Revision of MacBook from Wed, 05/27/2015 - 04:38
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Wait, what?
Apple is unfriendly to software freedom. Don't support their proprietary lock-in and walled garden policies, financially or otherwise. You may have old Apple equipment laying around; rather than waste this hardware, let's hope that you can use it in freedom.Despite Apple's hostility to software freedom, certain old versions of the MacBook laptop can support freedom better than most other notebooks. If you have one of these old Macbooks --versions 1,1 or 2,1-- or can find one used, read on.
The MacBook can be made freer than most because versions 1,1 and 2,1 of Apple's MacBook employ the same i945 chipset used in ThinkPad notebooks. These particular MacBooks can run the libre BIOS Libreboot.
Flash Libreboot on the MacBook
Libreboot's website explains in detail how to flash the Libreboot BIOS on a MacBook. Before you install Libreboot, you will need to replace OS X with Trisquel.
Flashing the BIOS can be daunting for most people. Don't worry; keep an eye for installfests, or free software events such as Libre Planet, where experts will gladly do it for you.
Performance
So far, only documentation for the 2,1 model has surfaced. According to a Trisquel Forum blog post and an h-node entry, the performance for a MacBook 2,1 running libreboot and Trisquel 7 has the following characteristics:- WiFi and ethernet: works
- Video card: works
- DVD drive: works
- Infrared remote: works
- Built-in microphone: works
- Touchpad: mostly works, but three-finger tapping doesn't work. You need at least kernel version 3.15 for the touchpad to be pleasant to use. For previous kernels, see a Xorg configuration to make it more usable.
- Webcam (iSight): does not work, as it requires a non-free firmware blob
- Battery: lasts only a couple of hours compared to the 6+ hours from a libreboot x60s bought from Gluglug
- Heat: it runs quite hot, but not as hot as it used to be on earlier versions of libreboot. The fan is also somewhat loud; maybe this can be fixed a bit by using an energy management program like PowerTOP
- Speakers: significantly better in comparison to ThinkPad x60s
- Hardware acceleration: 2D works; 3D probably not (3D Unity, for example, causes many problems). HTML5 and HD videos can be played seamlessly, but newer games requiring 3D might not work properly.
Notes
- It seems that Libreboot has problems turning the laptop on. If you release the power button too early or too late, you're greeted with a constant spam of text "--MORE--Unknown key 0xff detected". When this happens, turn the computer off from the power switch and then try booting again.
- The MacBook has an unusual keyboard layout, so there can be difficulty typing special characters. To fix that, you can remap your keyboard by running:
sudo dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration - For people flashing Libreboot: it is suggested that before you do that you write down your ethernet and WiFi MAC-address somewhere safe, in case you want to keep these two. Apparently, if you flash the Libreboot binary, then you will have the same MAC address as everybody who flashes that same binary. So in that sense it is strongly suggested that you compile from sources according to the instructions at the Libreboot website.
- It's also recommended that you avoid doing free advertising for Apple, so consider hiding their logo by getting a sticker or decal featuring free software such as a Linux kernel sticker or GNU stickers.
