Wifi guide might need some improvements?

[igorsantos07]

I have a Macmini8,1 and I'm dual-booting with Mint (Ubuntu-based).

While the wiki helped me with many steps on solving the wifi issues, a few things left me a bit lost / might need correction / improvements:

• it's not clear if we need to patch the current kernel to get wifi to work. There are a lot of steps involved in identifying the firmware files, but these are also a bit unclear - kernel compilation is only necessary when retrieving files from Big Sur? Is it ok to use a Mojave firmware? I'm running Monterey, got its firmware, but when loading all I had was FW failed to load
• then, following this thread (and giving up and skipping to the end) I decided to download the firmware instead as suggested, and it seems to work fine...
• Except that I get stuck in a password loop (which, when googling, yields a plethora of different "solutions", no clue how to start debugging). Could this be related some missing step? I tried using iwd as suggested in the wiki (Ubuntu installs 1.5) but the iwd service can't start here. Using wpa_supplicant as backend yields the same loop (is it the default backend?)

[Redecorating]

The situation with wifi has been greatly simplified as we now have wifi firmware selection from linux working, and there is a pull request (#198) to update the wifi guide for that (not yet merged as the kernel changes for this aren't in mbp-fedora yet).

The Firmware failed to initialise is because firmware from macos versions after Mojave requires some random data as a seed (the chips don't have a hardware random number generator). The "Big Sur" kernels/patchset provides that seed to the wifi chip.

I would suggest installing this kernel, which has the automatic firmware selection, and fixes the firmware loading issue + some other bugs: https://github.com/AdityaGarg8/T2-Ubuntu-Kernel/releases/tag/v5.15.13-1 you should be able to build it yourself by cloning the repo and using build.sh if you don't want to use the built release there. You would also need firmware with a new naming scheme, you can use this deb or get the firmware in the new format yourself by following the instructions added by #198

[igorsantos07]

Hmmm got it. I think.

Any guess which OS version are these files (suggested on that thread) from? These initialize fine for me; networks are listed, but connection gets stuck in a password loop.

---

Nonetheless, I tried installing the 5.15.13 debs you liked - but I can't start from it. Will try building it tomorrow... I guess I spent too many hours on this and my body needs a bed lol Thanks for the quick guidance!

[Redecorating]

The files hosted there are from macOS Mojave.

If you can boot back into a working kernel tomorrow, journalctl -b -1 > last_boots_logs.txt will save the logs from the last boot. Hopefully we can get some logs from whenever it fails to start.

@AdityaGarg8 might know a better release to use.

[AdityaGarg8]

Technically you will end up having the same files if you use build.sh so no point in building. May I know the issue you are facing with 5.15.13? @igorsantos07

[igorsantos07]

This is a photo of where it gets stuck, and here is the last_boot_logs.txt.

Do these help identifying anything? I know something on how to get around in Linux but kernels are an empty book in my mental library lol

[AdityaGarg8]

Oh, you need the efi=noruntime parameter @igorsantos07

[AdityaGarg8]

Or if you want, I'll make an ISO for you where wifi works out of the box?

[AdityaGarg8]

What do you think?

[igorsantos07]

I didn't spend much time installing stuff here, started by the wifi anyway, so it wouldn't hurt reinstalling the whole OS - but isn't that too much trouble for you? haha

That parameter is for.... booting? Any hint on how I should include it with rEFInd which auto-scanned my OSes? It boots fine the other kernels I tried (currently at 5.13.0-23).

[Redecorating]

That looks like a different kernel panic to the one that occurs with nvram writes, the trace has some stuff about crypto, not efi, so I don't think efi=noruntime is the issue. (also go to sleep)

I'll have a look and see if there's a module we can try blacklisting to prevent it (but go sleep first)

Tomorrow could you also check that if you boot it again, the panic (what you took a photo of) is still on the crypto stuff (it's possible that the panic could have a cause that's not specific to one piece of code)

[Redecorating]

possibly also see if a normal 5.15 kernel has the same issue (but no rush, go sleep)

[igorsantos07]

The latest kernels I can find on the Mint kernel tool is 5.13, but I found some guides on how to get 5.15. Will do tomorrow.

That pic was actually the second try - I installed, rebooted to it, it panicked, and I went back to 5.13, then tried again so I could photograph it... The first take was changing between seemingly two different panics every bunch of seconds? Will try again tomorrow after bed hahaha

Thank you all! Really!

[AdityaGarg8]

Oh, sorry I didn’t see you used mint

[igorsantos07]

PS: no need for a new ISO, I guess. I recalled I had a Realtek USB wifi card, plugged it in and got a working driver from a quick googling + build.

This is really a temporary fix (so I can unplug my phone lol), but worst case scenario, it's usable in mid-term until it gets ~easier~ less painful to get the internal wifi working. So I can keep configuring the rest of my environment while I try different approaches, and finally get some work done (after 2 full days lost in this Mac war)......

[AdityaGarg8]

rEFInd probably must be showing you 2 entries. 1st is the one with the mint logo and second with the one with the Linux penguin logo. You have to use the one with the mint logo (if the linux penguin one entry is not there, needn't worry :) ) Now, boot into the kernel you are able to right now. edit /etc/default/grub and make sure you have GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="efi=noruntime pcie_ports=compat acpi=force intel_iommu=on iommu=pt"

[AdityaGarg8]

after updating, run sudo update-grub. You may take some rest and do it later too :)

[igorsantos07]

rEFInd shows me Mint (with its multiple kernels by now) and MacOS, no extra Tux :)

Under 5.13, /etc/default/grub only shows this, besides the bunch of comments:

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden
GRUB_TIMEOUT=0
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

Should I add all those commands? Would update-grub mess up with rEFInd somehow?

:sleeping_bed:

[AdityaGarg8]

A pic of refind would be helpful.

[AdityaGarg8]

which desktop environment are you using BTW

[igorsantos07]

I customized refind's interface a bit, actually. Is there anything useful instead in /boot/efi/EFI/refind? Otherwise I can get a list of anything that's bootable in my next reboot.

/boot/efi/EFI has the following folders, btw: APPLE, BOOT, refind, tools, ubuntu.

I'm running Mint Uma, Mate edition.

I guess I should also mention my installer didn't finish 100%, since grub crashed it towards the end. Only later (by googling) I found about rEFIind, which scanned from Mac and it found Mint, surprisingly working(?) Not sure what it's missing, if any, besides some dangling live stuff here and there (apt repo, installer shortcut).

[AdityaGarg8]

I customized refind's interface a bit, actually. Is there anything useful instead in /boot/efi/EFI/refind? Otherwise I can get a list of anything that's bootable in my next reboot.

/boot/efi/EFI has the following folders, btw: APPLE, BOOT, refind, tools, ubuntu.

I'm running Mint Uma, Mate edition.

I guess I should also mention my installer didn't finish 100%, since grub crashed it towards the end. Only later (by googling) I found about rEFIind, which scanned from Mac and it found Mint, surprisingly working(?) Not sure what it's missing, if any, besides some dangling live stuff here and there (apt repo, installer shortcut).

Installer crashed due to lack of efi=noruntime

You need a custom ISO

[AdityaGarg8]

I'll see if I am able to make an ISO for Mint.

[AdityaGarg8]

I customized refind's interface a bit, actually. Is there anything useful instead in /boot/efi/EFI/refind? Otherwise I can get a list of anything that's bootable in my next reboot.

/boot/efi/EFI has the following folders, btw: APPLE, BOOT, refind, tools, ubuntu.

I'm running Mint Uma, Mate edition.

I guess I should also mention my installer didn't finish 100%, since grub crashed it towards the end. Only later (by googling) I found about rEFIind, which scanned from Mac and it found Mint, surprisingly working(?) Not sure what it's missing, if any, besides some dangling live stuff here and there (apt repo, installer shortcut).

So it was that when the installer was trying to install, grub installation crashed, as it was trying to write the NVRAM. Then, you used rEFInd to boot Linux, cause the kernel were installed. But, refind is not at all reliable to directly boot kernels.

[AdityaGarg8]

@igorsantos07 , Try a reinstallation with https://github.com/AdityaGarg8/mbp-ubuntu/releases/tag/mint-5.15.12. The installer shouldn't probably crash now.

[AdityaGarg8]

Make sure you cleanup your old installation.

[AdityaGarg8]

Wifi should work out of the box in this.

[igorsantos07]

Now I got why you all of sudden asked my DE. I'm really mesmerized you went all the way to create a new Mint release for me to try out. Thanks! I'm downloading it now.

In the meantime, I'm also sobbing because the MacOS decided it doesn't want to run anymore, and I don't recall making any changes to it or rEFInd that would cause Mac issues :sob: Any boot option like safe or single user mode cause the same dump on screen (which I'll append here as soon as I reboot with the Mint pendrive ready). The Apple Recovery option also seems to be gone from rEFInd since I upgraded to Monterey?

Definitely regretting the day I said "ok, I'll get a Mac because I need to debug iPad issues".

[igorsantos07]

I installed Mint, but it booted to a kernel panic screen, similar to the previous ones. Tried other options inside refind, until I recalled the NVRAM issue you mentioned... Then I edited the Mint boot line to include efi=noruntime and.................. it's working <3 I had to re-modprobe at the first login, but only then.

It's even showing the fan sensor, which wasn't present before (actually, together with other 31 temperature(?) sensors, from TA0V to TW2P and TaRC)

---

Also: is there a way to make that efi boot option "permanent" in any Mint option from refind (besides permanently editing the current boot line)? I wonder if, in the future, when I upgrade to a newer kernel or something else, it will get lost again and panic.

---

And no progress with the Mac panic yet (didn't google much yet, though):

[AdityaGarg8]

Now I got why you all of sudden asked my DE. I'm really mesmerized you went all the way to create a new Mint release for me to try out. Thanks! I'm downloading it now.

In the meantime, I'm also sobbing because the MacOS decided it doesn't want to run anymore, and I don't recall making any changes to it or rEFInd that would cause Mac issues 😭 Any boot option like safe or single user mode cause the same dump on screen (which I'll append here as soon as I reboot with the Mint pendrive ready). The Apple Recovery option also seems to be gone from rEFInd since I upgraded to Monterey?

Definitely regretting the day I said "ok, I'll get a Mac because I need to debug iPad issues".

To fix macOS, use the startup manager to boot it

https://wiki.t2linux.org/guides/refind/#fixing-blank-screen-on-booting-macos-using-refind

You probably are facing this

[AdityaGarg8]

I installed Mint, but it booted to a kernel panic screen, similar to the previous ones. Tried other options inside refind, until I recalled the NVRAM issue you mentioned... Then I edited the Mint boot line to include efi=noruntime and.................. it's working <3 I had to re-modprobe at the first login, but only then.

It's even showing the fan sensor, which wasn't present before (actually, together with other 31 temperature(?) sensors, from TA0V to TW2P and TaRC)

Also: is there a way to make that efi boot option "permanent" in any Mint option from refind (besides permanently editing the current boot line)? I wonder if, in the future, when I upgrade to a newer kernel or something else, it will get lost again and panic.

And no progress with the Mac panic yet (didn't google much yet, though):

Firstly, did the installation crash this time?

If no, is refind showing an entry to boot grub? It probably should be the one with the linux mint logo instead of the linux penguin one.

[igorsantos07]

Nope, no crash! Installation was successful! It's missing the sound support, though. I've tried adding the PulseAudio files, but no success yet... Gonna reboot soon to check if it works.

The Mint entry in refind points to /boot/vmlinuz-5.15.12-t2. Here are the possibly relevant entries (moved the correct Mint entry, the selected one, to the hidden tags so I could list them all together):

I'm not sure what's that ubuntu/grubx64.efi entry. Maybe a leftover from the initial failed install?

[AdityaGarg8]

@igorsantos07 , probably, the Ubuntu one entry shall be the one which shall boot grub for mint. Could you try that?

[igorsantos07]

Just tested - that Ubuntu entry (which appropriately gets an Ubuntu logo) seems to just go into a Linux Mint logo that gets stuck? Let me check if it also needs efi=noruntime...

The one that I've been using so far to boot - and that I need to edit every time - is the vmlinuz one.

---

The force-to-boot-MacOS trick indeed worked :) I've submitted a tiny PR (#204) since I needed trial-and-error to "find" the Option key lol

[AdityaGarg8]

@igorsantos07 , edit /etc/default/grub and make sure GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="efi=noruntime pcie_ports=compat acpi=force intel_iommu=on iommu=pt" is there instead of GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=" ". Do the editing, save the changes and run sudo update-grub on the terminal. Then the Ubuntu option in refind should be fixed.

[igorsantos07]

Nice! That worked too - I'll swap it with the previous Mint option.

Lastly, any idea on how to get the sound jack to work? It's playing great on the Mac OS, but inside Mint all I see is the HDMI output (which I can't test since my screen has no sound anyway). I just created the files from the first link on the guide (even made the copy mentioned later in the comments), but no dice. I even restarted to see if PulseAudio would catch the correct stuff (otherwise, would pulseaudio -k do the trick after a few seconds for it to auto-restart, I guess?).

I also find nothing recent about pulseaudio or alsa in syslog. Any idea where to start debugging this? I tried pulseaudio -k; pulseaudio -v --start --log-target=newfile:/tmp/pulse.log --daemonize=no, but it doesn't seem to output anything (and I know it's reloading because my webcam, which has a built-in mic, blinks).

[AdityaGarg8]

@igorsantos07 , in settings>sounds, in audio outputs, is there something like codec-output. If yes, change to that.

[igorsantos07]

Nope, it just shows the HDMI option - which doesn't seem to behave either, since I found a volume control on my display's internal menu.

If I permanently kill pulseaudio, that screen shows HDA Intel PCH as an output option, but without being able to configure volumes and such. It also lists my webcam as output, which is wrong since it has a mic, but not a speaker.

[AdityaGarg8]

@Redecorating , please help

[Redecorating]

Have you followed https://t2linux.org/guides/audio-config/ ? Does ‘lsmod | grep apple_bce‘ show apple_bce?

The files in the audio guide might need changing as the speaker layout on mac mini would be different (does it even have a speaker, or is it just the 3.5mm audio jack)

[AdityaGarg8]

Mac mini doesn't have a speaker afaik.

[AdityaGarg8]

Oh it has!!

[AdityaGarg8]

https://www.apple.com/in/mac-mini/specs/

[igorsantos07]

Yep, it has an internal speaker - terrible, but does hahaha I don't care if it ends up disabled. I'm mostly interested in the speaker jack.

I've followed the guide, yes, and even created the copy for the other alsa file as described in comments.

And no apple_bce shown by lsmod :thinking:

Gonna add other possibly useful debug information that I saw around forums...

[AdityaGarg8]

Should be lsmod | grep apple-bce Not apple_bce

[AdityaGarg8]

Please try again

[igorsantos07]

Still nothing :cry:

[Redecorating]

try sudo modprobe apple_bce, if it says that that module doesn't exist, follow https://wiki.t2linux.org/guides/dkms/#installing-modules to get apple-bce, which handles internal audio, and shows some system usb devices

[igorsantos07]

Non-existent module, indeed.

However... files were already present, including dkms.conf. I guess these came with the ISO @AdityaGarg8 gave me? These were the missing steps, indeed :) I'll add these clarifications to the guide. Uh... Any chance these sound settings could affect microphone quality on an USB webcam? I didn't think about testing it before, but it's sounding horrible and I'm not sure if it's because it's plugged in a hub haha

Anyhow... I guess I'm done here! Everything seems to be working <3 I'm just not sure how to improve the guides in relation to the issues I had in the beginning, such as the wifi and the need of efi=noruntime. Leave the issue open if you're going to figure out improvements later... Otherwise, it can be closed :)

Thank you all so much for the guidance and work!

[AdityaGarg8]

You may close it cause the efi=noruntine issue is known already and has been included in our T2 specific ISOs. Cause you wanted mint, it got a bit complicated cause we don't have an ISO for mint yet.