Arch Linux

ShipwreckSiren

Member

Registered: 2020-04-19

Posts: 3

Suspend, temperature, screen brightness issues on 2009 Macbook Pro

OS: Arch Linux x86_64
Host: MacBookPro 5,4 1.0
Kernel: 5.6.4-arch1-1
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 (2) @ 2.527GHz
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 9400M

Good afternoon,

I switched to Linux Solus Distribution from Mac OSx in February, and to Arch at the beginning of March. I am running the LARBS package by Luke Smith that uses the i3 gaps WM. Everything works great except for 3 issues that I have not been able to resolve through reading the wiki or googling for similar issues:

1. Suspend/Resume issues.
-LARBS has the computer lock feature mapped to the Super Key + x through slock. If I lock my laptop with this keymap the screen goes black and the Apple logo on the lid turns off. However, upon opening the lid (unless I wait a long time - minutes to hours) I am greeted to a black screen that is unresponsive. I can't enter my password and I can't even enter another tty session. The only way to escape it is to hold the power button until it shuts off and then power it back on. However, if I just close the lid it seems to sleep and when I open the lid again the screen comes back but with no login feature.

I have taken the log files from journalctl over the last few days. I noticed some systemd/ACPI errors and something from network manager (wrong MAC address), but I'm not sure if those errors are important or contributing to this issue. I wasn't sure what to include so I included most of what happened at the time of suspend/resume but I removed some repetitive NetworkManager stuff. I apologize for the length of the logs. Please let me know what else I can provide anyone to help me troubleshoot (or format the logs better on github).

Journalctl logs: https://gist.github.com/ShipwreckSiren/ … 39d4c82d89

2. Temperature and battery issues.
-Before switching from Solus to Arch I ordered a battery and replaced it because mine was no longer holding any charge. While running Solus and Mac OSx my laptop would heat up and get hot if I was running many, or intensive, programs. However, while running only the terminal and a web browser it did not get as hot as it does under Arch. Even if I only use Brave|Chrome|Qutebrowser with 1-3 tabs and one terminal window, my laptop gets pretty hot to the point that I can't set it on my lap without it starting to mildly burn my skin. I know that Chrome is notorious for eating RAM, but it never made my laptop as hot under Solus or MacOSx. Unfortunately my laptop is so old that NVIDIA drivers are no longer supported and the Arch Wiki recommended that I use Nouveau (and optionally install NVIDIA legacy drivers from AUR while uncommenting 'blacklist nouveau' in config). I have done that and it hasn't seemed to make any difference. I've read that some people have had issues with Nouveau causing their computers to run hot, but I'm not sure what else to do. According to the Wiki my laptop should run out of the box and not need packages for fan control. I'm just worried about my components overheating and becoming damaged. I could use NVIDIA but that would mean downgrading Xorg and I'm not sure if every package I have that relies on it would then work. I'm not sure if it's a Nouveau issue or if some systemctl service may be keeping it running hot (pommed perhaps?)

The LARBS package is using i3blocks as the status bar. There is a battery icon there that doesn't seem to be working. It will say as high as 106% if I keep my powercord plugged in, and then it can sometimes say I have 40% battery remaining yet my computer will die. I don't think this is an issue with my actual battery because I just replaced it less than 2 months ago. Could it be possible overheating?

3. Screen Brightness.
-I am unable to change the brightness on my screen. I installed xorg-backlight (which also comes in LARBS) and it doesn't work for me. I installed pommed and this allows me to adjust my keyboard backlights perfectly (and is supposed to do the same for the display, but I can't get it to work).

Please let me know what else I can provide to troubleshoot my issues. I appreciate any help you can offer~

ajayyadav2412

Member

Registered: 2020-04-21

Posts: 11

Re: Suspend, temperature, screen brightness issues on 2009 Macbook Pro

I use xautolock to automatically lock and suspend my arch installation with i3wm. When I don't reboot the system for about 24 hours, xautolock stops working. After reboot it again start working fine. Same thing happens with some other programs too. I have tried reinstalling xautolock but it doesn't work.  reboot is the only option for making them functional, which I don't want. Can anyone give me a fix for this? How can I have my xautolock working fine for many days without rebooting? I don't like rebooting. Any helpful suggestion is welcome. Kindly reply. Thankyou.