Aurora Installer 0.1.0 Alpha 17

Native installer 0.1.0.

Source: b5b261b16bb052d922de79bf1a3f9bd2e43d70a6
Profiles: eb59fde660593545e9744cc2318ec326e553e057
Build evidence: https://github.com/aurora-silicon/aurora-installer/actions/runs/41600660446

Signed and notarized DMG with nine sealed distribution catalogs. A NixOS KDE Reset and encrypted first boot passed on MacBook Neo; the other profiles still require physical installation qualification.

Aurora Installer 0.1.0 Alpha 16

Native installer 0.1.0.

Source: 3c29dbbefc9f3672c2ab5077ea5482165b16a64b
Profiles: fdf58f845f1358015c974805076a54dd259621f7
Build evidence: https://github.com/aurora-silicon/aurora-installer/actions/runs/41386699944

What's in it

• Kernel 7.3.0 from aurora-wip 52f0a6b (fleet14h), the kernel all four Aurora Macs run by default. Since Alpha 15: the MacBook Neo video decoder performance request (1080p H.264 decode about 700 fps), AV1 single-stream overlap, the Neo H17 Neural Engine driver (kept disabled in the device tree for now) and mt7932 directed Wi-Fi scans.
• aura 1.0.0b2 (v1.0.0b2) as Stage 1 and Stage 2. Stage 1 is 1.6 MB.
• U-Boot 2026.07-gd30213eadcaa.
• Plymouth no longer stalls the text-mode boot, now on Aurora Alarm and Aurora NixOS too.
• Same pins on Aurora Fedora Remix, Aurora Alarm and Aurora NixOS, KDE, GNOME and minimal.

Known issue

• On the 16-inch M4 Pro the Neural Engine refuses the sixth model load in a boot until you reboot (a 2 MB firmware buffer is not returned). The fix is merged (aurora-wip #823) and ships with the next kernel.
• 16-inch M4 Pro: don't suspend or close the lid while the Neural Engine is on. The Neural Engine driver's sleep callbacks use the wrong device data on the M4 Pro and can crash the kernel during suspend. Workaround: sudo systemctl mask sleep.target suspend.target hibernate.target hybrid-sleep.target, and don't unload ane_t6021 (unloading after the firmware has started isn't safe). The fix (aurora-silicon/linux #829, ships with the next kernel) makes suspend refuse cleanly while the Neural Engine runs, until full sleep support lands.
• MacBook Neo: it can't suspend while the Neural Engine is up (the driver refuses suspend; nothing crashes).

Tested

• The kernel is the default on the M1 Pro, M2, MacBook Neo and 16-inch M4 Pro, each after a one-shot and a warm reboot with no kernel errors.
• The conformance matrix (dry runs of every Mac, distribution and install mode) against these catalogs: every fresh install is ready for physical qualification. Side by side still needs more free space on the M2 and on the M4 Pro unless its Linux partition is shrunk.
• Real installs with this build are still to come, so every profile still needs physical installation qualification.

Updating an install made before Alpha 15 (Aurora Fedora Remix)
Run sudo dnf upgrade twice: the first run brings aurora-repos and the vendor rules, the second switches the packages Aurora now builds.

Signed and notarized DMG with nine sealed distribution catalogs.

Aurora Installer 0.1.0 Alpha 15

Native installer 0.1.0.

Source: 6852ea12fb5557b1762755aa3e999628fa3ed637
Profiles: f8eecf78dd0b81b7daf05d65c626ac6567956197
Build evidence: https://github.com/aurora-silicon/aurora-installer/actions/runs/41351166714

What's in it

• Kernel 7.3.0 from aurora-wip b35adc7 (fleet14g), the kernel all four Aurora Macs run by default. Since Alpha 14: external display VRR and panel EDR, the M4 Pro neural engine cold boot and first inference, H14 neural engine program lifetime, the MacBook Neo encoder performance request (1080p H.264 encode 110 to 165 fps), the M2 audio co-processor start-up fix, and H.264 decoder fixes.
• aura 1.0.0b1-ga9cad94e as Stage 1 and Stage 2 (the same code as the v1.0.0b2 release). Stage 1 is 1.6 MB.
• U-Boot 2026.07-gd30213eadcaa.
• Plymouth no longer stalls the text-mode boot (Aurora Fedora Remix).
• The Aurora repository, its key and the vendor rules ship as their own package, aurora-repos (Aurora Fedora Remix).
• Same pins on Aurora Fedora Remix, Aurora Alarm and Aurora NixOS, KDE, GNOME and minimal.

Known issues

• 16-inch M4 Pro: don't suspend or close the lid while the Neural Engine is on. The Neural Engine driver's sleep callbacks use the wrong device data on the M4 Pro and can crash the kernel during suspend. Workaround: sudo systemctl mask sleep.target suspend.target hibernate.target hybrid-sleep.target, and don't unload ane_t6021 (unloading after the firmware has started isn't safe). The next kernels refuse suspend cleanly until full sleep support lands.
• MacBook Neo: it can't suspend while the Neural Engine is up (the driver refuses suspend; nothing crashes).

Tested

• The kernel is the default on the M1 Pro, M2, MacBook Neo and 16-inch M4 Pro, each after a one-shot and a warm reboot with no kernel errors.
• The conformance matrix (dry runs of every Mac, distribution and install mode) against these catalogs: every fresh install is ready for physical qualification. Side by side still needs more free space on the M2 and on the M4 Pro unless its Linux partition is shrunk.
• Real installs with this build are still to come, so every profile still needs physical installation qualification.

Updating an install made before this release (Aurora Fedora Remix)
Run sudo dnf upgrade twice: the first run brings aurora-repos and the vendor rules, the second switches the packages Aurora now builds.

Signed and notarized DMG with nine sealed distribution catalogs.

Aurora Installer 0.1.0 Alpha 14

Native installer 0.1.0.

Source: e81495192a5a1c55f05d93a36f5a5f9b613f64e0
Profiles: c525a4ee88af40e4cfccb14a631cdc99cbcc7b8c
Build evidence: https://github.com/aurora-silicon/aurora-installer/actions/runs/41286862609

What's in it

• aura 1.0.0b1-g32dccf02 as Stage 1 and Stage 2. The Stage 1 is 1.6 MB, so the 16-inch M1 Pro (and the other M1 Pro, Max and Ultra Macs) install without the earlier warning. The M3 Ultra Mac Studio still shows one, since its Stage 1 is untried.
• U-Boot 2026.07-g7d97eb149b45: no boot countdown, faster start, boot timings for the OS, SMBIOS machine identity, quiet boot.
• Kernel 7.3.0 from aurora-wip 437edfa (the fleet14b kernel the Aurora Macs run).
• The 16-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro (J616s) is supported.
• Installing next to an existing Linux install works (the Partitions screen).
• Same pins on Aurora Fedora Remix, Aurora Alarm and Aurora NixOS, KDE, GNOME and minimal.

Tested

• The kernel, aura Stage 2 tree and U-Boot are what the Aurora Macs run today: the kernel on all four (M1 Pro, M2, MacBook Neo, J616s), the aura Stage 2 tree on the Neo and J616s, U-Boot on the J616s. The M1 Pro and M2 still run aura 1.0.0b1 as Stage 2.
• The conformance matrix (dry runs of every Mac, distribution and install mode) passes against these catalogs. Real installs with this build are still to come, so every profile still needs physical installation qualification.

Updating an install made before this release (Aurora Fedora Remix)
Fedora Asahi Remix keeps whichever package vendor is installed, and images before aurora-release 44-7 don't have Aurora's vendor rules yet. Run sudo dnf upgrade twice: the first run brings the rules, the second switches the packages Aurora now builds. Installs from later images do it in one go.

Signed and notarized DMG with nine sealed distribution catalogs.

Aurora Installer 0.1.0 Alpha 13

Developer alpha for M2 disk-admission recovery diagnostics.

Included fix: NativeStubFileError is reported as an unclassified Aurora-stub-copy failure instead of diskLayoutChanged, avoiding misleading erase/retry guidance.

Artifact: Aurora-Installer-0.1.0-alpha.20261031.pkg
SHA-256: 66ad7c4555ecec187cfb098cf990ef787618f0859e9a3d8394794cf7daf65d65

This package is ad-hoc/unsigned and not notarized; it is intended for developer testing.

Aurora Installer 0.1.0 Alpha 12

Native installer 0.1.0.

Source: b4cd9ac391b5d607ed98af2076323dd4f5537a50
Profiles: 9ed620329828c44025197bf38a86cbca2b054d28
Build evidence: https://github.com/aurora-silicon/aurora-installer/actions/runs/41028822503

Signed and notarized DMG with nine sealed distribution catalogs. A NixOS KDE Reset and encrypted first boot passed on MacBook Neo; the other profiles still require physical installation qualification.

Aurora Installer 0.1.0 Alpha 11

Native installer 0.1.0.

Source: a7846f495c3c56c7441f9c10c08bd01e1aaeb730
Profiles: 775a5745b4c9bb841c7a916e2498d902d5118b31
Build evidence: https://github.com/aurora-silicon/aurora-installer/actions/runs/40980195166

Signed and notarized DMG with nine sealed distribution catalogs. A NixOS KDE Reset and encrypted first boot passed on MacBook Neo; the other profiles still require physical installation qualification.

Aurora Installer 0.1.0 Alpha 9

Aurora Installer for macOS. Replaces Alpha 8. The distribution images are Alpha 8's (Linux 7.3, Mesa aurora-wip, aura 553b566); this release changes the installer.

What's new

• Fresh installs finish on a real Mac. Firmware and Recovery publication had never completed on hardware. On the MacBook Neo, five refusals stopped it, each hiding the next:
  • the recovery image's mount asked for a longer time limit than the command runner allows;
  • the mount directory was compared under two spellings of /private/var;
  • the Wi-Fi firmware's symbolic links were refused;
  • the Wi-Fi firmware's hard links were refused;
  • the System volume's root (created group-writable by macOS) was held to the rule for ordinary folders.
• Firmware images. The installer reads current kernelcache payloads, including IM4P payload properties and large LZFSE streams. It also mounts the recovery image without hdiutil's slow checksum pass, since the image's SHA-256 is already verified.
• Reset keeps Linux bootable. A preserved reset gives the ESP the image's volume serial, so GRUB finds its files.
• Recovering from failures:
  • Downloads retry and resume after a dropped connection, and the failure is reported as a network problem, not a disk change.
  • Try again continues an interrupted install from its last verified step.
  • Start over sets aside a failed fresh install.
  • Erase Linux removes an unfinished installation and returns its space to macOS.
• Authorize installation closes as soon as your account is checked. The remaining preparation shows on the Install screen.
• Timing records. Each attempt records how long every step took (in the installer's diagnostics folder), so a slow or failed step names itself.
• Interface:
  • The device line is left-aligned, with more space after the Mac symbol.
  • Sheet titles are a size smaller.
  • "Checking available space…" no longer shifts the options when the disk slider moves.

Testing

• Build, signing and the embedded-catalog checks passed (run).
• MacBook Neo (macOS 26.6.2):
  • A fresh ALARM GNOME install on a local build of this source completed: partitions, image, ESP, firmware and Recovery handoff, then Finish Installation in Recovery.
  • The Neo then booted into GNOME after its GRUB was corrected by hand (see Known issues).
• No other Mac or distribution has been installed with this build.

Known issues

• ALARM won't boot without a fix. Its GRUB names /boot by partition number, so it stops at grub rescue> with "unknown filesystem". This is fixed in the image build (alarm-aurora#18) and needs new images.
• Fedora first boot still has the SELinux and Plymouth problems found on the Neo. The fixes are merged for the next images.
• After a successful install, the installer can show "The helper could not finish the recovery account setup". The install itself is complete. Use Finish Installation from the startup options.
• On Linux 7.3, the Neo's first boot stopped once at irq 55: nobody cared and booted normally on the next try.
• MacBook Neo Wi-Fi connects to WPA2 networks only.
• The Mac Studio with M3 Ultra isn't supported yet.

Source: 7183736ce3937acab7456567b515c412339d5902
Profiles: 7c420475c3a174bcc90cb32c95f81d37dffed2a6

Aurora Installer 0.1.0 Alpha 10

Aurora Installer for macOS. Replaces Alpha 9. All nine distribution images are rebuilt.

What's new

Images: ALARM, Fedora and NixOS

• MacBook Neo internal display. The display is driven by its own display driver again, not the boot framebuffer. Brightness control works, and GNOME no longer mistakes the panel for an external monitor, which had kept closing the lid from suspending.
  • Cause: when the boot loader hands over the display's page tables, the kernel refused to repeat a mapping the firmware already held, even an identical one (linux#404).
  • The same failure also explains an occasional first-boot stop at "irq 55: nobody cared".
• Graphical first boot. KDE images create your account in Plasma Setup and GNOME images in GNOME Initial Setup. Minimal images use a clean text setup.
  • The disk-encryption password is set in the same step.
  • The boot stays quiet, and systemd status lines no longer cover the setup prompts.
• Disk unlock. Typing the disk password after 90 seconds no longer drops into the emergency shell.
• Basics are checked in every image build. A build fails unless it has:
  • a UTF-8 locale;
  • a working terminal (desktop images);
  • wallpapers (desktop images);
  • NetworkManager;
  • lid-close suspend;
  • a boot loader that finds /boot by UUID on the startup disk.
• ALARM:
  • GRUB no longer stops at grub rescue> with "unknown filesystem". It found /boot by partition number and now finds it by UUID on the startup disk only.
  • The terminal opens: images generate a UTF-8 locale.
  • GNOME has its wallpapers. KDE has Plasma's wallpaper set and the Breeze login screen.
• Fedora:
  • First boot works under SELinux.
  • Fedora's testing feed publishes again (it had stopped after this morning's first snapshot).
• NixOS: GNOME Initial Setup starts on first boot.
• U-Boot (aurora-wip 7680260):
  • On the MacBook Neo, a GRUB disk scan no longer hangs the NVMe drive.
  • The console uses a 16×32 font on HiDPI panels.
  • Adds MacBook Air M4 (J713) boot support.
• Kernel aurora-silicon/linux integration/aurora 311471f (7.3).
• Mesa aurora-wip 2e0bdb2. The newer 7615582 fails a compiler unit test (NativeForms.ImageStoreUsesDataTypeAcrossChipsAndFormats), so it is held back.

Installer

• Re-downloads and disk space:
  • The restore image is fetched over shared connections, with several ranges in flight.
  • Its cache is kept by image rather than per install plan, so another attempt downloads nothing again.
  • Payload parts are kept across attempts, and interrupted parts resume.
  • Each attempt clones the payload instead of copying 3.3 GB, and the helper removes copies that no job can still use.
• Faster image writes: decompression, checksums and disk writes overlap.
• Clearer preparation:
  • The Install screen lists the preparation checks as they run.
  • Each owner check reuses the disk layout already read instead of reading it again.
• After a successful install, the app no longer shows "The helper could not finish the recovery account setup". The helper stays for the Recovery handoff.
• Updating the installer keeps a saved installation. Try again continues it after your password is checked, and the first launch waits for the helper.
• The Linux ESP is mounted nobrowse, so macOS no longer writes Spotlight or Trash folders onto it.

Updating existing installs

A new installation uses the new images. An installed system picks up the new kernel, Mesa, U-Boot and fixes from its testing feed:

• ALARM: sudo pacman -Syu
• Fedora: sudo dnf upgrade --refresh
• NixOS: images before Alpha 10 pin /etc/nixos/flake.nix to one commit. Point it at the testing channel once, then rebuild:

  sudo sed -i 's|github:aurora-silicon/nixos-aurora/[0-9a-f]\{40\}|github:aurora-silicon/nixos-aurora/channel-testing|' /etc/nixos/flake.nix
  sudo nix flake update aurora --flake /etc/nixos
  sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake /etc/nixos#aurora

  After that, sudo aurora-update takes each new update.

The first-boot changes (graphical setup, the unlock timeout) only affect new installs.

Testing

• CI:
  • Every package was built and tested in CI on all three distributions. Testing feeds: ALARM testing-20261023.6, Fedora testing-20261023.3, Nix cache-testing-20261023.8; each was checked for the new kernel and aurora-firstboot 0.1.10 before its images were built.
  • All nine images were built from the deployed testing feeds, and each passed the basics check.
  • Installer build and test suite: main checks and DMG build.
  • Catalogs: delivery set adopted in 1f753af, signed native-only catalogs in 441e51b. verify-catalogs and the 19 catalog tests pass.
• VMs, with the Mac partition order (/boot at gpt5):
  • Fedora 44 KDE and GNOME, with SELinux enforcing and CI-built packages.
  • NixOS GNOME, KDE and minimal.
  • ALARM GNOME.
  • Each ran the full path: disk password, first-boot account setup and sign-in.
• MacBook Neo:
  • The display fix runs on the Neo's ALARM GNOME install. apple-drm drives eDP-1, the backlight works, and no lid inhibitor is left.
  • The installer changes since Alpha 9 and the new images haven't been installed on a Mac yet.

Known issues

• ALARM KDE: Plasma Setup couldn't be shown in a VM, which has no GPU, and the Breeze greeter wasn't checked there. Both are untested on a Mac.
• Fedora: the unlock-timeout change is covered by unit tests only. The same change was verified on ALARM.
• Hardware: the graphical disk-password prompt and keyboard input before unlock haven't been checked on Mac hardware.
• MacBook Neo Wi-Fi connects to WPA2 networks only.
• Mac Studio with M3 Ultra isn't supported yet.

Source: bf0f391
Profiles: 441e51b8a720c9585c3c77f7cd0a2fadd3ea78c1

Aurora Installer 0.1.0 Alpha 8

Signed and notarized Aurora Installer. Replaces Alpha 7.

What's new

• Linux 7.3. Every distribution now runs Linux 7.3 from Aurora's own kernel tree (aurora-silicon/linux, integration/aurora), with one kernel and one configuration for every Mac. It carries everything in Alpha 7's kernel, including the M2 Pro and M2 Max brightness fix.
• Boot loader. aura's Stage 1 and Stage 2 no longer carry a stray 64 KiB.
• Graphics. Mesa moves to the current aurora-wip line.
  • MacBook Neo:
    • compressed colour render targets and faster compressed mipmaps
    • compiler fixes for spilling, loops and 64-bit division
    • render-pass, depth/stencil and barrier fixes
  • M1 and M2: packed-float and MSAA copy fixes.
  • Zink: depth-write transition and ordered-access fixes.
• MacBook Neo GPU stability. Kernel fixes for a crash when work completes late, for timeout recovery, and for compute work under memory pressure.
• Wi-Fi.
  • A receive fix for BCM4387 Wi-Fi.
  • The MacBook Neo's Wi-Fi uses the 6 GHz country policies when they are present, and otherwise falls back to the older country policies or the worldwide one.
• Platform fixes. IOMMU page tables, SMC, PWM, LEDs, SPMI, USB-C (tipd), the video decoder, and audio (tas2764 speakers, and the cs42l84 headphone volume limit). The Thunderbolt/USB4 reset controller stays built into the kernel, as in Alpha 7.

Testing

• Build, signing, notarization and the embedded-catalog checks passed (run).
• The kernel, Mesa and aura packages were built on Arch Linux ARM, Fedora and NixOS, and Mesa passed its test suite on all three.
• Kernel and Mesa: the GPU command layouts match between the two, and the kernel's module and device-tree set matches Alpha 7's apart from upstream renames.
• The nine images were built from the live testing feeds, and their logs were checked for kernel 7.3.0, the new Mesa and the new aura.
• This build and its images have not been installed on hardware yet. Linux 7.3 and this aura have not been boot-tested on a Mac.

Known limits

• MacBook Neo Wi-Fi connects to WPA2 networks only; WPA3 isn't supported yet.
• The Mac Studio with M3 Ultra isn't supported yet.

Source: e17f7cd1b0ed3e01e63d82925d1aeed8d34516ca
Profiles: db890e33f91c7619b15ad30252a90768ac381770