Ruarí ØdegaardNov 19, 2024

Still fixing up old Macs. This is my wife's old 2015 MacBook that has been cleaned up and had it's battery replaced (I'm testing that now).

Currently it has macOS 12 (Monterey), which stopped getting security updates from Apple in July of this year. That will not do, so the next step will be using #OpenCoreLegacyPatcher to let me update to a supported macOS or alternatively, I install a modern Linux on it.

Show threadRuarí ØdegaardNov 19, 2024
It's Magsafe power supply cable was also a mess, so I bought a cheap USB-C to Magsafe cable on AliX, meaning I can now charge it off the power supply from my M1 MacBook.
Show threadRuarí ØdegaardNov 20, 2024

Ok the recent Safari zero-day (which was only patched for supported versions of macOS) reminded me I should not leave that machine on macOS 12 (Monterey) any longer.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/121756

It is now upgraded to macOS 13 (Ventura). 😉

About the security content of Safari 18.1.1 - Apple Support

This document describes the security content of Safari 18.1.1.

Apple Support
Show threadRuarí ØdegaardNov 21, 2024

FWIW, this old Intel MacBook did get Safari updated yesterday, after using #OCLP to update to Ventura.

Had it been down to Apple, this machine could have been a botnet now for all they care. 😢

#eWaste #OpenCoreLegacyPatcher

Show threadRuarí ØdegaardNov 21, 2024
LOL, no thanks, I'm good! 😆
Show threadRuarí Ødegaard
Nah, back to Linux with this one methinks
Nov 21, 2024 at 9:30pmWeb
Show threadRuarí ØdegaardNov 21, 2024
An Ubuntu about screen for you
Show threadRuarí ØdegaardNov 22, 2024
I put the Dock at the bottom as a compromise. Feels more Maccy! 🤷😃
Show threadRuarí ØdegaardNov 24, 2024
I decided I should also try #ChromeOSFlex, since the Linux environment that is available should allow me to install #VivaldiBrowser but I cannot get this thing to connect to my WiFi, so that is not an option.
Show threadRuarí ØdegaardNov 24, 2024
I played with it a bit. It finds my network and will take a password but it absolutely refuses to connect after entering my password. I double checked that password several times and even tried to connect to another network I temporally setup but no joy.
Show threadRuarí ØdegaardNov 24, 2024
Ok seems like I am not the only one
Show threadRuarí ØdegaardNov 24, 2024

At least one other user who somehow got past the WiFi problems on install (maybe they used alt networking connection via WiFi or ethernet adapter 🤷) having harware issues with the Camera and Keyboard backlight (both of which work with Ubuntu). The post is two years old and these issues might now be resolved but given my WiFi installer issues, I could not count on it. So this does not seem worth the hassle when Ubuntu works out of the box and even macOS Ventura could be installed (again with no obvious downsides) via #OCLP.

I'm putting this down as a fail for Google. Still at least they tried, unlike Apple, who consider this machine eWaste.

Show threadRuarí ØdegaardNov 26, 2024

Ok to be fair to ChromeOS here, it seems I made a mistake. My camera was not working under Ubuntu out of the box either.

Oh well… I fixed that now as well. 🎥 😉

P.S. And yes, I need to shave.

EDIT: I used the following. Though I had to tweak the instructions slightly based on feedback others gave in issue reports for Ubuntu 24.04. Not too bad in the end though. I even extracted and installed the sensor calibration files.

https://github.com/patjak/facetimehd

GitHub - patjak/facetimehd: Reverse engineered Linux driver for the FacetimeHD (Broadcom 1570) PCIe webcam

Reverse engineered Linux driver for the FacetimeHD (Broadcom 1570) PCIe webcam - patjak/facetimehd

GitHub
Show threadIvan JelićNov 24, 2024
@ruario Flex suffers the same issues as other distros on non Google devices. Tested it right after it came out
Show threadRuarí ØdegaardNov 24, 2024
@escapetofreedom Well Ubuntu runs on this thing without issue. 🤷
Show threadIvan JelićNov 24, 2024
@ruario Aha, interesting. So Google being typical Google, they abandoned it quickly. I mean, Flex has no future as they will be deprecating ChromeOS in favor of Android anyway
Show threadRuarí ØdegaardNov 24, 2024

@escapetofreedom Well there are updates at the moment listed on their blog but I guess the underlying Linux core part of the OS is a bit out of date and this is why. 🤷

But yeah there is talk now of ChromeOS going away or merging with Android in some fashion, so who knows long term. Just running a straight Linux distro is probably safer from a support perspective.

Again, I was mainly just curious but I will call this a fail for now. There might be some way to get it to work or perhaps it will work in the future but why bother when there are other (better) options.

Show threaddjbikerNov 24, 2024
@ruario power from one side, vivaldi usb stick from the other side and google chrome OS in the middle ... What is the advantage? In this constellation, all data are save in the google univers ;-) Private browser is not necessary ...
Show threadRuarí ØdegaardNov 24, 2024
@djbiker I am just curious to see what is possible to be honest. I might even try Windows at some point. 😂
Show threaddjbikerNov 24, 2024
@ruario So, open the windows and let fresh air into your brain 🤪
Show threaddjbikerNov 22, 2024
@ruario short life hack https://medium.com/featurepreneur/make-ubuntu-look-like-macos-fd11c6ccf83a
Make Ubuntu look like MacOS - featurepreneur - Medium

Keeping aside the fact that developers prefer a MacBook over a windows system, All of us like to use a MacBook, mainly because of the User Interface it provides. The most significant advantage of…

featurepreneur
Show threadRuarí ØdegaardNov 22, 2024
@djbiker Thanks do I do not need to clone macOS look. If I did I would have just kept macOS. I just felt switching the dock around gives a little nod to the Hardware this runs on. 😉
Show threaddjbikerNov 21, 2024
@ruario can you tell us something about the performance within this set - especially if you start the browser 1st time in the "morning"? If have such a hardware set and I think, firefox start is extrem good - but Vivaldi ... hm ;-(
Show threadRuarí ØdegaardNov 21, 2024
@djbiker I'm not sure I understand your reference to the morning. Why would the time of day matter at all? If you are asking about the startup/launch time. It is not amazing as a first launch time but… it is quite workable, especially for a machine of this age and this is a snap install. 🤷
Show threadRuarí ØdegaardNov 21, 2024
@djbiker I don't think FF is much faster here. After clicking on the icon they take a bit longer to display any window at all, while our window appears a bit before but is grey for a while.
Show threadRuarí ØdegaardNov 21, 2024
@djbiker Now excuse me while I immediately delete FF. 😂
Show threaddjbikerNov 22, 2024
@ruario Don't worry. If I worked at Vivaldi, I would only want to use this Vivaldi browser;-) I also use it on more modern PCs. But I'm always annoyed about Vivaldis user privacy features. Especially after the castration of ublock origin in the Chrome Store. That's really, really a shame! And in this point, FF is much more better ;-( And I think, very good privacy features are the most important features in this days!
Show threadRuarí ØdegaardNov 22, 2024
@djbiker Oh it's not just because I work at Vivaldi. I just find Firefox kinda crap and have no faith or trust in their management at all. As for privacy we have a bunch of privacy related features and again I simply do not trust Mozilla. For uBlock origin yes the situation is not ideal but that is not really down to us and FWIW we are slowly building up the capablities of our own ad blocker.
Show threaddjbikerNov 22, 2024
@ruario Yes, this is, what I was asking for. Well, it's round about 35 sek - time for the 1st morning coffee ;) FF needs ~15 sek - that means only 1 espresso :-)
Show threadRuarí ØdegaardNov 22, 2024

@djbiker As you saw from my second video…

https://social.vivaldi.net/@ruario/113523569491891241

I am not really seeing much in the way of difference in time to start up and be usable. But also startup is the least important unless you are constantly restarting your browser for some reason

Once browsing, I find Vivaldi faster not just because of the engine but so many more workflow and tab management options. Firefox just feels so limited in that regard.

Ruarí Ødegaard (@ruario@vivaldi.net)

Attached: 1 image @djbiker I don't think FF is much faster here. After clicking on the icon they take a bit longer to display any window at all, while our window appears a bit before but is grey for a while.

Vivaldi Social