As of March 2019, I no longer have access to any MacBook Pro hardware. As such, this module is now officially unsupported and abandoned. A new maintainer is wanted, if anyone would like to adopt it. Please see Issue 16 for details and to comment.

1. Overview
2. Requirements
3. Hardware Support Status
4. Reference - An under-the-hood peek at what the module is doing and how
5. Limitations - OS compatibility, etc.
6. Development - Guide for contributing to the module
7. Other References - Information on Arch Linux

Puppet module and accompanying documentation to install/setup Arch linux on a MacBook Pro Retina using Puppet (version 4 or 5).

This is the puppet module I use to manage my shiny new MacBook Pro Retina (mine is a MacBookPro11,4).

• Generated Documentation: http://jantman.github.io/puppet-archlinux-macbookretina/

Important Notice: It is highly recommended that you only run this module on a brand new system; it makes some opinionated choices that may cause problems on existing systems.

• A MacBook Pro Retina (currently tested with Mid-2015 "11,4" model) with a brand new install of Arch Linux
• Whatever version of Puppet ships with Arch Linux
• A minimal install, ideally following the instructions in my workstation-bootstrap repository.
• This module is only tested alongside my archlinux_workstation module.
• A pacman repo providing AUR packages: macfanctld, bcwc-pcie-dkms and bcwc-pcie-firmware; you can use jantman/archlinux_workstation archlinux_workstation::repos::jantman for that.

Or mostly-working:

• Touchpad using Kernel 4.2+ and xf86-input-synaptics; works for tap-to-click, drag, two-finger scroll, and 2- or 3-finger taps (sometimes) for different mouse buttons.
• Networking on MacBookPro 11,4
  • USB ethernet adapter A1277 works out-of-the-box
  • BCM43602 AirPort Extreme (14e4:43ba) works with kernel built-in brcmfmac driver, autodetected, both 2.4GHz and 5GHz.
• Sound - Works. Under KDE/Phonon, needed to unmute/enable the "Built-in Audio Analog Stereo" (detected "Built-in Audio Digital Stereo (HDMI)" as default).
• Video - video works with the proprietary nvidia driver, the default in this module.
  • External Displays - Tested OK using both direct HDMI and Thunderbolt to HDMI (1 or 2 external monitors); works seamlessly.
  • Display/Desktop Scaling - This can be fixed within KDE:
    • System Settings -> Fonts: check off "Force fonts DIP" and set to 144
    • System Settings -> Icons -> "Advanced" tab: set them all to 48
    • Click the menu button on the far right edge of the Panel, then drag the "Height" box up until the scale/size looks good
  • Screen Backlight Adjustment - works using /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/brightness, the sliders on 'KDE5 System Settings -> Energy Saving' or the keyboard function keys.
• Hibernate / Suspend to Disk - doesn't wake up without long hold of power button & then turn back on. Session resumes once that's done.
• SD Card Reader - Working out of the box.
• Fans - macfanctld (AUR)
• Webcam - This works properly in Linux using the bcwc-pcie-dkms and bcwc-pcie-firmware AUR packages.
• Bluetooth - Per wiki, fully supported as of kernel 4.4.0. Works with my bluetooth mouse.

• Suspend to RAM - (haven't tested in many months; I never use this) doesn't wake up; long hold of power button & then turn back on gives a fresh boot.
• Lid Close - suspends to ram and doesn't wake up, but this could be a configuration issue. I never use this functionality.

• Partially-complete - SSD optimizations via sysctl settings, mount /dev/sda* noatime and discard (TRIM), use deadline scheduler on non-rotational disks
• Power Saving - https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/MacBookPro11,x#Powersave and https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Laptop_Mode_Tools
• Laptop Mode Tools - ArchWiki and/or TLP - ArchWiki (started looking into this, very involved configuration and I don't really need it right now)
• I'm left handed. Use udev/xorg to reverse buttons on USB mice but keep trackpad the same. See https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/All_Mouse_Buttons_Working http://www.smop.co.uk/blog/index.php/2010/02/15/udev-rules-for-logitech-g7-mouse/ or might be able to do this with udev triggering "xinput set-button-map"
• the stuff in Maximizing Performance - ArchWiki
• implement the stuff in Enhancing Arch Linux Stability - ArchWiki
• SMART/other SSD health check, with warnings if problems are found
• look into replacing macfanctld with mbpfan / fan-control-daemon are two options that are less abrupt

For full automatically-generated documentation see: http://jantman.github.io/puppet-archlinux-workstation/

This module is only usable with Arch Linux on a MacBook Pro Retina.

It assumes that you have a relatively vanilla base install of Arch, such as the one I document in my workstation-bootstrap module, pretty much the same as the Arch Linux Installation Guide documents.

See CONTRIBUTING.md for information about development and contributing.

• First, many thanks to eli meister for being the office linux-on-MBP retina guinea pig
• MacBookPro Retina - ArchWiki
• MacBook - ArchWiki
• Installation Guide - ArchWiki
• Beginners' Guide - ArchWiki
• Solid State Drives - ArchWiki
• Laptop - ArchWiki
• Enhancing Arch Linux Stability - ArchWiki
• Arch Linux System Maintenance - ArchWiki