Uuuugh. Decided to just throw a fresh install of Linux on the Macbook (current install is borked from repeated hard resets), but not before I did an absolute hack job of swapping the connector from the old A1321 battery to the new A1382, which worked great. Unfortunately, every img I've tried almost immediately hangs on a black screen with a solid underscore. I suspect it has something to do with the Nvidia 320m chipset, but not 100% sure, and no combination of nomodeset, module_blacklist=nvidia, etc has solved it. Decided I've had enough for one day and am currently writing a bootable High Sierra img to a USB drive. Used this script (https://web.archive.org/web/20200608045846/https://github.com/kholia/OSX-KVM/blob/master/fetch-macOS.py)*, and then dmg2img to convert the downloaded BaseSystem.dmg to a .img.
*If you decide to use this, just know that you'll have to change a couple lines (any that use `plistlibs.readPlist(...)`) as plistlibs has since changed. I'll upload my patched version eventually, but if I forget, just let me know and I'd be happy to send it over or provide some guidance.
Okay so that didn't work either. I booted off the USB, and then it went to a white screen with the Apple logo and a loading bar. It gets to about 60 or 70% before it inevitably reboots. I'm really starting to not like this thing.
Trying again, this time with High Sierra beta (oldest img I can get with that script atm)
Okay, same thing. Loads to about 60% or so and then reboots. I'm pretty sure I already did this and it did nothing, but I just started into Internet Recovery and put in my wifi SSID and password, and it's showing me a spinning globe, a loading bar, and a timer. Last time this finished and then just rebooted back into Linux, so idfk. We'll see I guess.
#apple/#macbook folks: got any tips for me here? It's an A1286, Macbook Pro 15" mid-2010. I previously installed Linux; that install is borked due to repeated hard resets, and for all I know maybe it's also the Nvidia Optimus stuff. It boots but very quickly hangs if I try to do anything. Don't really care about that though, I just want to get it in a good state, which is either another Linux install, or whatever macOS image I can get that actually works.
Ok woah, this time Internet Recovery finished downloading, and then it went to an Apple logo with a loading bar. This feels new... if it gets to 60% and then reboots, it's going for a short flight off a third floor balcony.
@gordoooo_z
If it had an ATI GPU, I'd suspect that it got fried — it's a very widespread issue for MBPs of that era, I have one myself and it is possible to work it around by disabling the discrete GPU. You lose the option to use the external display, but otherwise it works normally.
Problem is — I don't remember this happening to Nvidia powered laptops 🤔
@m0xee Oh interesting. That's a little more in depth than my grub cmdline knowledge goes, so will definitely try this out. Giving myself a break for the night though, because I've been buried in laptops for the last 2 days or so lmao
@m0xee This generation definitely had its own version of that. It's got an Nvidia 320m I believe, and some of the A1286s later got a free repair program (which expired on 2016), but this one seemed okay. Gpt my friend through photography school plus the first few years or so of her career, and then it became my toy/shelf ornament lol.
It feels like there's something else at play, cause even disabling the Nvidia driver makes zero difference, but I can't be sure. That's partially why I went to get it back to its original state running macOS, so I can disable the discrete GPU and remove that as a variable.
@gordoooo_z
In any case, here is how to disable it: https://dosdude1.com/gpudisable/
The "nvram fa4ce28d-b62f-4c99-9cc3-6815686e30f9:gpu-power-prefs=%01%00%00%00" line is what you normally want. To avoid the discrete GPU being detected in linux I have to issue a payload on GRUB end before booting the kernel normally, this page describes how to do it: https://askubuntu.com/questions/678572/how-to-turn-off-nvidia-graphics-on-macbook-pro
The "outb 0x728 1" part.