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|
#+date: <2025-05-02 Fri 21:10:00>
#+title: Trying Out Asahi Linux on the M2 Macbook Pro 16"
#+description: Read about my experience with Asahi Linux on an M2 MacBook Pro 16".
#+filetags: :mac:apple:linux:
#+slug: asahi-linux
* Trying out Asahi Linux
While debating if I should find a replacement laptop and get rid of my MacBook
Pro, I decided to try [[https://asahilinux.org/][Asahi Linux]].
To put the bottom line up front, I love the experience and support for popular
features has come a long way since I originally checked out their website a few
years ago.
From Asahi's website, as seen below, I noticed that almost all targeted features
are now supported. This is a great jump from the state it was at in 2022 - 2023
when I last checked.
#+caption: Asahi Linux Device Support
[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20250502-asahi-linux/device_support.png]]
** Installation
Luckily, the installation process is as simple as getting started with a single
command:
#+begin_src shell
curl https://alx.sh | sh
#+end_src
This script will walk you through the standard installation steps to define the
size of the Linux partition, define your user and hostname, and give you
instructions on how to boot from the new operating system (OS).
Once the script completes, it will ask you to completely shut down the device,
boot into the Startup Options menu, and follow a handful of prompts to enable
your new OS.
** Initial Thoughts
By default, the installer suggests using the KDE (as does the online community),
so I opted to try KDE. Historically, I have always been a Gnome user when
utilizing a fully graphical desktop environment (DE), but I'm up for trying
something new.
KDE on Asahi works wonderfully and supports all of the generic features I'd
expect from a vanilla installation:
- Snap to tile
- Shell and window themes
- Graphical updates
- Sensible default applications (Dolphin, Firefox, KMail, Konsole, KWrite)
- Support for battery percentages, keyboard backlight control, and miscellaneous
sensor controls
- Fast and reliable bluetooth adoption
- Native game pad support
Here's a quick look at the default desktop. In subsequent screenshots, you'll
see I started using the WhiteSur theme as it provides a more comfortable layout
for macOS users.
#+caption: KDE
[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20250502-asahi-linux/kde.png]]
When diving into the system information panel, we can see that this machine is
running Fedora Linux Asahi Remix 42 on an Apple M2 Pro laptop with 16GB of RAM.
#+caption: System Information
[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20250502-asahi-linux/sysinfo.png]]
As I noted above, the first thing I did after installing Asahi and taking a few
screenshots was to install and change themes.
I prefer the WhiteSur theme, as I used this theme previously on Linux before I
switched to macOS. However, I also like themes that incorporate the gruvbox
color palette, as well as the Nothing theme that uses a dark black and red color
palette.
#+caption: Themes
[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20250502-asahi-linux/themes.png]]
One of the things I use my laptop for the most is consuming media (music,
television shows, movies, etc.), so I had to make sure that my bluetooth devices
would connect properly.
As you can see in the screenshot below, my AirPods Pro 2 connect seamlessly and
are available for use. By going through the normal button-holding process, I was
able to pair my AirPods in about 10 seconds.
However, I have noticed that Asahi doesn't support some of the advanced AirPod
capabilities like pausing media when you remove an AirPod from your ear. The
lack of these advanced features doesn't bother me, but some people may be.
#+caption: Bluetooth
[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20250502-asahi-linux/bluetooth.png]]
Next, I was able to connect my PS5 controller via USB-C and Asahi picked up the
connect instantly in the settings menu. You can move the sticks and press all of
the buttons to see if they're recognized within this settings menu.
#+caption: Game Pad Settings
[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20250502-asahi-linux/gamepad_settings.png]]
I had a bit of an issue launching Steam the first time, as I was getting an AVC
Denial error from SELinux. To fix this, I had to manually allow the Steam
application access to the requested resources:
#+begin_src shell
sudo ausearch -c 'passt' --raw | sudo audit2allow -M my-passt
sudo semodule -X 300 -i my-passt.pp
#+end_src
While my MacBook only has 16GB of RAM, which seems to be the bare minimum
required for the virtualization overhead, I was able to test one or two games
before they crashed due to RAM errors.
However, I did confirm that my PS5 controller worked natively with these games
on Steam! I don't think I will be gaming much on this laptop anyway, but it
seems you should have at least the 32GB models if you want to game on Asahi.
** Software Support
One thing to keep in mind is that Apple silicon chips (M*) are based on the ARM
architecture, which means you will need to install software that supports ARM
(i.e., ARM64/aarch64).
While I have run into a handful of applications that do not have an ARM package
available, it is not as difficult as it used to be to find suitable apps for all
purposes on ARM.
*** Signal Desktop
One specific application that has been causing issues is [[https://signal.org/][Signal]]. The download
page on their website will prompt you to install their Debian-based package,
which does not work on RPM-based systems (or any other distribution except
Debian & downstreams, such as Ubuntu).
There are a few different websites offering potential solutions, but I settled
on the [[https://github.com/kenballus/asahi-signal-desktop/][asahi-signal-desktop]] repository for now.
#+begin_quote
One thing to note is that this script does not work with all versions of Signal.
I tested out 7.53.0 and found that the installer did not work at all.
I had to use 7.44.0, as noted in the project's README, for the script to work.
#+end_quote
The installation process is simple. You can simply clone the repository and run
the script:
#+begin_src shell
git clone https://github.com/kenballus/asahi-signal-desktop/
cd asahi-linux-desktop
./install_signal.sh 7.44.0
#+end_src
At this point, Signal should work. However, I have run into constant crashing
issues, so it's not a great solution.
[[https://github.com/AsamK/signal-cli][signal-cli]] may work, but I have not tested this yet on Asahi. Before I used
macOS, I used [[https://github.com/isamert/scli][scli]], which provides a TUI for the signal-cli utility and it
worked wonderfully.
* Final Thoughts
I am still in the early days of testing out Asahi Linux, so I will be sure to
come back and update this post occasionally, but I am very happy with the user
experience so far. Everything is smooth and I am still able to experience the
great hardware of the Macbook with the software of Linux.
In addition to the screenshots above, I have been testing out [[https://swaywm.org/][SwayWM]], which is
slightly more difficult to configure after being away for Linux for a couple
years. Regardless, it's working on Asahi as well and seems to be suitable for
daily driving.
Overall, I am glad there's continued support for Asahi and will be supporting
them through their Open Collective going forward. Cheers to the Asahi team on
such a great product.
|
