Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (2016, Intel, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)

This guide will cover the process on how to get Gentoo Linux working on Apple MacBook Pro 2016 (known as MacBookPro13,3) with T1 chip, 4 Thunderbolt ports and Touchbar.

Procedure in this guide may also apply to other variants of MacBooks using T1 chips, including 2015 and 2017 models as well.

Note
Safety precautions:

1. Please take in account that most newer MacBooks have soldered SSD and they might wear faster by doing any extensive read/write work. Even it is unlikely to occur very soon, if possible, install Gentoo Linux on external disk using provided USB-C (Thunderbolt) ports to maximize its lifespan.

2. If still considering installation on internal disk, please leave EFI partition and macOS installation intact (keep them instead of removing).

3. Some features may still be partly or non-functional after following this guide due to proprietary firmware.

Introduction

To install Gentoo Linux on newer MacBook we will first need to choose boot manager and prepare disk partitions.

After installing Gentoo Linux for the first time, some of the functionality will be provided already by the kernel. Default approach would be to use distribution kernel and stable desktop profile.

Notice that using profiles such as musl and llvm may result in this process to fail, so using desktop profile either with openrc or systemd is recommended.

What works out of the box:

Basic keyboard (partially) - all keys should work, excluding touchbar
Trackpad
USB-C ports / ThunderBolt (buggy) - when no devices are plugged it is causing unnecessary power drain
Bluetooth
Camera
Battery (buggy) - performance is under optimal, likely due to other hardware causing unnecessary power drain
Graphics (Intel + AMD) - For the MacBookPro 13,3 with dedicated AMD GPU, only the AMD GPU is enabled when booting an OS which isn't macOS
Screen
NVMe (buggy) - currently unknown how power saving works for those SSDs it's likely they consume way more power than they need to, therefore reducing the battery life.
System Management Controller (SMC)
Wi-Fi (partially) - this is not fully functional, it will only find and connect to 2.4 GHz networks/access points

What doesn't work out of the box:

Sound
Touchbar
Wi-Fi 5 GHz networks

What remains broken:

Suspend (doesn't resume properly)
Hibernate (works as shut down)
TouchID (works only as power button, no fingerprint functionality)

Hardware Table

Components

Device	Make/model	Status	Vendor ID / Product ID	Kernel driver(s)	Kernel version	Notes
CPU	Intel Core i7-6820HQ@ 2.70GHz	Works	GenuineIntel	N/A	6.6.41-dist
iGPU	Intel HD 530 Graphics	Unknown	N/a	i915	6.6.41-dist	Does not work out of the box, possible to get working with patching, see Intel GPU
dGPU	AMD R455 Pro Graphics	Works	PCI 0000:00	amdgpu	6.6.41-dist	Works out of the box
I2C/SMBus Controller	Intel SMBus Controller	Works	PCI 0000:00:1f.4	i2c_i801	6.6.41-dist	Works out of the box
SPI Controller	Apple SPI Controller	Works	PCI APP000D:00	applespi	6.6.41-dist
LPSS Controller	Intel Low Power Subsystem Controller	Works	PCI 8086:A160	intel-lpss	6.6.41-dist	required for Bluetooth
Serial Bus Controller	JHL6540 Thunderbolt 3 USB Controller (C step) [Alpine Ridge 4C 2016]	Works	PCI 8086:15D4	xhci_hcd	6.6.41-dist	Works out of the box
NVMe	Samsung Electronics SM963 2.5" NVMe PCIe SSD	Works	PCI 0000:02:00.0	nvme	6.6.41-dist	Works out of the box
Audio	Intel Corporation HD Audio device	Not working	PCI 0000:00:1f.3	snd_soc_avs, snd_soc_hda_codec, snd_hda_codec_hdmi, snd_hda_intel	6.6.41-dist	Does not work out of the box, needs patching, see Sound
Audio	ATI Baffin HDMI/DP Audio [Radeon RX 550 640SP / RX 560/560X]	Not tested	PCI 0000:01:00.1	snd_hda_intel	6.6.41-dist	Does not work out of the box, needs patching, see Sound
Wireless LAN	Broadcom BCM43602 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter	Works	PCI 14e4:43ba	brcmfmac	6.6.41-dist	Finds only 2.4 GHz networks, needs additional firmware tweaking, see Wi-Fi
Bluetooth	Broadcom BCM43602 Bluetooth	Works	PCI 14e4:4464 ?	hci_uart, hci_uart_bcm	6.6.41-dist
Thunderbolt 3	Intel JHL6540 Thunderbolt 3 Bridge (C step) [Alpine Ridge 4C 2016]	Works	PCI 0000:7b:04.0, PCI 0000:7b:01.0, PCI 0000:04:00.0, PCI 0000:7c:00.0	thunderbolt	6.6.41-dist
USB 3	Intel Skylake USB Controller	Works	PCI 0000:00:14.0	xhci_hcd	6.6.41-dist
Keyboard	Apple SPI Keyboard	Works	pci-0000:00:1e.3-platform-pxa2xx-spi.5-cs-00-event-kbd	usbhid	6.6.41-dist
Touchpad	Apple SPI Touchpad	Works	pci-0000:00:1e.3-platform-pxa2xx-spi.5-cs-00-event-mouse	bcm5974	6.6.41-dist
Touchbar	Apple Touchbar	Unknown	APP7777:00	apple_ib_tb		Does not work out of box, needs patching, see Touchbar
Fingerprint sensor	Apple Touch ID sensor	Unsupported	?
Webcam	Apple FaceTime HD Camera	Works	pci-0000:00:14.0-usb-0:3:1.0-video-index1	uvcvideo	6.6.41-dist	Should work out of the box, if not, see Camera
Hardware Monitoring	various	Unknown		acpi_battery, applesmc, coretemp, int340x, nvme, sbs	6.6.41-dist	applesmc needs out of tree patches
Ambient light sensor	Apple Backlight Keyboard Sensor	Works	ACPI:APP0002:00:BACKLIGHT	kbd_backlight

ACPI / Power management

Function	Status	Kernel driver(s)	Kernel version	BIOS version	Notes
CPU frequency scaling	Works	intel_rapl_msr, intel_rapl_common, intel_tcc_cooling	6.6.41-dist	529.120.1.0.0
GPU Powersaving	Not working	i915,amdgpu			Possibly requires dGPU to be blacklisted, see Intel GPU
PCIe Power Management (ASPM)	Not tested				Power performance is not optimized
USB Type C Power Delivery	Works		6.6.41-dist	529.120.1.0.0	When no devices connected, draws unnecessary power
Battery	Works	sbs	6.6.41-dist	529.120.1.0.0	Performance is suboptimal
Suspend to RAM	Not working				Will instantly wake, needs blacklisted dGPU, see Intel GPU and Suspend
Suspend to disk (hibernate)	Not working				Will shut down instead of hibernate
Display backlight control	Works	gmux_backlight	6.6.41-dist	529.120.1.0.0
Keyboard backlight control	Works	kbd_backlight	out of tree driver	529.120.1.0.0	Touchbar needs to be fixed for keyboard control to work, see Touchbar

Installation

Choosing boot manager

There are two choices: rEFInd and OpenCore Legacy Patcher. Both of these need to be installed from macOS.

rEFInd

Refind which is a fork of Refit and is being actively development and maintained. For more information see this link.

This option is recommended for 15 inch versions, as it allows for passing kernel parameters.

Getting rEFInd

rEFInd can be installed just by following official REFInd Gentoo Wiki guide:

root #emerge --ask sys-boot/refind

Installing rEFInd

root #

refind-install

OpenCore Legacy Patcher

OpenCore Legacy Patcher is a graphical tool that should be run from macOS.

It is a boot manager that can detect other operating systems and is installed on EFI partition.

Also, it can be used to install newer macOS versions for unsupported Mac machines.

For the installation guide, please refer to OpenCore Legacy Patcher documentation

Preparing partitions

The easiest way to prepare partition is using the Disk Utility on macOS. After opening Disk Utility, just select disk (it should be always the first one) and press '+', then select 'Partition' instead of 'Volume'. Assign as much space as wanted.

Note
Tips:

1. Leave EFI partition as is. The same EFI partition can be reused for Gentoo Linux if installing on internal disk. If installing on external disk, boot manager such as OpenCore can detect Gentoo Linux installation from it.

2. If installing on internal disk, more partitions such as /boot, /home and / can be added. But to avoid confusion later with macOS partition, it would be better to create just a single root / partition.

Preparing boot USB

The most convenient way is to grab Linux distribution of a choice. For the sake of guide, please use LiveGUI installation media to conform to the Gentoo Handbook. Format USB as GPT and FAT32, then just extract ISO contents to USB partition.

Aside from Gentoo's own LiveGUI USB media, any modern Linux distribution should be able to boot from USB on MacBook.

To get the latest LiveGUI USB media, please obtain it from Gentoo Downloads page.

To connect to Ethernet a Thunderbolt (e.g. Apple Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter) or USB adapter is needed.

From kernel version 4.3 onward Thunderbolt hot-plugging should work on recent Apple hardware so it is no longer necessary to have the Thunderbolt Ethernet adapter plugged in during boot. ^[1]

Note that Wi-Fi will only show 2.4 GHz access points and might have limited functionality at this point.

Now proceed to Handbook:AMD64/Installation/Stage

Please follow handbook carefully to obtain the best results.

Hardware detection tools

In order to obtain information about system, the following tools can be used.

To view what hardware is currently detected first install pciutils package:

root #

emerge --ask sys-apps/pciutils

Then execute the following command:

root #

lspci -nnk

To view USB devices first install usbutils package:

root #

emerge --ask sys-apps/usbutils

Then execute the following command:

root #

lsusb

For CPU information also this command can be issued:

root #

lscpu

Configuring flags

CPU Flags

This MacBook uses Skylake architecture.

To verify what architecture does CPU use, a tool resolve-march-native can be used:

root #

emerge resolve-march-native

Which will produce the following output:

root #

resolve-march-native

-march=skylake -mabm --param=l1-cache-line-size=64 --param=l1-cache-size=32 --param=l2-cache-size=8192

What needs to be added is -march=skylake

Please make sure to add appropriate flags to /etc/portage/make.conf

Edit /etc/portage/make.conf and add following section:

FILE /etc/dracut.conf.d/applespi.conf

COMMON_FLAGS="-O2 -pipe -march=skylake"
CFLAGS="${COMMON_FLAGS}"
CXXFLAGS="${COMMON_FLAGS}"
FCFLAGS="${COMMON_FLAGS}"
FFLAGS="${COMMON_FLAGS}"

Also, do the following for cpuid2cpuflags:

root #

emerge --ask app-portage/cpuid2cpuflags

Create the file in /etc/portage/package.use:

root #

echo "*/* $(cpuid2cpuflags)" > /etc/portage/package.use/00cpu-flags

File /etc/portage/package.use/00cpu-flags should have this content:

FILE /etc/portage/package.use/00cpu-flags

*/* CPU_FLAGS_X86: aes avx avx2 f16c fma3 mmx mmxext pclmul popcnt rdrand sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3

GPU Flags

This MacBook uses both Intel® HD Graphics 530 and AMD Radeon Pro 455 (AMDGPU Polaris11 chip).

FILE /etc/portage/make.conf

VIDEO_CARDS="intel amdgpu radeonsi radeon"

Kernel configuration

No special kernel configuration is needed. It is advised that distribution kernel package is used for the optimal results. Note that missing drivers will still need to be configured manually, as they are not present in kernel.

For distribution kernel, please refer to Handbook section Distribution kernels.

If still manual kernel configuration is preferred ensure that following is set correctly:

KERNEL Kernel configuration options for spi_pxa2xx_platform and intel_lpss_pci

CONFIG_SPI_PXA2XX=m 
CONFIG_MFD_INTEL_LPSS_PCI=m // in distribution kernel it is =y which also should be fine

KERNEL

Device Drivers  --->
    <*> SPI Support  --->
        <M>   PXA2xxSSP SPI master

KERNEL

Device Drivers  ---> 
  Multifunction device drivers  --->
      <M>   Intel Low Power Subsystem support in PCI mode <--- This can be also <*> but preferably set as <M>

Configuration

Installing tools

Before we install required modules, we will need two tools: dkms and git. To install dkms:

root #

emerge --ask sys-kernel/dkms

To install git:

root #

emerge --ask dev-vcs/git

Now we can proceed to building modules with dkms.

Dracut configuration

To make modules load at the startup, we should create the file named applespi.conf in /etc/dracut.conf.d/ and define all modules:

FILE /etc/dracut.conf.d/applespi.conf

add_drivers+=" applespi apple-ib-tb intel_lpss_pci spi_px2axx_platform "

Note
Blank spaces after beginning and before ending quotations are required.

Building modules

To build modules we will need to clone the following repository that contains required files. Execute following commands as root:

root #

git clone https://github.com/almas/macbook12-spi-driver /usr/src/applespi-0.1

root #

dkms install applespi/0.1

Save file and exit.

After reboot listed modules will be loaded.

Touchbar

To make changes permanent, we should write an init script which will execute these two commands at startup.

If using OpenRC, create file /etc/init.d/macbook-quirks.conf:

FILE /etc/init.d/macbook-quirks.conf

#!/sbin/openrc-run

depend() {
    after display-manager
}

start_pre() {
    sleep 2
}

start() {
    echo '1-3' > /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usb/unbind
    echo '1-3' > /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usb/bind
}

Then run as root the following:

root #

chmod +x /etc/init.d/macbook-quirks.conf

root #

rc-update add /etc/init.d/macbook-quirks.conf

If using SystemD, create file /etc/systemd/macbook-quirks.service:

FILE /etc/systemd/system/macbook-quirks.service

[Unit]
Description=Re-enable MacBook 13,3 TouchBar
Before=display-manager.service

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStartPre=/bin/sleep 2
ExecStart=/bin/sh -c "echo '1-3' > /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usb/unbind"
ExecStart=/bin/sh -c "echo '1-3' > /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usb/bind"
RemainAfterExit=yes
TimeoutSec=0

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Then run as root the following

root #

systemctl enable macbook-quirks.service

After enabling either macbook-quirks.conf or macbook-quirks.service perform reboot.

Wi-Fi

To make Wi-Fi operates as expected, following configuration needs to be applied: brcmfmac43602-pcie.txt

We need to create new file called brcmfmac43602-pcie.txt and put it in /usr/lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac43602-pcie.txt

FILE /usr/lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac43602-pcie.txt

sromrev=11
subvid=0x14e4
boardtype=0x61b
boardrev=0x1421
vendid=0x14e4
devid=0x43ba

macaddr=00:90:4c:0d:f4:3e

ccode=00
regrev=245

boardflags=0x10401001
boardflags2=0x00000002
boardflags3=0xC0000303
boardnum=62526

swctrlmap_2g=0x08080808,0x04010401,0x08080808,0x00000000,0x000000ff
swctrlmapext_2g=0x00000000,0x00000000,0x00000000,0x000000,0x003

swctrlmap_5g=0x08080808,0x04010401,0x08080808,0x00000000,0x000000ff
swctrlmapext_5g=0x00000000,0x00000000,0x00000000,0x000000,0x003

aa2g=7
aa5g=7
agbg0=133
agbg1=133
agbg2=133
aga0=71
aga1=71
aga2=71
txchain=7
rxchain=7
antswitch=0
tssiposslope2g=1
epagain2g=0
pdgain2g=28
tworangetssi2g=0
papdcap2g=0
femctrl=2
tssiposslope5g=1
epagain5g=0
pdgain5g=28
tworangetssi5g=0
papdcap5g=0
gainctrlsph=0
tempthresh=120
tempoffset=255
rawtempsense=0x1ff
measpower=0x7f
tempsense_slope=0xff
tempcorrx=0x3f
tempsense_option=0x3
xtalfreq=40000
phycal_tempdelta=40
temps_period=1
temps_hysteresis=5
measpower1=0x7f
measpower2=0x7f
pdoffsetcck=1057
pdoffset20in40m5gb0=0
pdoffset20in40m5gb1=0
pdoffset20in40m5gb2=0
pdoffset20in40m5gb3=0
pdoffset20in40m5gb4=0
pdoffset40in80m5gb0=0
pdoffset40in80m5gb1=0
pdoffset40in80m5gb2=0
pdoffset40in80m5gb3=0
pdoffset40in80m5gb4=0
pdoffset20in80m5gb0=0
pdoffset20in80m5gb1=0
pdoffset20in80m5gb2=0
pdoffset20in80m5gb3=0
pdoffset20in80m5gb4=0
subband5gver=0x5
cckbw202gpo=0
cckbw20ul2gpo=0
mcsbw202gpo=2536714240
mcsbw402gpo=2536714240
dot11agofdmhrbw202gpo=13056
ofdmlrbw202gpo=0
mcsbw205glpo=1966288896
mcsbw405glpo=2252619776
mcsbw805glpo=2252619776
mcsbw205gmpo=1966288896
mcsbw405gmpo=2252619776
mcsbw805gmpo=2252619776
mcsbw205ghpo=1966288896
mcsbw405ghpo=2252619776
mcsbw805ghpo=2252619776
mcsbw205gx1po=1966288896
mcsbw405gx1po=2252619776
mcsbw805gx1po=2252619776
mcsbw205gx2po=1966288896
mcsbw405gx2po=2252619776
mcsbw805gx2po=2252619776
mcslr5glpo=0
mcslr5gmpo=0
mcslr5ghpo=0
mcslr5gx1po=0
mcslr5gx2po=0
sb20in40hrpo=0
sb20in80and160hr5glpo=0
sb40and80hr5glpo=0
sb20in80and160hr5gmpo=0
sb40and80hr5gmpo=0
sb20in80and160hr5ghpo=0
sb40and80hr5ghpo=0
sb20in40lrpo=0
sb20in80and160lr5glpo=0
sb40and80lr5glpo=0
sb20in80and160lr5gmpo=0
sb40and80lr5gmpo=0
sb20in80and160lr5ghpo=0
sb40and80lr5ghpo=0
sb20in80and160hr5gx1po=0
sb20in80and160lr5gx1po=0
sb40and80hr5gx1po=0
sb20in80and160hr5gx2po=0
sb20in80and160lr5gx2po=0
sb40and80hr5gx2po=0
dot11agduphrpo=0
dot11agduplrpo=52416
pcieingress_war=15
sar2g=18
sar5g=15
noiselvl2ga0=31
noiselvl2ga1=31
noiselvl2ga2=31
noiselvl5ga0=18,18,18,20
noiselvl5ga1=1,1,1,17
noiselvl5ga2=11,11,11,11
rxgainerr2ga0=63
rxgainerr2ga1=31
rxgainerr2ga2=31
rxgainerr5ga0=50,50,50,52
rxgainerr5ga1=16,16,16,24
rxgainerr5ga2=5,5,5,5
rpcal2g=65535
rpcal5gb0=65535
rpcal5gb1=65535
rpcal5gb2=65535
rpcal5gb3=65535
rxgains5gmelnagaina0=3
rxgains5gmelnagaina1=3
rxgains5gmelnagaina2=3
rxgains5gmtrisoa0=9
rxgains5gmtrisoa1=9
rxgains5gmtrisoa2=9
rxgains5gmtrelnabypa0=0
rxgains5gmtrelnabypa1=0
rxgains5gmtrelnabypa2=0
rxgains5ghelnagaina0=2
rxgains5ghelnagaina1=2
rxgains5ghelnagaina2=2
rxgains5ghtrisoa0=8
rxgains5ghtrisoa1=8
rxgains5ghtrisoa2=8
rxgains5ghtrelnabypa0=0
rxgains5ghtrelnabypa1=0
rxgains5ghtrelnabypa2=0
gain_cal_temp=39
rssi_delta_2gb0=8,16,8,16,253,18,253,18,254,17,254,17
rssi_delta_2gb1=255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255
rssi_delta_2gb2=255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255
rssi_delta_2gb3=255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255
rssi_delta_2gb4=255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255
rssi_cal_freq_grp_2g=0,0,128,0,0,0,0
rud_agc_enable=0
temp_comp_tr_loss=1
rssi_qdB_en=0
rssi_delta_5gl=8,6,8,6,8,6,5,6,5,6,5,6,9,8,9,8,9,8
rssi_delta_5gml=250,237,250,237,250,237,248,236,248,236,248,236,249,237,249,237,249,237
rssi_delta_5gmu=250,237,250,237,250,237,248,234,248,234,248,234,249,237,249,237,249,237
rssi_delta_5gh=250,235,250,235,250,235,247,233,247,233,247,233,249,237,249,237,249,237
rssicorrnorm_c0=251,255
rssicorrnorm_c1=251,255
rssicorrnorm_c2=251,255
trloss_adj_temp_thresh=10
trloss_adj_time_dur=30
rstr_rxgaintempcoeff5gl=50,50,50
rstr_rxgaintempcoeff5gl_elnaoff=44,44,44
rstr_rxgaintempcoeff5gml=50,50,50
rstr_rxgaintempcoeff5gml_elnaoff=44,44,44
rstr_rxgaintempcoeff5gmu=50,50,50
rstr_rxgaintempcoeff5gmu_elnaoff=44,44,44
rstr_rxgaintempcoeff5gh=52,52,52
rstr_rxgaintempcoeff5gh_elnaoff=46,46,46
rstr_rxgaintempcoeff2g_sub=75,75,75,75,75,75,75,75,75,75,75,75,75,75,75
rstr_rxgaintempcoeff2g_sub_elnaoff=66,66,66,66,66,66,66,66,66,66,66,66,66,66,66
length_txcal=65535
version_txcal=65535
devicetype_txcal=65535
caltype_txcal=65535
tempsense_txcal=35
ncores_txcal=255
reserved1_txcal=255
reserved2_txcal=255
20mhz_tbl_len_txcal=65535
nsteps_txcal=22
nchannels_txcal=10
chan_id_txcal_ch0=7
chan_id_txcal_ch1=36
chan_id_txcal_ch2=52
chan_id_txcal_ch3=64
chan_id_txcal_ch4=100
chan_id_txcal_ch5=120
chan_id_txcal_ch6=140
chan_id_txcal_ch7=149
chan_id_txcal_ch8=157
chan_id_txcal_ch9=165
ptssi_txcal_ch0=0
ptssi_txcal_ch1=0
ptssi_txcal_ch2=0
ptssi_txcal_ch3=0
ptssi_txcal_ch4=0
ptssi_txcal_ch5=0
ptssi_txcal_ch6=0
ptssi_txcal_ch7=0
ptssi_txcal_ch8=0
ptssi_txcal_ch9=0
gain_index_c0_ch0=54
gain_index_c0_ch1=57
gain_index_c0_ch2=58
gain_index_c0_ch3=59
gain_index_c0_ch4=60
gain_index_c0_ch5=59
gain_index_c0_ch6=61
gain_index_c0_ch7=60
gain_index_c0_ch8=61
gain_index_c0_ch9=62
gain_index_c1_ch0=54
gain_index_c1_ch1=58
gain_index_c1_ch2=59
gain_index_c1_ch3=60
gain_index_c1_ch4=61
gain_index_c1_ch5=61
gain_index_c1_ch6=62
gain_index_c1_ch7=62
gain_index_c1_ch8=62
gain_index_c1_ch9=62
gain_index_c2_ch0=57
gain_index_c2_ch1=57
gain_index_c2_ch2=59
gain_index_c2_ch3=59
gain_index_c2_ch4=61
gain_index_c2_ch5=60
gain_index_c2_ch6=61
gain_index_c2_ch7=61
gain_index_c2_ch8=61
gain_index_c2_ch9=61
tssi_chan0_c0=248,244,241,237,232,226,220,211,203,193,183,172,162,150,138,128,116,105,94,83,73,61
tssi_chan0_c1=247,245,241,237,232,226,218,210,201,191,181,168,158,146,134,122,111,98,87,75,64,52
tssi_chan0_c2=248,245,242,238,233,227,221,213,204,194,185,173,162,151,140,129,118,107,97,87,77,67
tssi_chan1_c0=234,228,223,218,212,205,198,191,183,176,168,159,150,141,131,121,110,98,87,75,64,53

Note the following part:

macaddr=00:90:4c:0d:f5:30

ccode=ALL

We need to obtain MAC address of Broadcom Wireless card using command:

user $

ip addr

And then in the above file we need to replace macaddr to match MAC address from ip addr output, also we need to change ccode to ALL (which should enable both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz access points; ALL (Channel 1-14), US, EU etc.)

Save file and reboot.

Sound

After first boot into desktop, sound will show only Dummy output. To fix this we need to install the following sound driver.

First, we might need kernel sources as root:

root #

emerge -av sys-kernel/gentoo-sources

Then after installing kernel sources, run following commands as root:

root #

git clone https://github.com/davidjo/snd_hda_macbookpro.git

root #

cd snd_hda_macbookpro/

root #

./install.cirrus.driver.sh

After this is done, reboot and sound should be working.

Camera

Camera should be working out of the box, at least if camera application like Cheese is opened.

However, if it does not work for other applications that are using camera, try to create the file /etc/modprobe.d/uvcvideo.conf with following contents:

FILE /etc/modprobe.d/uvcvideo.conf

options uvcvideo quirks=0x100

Save file and reboot. Now camera should work fine.

Suspend

Putting the MacBook Pro into suspend mode works on all models, but successful resume requires additional prerequisites as explained below.

Models with Apple's NVMe controller (MacBookPro13,1, MacBookPro13,2, MacBookPro14,1 and MacBookPro14,2) require disabling the d3cold PCIe power state for the NVMe controller to successfully wake up again. To work around suspend issues please try the following steps.

If using OpenRC, create file /etc/init.d/macbook-suspend with the following content:

FILE /etc/init.d/macbook-suspend

#!/sbin/openrc-run
depend() {
     before display-manager
}
start() {
     echo 0 > /sys/bus/pci/devices/0000\:01\:00.0/d3cold_allowed
     echo 0 > /sys/bus/pci/devices/0000\:04\:00.0/d3cold_allowed
}

Then as root do the following:

root #

chmod +x /etc/init.d/macbook-suspend

root #

rc-update add macbook-suspend default

Reboot to apply changes.

If using SystemD, create file /etc/systemd/system/macbook-suspend.service with the following content:

FILE /etc/systemd/system/macbook-suspend.service

[Unit]
Description=Fix suspend
Before=display-manager.service

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStartPre=/bin/sleep 2
ExecStart=/bin/sh -c "echo 0 > /sys/bus/pci/devices/0000\:01\:00.0/d3cold_allowed"
ExecStart=/bin/sh -c "echo 0 > /sys/bus/pci/devices/0000\:04\:00.0/d3cold_allowed"
RemainAfterExit=yes
TimeoutSec=0

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Then run as root do the following:

root #

systemctl enable macbook-suspend.service

Reboot to apply changes.

Note
This command must be executed from root, and ideally on startup, since the file is rewritten to '1' on startup (which is why we would like to put it into the script just like 'macbook-quirks' for Touchbar fix). Even then resume is incredible slow and takes up to a minute, probably due to additional bugs. For the 15" models with additional AMD GPU resume only works when using the internal Intel GPU.

Swapping fn and control keys

In order to swap fn and control keys, do the following.

Create file /etc/modprobe.d/swap-fn-control-keys with the following content:

FILE /etc/modprobe.d/swap-fn-control-keys

options applespi fnremap=1

Save file and exit.

Reboot to apply changes.

Intel GPU

By default, Intel GPU is disabled on 2016 15" model that does have discrete graphics.

This requires a few additional steps to get working.

Instructions : Make sure the EFI powers on the iGPU :

By default the Intel GPU gets switched off by the MacBook Pro EFI if anything but OS X is booted. So to use the Intel GPU, "apple_set_os" EFI hack needs to be applied either with:

rEFInd version 0.10.0 or above (recommended): http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind

Recent versions of rEFInd have the "apple_set_os" hack built-in. This can enabled it by setting the spoof_osx_version option in refind.conf.

There are several options available on how to do this:

An apple_set_os.efi through unmodified EFI bootloader: apple_set_os.efi

A patched GRUB:PATCH-Add apple_set_os command or Getting_the_integrated_intel_card_to_work_on_11.2C3

A patched Kernel: Patched kernel

Otherwise not doing this step would result in powered-down integrated graphics card and a black screen.

Spoofing apple_set_os.efi with GRUB

Since Intel GPU won't load if we don't spoof MacOS into EFI (which makes our MacBook think that we are actually booting into MacOS) we would need to add an extra apple_set_os.efi file to EFI folder.

Since there are several ways mentioned above to achieve this, probably the easiest would be through unmodified EFI bootloader entry (first option).

Note that the following steps below do not involve GRUB or kernel patching.

Execute the following commands as root:

root #

cd /boot/EFI/EFI/custom

root #

wget https://github.com/0xbb/apple_set_os.efi/releases/download/v1/apple_set_os.efi

Now we need to edit GRUB:

FILE /etc/grub.d/40_custom

# Add the following lines:
search --no-floppy --set=root --label EFI
chainloader (${root})/EFI/custom/apple_set_os.efi
boot

Creating Intel configuration file

Create the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf with the following content:

FILE /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf

Section "Device"
	Identifier "Intel Graphics"
	Driver "intel"
	BusID "PCI:0:2:0"
	Option "TearFree" "true"
	Option "AccelMethod" "glamor"
EndSection

Installing GPU switch and switching to Intel GPU

Execute the following commands as root:

root #

git clone https://github.com/0xbb/gpu-switch

root #

cd gpu-switch

root #

./gpu-switch -i # needs root. switches system to iGPU. needs reboot.

Now Intel card should be working with proper HiDPI detection! AMD driver can also be blacklisted in /etc/modprobe.d/amdgpu.conf by adding blacklist amdgpu to the end of the file.

FILE /etc/modprobe.d/amdgpu.conf

blacklist amdgpu

Note that we can add this as GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX parameters:

FILE /etc/default/grub

GRUB_DEFAULT=0 // default menu entry
GRUB_TIMEOUT=10 // timeout in second after menu is displayed
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="modprobe.blacklist=amdgpu acpi_backlight=intel_backlight"

After this regenerate grub.conf

root #

grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Carefully review these steps before rebooting.

If something goes wrong, revert these steps and fallback to AMDGPU with these commands:

root #

cd gpu-switch

root #

./gpu-switch -d # switches system back to dGPU. needs reboot.

Troubleshooting

Touchbar stopped working

Sometimes, touchbar may fail to load.

This can happen e.g. when performing reboot.

In this case, do a full power off.

Alternatively, try to boot into macOS, then power off the machine and power on again.

Last thing, try to rebuild dkms and reload the 'macbook-quirks' service.

It is unknown why this happens, but doing the steps above may fix this issue.

Suspend fix does not work

Please read the 'note' part of this section.

For 2016 15" model Intel GPU may need to be forced and discrete AMD GPU Graphics needs to be disabled.

Alternatively, suspend can be disabled completely by setting it either to 'Do nothing' or 'Power off'.

Additional note: it is possible that keyboard backlight will stay on. Keyboard backlight may be turned off completely before performing suspend operation.

Hibernate does not work

Even after applying fix for Suspend, hibernate will remain broken.

Executing loginctl hibernate will power off the system completely.

Battery drains fast

Sadly, power management will remain the issue as some hardware parts draw power unnecessarily.

The best recommendation is to run Gentoo Linux while plugged in wall charger.

Trackpad gestures not working as expected

Trackpad should work out of the box, but sensitivity may not be as smooth as on MacOS.

To increase smoothness, consider switching from libinput to mtrack driver by following this guide: Making the best of Macbook Air touchpad on Ubuntu

Note
Steps are intended for Xorg and guide is probably old, so this remains untested.

Resume is slow

Even when suspend fix is applied and works as intended, it may take about minute to fully resume Macbook from sleep.

This is a known issue and nothing can be done to fix it currently.

External resources

The Arch Linux wiki is a very good reference.
To read more about setting up an encrypted rootfs on lvm Funtoo has a great article.
For more about macOS partitioning check this MacOS Partitioning Guide
Helpful resources that are from this guide can be found here: State of Linux on the MacBook Pro 2016 & 2017
Repository containing fixes from this guide can be found here: Macbook 12 SPI driver
Same guide, but with more details about partitioning part: https://dev.to/cmiranda/linux-on-macbook-pro-2016-1onb

References

↑ Knuth Posern. [PATCH] thunderbolt: Allow loading of module on recent Apple MacBooks with thunderbolt 2 controller, LKML, September 20th, 2015. Retrieved on December 4th, 2015.

[thunderbolt-hotplug-1] Knuth Posern. [PATCH] thunderbolt: Allow loading of module on recent Apple MacBooks with thunderbolt 2 controller, LKML, September 20th, 2015. Retrieved on December 4th, 2015.

[1]

Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (2016, Intel, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)

Introduction

What works out of the box:

What doesn't work out of the box:

What remains broken:

Hardware Table

Components

ACPI / Power management

Installation

Choosing boot manager

rEFInd

Getting rEFInd

Installing rEFInd

OpenCore Legacy Patcher

Preparing partitions

Preparing boot USB

Hardware detection tools

Configuring flags

CPU Flags

GPU Flags

Kernel configuration

Configuration

Installing tools

Dracut configuration

Building modules

Touchbar

Wi-Fi

Sound

Camera

Suspend

Swapping fn and control keys

Intel GPU

Spoofing apple_set_os.efi with GRUB

Creating Intel configuration file

Installing GPU switch and switching to Intel GPU

Troubleshooting

Touchbar stopped working

Suspend fix does not work

Hibernate does not work

Battery drains fast

Trackpad gestures not working as expected

Resume is slow

See also

External resources

References