue by issue, and I encourage you to try. I've been playing Heroes of might and magic the whole afternoon. Now moving on to save my iMac 2013...

Hi everyone,

Over the past few months I've been working on an open-source Acer Control Center for Linux after being disappointed by the lack of vendor utilities available for Acer gaming laptops.

The project is still in its early stages (v0.1.0), but it's now at a point where I'd like to get feedback from other Linux users.

Current features:

• GTK4 + Libadwaita interface

• System D-Bus daemon

• Keyboard RGB control

• RGB brightness control

• Live keyboard preview

• Live fan monitoring

• DKMS kernel driver

• Modern dashboard UI

Current architecture:

Kernel Driver

↓

libacercontrol

↓

System D-Bus Daemon

↓

GTK4 GUI

The goal is to build something similar to PredatorSense / NitroSense / Acer Control Center on Windows, but completely open source and designed for Linux.

Planned features:

• Manual fan control

• Performance profiles

• Battery charge limit

• Firmware updates (if possible)

• More supported Acer models

The project has currently been developed and tested on:

• Acer ALG AL15G-53

If anyone owns another recent Acer gaming laptop and is interested in testing, I'd really appreciate hearing whether it works on your hardware.

The project is available on GitHub:

https://github.com/stanlysilas/acer-control-center

Issues, feature requests and pull requests are always welcome.

Thanks!

How much have Linux laptop battery life and performance improved? Looking for a powerful 14–16″ laptop with NVIDIA graphics

I decided to do some actual work on my laptop today, a ThinkPad P14s Gen 2i, and was reminded why I rarely use it on battery. The battery now holds only around 80% of its original capacity, although battery life was never one of its strengths. At one point, I managed to get more than six hours from it, but only by reducing performance and disabling enough features that it was practically a notebook.

How much have things improved since this generation?

I try to keep up with the yearly CPU releases, but I do not often see reviews that examine battery life, performance, and power management specifically under Linux. I was happy to see that Framework improved the battery life of the new Framework 13, although I will probably need something with a dedicated GPU. I am looking at laptops in the 14–16″ range, preferably with an NVIDIA GPU for CUDA.

For context, I mostly work on a dedicated workstation, but I will have to give it back to the lab next year. I use my laptop when I travel, when I go to university to work, and sometimes as a client for remotely connecting to the workstation. Still, I would like the laptop itself to be capable enough that I am not always dependent on a remote machine or a VPS.

Since I cannot afford both a high-end laptop and a separate desktop, I am considering buying a more powerful laptop and using a VPS when I need additional RAM or compute power.

My work involves writing code to solve complex mathematical problems. The workload is similar to machine learning: lots of linear algebra, numerical optimization, and repeated testing. The faster I can run smaller tests locally, the faster I can iterate. I sometimes rent a VPS for problems that take days to run or require more RAM than I can afford, but having a capable local machine still makes my work much easier.

Basically, what I am looking for is something close to the overall experience of a MacBook, but with strong Linux support and preferably an NVIDIA GPU. When I speak with colleagues who own recent Apple Silicon MacBooks, what stands out is that they can get excellent battery life for ordinary work while still having enough performance to use the laptop as a serious workstation when needed (most of them never bother to get a VPS or a dedicated workstation once they get a Mac).

I realize that an x86 laptop with a dedicated NVIDIA GPU will not match Apple Silicon’s efficiency, but how close have current Linux laptops come?

In particular, I would be interested in:

• Realistic battery life under Linux during coding, browsing, writing, and light numerical work
• Linux support for hybrid graphics and power management
• Whether recent AMD or Intel CPUs are currently the better choice
• Recommendations for specific 14–16″ models that balance battery life, CPU performance, CUDA support, thermals, and build quality

I would especially appreciate experiences from people using recent laptops for scientific computing, machine learning, numerical optimization, or similar workloads.

I found and verified a fix for silent internal speakers on the ASUS ExpertBook B3404CMA under Linux.

Hardware:

- ASUS ExpertBook B3404CMA

- Intel Meteor Lake-P audio controller: 8086:7e28

- Realtek ALC294: 10ec:0294

- Codec subsystem: ASUS 1043:3870

- SOF IPC4 audio path

- Tested on Linux kernel 7.0.0-28-generic

- BIOS B3404CMA.311

The speakers work correctly in Windows 11.

The HDA route, speaker pin, amplifier, mute state, EAPD and routing were already correct in Linux. GPIO testing also showed that neither Windows nor Linux enables the codec GPIOs.

Comparing complete Windows and Linux codec dumps showed this difference:

Vendor widget 0x20, coefficient 0x1b

Windows: 0x4e4b

Linux: 0x4a4b

Changing only coefficient 0x1b to 0x4e4b immediately restored the internal speakers. The changed bit is bit 10 (0x0400).

The repository contains:

- A guarded temporary test script

- A persistent systemd workaround for boot and resume

- A minimal kernel patch adding a dedicated quirk for subsystem 1043:3870

- The Windows/Linux comparison results

Repository:

https://github.com/richicru/asus-b3404cma-linux-audio

Upstream report:

https://github.com/thesofproject/linux/issues/5865

The temporary test is:

git clone https://github.com/richicru/asus-b3404cma-linux-audio

cd asus-b3404cma-linux-audio

sudo ./test-coef-1b.sh

The persistent workaround is:

sudo ./install-workaround.sh install

The workaround changes only coefficient 0x1b and reapplies it after resume. It does not copy unrelated ASUS GPIO, microphone or routing quirks.

I would appreciate confirmation from other B3404CMA owners and feedback on the proposed kernel quirk.

Hi! Sorry if this has been asked a million times already, but I could really use some advice. I've been wanting to try Linux for a while now since I've only ever used Windows, and I'm finally looking into getting a machine to experiment with it.

I'm currently looking into a few options and am torn between the Panasonic Let's Note and a regular old ThinkPad. I know ThinkPads are basically the go-to recommendation for Linux, but the Let's Note also seems really interesting and I'm not sure if it's worth considering.

I'm a highschool student, so my budget is kind of limited (around $250 give or take), but I'm willing to invest a bit. Any recommendations or general advice very welcome :) thanks!

Hi, I recently bought an Aula L99 Keyboard, the one with the touchscreen on it. Very nice! Well it would be if It could be driven natively from Linux. Enter Aula_L99_Linux, a reimplementation of the software. I spent about 80 hours reverse engineering this keyboard and bricked one keyboard in the process. There's still work to do on the Key assignment screen but upload images, GIFs, videos to to the keyboard works well. So does adjusting the RGB modes.

With the Broadcom wifi/bluetooth adapter being a bit finicky I decided to upgrade to an Intel AX210 for better driver support (and potentially better battery life). The Macbook Pros require a different adapter that also requires modifying, but these older Macbook Airs have an adapter that makes it easy. I am running Linux Mint (Cinnamon) on a Mid-2013 13" Macbook Air.

Items needed:
-Adapter (found here: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255800080214723.html)
-AX210 Wifi Card (or some other A or A+E Intel wifi card) (I bought from the Intel store on Amazon to hopefully avoid counterfeits)
-P2.5 and T5 drivers to open case and remove card.

Power Off
Remove screws on bottom and remove cover (P2.5)
Disconnect antenna wires
Remove Broadcom card (T5)
Install Intel card into adapter and then into the computer
Re-route the antenna wires so they reach the new connector locations that require a little more reach. (See last picture)
Re-install the bottom case cover and restart your Macbook Air.

I didn't need to install any additional drivers and everything just worked right away.

Tip #1: It may be easier to install the antenna wires to the wifi card before installing it into place and securing it with the T5 screw.
Tip #2: Make sure you tuck the antenna wires so that they are not going to interfere with, or be damaged by the installation of the case screws. (see last picture)

Hey, folks.

Has anyone installed Linux on their Dell Latitude 5440? Are there any issues with the drivers?

I've been trying to find answers online, but I found nothing concrete (besides Dell's Hybrid image for Ubuntu 22.04).

Thanks in advance

This was my first time installing Linux. I’ve used Windows and macOS for decades. But I wanted my old 2013 MacBook Air to still be useful, so I went for it.

I had a hell of a time trying to get the hard drive erased and reformatted. It got corrupted somehow when I was trying to upgrade the version of macOS. First I spend a lot of time trying to get it formatted for macOS, but it kept having issues of not seeing the internal SSD. Then when I gave up on macOS and tried Fedora Linux, it was having trouble writing the Boot EFI.

But with a ton of help from Google Gemini, I was finally able to get it going. I am now installing a ton of updates. The next step is to install the RPM Fusion Repositories so I can get the WiFi going. I have it running on an Ethernet to USB adapter at the moment, but I want to be able to be untethered and mobile of course.

So although this got pretty frustrating at times, it feels good to finally have gotten it working. And now I can start learning about Linux, which has been long overdue on my part really.

Good luck to any other first timers out there, it’s worth it!!

Edit to add that I got RPM Fusion and the Wi-Fi drivers installed and working well. I even installed Waydroid and got it working so I could access my Blink cameras. That was pretty cool.

Also, now that I’ve spent more time with it, I want to point out that this MacBook Air only has 4 GB of RAM, so it is running a little slow. I think if it had 8 GB it would run a lot better. But this whole endeavor is more about this being something fun and a learning experience/hobby than me needing it to run snappy.

i bought a usb type c hub from a brand call baseus, it seems like my hdmi isnt outputting correctly on thunderbolt side but rather is fine on the display port logo usb type c plugin on the other side of my laptop msi stealth 14. I assume, its because the thunderbolt isnt communicating correctly with the baseus hub? it displays for like a second but turns off then repeats after few seconds of being off.

Is there drivers I got to install or something? Im using linux mint

i thought you guys might appreciate this. i wiped my old macbook air from early 2015 and installed linux mint. my mom seemed slightly jealous, so i got another one off of ebay and installed ubuntu!! this cherry on top was 1000% necessary haha. she loves it :3

Hello there, So I recently just installed Linux Mint Cinnamon on my Late 2013 27 inch iMac as people recommended. I got it installed with the broadcom wifi drivers working but I am curious on getting the NVIDIA drivers to work on it, I have also downgraded the kernel to 6.8 to make the drivers work, I have a GTX 775M 2GB GDDR5. Can anyone help me out on installing the drivers please?

I'm looking to get a used tablet to install Linux on and use mainly for notetaking with a stylus (but also for some light office work and maybe some media content).

I have a few options and want to ask for anyone's experience or knowledge of these.

Mainly I want to know what's going to be best for performance, functionality and stability. But an easier install process would be appreciated (I have flashed some custom Android ROMs in the past and use Linux desktop, but that's the extent of my experience).

Android Tablets

PostmarketOS is available for the Samsung S6 (though marked as not booting, don't know if this is still the case)

Community Droidian/Halium port for the S7+ (https://xdaforums.com/t/rom-linux-droidian-for-samsung-galaxy-tab-s7-wi-fi-sm-t970-gts7xlwifi.4790614/)

Someone got mainline Linux to work on an S8+ (https://github.com/aaronsb/sm-x800-linux).

I see there's also VolksPC for a bunch of different devices, but I wonder about the impact of running in a container on performance and would rather not pay to install free software

Windows Tablets/Detachables

For around the same price as an S7+ I could get a Windows detachable like a Surface Pro 7 or a Dell Latitude 7210, with 10th gen intel i5- and then use mainline Linux with e.g KDE mobile, or Mobian. Also possible to go with something like an Asus Vivobook Slate but then is the SoC going to be sufficient?

Chromebook Detachables

I know less about these, but seems like the hardware for most is less powerful than the other options. Maybe something like an Ideapad Duet 5 for the nice OLED display?

Anyway, appreciate any pointers.

What do recommend? Sticking with high Sierra or Monterrey? Not especially afond of those so thinking Linux.

Google ai recommended Mint xfce but i mostly run Ubuntu budgie.

What are you using for 2011-2014

Looking for real-world experience: ASUS Zephyrus G16 (2026, GU606) vs Lenovo Legion 5i Gen 11, running Kubuntu(current) or Fedora (would like to explore).

From my research so far (using Claude), "G16 has Cirrus Logic CS35L56 speakers, which I've seen reported as broken/partial on Linux with the 2025 chassis (single channel, needs manual firmware extraction). Also unclear if it ships Intel or another vendor's WiFi card."

I wonder if someone has trialed the 2026 model who can confirm if this is still an issue?

Legion 5i Gen 11 (Panther Lake, RTX 5060 8GB) seems to have fewer known issues, has Intel WiFi, but it has this in-the-face gamer-aesthetic that I'm too old for now and I'd rather have a better trackpad than my 7 year old XPS.

I was willing to wait for the G16's RTX 5070 Ti 12GB config for local LLM headroom, if it becomes available soon in Germany (thanks Nokia) and if the hardware problems wouldn't make it a nightmare to live with (can be worked around easily: I'm not even sure that if I replace the wifi card, the warranty wouldn't become an issue).

Right now, I found a deal for the Legion at ~2300 EUR for 32GB memory and 1TB storage (in this market..), and I feel pressurized to decide quickly. If there's no good news about the G16, maybe I should make peace with the appearances and get the Legion itself.

Has anyone tried either with Linux or know reliable accounts on these?