Gentoo Forums
Gentoo Forums
Gentoo Forums
Quick Search: in
Gentoo LiveCD for Macbook Pro 13'' (Macbook Pro 7,1)
View unanswered posts
View posts from last 24 hours

 
Reply to topic    Gentoo Forums Forum Index Unsupported Software
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Lifebrand
n00b
n00b


Joined: 13 Jul 2010
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 7:39 pm    Post subject: Gentoo LiveCD for Macbook Pro 13'' (Macbook Pro 7,1) Reply with quote

Hey Everyone!

First post... yaay!

Before I start, I am not sure where to best put this post (sorry!!!), so if a mod reads this they should probably move it to the correct forum location :wink:

There is a bug present in the kernel for the MCP89 chipset present on the newest release of the 13 inch MBP, and possibly on other versions, but I am not sure about that. The kernel bug is listed here: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=15923

None of the major distros have built a live CD with a revision of the kernel that has the bugfix mentioned above mainlined. So, for anyone that is looking to install Gentoo (with amd64 support only) I have built a bootable live CD specifically supporting the Macbook Pro 13'' hardware that bypasses the aforementioned bug.

You can download the ISO from:

http://arkateck.com/livecd.iso

I have also integrated parted to allow for easy (and safe!) manipulation of filesystems already on the Mac hard drive. No major issues aside from a strange problem wherein the network interface doesn't always properly DHCP during the init stage, if that happens just run a manual dhcpcd on the interface when you land at a prompt and you'll be all set. There is no wireless support built in.

I am very open to suggestions or comments on how to possibly improve this build, but I would expect that it is only going to be useful for a little while anyway, once a newer kernel is integrated into the live CD.

I hope someone can find use for this!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
MikeTheGreat
n00b
n00b


Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 56
Location: London, UK

PostPosted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 2:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you very much for this. I've been having the same problem with the new Apple Mac Mini 4,1 which uses the same chipset.

I'll give this a try.

Would you happen to know which kernel version the bugfix was added in? I couldn't spot that information in the kernel bug report
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
MikeTheGreat
n00b
n00b


Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 56
Location: London, UK

PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 7:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Unfortunately I tried this, but it wouldn't accept any keyboard input when the livecd reached grub so I was unable to continue. Thanks for the effort though, it is much appreciated.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Lifebrand
n00b
n00b


Joined: 13 Jul 2010
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 8:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Strange... Do you have access to a USB keyboard? There is USB support compiled into the kernel so that should be a bandaid fix for that. Once you get to a prompt, if you run an lspci and an lsmod and post the output I can look into seeing why its not working.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
MikeTheGreat
n00b
n00b


Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 56
Location: London, UK

PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 8:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Keyboard I'm using already is USB. A pretty standard one, nothing funky about it.

The problem could be a crash because I don't even get a grub countdown. I had a look at the contents of the *.iso and noted that grub is set with a 30 second timeout. I dont get any timeout, and the keyboard is unresponsive. Not even the numlock light works.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
d2_racing
Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva


Joined: 25 Apr 2005
Posts: 13047
Location: Ste-Foy,Canada

PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 3:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Can you try the latest SystemRescueCD and tell us if it's working ?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
MikeTheGreat
n00b
n00b


Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 56
Location: London, UK

PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 7:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi, I've tried with the latest beta of System Rescue CD downloaded from here: http://www.sysresccd.org/Beta-x86

It was able to get past grub, but failed again when attempting to load the kernel.

I see the following before it looks like it attempts to load a bunch of modules and then the screen goes to sleep. The keyboard still appears to be active when this happens as I can still toggle the numlock light. This occurs both with the default options and the option to boot to a 800x600 console only session.

Code:
ata1: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)
ata2: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)
ata1: COMRESET failed (errno=16)
ata2: COMRESET failed (errno=16)
ata1: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)
ata2: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)
ata1: COMRESET failed (errno=16)
ata2: COMRESET failed (errno=16)
ata1: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)
ata2: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)
ata1: COMRESET failed (errno=16)
ata1: limiting SATA link speed to 1.5 Gbps
ata2: COMRESET failed (errno=16)
ata2: limiting SATA link speed to 1.5 Gbps


Last edited by MikeTheGreat on Tue Jul 20, 2010 8:02 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
MikeTheGreat
n00b
n00b


Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 56
Location: London, UK

PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 8:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

After trying with a few more options I find that I can get the System Rescue CD to boot if I select the option to load the VESA graphical environment. It still fails to find any disks, but does load some modules and then drop me to a busybox console.

The grub options are:
Code:
> .linux rescuecd scandelay=1 nomodeset vga=971 dostartx forcevesa initrd=initram.igz
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Lifebrand
n00b
n00b


Joined: 13 Jul 2010
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 1:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Interesting. The live CD image I created should default to the vesa fb module so I don't see a major difference there. Those errors you are seeing on System Rescue CD are as a result of the bug that would be present in that version of the kernel. I don't believe the patch to the kernel was mainlined before 2.6.34+. I will poke around a bit tonight and see if I can find anything that might be helpful in correcting this as the CD image I posted _should_ work, assuming it is using the same chipset, however I haven't looked into that and there may be differences in hardware that are still causing problems...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
tomk
Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva


Joined: 23 Sep 2003
Posts: 7221
Location: Sat in front of my computer

PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 8:10 am    Post subject: Re: Gentoo LiveCD for Macbook Pro 13'' (Macbook Pro 7,1) Reply with quote

Lifebrand wrote:
Before I start, I am not sure where to best put this post (sorry!!!), so if a mod reads this they should probably move it to the correct forum location :wink:


Moved from Installing Gentoo to Unsupported Software.
_________________
Search | Read | Answer | Report | Strip
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
franticfantom
n00b
n00b


Joined: 25 Jul 2010
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Sun Jul 25, 2010 6:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can't install grub with this liveCD. Configure gives an error about not being able to execute C compiled applications. I get the feeling you forgot to enable something in the kernel configuration. Could you post a new livecd iso with the IA32 Emulation for a.out enabled?
Thanks,
Danny
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
yabba235
n00b
n00b


Joined: 15 Aug 2010
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hello !
This link is detah : "http://arkateck.com/livecd.iso "
Please for working it or copy this image.
Gentoo livecd still don't work on mac mini aluminium :(
Thank's
Tom
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
eusanpe
Tux's lil' helper
Tux's lil' helper


Joined: 06 Sep 2002
Posts: 107

PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 8:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good morning,

Is there a livecd available besides the one that can't be download in the earlier post because of the dead link?


Thanks,
Tony
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
d2_racing
Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva


Joined: 25 Apr 2005
Posts: 13047
Location: Ste-Foy,Canada

PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 11:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Try the latest Ubuntu, if you cannot boot with that one, maybe you hardware is falling.

Do you have any other OS on that box right now ?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
yabba235
n00b
n00b


Joined: 15 Aug 2010
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 12:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi !
Ubuntu whit kernel patch for macbook pro 7,1 work's but I looking for working gentoo livecd or sabayon whit this same patching kernel.
Link on first post don't work maybe some has this copy ?
Reg.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
eusanpe
Tux's lil' helper
Tux's lil' helper


Joined: 06 Sep 2002
Posts: 107

PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 10:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just received my new Macbook Pro today. It is a 17" one with an I7 2.66 ghz and 8 gb ram.
I just looked at it and it is a MacBook Pro 6.1 not 7.1 It says it is an Intel 5 Series chipset. I
was able to boot SysrescueCD 1.6.0 x86 beta and it saw my 500gb drive drive and superdrive.

I am going to blast OS X and try an install tonight


Thanks,
Tony
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Gentoo Forums Forum Index Unsupported Software All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum