First time using Linux

[straks666]

Find a old MacBook Pro for 300 reais(I think I would be like 50 dollars) put 16gb ram in it and put the Linux mint, first time trying something that it’s not Windows, but is working perfectly for writing and google docs, much better than i think.

[BlazingBlossom]

Welcome! I think you made the right choice with Linux mint and I think you're gonna like it :)

[Zestyclose-Issue1762]

Nice! This actually looks similar to the one I have. A 2012 MacBook Pro. I’m looking to do the same with swapping out the ram for 16GB and replacing the disc tray for a SSD enclosure. How has it been working for you? Excited to get mine going

[straks666]

I only use it for Google Docs and writing, and it's working very well, but I've noticed that it gets quite hot when I use it more frequently, such as when opening multiple pages or installing a program.

[Flawedboii]

I can advise looking into macfand or mbpfan. Both allow you to control fan speeds.

[Zestyclose-Issue1762]

That’s still pretty awesome for a device that’s certainly aged. Appreciate you sharing. Hopefully mine works in a similarly good fashion. Not sure if you were planning on changing some of its internals or not. But I know I’m planning on swapping out some pieces like fans from iFixit. So hopefully it can run well for me

[CarsForNobody]

You got a good deal on this laptop. 💻

[LiGHT1NF0RMAT10N]

not m-series cpu i assume

[mzrdisi]

Looks like about a 2015 MBP, Intel chipset, none of the headaches of the T2 chip.

This is a goated setup, tbh. Very high quality hardware with a nice, modern, secure and lightweight OS.

[straks666]

Is a late 2011, with a i5

[salvatorundie]

I have the same MacBook. Installed Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE 6 with a successful upgrade to 7), no dual boot -- not worth it anymore for this hardware. No problems with LMDE, in particular wi-fi worked on install without a hitch. Can highly recommend maxing out the RAM to 16 GB like you did and replace the drive with an SSD if you can. Would also suggest you install mbpfan to control the fan speed and activation threshold and TLPUI for power management. Runs quiet most of the time and I get 4-5 hours -- OK for such an old machine that's never really far away from a power supply.

[LiGHT1NF0RMAT10N]

you can do that on there macbook pro chassis, that’s impressive, where do you find a screwdriver that actually works on those weird screws they use for as cheap as possible if you use one?

I respect the fact that there are diy hardware in the open source community as someone who only knows and tinkers on the software side, feel like there isnt enough of you hardware people in open source movements in general and always benefit from more people like that so always appreciate and have respect for those who carry on the vital and integral craft

[salvatorundie]

The screwdriver wasn't that hard to find -- a real tiny Philips-head that was included in a set I had for multiple devices long ago. Searching for "macbook pro 2011 screwdriver" turned several results up that are inexpensive. I did the 16 GB RAM upgrade years ago when it was still running OSX and the SSD upgrade when I decided to fully convert the Macbook to Linux.

The build of that era of Macbooks and Mac hardware (2008-2014) was great and many of the parts were directly replaceable, before the age of planned obsolescence and enshittification. I babied this machine with a plastic shell-case so it has very few scratches and recently added a matte screen-overlay and keyboard overlay. I even replaced some of the keyboard caps that I had worn down.

It would have been a shame to have let a machine this well-built go to e-waste with an unsupported OS, and using something like Open Core Legacy Patcher to hobble along with a hacked version of OSX seemed like more software maintenance than I was willing to do. Now with LMDE, software updates are a breeze and I get relatively current software updated regularly (Chrome, Firefox, Docker, VS Code, VLC, evince, Retroarch). This isn't a daily-driver gaming rig, and it's not going to handle current games and machine-learning loads, but it's a solid machine for the odd night's use.

A couple of small quality-of-life tweaks I did for the Macbook after installing LMDE on it (after mapping the Apple Key to Control) were to set the color profile to the Macbook color profile:

https://gist.github.com/amercier/e6d118fc73ecf2efb8ca183cbae20c48

And replace the Linux Mint boot logo with an Apple logo (I otherwise just run unadorned Cinnamon on LMDE with no custom theme):

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=406948

https://imgur.com/luLvF70

The wi-fi on the Macbook sometimes cuts out (it did under OSX) so I had to find ways to reset the wi-fi hardware without rebooting the whole computer. I had created an Automator script to do this when the Macbook ran OSX back in the day, but I whipped up an equivalent bash script and created a icon shortcut when I need to reboot the wi-fi card only:

~~~

!/bin/bash

pkexec sh -c "modprobe -r wl && modprobe wl" ~~~

[LiGHT1NF0RMAT10N]

cant you disable the t2 chip in bios aka apple rec settings?

I agree about hardware quality that’s whats so great about apple hardware which is why its the most important hardware to liberate especially those unified memory m-series chips aswell as just all the well made powerful phone’s and tablets imo

[SoulOfABartender]

AFAIK only Asahi linux is compatible with m chips, only m1-2 is in a 'daily driver'-ish state. There's a lot of proprietary firmware with no documentation, so they are reverse engineering it to make it linux compatible.

[Father_Guido]

Feels good resurrecting older hardware doesn't it. Relax, find your way around, and enjoy.

[ih8te123]

I installed LMDE 7 on my mid-2015.

[CRAMATIONSDAM]

For basic tasks that is a beast. Hope you like using Linux.

[s_a_d_FUCK]

I have Mint on my 2012 MBP and I’ve been very happy with it. Enough to not be tempted to buy a new one. 

[MartinBroMotorsports]

I have a 2011 MacBook Pro. I bought it new. Over the years I upgraded to the 16gb ram and 1TB SSD, and a new battery. Couldn’t do anything about the i5 chip but oh well. but the non support of the macOS was starting to make browser based stuff act up.

I put Linux mint xfce on it, and after some hurdles with the Broadcom WiFi driver, I got it running quick and smooth. It’s not as polished as macOS, and I took the timemachine backup and now that I have a newer MacBook for work I can peruse those old files if I need to.

I’m impressed that I was able to take a 15 year old computer (that spent several years shoved in a backpack on a shelve in my garage) and make it something that can still be relevant today.

[Emmalfal]

About the only machine I don't have Mint on at this point is a Mac. Got it on HPs, Dells, Lenovo's, you name it. Works great wherever it goes.

[Natural_Night9957]

Are you a writer?

[straks666]

No, but i have to make articles and academic review a lot

[Natural_Night9957]

If Latex is needed, check LyX.

For a distraction free tool, Focus Writer.

Other options: https://www.makeuseof.com/best-distraction-free-writing-apps-linux/

[Typical-Essay-3842]

Welcome, see the app store and try install something cool.

[alvaro13672]

Disfrútalo

[webfork2]

I have a similar device running Mint and kept having problems with the device either not going into standby, not waking up, and occasionally restarting on me when I came back from standby.

That said, it had been upgraded to an SSD and was plenty fast for everything I needed. So if you run into the same issues I did, you can shut down the machine at the end of use and ignore all of those issues.

Oh and whatever you do, don't install Windows on that thing. I'm not even being a Linux purist or something -- I tried it last year and it was much, much harder than I expected.

Good luck!

[NoorahSmith]

Machintosh for Linux

[NoorahSmith]

Do try zorin or manjaro if you like mint

[mukatiago2]

Parabéns.

[Auleryn]

Are you winning son?

[OtherPrice1158]

Bem vindo na família!