Arch Linux on MacbookPro9,2 (2012)

macbookpro92_arch.md

• Arch Linux
• Encrypted volume on RAID1
• UEFI Boot with grub
• Tweaks for MacbookPro

System install

Assuming the system has 2 identical disks of same size for RAID1 (mirroring):

sgdisk --clear /dev/sda
sgdisk --new=1:0:+512M --typecode=1:ef00 --change-name=1:"EFI System" /dev/sda
sgdisk --new=2:0:0 --typecode=2:fd00 --change-name=2:"Linux RAID" /dev/sda

# Copy partition table to second disk
sgdisk --replicate=/dev/sdb /dev/sda
sgdisk --randomize-guids /dev/sdb

RAID setup

# Create RAID1 for root partition
mdadm --create /dev/md0 --level=1 --raid-devices=2 /dev/sda2 /dev/sdb2

# Monitor RAID sync (optional)
watch cat /proc/mdstat

Encryption setup

# Encrypt RAID array
cryptsetup luksFormat /dev/md0
cryptsetup open /dev/md0 cryptroot

# Create filesystems
mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sda1  # EFI partition (only one needed)
mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sdb1  # EFI partition (for redundancy)
mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/cryptroot

Mount and install

# Mount filesystems
mount /dev/mapper/cryptroot /mnt
mkdir -p /mnt/{boot,boot2}
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sdb2 /mnt/boot2

# Install base system
pacstrap /mnt base linux linux-firmware mdadm

# Generate fstab
genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab

System configuration

# Chroot
arch-chroot /mnt

# Basic config
ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Region/City /etc/localtime
hwclock --systohc
echo "en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8" >> /etc/locale.gen
locale-gen
echo "LANG=en_US.UTF-8" > /etc/locale.conf
echo "hostname" > /etc/hostname

# Install essential packages
pacman -S grub efibootmgr networkmanager sudo neovim

# Configure mdadm
mdadm --detail --scan >> /etc/mdadm.conf

# Configure mkinitcpio
vim /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
# HOOKS=(base udev autodetect microcode modconf kms keyboard keymap consolefont block mdadm_udev encrypt filesystems fsck)

# Rebuild initramfs
mkinitcpio -P

Bootloader setup

# Install GRUB
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot --bootloader-id=GRUB
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot2 --bootloader-id=GRUB-BACKUP

# Configure GRUB for encryption
vim /etc/default/grub
# GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="cryptdevice=/dev/md0:cryptroot"

# Generate GRUB config
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Final system setup steps

# Set root password
passwd

# Create user
useradd -m -G wheel username
passwd username
visudo  # Uncomment %wheel ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

# Enable services
systemctl enable NetworkManager

# Exit and reboot
exit
umount -R /mnt
reboot

Post-install RAID monitoring

# Check RAID status
cat /proc/mdstat
mdadm --detail /dev/md0

# Update MAILADDR to
MAILADDR root

# Install mutt
pacman -S mutt

# Enable RAID monitoring
systemctl enable mdmonitor

AUR setup

# install paru
sudo pacman -S --needed base-devel
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/paru.git
cd paru
makepkg -si

Macbook tweaks

Making the fans work

paru -S mbpfan
sudo systemctl enable mbpfan
sudo systemctl start mbpfan

Fixing lid closing to suspend

sudo nvim /etc/systemd/logind.conf

Change the following lines to ignore:

HandleLidSwitch=ignore
HandleLidSwitchExternalPower=ignore
HandleLidSwitchDocked=ignore

Turn display off

sudo nvim /etc/default/grub

# add consoleblank-30 to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX (will turn display off after 30 secs)
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="cryptdevice=/dev/md0:cryptroot consoleblank=30"

Powersaving profile

# thermald
paru -S thermald
sudo systemctl enable thermald
sudo systemctl start thermald

# cpupower
paru -S cpupower
sudo systemctl enable cpupower
sudo systemctl start cpupower

# set governor to powersave mode
cpupower frequency-set -g powersave

# powertop
paru -S powertop

sudo cat > /etc/systemd/system/powertop.service <<EOF
[Unit]
Description=Powertop Service
[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/usr/bin/powertop --auto-tune
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable powertop
sudo systemctl start powertop

Disable bluetooth and webcam

sudo cat > /etc/modprobe.d/50-disabling.conf <<EOF
blacklist bluetooth
blacklist btusb
blacklist uvcvideo
EOF

Trimming everything for powersaving

sudo cat > /etc/modprobe.d/60-snd_hda_intel.conf <<EOF
# Enable Power Saving on Intel HDA Audio
options snd_hda_intel power_save=1
EOF

sudo cat > /etc/modprobe.d/60-i915.conf <<EOF
# Experimental options to improve power saving on Intel Graphics
options i915 enable_rc6=1 enable_fbc=1 lvds_downclock=1
EOF

User shell setup

Fish and starship:

paru -S fish
chsh -s $(which fish)

paru -S starship
echo 'starship init fish | source' >> ~/.config/fish/config.fish

# run fish to reload config

Extra packages

paru -S git htop btop nmon ranger httpie curl wget tar zip unzip less bat lsd byobu gnu-netcat lm_sensors nload openssh rustup