MacBookAir4,1 & MacBookAir4,2 (MBA 2011) support

[berto-]

Can you enable universe and install gptsync, run it (sudo gptsync /dev/sda), and paste the results back here?

Here's my output:

berto@g6:~$ sudo gptsync /dev/sda

Current GPT partition table:
 #      Start LBA      End LBA  Type
 1             40       409639  EFI System (FAT)
 2         409640    244687407  Mac OS X HFS+
 3      244687408    245956943  Mac OS X Boot
 4      245956944    245958897  EFI System (FAT)
 5      482422208    489972567  Linux Swap
 6      245958898    245960851  BIOS Boot Partition
 7      474216711    482422207  Linux Swap
 8      245960852    466011633  Basic Data
 9      466011634    474216710  Linux Swap

Current MBR partition table:
 # A    Start LBA      End LBA  Type
 1              1           39  ee  EFI Protective
 2             40       409639  0b  FAT32 (CHS)
 3 *       409640    244687407  af  Mac OS X HFS+
 4      244687408    245956943  af  Mac OS X HFS+

Status: Analysis inconclusive, will not touch this disk.

[berto-]

Finally have Oneiric running with native resolution. The script ran fine for me, but after the first reboot I did not get native resolution. I power cycled, ran linux with nomodeset, ran the script again, and after the second reboot I was able to get native resolution.

I don't know if it was just the reboot or if it was running the script a second time that fixed the problem.

There has been great progress, but I'm still not ready to use this system full-time. There are a couple of issues I've noticed immediately:

- the trackpad is absolutely terrible!

The trackpad does not work well at all with more than one finger on it. Some simple examples. Try to drag a window after clicking on the title bar; not possible. Another is right clicking; very finicky. Two-finger scrolling? Nope. I've also managed to get it to sporadically do things like highlight half this post and delete; I must have accidentally brushed my thumb on it.

- strange flicker

My terminal windows flicker and I'm not sure why. It's not only distracting, but a little disconcerting; is this a slightly-off setting in the i915 module? Is it a 3D issue?

- random crashes

Services simply crash unexplicably. The biggest offender is the zeitgeist daemon. I'm guessing this is more Oneiric's beta-ness rather than a MBA issue, but still a bit frustrating to have misc stuff just go belly up while trying to work.

All that said, amazing progress! I can't wait to be able to use this exclusively. One thing to note is that Ubuntu feels snappier running on bare metal. For now, though, I'll be in parallels.

[Objectivity]

Finally have Oneiric running with native resolution. The script ran fine for me, but after the first reboot I did not get native resolution. I power cycled, ran linux with nomodeset, ran the script again, and after the second reboot I was able to get native resolution.

I don't know if it was just the reboot or if it was running the script a second time that fixed the problem.

There has been great progress, but I'm still not ready to use this system full-time. There are a couple of issues I've noticed immediately:

- the trackpad is absolutely terrible!

The trackpad does not work well at all with more than one finger on it. Some simple examples. Try to drag a window after clicking on the title bar; not possible. Another is right clicking; very finicky. Two-finger scrolling? Nope. I've also managed to get it to sporadically do things like highlight half this post and delete; I must have accidentally brushed my thumb on it.

- strange flicker

My terminal windows flicker and I'm not sure why. It's not only distracting, but a little disconcerting; is this a slightly-off setting in the i915 module? Is it a 3D issue?

- random crashes

Services simply crash unexplicably. The biggest offender is the zeitgeist daemon. I'm guessing this is more Oneiric's beta-ness rather than a MBA issue, but still a bit frustrating to have misc stuff just go belly up while trying to work.

All that said, amazing progress! I can't wait to be able to use this exclusively. One thing to note is that Ubuntu feels snappier running on bare metal. For now, though, I'll be in parallels.

I had exactly the same problems ...

I removed Oneiric totally . It was just too much crash !

I installed 11.4 ( 64 bit ) run the script again now relatively speaking everything works just fine.

On ( ONERIC ) even I could not run Compiz ! it was crashing ALL THE TIME ! but now is just fine.

[jonny]

So what's the deal with the fix-i915.sh script as is? I ran it on 3.0.0-10 oneiric and had no problems. berto- do you also have this problem? I don't mind adding it to the script but I'd like to understand why the make is failing (which it shouldn't be). Perhaps the source tree is out-of-date (this seems unlikely)? Anyway I updated the fix-i915.sh with your copy line (generalized for any kernel).

Sorrry. I hadn't for a moment meant to suggest that your script - which is an impressive piece of work - was at fault. I simply meant that it didn't cater for an issue with the AMD64 kernel in the latest daily build, and offered a solution for any other hair-pulling-out victims.

I'm not sufficiently skilled to understand the problem rather than propose a rather kludgy solution. I suspect it's another manifestation of Oneiric's beta status; I seem to recall that a kernel update was pushed out 2-3 days back and it might have arisen then.

If it helps, I was using a completley clean install with no additional repositories (eg xorg-edgers) enabled.

[jonny]

There has been great progress, but I'm still not ready to use this system full-time.

Me neither, but it's a great plaything and I'm sure I'll be using it full time before long.

- the trackpad is absolutely terrible!

The trackpad does not work well at all with more than one finger on it. Some simple examples. Try to drag a window after clicking on the title bar; not possible. Another is right clicking; very finicky. Two-finger scrolling? Nope. I've also managed to get it to sporadically do things like highlight half this post and delete; I must have accidentally brushed my thumb on it.

Completely agree, but I have different issues from you. I enabled two finger scrolling on both axes using the standard Gnome tool, and, for me, a simple two-finger click yields a right-click. My biggest issues are:
- Excessive sensitivity on tap-to-click
- Unlike OS X, it's not possible to use a second finger to complete a long-distance drag-and-drop. As a result, the trackpad isn't large enough to complete some operations

- strange flicker

My terminal windows flicker and I'm not sure why. It's not only distracting, but a little disconcerting; is this a slightly-off setting in the i915 module? Is it a 3D issue?

I don't have this at all. It seems to be something unique to your setup.

- random crashes

Services simply crash unexplicably. The biggest offender is the zeitgeist daemon. I'm guessing this is more Oneiric's beta-ness rather than a MBA issue, but still a bit frustrating to have misc stuff just go belly up while trying to work.

This happens all the time for me, too, on my Air and on both my other Oneiric set ups. It also happened for me when Natty was in Beta, so I imagine it will disappear (perhaps by simply switching off the notification meassages) when the final release is issued. It's harmless enough, as the daemons concerned generally respawn automatically.

All that said, amazing progress! I can't wait to be able to use this exclusively. One thing to note is that Ubuntu feels snappier running on bare metal. For now, though, I'll be in parallels.

I can't say that I've noticed any perceptable additional snappiness over running in Virtualbox. The VirtualBox solution has the benefit of perfect touchpad behaviour, but, sadly, doesn't work with Compiz on Oneiric.

[dfacto]

Wow so much to reply to.

@berto- Thanks for posting your gptsync; unfortunately you have the same weird gptsync I did. Your flicker problems are almost certainly a result of not using xorg-edgers. Sandybridge is new hardware and you are using old drivers (drm, intel, mesa; not i915 which is in kernel). Perhaps you downloaded the script for the second run after I added the cp line?

@jonny No worries about script. I just want to know why it doesn't work for others but works for me. ...Actually now that I think about it, I may have run it before upgrading from 3.0.0-9-generic to 3.0.0-10-generic. Still though, the source-tree shouldn't be different from the build tree and, if it is, represents a Canonical goof. Like I said though, I put the cp in because I can't see that it causes any more harm than the hack itself. It sounds like you are using the multitouch driver and not mtrack? Have you tried both? Which one do you prefer and why?

@Objectivity (Or anyone on Natty 11.04) Can you please run gptsync? Sounds like you're the only one on natty. This will help me figure out what libparted is doing to our mbr. It is a read-only procedure (hit n if it asks you to change something):

sudo aptitude install gptsync
sudo gptsync /dev/sda

and paste the results back here. Also, your backlit keyboard and multitouch capability of trackpad do not work because I don't know the product codes of the 11" MBA (I own the 13"). See the last paragraph of this post. Yes, compiz works.

@undoIT Yes, I agree. From my first impressions with Oneiric this is the biggest UI leap yet. Things are really starting to look polished and more "mainstream." Frankly, I don't understand all the unity complaints...but admittedly I almost exclusively use the terminal (as I have for the last six years--I find mousing around slow and tedious). Still, I'm happy to go on record and say I think unity looks pretty and I think that its a big step in the goal of mainstream adoption. Regarding stable: I submitted product codes for the 13" to kernel mainline. I don't know when they will be included. I wish I had the 11" codes but I don't so those are not even pending. I have not submitted a patch for btusb as I have not had time and bt is a low priority for me. Obviously the i915 "patch" is not remotely acceptable for submission.

@berto,jonny Regarding the trackpad: are you using my xorg.conf? It should help some, but I agree there is more work to be done. The driver mtrack is ridiculously customizable. I suggest you look through the mtrack thread and try out some of the options. I believe it is possible to make mtrack work as well as MacOS. (Just in case you didn't know, you can hit ctrl-alt-F1 to drop to a tty and use sudo service lightdm restart to quickly try out out new mouse settings.) I tried to get this process started by putting in all options in xorg.conf with description. One need only uncomment and alter the parameter.

To All:

You will have zeitgeist crashes, among others, while on Oneiric beta. None of these crashes should "get in your way." At least, for me it certainly hasn't been a problem (and you can disable subsequent crash notifications). Still, if you are a novice, I recommend Natty for now. Please let me know if the fix-i915.sh script works in Natty.

Finally, at some point, I will be modifying post-install.sh and removing all of the dkms module lines (I was hoping that my kernel mainline patches would have made 3.0.0). These are deprecated modules and we shouldn't be using them (I chose them because they each had their own git tree and of course they are dkms which makes deployment easier). I will make patches for the ubuntu patched kernel source, just as I did for the i915 fix. This should get us back on current drivers while also supporting our machines. To any 11" users out there: get me your lsusb output if you want your trackpad, fn keys, keyboard backlight to work.

Has anyone else noticed that gamma/contrast seem to be nicer on Ubuntu? I tried to fix MacOS's but was never happy with the result. Maybe this is just my imagination. Certainly fonts are a disaster on MacOS but thats another story.

[berto-]

Perhaps you downloaded the script for the second run after I added the cp line?

Perhaps; I ran it twice last night about an hour or two before posting.

From my first impressions with Oneiric this is the biggest UI leap yet. Things are really starting to look polished and more "mainstream."

Agreed, the UI looks great.

Frankly, I don't understand all the unity complaints...but admittedly I almost exclusively use the terminal (as I have for the last six years--I find mousing around slow and tedious).

I'm mostly in terminals as well, even on OS X. But a steamlined, usable UI is indispensable.

Still, I'm happy to go on record and say I think unity looks pretty and I think that its a big step in the goal of mainstream adoption.

I've been using OS X as my primary OS for about 8 years. In my experience the biggest advantage it has over other OSs is working seamlessly. When you install OS X from scratch on a Mac it has sensible defaults that work. You don't have to spend days tweaking xorg.conf files to get the screen right, or the mouse working, or [...].

If and when Ubuntu can match that sort of experience, it has a shot at becoming mainstream. "Mainstream" means the masses, not power users. Works out of the box is masses, run post-install.sh is power user, tweaking xorg.conf is high-end power user, recompiling the kernel is linux hacker.

I consider myself technically proficient and don't want to spend an entire day "fixing" the computer, I want to get to the reason I'm on the computer as quickly as possible.

Users that just want a computer to work will look elsewhere if there is any friction. In fact, the masses are going towards iPads, which are more appliance than computer.

Granted the MBA is brand new hardware so there will be bumps, that's understandable. Ubuntu also has to work on "everything", which makes seamless integration difficult.

Regarding stable: I submitted product codes for the 13" to kernel mainline. I don't know when they will be included. I wish I had the 11" codes but I don't so those are not even pending.

What are the steps to get the product codes?

I have not submitted a patch for btusb as I have not had time and bt is a low priority for me. Obviously the i915 "patch" is not remotely acceptable for submission.

What are the issues with the i915 patch?

@berto,jonny Regarding the trackpad: are you using my xorg.conf? It should help some, but I agree there is more work to be done. The driver mtrack is ridiculously customizable. I suggest you look through the mtrack thread and try out some of the options. I believe it is possible to make mtrack work as well as MacOS.

I will check this out when I have a chance, thanks!

You will have zeitgeist crashes, among others, while on Oneiric beta. None of these crashes should "get in your way." At least, for me it certainly hasn't been a problem (and you can disable subsequent crash notifications).

Do you know why this crashes on non-release versions? Maybe it's easy to detect a non-release version and simply disable the daemon if it's simply going to crash loudly anyway.

Please let me know if the fix-i915.sh script works in Natty.

The script warns if it's not Natty; should that be changed to Oneiric?

Has anyone else noticed that gamma/contrast seem to be nicer on Ubuntu? I tried to fix MacOS's but was never happy with the result. Maybe this is just my imagination.

I think the bare-metal feeling I have is my imagination, so you're not alone imagining things.

Certainly fonts are a disaster on MacOS but thats another story.

What do you mean? Installation and management, format support, etc?

[dfacto]

Just paste back the output of lsusb to get me the keyboard and trackpad codes.


No idea why its crashing.


The i915 patch forces a particular mode (1440 for 13" and 1366 for 11") whether or not your monitor supports it!

[daveMustane]

- the trackpad is absolutely terrible!

The trackpad does not work well at all with more than one finger on it. Some simple examples. Try to drag a window after clicking on the title bar; not possible. Another is right clicking; very finicky. Two-finger scrolling? Nope. I've also managed to get it to sporadically do things like highlight half this post and delete; I must have accidentally brushed my thumb on it.

I'm running Oreinic and was able to fix the trackpad issue you describe by using the following in xorg.conf:

Section "InputClass"
MatchIsTouchpad "on"
Identifier "Touchpads"
Driver "mtrack"
MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
EndSection # "Multitouch Touchpad"

You need to replace the existing section with all the options listed. It will let you use your index finger to point and you thumb to click without you having to release the index finger first. It will do what you want instead of opening the alternative action menu. Also selecting an area or text, say, in a browser using index finger + thumb is now (at least) doable. Also, when you want to invoke the 2nd button action, in addition to doing a two-finger tap, you will also be able to do this: keep an already touching index finger on the pad, put another finger on the touchpad and use your thumb to click. I'm used to do it this way. But it wasn't possible before.

I'm NOT totally happy with the feel of the touchpad yet. It's OK now, but not yet fantastic.

I don't have strange flicker and I don't have random crashes (anymore). Probably because I removed all off zeitgeist using Synaptic.

Fan

I changed the following 6 values in /etc/macfanctl.conf.

temp_avg_floor: 65 # 45
temp_avg_ceiling: 74 # 55

temp_TC0P_floor: 65 # 50
temp_TC0P_ceiling: 74 # 58

temp_TG0P_floor: 65 # 50
temp_TG0P_ceiling: 74 # 58

This is supposed to keep the fan from running all the time. Be careful with these settings. You might be causing harm. I'm not sure about this. However, my fan(s?) are mostly quiet now.
When I do some serious stuff, like using the compiler, my cpu temperatures go above 92ºC for 3-4 seconds, before the fan (almost jumping to ~6000rmp) brings the temperatures back down to ~80ºC (during compile = fan is quite loud) and then afterwards back to ~70ºC (fan off). Btw, I am using the cpu scaling applet (in ondemand or conservative) since I installed "Gnome (semi) classic" for Gnome3. Not sure how to configure cpu scaling in Gnome3 standard or in Unity.

Booting

Last not least, I measured the boot time (by hand).

mac jingel 0
partition select 10
grub boot start 22
graphical login 49

I can log in after 49 secs. Not super fast, but I can live with that. Is this what you see as well?

So in short: I have started using this machine for serious work. I sure keep a dd-backup of my root partition in a save place. Yeah, this is what I use OSX for : - )

PS: One question. Thunderbird doesn't start for me under Oreinic. Anybody else seing this?

[dfacto]

@daveMustane Does this mean you didn't try my xorg.conf?