Linux board: Reviving a 16yo MacBook with Linux

Please forgive me for making another Linux thread but I think this deserves its own thread.

After my successful first steps in LInux I was impressed with how “snappy” it made the older hardware feel. I had always heard of how Linux worked well on low spec hardware.

This led me to think of an old white polycarbonate MacBook(4.1) that has been sitting in our hall closet for years waiting to be wiped and recycled. It is a Core 2 Duo model that launched in early 2008. It was stuck on Mac OS 10.6.8. It was supposed to receive one more update I think but at the time the update kept failing and then the battery bulged so bad it popped off and that was the end of the line, or so I thought. It has sat abandoned for years.

The MacBook’s specs:
Core 2 Duo T8300 2.4Ghz so dual core but no hyperthreading etc.
4GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
An OWC SSD
Intel GMA X3100 integrated "graphics processor with 144 MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory
13.3" widescreen TFT active-matrix "glossy" display 1280x800
AirPort Extreme 802.11a/b/g/n

So as you can see, definitely dated tech.

I thought about searching for what would be the best Distro for it but I still had the Zorin Linux flash drive on my desk so I said WTH. I used the power adapter being careful not to disconnect it and held option while powering up to get to the boot menu.

It took a little while but Zorin loaded and I hit install. The install was a little slow but went fine. As I booted into the install There were a few noticed problems.

The ethernet port worked but no wifi. A quick google search and 2 lines in terminal and that was fixed. Well 3 lines since I rebooted with “reboot”.

The next was the touchpad, I thought it wasn’t working correctly but I was wrong. It's just so old it predates “pinch to zoom”. At least 2 finger scroll works.

The webcam doesn’t work. I found out this is a quick fix also but didn’t install the driver since my wife just puts tape over the cameras anyway.

The laptop is surprisingly usable. It functions just fine for basic use. With 6 browser tabs open memory usage is around 60% and while not lightning quick it doesn’t feel sluggish at all. With adblock on the browser is quick to load. The only real limitation is Youtube is best kept at 720 or lower, but at this screen size/resolution it still looks fine. It worked so well I ordered a new battery off of Amazon.

Last night my wife saw it and was surprised I had “fixed: it. We were on the couch watching TV and she picked it up and used it to check on some work emails/admin stuff and surf the web. She is not technical at all and had no idea she was using Linux, I don’t even know if she really knows what Linux is. She liked the layout/appearance and had no problems navigating around.

So now the 16yo MacBook has a new lease on life and will live on the coffee table as a quick grab check-in, surfing machine. This version of Zorin will be supported until at least June 2027, and that will be right at 20 years for this MacBook. That’s pretty incredible.

Somewhere I have an old MacMini that I will give the same treatment when I find it.