In the end of November 2022 (1 year ago), I switched from MacOs to Linux (Debian with KDE Plasma) on my MacBook.

No regret! Was a very good decision.

I think, I’ll never go back.

Experience:

  • I did not know about KDE Plasma until 1 year ago. The picture in my head about Linux was pretty much GNOME. I’m a huge fan of KDE Plasma now. KDE Plasma 6 in 2024 will probably be awesome.
  • The GitHub repository “Awesome-Linux-Software” was awesome during the first weeks. It made me realize that most of the stuff I was already using, is also available for Linux. Only software I had to leave behind: Affinity Designer (IMO far more intuitive to use than GIMP, sorry FOSS community) and Visual Studio for Mac (which is dead anyway)
  • The only advanced thing I had to do in the beginning: My WIFI connection is always gone when I close my MacBook, but there is not automatic reconnect when I reopen it. None of the usual stuff recommended when using Debian on a MacBook helped. So, I had to write a service that checks for this (something with rmmod, modprobe, brcmfmac, …). Probably too much for a casual user and hopefully not necessary for them…

TODO in the next year:

  • Trying out gaming on Linux, maybe buying a Steam Deck
  • Migrating to KDE Plasma 6 (and switching to Wayland)
  • Recommending our religion Linux to others
  • MonkderZweite@feddit.ch
    5·
    1 year ago

    You can probably replace your service with rmmod & modprobe (sorry, but that’s a hack) with a line in /etc/modules or /etc/modules-load.d/.

    If that doesn’t work, add your modprobe script to /usr/lib/logind/system-sleep/ (simple switch case with example). Not sure about the logind part, it’s elogind for me since i use dinit, not Systemd.

    • ⚡⚡⚡@feddit.deOPEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      I know that it’s a hack. A really bad hack TBH.

      But I wasn’t able to get it working differently.

      This is the service code I’m using (yes, I know… It’s very bad, especially the pinging):

      while :
do
	if [[ $(ping 192.168.178.1 -c 3) ]]
	then
		echo "pinged"
	else
		if [[ $(lsmod | grep brcmfmac) ]]
		then
			sudo rmmod brcmfmac
		fi
		sudo modprobe brcmfmac
		sleep 250
	fi
	sleep 15

done

      When closing and opening my MacBook, it’s necessary to execute sudo rmmod brcmfmac and then sudo modprobe brcmfmac. Only executing the 2nd command is not enough.

      @MonkderZweite@feddit.ch

      Your first 2 paths under /etc have a description like this:

      kernel modules to load at boot time.

      The problem I’m having is that I have to reload the module when the laptop was closed and reopened.

      So, I think, the first 2 paths won’t work, right? It’s not boot time?

      Something like the 2nd path was described in a tutorial about getting started on a MacBook with Linux. I remember it.

      But the path you described does not exist on my system.

      I have a path /usr/lib/systemd/system-sleep/, do you mean that one?

      This contains 1 file (probably created by me in the beginning) called lid_wakeup_disable:

       #!/bin/sh

# /lib/systemd/system-sleep/lid_wakeup_disable
#
# Avoids that system wakes up immediately after suspend or hibernate
# with lid open (e.g. suspend/hibernate through KDE menu entry)
#
# Tested on MacBookPro12,1

case $1 in
  pre)
    if cat /proc/acpi/wakeup | grep -qE '^LID0.*enabled'; then
        echo LID0 > /proc/acpi/wakeup
    fi
    ;;
esac

      Do I add rmmod brcmfmac; modprobe brcmfmac; (without sudo) at the bottom?

      I’m thankful for any help to get rid of the service.

      • MonkderZweite@feddit.ch
        2·
        1 year ago

        Guess that was udev and not modprobe, where changes made are picked up immediately? My bad.

        What i do have though, is a bunch of scripts in /etc/modprobe.d, with a comment:

        # 'modinfo -p your-module' to list possible values
# 'systool -m your-module -av' to list active modules
# modinfo -p your-module |sort |awk -F':' '{print "\n# "$2"\n#options your-module "$1"="}' for a preset

        Maybe there is a module-functionality active that causes trouble? Btw, dmesg -H says nothing? Looks like brcmfmac is troublesome generally (of course broadcum, huh).

        Bttw: if you can’t /etc/modprobe for some reason, you can load module settings as kernel parameters (via Grub or whatever) like module.option=value.

        About the wakeup script, i have this in mine:

        #!/bin/sh
case $1/$2 in
  pre/*)
    # Put here any commands expected to be run when suspending or hibernating.

    # so bluetooth doesn't prevent sleep
    /usr/bin/bluetoothctl power off ;;
  post/*)
    # Put here any commands expected to be run when resuming from suspension or thawing from hibernation.

    # bluetooth on after resume
    /usr/bin/bluetoothctl power on ;;
esac

        Sorry, this is about as far as i can help without access to your computer.