This page describes how to install Debian on a MacBook Pro.

The first step is to install and run [http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/ Boot Camp]. You can skip the step that allows you to create a Macintosh Drivers CD. At the Start Windows XP Installation step, you should insert a Debian installation CD.

If you press return at the ISOLINUX prompt, the kernel may panic while enabling the IO-APIC IRQs ([http://bugs.debian.org/381719 bug 381719]). To avoid this, enter "install noapic" at the ISOLINUX prompt.

When you reach the "Install the GRUB boot loader on a hard disk" step, switch to the second virtual console by pressing ctrl-option-F2, press return to start the shell, and then enter 

 chroot /target apt-get install refit
 /target/sbin/gptsync /dev/sda

and enter y at the prompt.

Switch back to the first virtual console by pressing ctrl-option-F1 and select <Go Back> in response to the "Install the GRUB boot loader to the master boot record". Choose "Install the LILO boot loader on a hard disk" from the main menu and choose /dev/sda for the LILO installation target.

Kernel

linux-2.6 2.6.18-2 almost supports MacBook Pros out of the box: in order to use the synaptics driver, you'll need to set the following configuration option: 

CONFIG_USB_APPLETOUCH=m

This has been reported as [http://bugs.debian.org/382298 bug 382298].

Once you've built and installed a kernel with this change, you'll need to ensure that the appletouch module is loaded before the usbhid module. You can do so by creating a file in /etc/modprobe.d that contains the following line: 

install usbhid /sbin/modprobe appletouch && /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install usbhid $CMDLINE_OPTS

For some reason, this doesn't always work.

Using stock kernel and patch from svn

You can build your own kernel using the stock Linux kernel and the patches found in the [http://svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/mactel-linux/trunk/ mactel-linux SVN]. Here is the steps to follow:

X Windows System

To use the X Windows System, install the non-free fglrx-driver package and, in the Device section of /etc/X11/xorg.conf, change the driver from "ati" to "fglrx".

Edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf and in the Module section, add the following line: 

        Load "synaptics"

Replace the contents of the ?InputDevice section with the "Configured Mouse" identifier with the following: 

        Identifier      "Configured Mouse"
        Driver          "synaptics"
        Option          "CorePointer"
        Option          "Device"                "/dev/psaux"
        Option          "Protocol"              "auto-dev"
        Option          "MinSpeed"              "1.0"
        Option          "MaxSpeed"              "1.0"

Once this is done, tapping the touchpad with two fingers should generate a middle-button click and tapping it with three fingers will generate a right-button click.

Note To have it working, you need to have a kernel with at least:

Plan

Here's what needs to be done:

?CategoryLaptop