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How to use Linux to renovate the old MacBook, I believe that many inexperienced people are at a loss about this. Therefore, this paper summarizes the causes and solutions of the problem. Through this article, I hope you can solve this problem.

Recently, I've been using Linux Mint to renovate old laptops. I'd like to try it on this MacBook Air. I downloaded Linux Mint 20.1 ISO and created a USB initiator using Popsicle on my Linux desktop.

Popsicle ISO burner next, I connect the Thunderbolt Ethernet adapter to the MacBook and plug in the USB initiator. I powered on the system and pressed the Option key on the MacBook to instruct it to boot the system from the USB drive.

Linux Mint has no problem booting in real-time boot mode, but the operating system does not recognize the wireless connection.

Where is my wireless network?

That's because Broadcom, the company that makes WiFi cards for Apple devices, doesn't release open source drivers. This is in sharp contrast to Intel, Atheros and many other chipmakers, but it is the chipset used by Apple, so this is a common problem on MacBook.

I am wired to Ethernet through my Thunderbolt adapter, so I am online. From previous research, I know that in order for the wireless adapter to work on this MacBook, I need to execute three separate commands on the Bash terminal. However, during the installation process, I learned that Linux Mint has a good built-in driver manager that provides a simple graphical user interface to help install the software.

After the Linux Mint Driver Manager operation was completed, I restarted the newly refurbished MacBook Air with Linux Mint 20.1 installed. The Broadcom wireless adapter works properly, allowing me to easily connect to my wireless network.

Manually install Wirel

You can accomplish the same task from the terminal. First, remove the remnants of the Broadcom kernel source code.

$sudo apt-get purge bcmwl-kernel-source

Then add a firmware installer:

$sudo apt install firmware-b43-installer

Finally, install the new firmware for the system:

$sudo apt install linux-firmware uses Linux as your Mac

I installed the Phoronix test suite to get system information for MacBook Air.

The MacBook Phoronix Test Suite output system works well. The latest update to kernel 5.4.0-64-generic shows that the wireless connection still exists and that my connection to my home network is 866Mbps. Broadcom's FaceTime camera doesn't work, but everything else works.

I like the Linux Mint Cinnamon 20.1 desktop on this MacBook very much.

Linux Mint Cinnamon if you have an old MacBook that is slow and unusable due to macOS updates, I suggest you try Linux Mint. I was very impressed with this release, especially how it works on my MacBook Air. It undoubtedly extends the life of this powerful little laptop.

After reading the above, have you mastered how to use Linux to renovate the old MacBook? If you want to learn more skills or want to know more about it, you are welcome to follow the industry information channel, thank you for reading!

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