Post by AntHello.
I have a 14 years old old MacBook Pro (15" A1260 model, unibody; 2.4 Ghz
Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB (667 MHz) of DDR2 SDRAM, 200 GB HDD, NVIDIA
GeForce 8600M GT (256 MB of VRAM), & Mac OS X (El Capitan v10.11.6))
from early 2008. Its software are too old, unsupported, and too slow.
I am thinking about replacing them with Linux, but which one would be
suitable for it? I still want basic GUI like web browsing. I remember
trying doing the same for an old PowerBook G4, but I couldn't get its
wifi to work with various Linux installations. I hope this won't happen
again with it.
Thank you for reading and hopefully answering soon. :)
The "Nvidia 8600M GT" is one of the ones with the solder balls problem.
Depending on the service history (already replaced motherboard),
you may or may not want to spend one extra thin dime on the thing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook_Pro_%28Intel-based%29
*******
You could get a 2x2GB SODIMM kit and upgrade the RAM a bit.
The RAM is not soldered down.
The max RAM is listed as 6GB (2GB+4GB kit), but that's a lot
more expensive than a 2x2GB kit. The chipsets of that era
(like my deceased X48 motherboard), Intel had a lower limit
on the CAS value, like CAS 4 was as low as mine would go.
Whereas my VIA chipset Core2 motherboard, could go down to
at least CAS 3 (I tested that).
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/MacBook/Pro/Core2/
4GB (2GB x 2)
CAS 4 Low-Latency <=== lower CAS is better... until chipset limit hits
$20.88
That suggestion is not necessarily to help the OS, it's
for whatever the web browser turns out to be.
*******
As for what OS, I would not be too picky to start with,
and just "test'em". Using a Mac is likely to have surprises,
and attempting to "dial in the exact right distro on the
first try" may be an unrealistic expectation. You'll
get symptoms, you'll feed the symptoms into Google
searches, and that will help you tune the final distro
choice.
I've run a PPC Ubuntu distro on my Mac G4. The second last
distro was better than the last distro made for PPC. I think
that Mac might still have been OpenFirmware (OF) and the boot
used on the DVD was "unique" in a sense.
With regard to your statement about
"Aw, but LiveDVDs are so slow"
Well, not if you do this on the kernel boot line
TORAM=yes
That transfers the 2.6GB DVD into RAM, and you can
pop the DVD out of the tray and everything and run.
You can even do an install from the RAM, eliminating
a lot of clunking noises until it's done.
To be successful at TORAM runs, I'd want the 2GB+4GB
configuration, so that you can test anything you like.
The 2GB+2GB memory kit will be enough for a lot
of setups, but maybe not a max-sized one like a Knoppix
while using TORAM. Knoppix actually has a different
command line thing for its TORAM option.
For the final install, I would think the $20.88 memory
kit would kick ass. It's just for testing large LiveDVD
and TORAM, I'd want lots of RAM so there will be room.
To read the DVD into RAM, takes time. It helps if
your DVD media isn't a poor brand (like what I'm using),
as the read rate during loading stays high if you have
good DVD media. If the media needs error correction,
the load time can slow down.
I'd just calibrate with a Linux Mint Cinnamon, install it
(so the RAM will stretch further), try it out and see
what you think.
*******
To be at its absolute best, you'd want an NVidia driver
for the 8600M GT. There are several legacy drivers, as
replacements for Nouveau. The legacy drivers have
"kernel version ranges" with regard to DKMS installation
of the NVidia driver. The oldest legacy driver may not
be suited to running with a 5.15 kernel.
https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/156163/en-us
It's possible kernel 5.4 might work.
https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-340-108-driver-kernel-5-11-support/182663/6
We go here and see that UMA hasn't gone crazy yet with kernel version.
https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=mint
5-LMDE 20.3
elsie uma
+---+
linux (5.18.4) 5.10.103 |5.4|
+---+
It looks like 20.3 uma would be a good fit for an NVidia Driver.
I'm sure you're going to have fun with this.
Making a Mac do things they didn't want you to do,
is a great hobby :-)
*******
These are the two formats for potential GLXGears benchmark command.
Passing the parameter, takes the frame limiting cap off. Above
20000 to 22000 frames a second, the response is non-linear, and
it's not clear exactly how much higher it will go. This would
be considered a Stupid Pet Trick. The main purpose of doing this,
is to see if hardware acceleration is working. You expect the
NVidia driver to be better than the Nouveau default. I would not
be so against the Nouveau driver, if it did not black screen the
other machine so much. I have to use NVidia driver on the other machine,
to ensure a working screen on each boot.
vblank_mode=0 glxgears
__GL_SYNC_TO_VBLANK=0 glxgears
If hardware acceleration is working, this will help your browser
to work better. Then, only the Javascript can suck the life
out of your dual core processor.
Paul