Macbook 8,2 EFI install / GPU switching

[SilverOne]

Excellent! I was worried that your partition table and/or EFI partition got trashed. I was about to go into a long, complicated, and risky set of steps on how to repair it.

hehe i was worried too. what happens if i delete that EFI partition up there ? guess i'd have to reinstall from scratch.

the first time i installed ubuntu i did it without "manual" configuration of the partitions, and it deleted the recovery partition. luckily, if you press CMD R it'll load one from the internet.

as you see i only have an ssd so i didn't make a swap partition. How much ram do you need to compile a kernel? i've got 8gigs but wondering if its enough.
also, have you managed to adjust the trackpad sensitivity?

[Chav]

For me the entry for the EFI partition was deleted while the files were left intact. I was lucky enough to be able to recreate the partition using the original position and size and not have to reinstall EFI grub.

Yes, the internet recovery saved me a few times as well.

I've compiled the kernel several times with 4GB of RAM. You will see in the kernel compile instructions a concurrency level.

make -j `getconf _NPROCESSORS_ONLN` deb-pkg LOCALVERSION=-custom

You may set this value lower to consume less RAM. For example:

make -j 4 deb-pkg LOCALVERSION=-custom

I'm happy with the default trackpad sensitivity on Ubuntu 12.10, but there is a place to adjust the sensitivity and acceleration in the settings.

[SilverOne]

For me the entry for the EFI partition was deleted while the files were left intact. I was lucky enough to be able to recreate the partition using the original position and size and not have to reinstall EFI grub.

Yes, the internet recovery saved me a few times as well.

I've compiled the kernel several times with 4GB of RAM. You will see in the kernel compile instructions a concurrency level.

make -j `getconf _NPROCESSORS_ONLN` deb-pkg LOCALVERSION=-custom

You may set this value lower to consume less RAM. For example:

make -j 4 deb-pkg LOCALVERSION=-custom

I'm happy with the default trackpad sensitivity on Ubuntu 12.10, but there is a place to adjust the sensitivity and acceleration in the settings.

Hi

i've tried that, but nothing changes on my end.

[SilverOne]

Glad I could help.

I used this guide to learn how to compile the kernel from a git repository.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeam/GitKernelBuild

If I had to choose a repository to build from I would use the raring ubuntu kernel here: git://kernel.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ubuntu-raring.git


One caveat is that after you dpkg -i your kernel it will sym link /lib/modules/(your kernel)/build and /lib/modules/(your kernel)/source to your build directory. After you install your kernel header package you can manually fix the sym link. It's not a huge problem but it will become an issue if you need to build kernel modules such as Virtual Box or any other DKMS and you've removed or cleaned your build directory.

Hello! i've cloned the raring git, but i'm not so sure how to apply the radeon-load-bios patch.

i did the following:

silverone@silver-mbp:~/kernel$ ls
radeon-bios-firmware.patch  ubuntu-raring
silverone@silver-mbp:~/kernel$ cd ubuntu-raring
silverone@silver-mbp:~/kernel/ubuntu-raring$ ls
arch     debian         firmware  Kbuild       Makefile        samples   ubuntu
block    debian.master  fs        Kconfig      mm              scripts   usr
COPYING  Documentation  include   kernel       net             security  virt
CREDITS  drivers        init      lib          README          sound
crypto   dropped.txt    ipc       MAINTAINERS  REPORTING-BUGS  tools
silverone@silver-mbp:~/kernel/ubuntu-raring$ patch -pl < '/home/silverone/kernel/radeon-bios-firmware.patch' 
patch: **** strip count l is not a number
silverone@silver-mbp:~/kernel/ubuntu-raring$ patch -p1 < '/home/silverone/kernel/radeon-bios-firmware.patch' 
patching file drivers/gpu/drm/radeon/radeon_bios.c
Hunk #1 succeeded at 30 with fuzz 1.
Hunk #2 succeeded at 58 (offset 1 line).
Hunk #3 succeeded at 68 (offset 1 line).
Hunk #4 succeeded at 77 (offset 1 line).
Hunk #5 succeeded at 649 with fuzz 2 (offset 128 lines).
silverone@silver-mbp:~/kernel/ubuntu-raring$

i suppose that did it? i've already taken care of the vbios configs, and am now looking on how to apply the following:

5. (This is key) Compile the kernel with the following options.
CONFIG_DRM=Y
CONFIG_DRM_I915-Y

DRM_RADEON=m

# This was the hardest one for me to figure out. 
# Without this the system will boot to a blank screen after 
# splash

# CONFIG_FB_EFI is not set

# These options allow your kernel to load the radeon bios before 
# the filesystem is mounted. Otherwise you will have to delay 
# loading the radeon module.
CONFIG_FW_LOADER=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_IN_KERNEL=y
CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE="radeon/vbios.bin"
CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE_DIR="/lib/firmware/"

how do i apply these?

[Chav]

With the patch command it's -p1 (the number one). You're second try worked.

After copying your current config and running

yes '' | make oldconfig

CONFIG_DRM=Y
CONFIG_DRM_I915-Y

DRM_RADEON=m

# CONFIG_FB_EFI is not set

These config settings can be set in the menuconfig.

make menuconfig

Once menuconfig starts you can use the '/' key to search for the configuration option and find where it is set.

CONFIG_FW_LOADER=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_IN_KERNEL=y
CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE="radeon/vbios.bin"
CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE_DIR="/lib/firmware/"

Those settings I could not find in the menuconfig and set manually by opening '.config' and setting the value. This is not recommended for other settings since many configuration options have dependencies.

[SilverOne]

Oh okay... that makes sense . Didn't knew you could perform a search.

Alright so i've asked for the CONFIG_DRM :

http://d.pr/i/fjUR

so now all i have to do, is to press 8 :

http://d.pr/i/9nWY

and then Y ?

okay, i think i got this

[SilverOne]

Okay! it's compiling !

thank you for your help i have no idea how you figured all this stuff !

it's been quite the adventure so far and i hope to see this done.
i'm also surprised that my computer isn't scorching hot running 100%:

http://d.pr/i/neIs

at first i thought there was some downclock but seems not:

silverone@silver-mbp:~$ cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep "cpu MHz"
cpu MHz		: 2201.000
cpu MHz		: 2201.000
cpu MHz		: 2201.000
cpu MHz		: 2201.000
cpu MHz		: 2201.000
cpu MHz		: 2201.000
cpu MHz		: 2201.000
cpu MHz		: 2201.000

i'll let you know

edit:

error

  LD [M]  sound/soc/generic/snd-soc-simple-card.ko
  LD [M]  sound/soc/snd-soc-core.ko
  LD [M]  sound/soundcore.ko
  LD [M]  sound/synth/emux/snd-emux-synth.ko
  LD [M]  sound/synth/snd-util-mem.ko
  LD [M]  sound/usb/6fire/snd-usb-6fire.ko
  LD [M]  sound/usb/caiaq/snd-usb-caiaq.ko
  LD [M]  sound/usb/misc/snd-ua101.ko
  LD [M]  sound/usb/snd-usb-audio.ko
  LD [M]  sound/usb/snd-usbmidi-lib.ko
  LD [M]  sound/usb/usx2y/snd-usb-us122l.ko
  LD [M]  sound/usb/usx2y/snd-usb-usx2y.ko
  LD [M]  ubuntu/aufs/aufs.ko
  LD [M]  ubuntu/dm-raid4-5/dm-raid45.ko
make[3]: *** No rule to make target `firmware/bnx2x/bnx2x-e1-7.8.2.0.fw', needed by `__fw_modbuild'.  Stop.
make[2]: *** [modules] Error 2
make[1]: *** [deb-pkg] Error 2
make: *** [deb-pkg] Error 2
silverone@silver-mbp:~/kernel/ubuntu-raring$ ^C
silverone@silver-mbp:~/kernel/ubuntu-raring$

i'll try another kernel git other than the raring.

[Chav]

Oh so close! And an easy fix

When you ran clean before building it deleted the firmware folder. The firmware folder is still in the git repository so it's easy to get those files back. Just make sure that you don't clean again before building and you'll be set.

1. Don't panic.

2. Do a clean.
If you built with make do:

make clean

If you build with make-kpkg do:

make-kpkg clean

3. Clean the build folder and get the firmware files back:
This will show all the changes to the build folder:

git status

You will see something like the following:

#	deleted:    firmware/bnx2x/bnx2x-e1-7.8.2.0.fw
#	deleted:    firmware/bnx2x/bnx2x-e1h-7.8.2.0.fw
#	deleted:    firmware/bnx2x/bnx2x-e2-7.8.2.0.fw
#

We need to get those files back before compiling.
Remove all the extra files/folders that were created:

git clean -df

Restore all the deleted files:

git reset --hard

Now you are ready to build.

[SilverOne]

Oh so close! And an easy fix

When you ran clean before building it deleted the firmware folder. The firmware folder is still in the git repository so it's easy to get those files back. Just make sure that you don't clean again before building and you'll be set.

1. Don't panic.

2. Do a clean.
If you built with make do:

make clean

If you build with make-kpkg do:

make-kpkg clean

3. Clean the build folder and get the firmware files back:
This will show all the changes to the build folder:

git status

You will see something like the following:

#	deleted:    firmware/bnx2x/bnx2x-e1-7.8.2.0.fw
#	deleted:    firmware/bnx2x/bnx2x-e1h-7.8.2.0.fw
#	deleted:    firmware/bnx2x/bnx2x-e2-7.8.2.0.fw
#

We need to get those files back before compiling.
Remove all the extra files/folders that were created:

git clean -df

Restore all the deleted files:

git reset --hard

Now you are ready to build.

Hello !

I changed the raring git to : git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git

and it seems to have worked. However, since we're on ubuntu i suppose the raring would be a better choice

i'll let this one finish and compile that one after!

thank you again

[SilverOne]

Hello!

I've successfully compiled a kernel and installed it! . However I'm booting to a dark screen after splash

# This was the hardest one for me to figure out. 
# Without this the system will boot to a blank screen after 
# splash

# CONFIG_FB_EFI is not set

I did not make this step, i suppose this is what's causing the issue ?

Also, could you kindly test if cpu scaling works on your end? mine are always at :

silverone@silver-mbp:~$ cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep "cpu MHz"cpu MHz		: 2201.000
cpu MHz		: 2201.000
cpu MHz		: 2201.000
cpu MHz		: 2201.000
cpu MHz		: 2201.000
cpu MHz		: 2201.000
cpu MHz		: 2201.000
cpu MHz		: 2201.000
silverone@silver-mbp:~$ ^C
silverone@silver-mbp:~$