iMac 7,1 (2007) Struggles with Ubuntu Budgie 24.04 – GRUB, Splash, and Broadcom WiFi Issues

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I’m using Ubuntu Budgie 24.04 LTS on my 20-inch Intel Core 2 Duo iMac 7,1 (4GB RAM, ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO) because of its looks and performance :heart_eyes:… but oh boy, the struggles!

Main Issues:

  1. GRUB/Plymouth splash screen is ‘out of range’ (wrong resolution? :clown_face:).

  2. Broadcom BCM4321 WiFi – Linux Mint and Elementary OS detect the firmware but fail to make it work in Budgie. (*Yes, I know it’s a garbage module… but it’s hilarious that Apple paired it with such a sleek machine! :*:rofl::rofl::rofl: ).

  3. Ubuntu Budgie 25.04 won’t even boot (Install crashes, whether made with Mint’s Disk Creator, Ventoy, or Balena Etcher :confused:).

For now, 24.04 LTS is the only version that runs semi-stably (GPU works fine after boot :nerd_face:). But I’d love temporary fixes for these issues if possible!.. Let’s be honest: putting GNU/Linux on pre-2009 iMacs is the ultimate rebellious tech challenge!

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Hi @teiggan!

Um… and what exactly is the problem? :thinking:

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**"I’m having issues with my iMac 71 running Ubuntu Budgie:

  1. The splash screen (Plymouth/GRUB) is out of range.

  2. My WiFi (Broadcom BCM4321) isn’t working, and I haven’t found any practical solutions to fix it properly.

Sorry for my English, I’m Chilean and it’s not my first language."**. :sweat_smile:

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Thanks a lot, @fossfreedom!
No worries, @teiggan, neither is it (I’m French) — and IT isn’t my native language either… :sweat_smile:


Let’s start with the splash “out of range” problem.

Launch UB and open a terminal (Ctrl Alt t).
Enter this line (copy and paste) to edit GRUB parameters:

sudo -H gedit /etc/default/grub


Personally, I would simply disable splash by removing “splash” from line 10: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

But it seems that you can do it another way by uncommenting line 27 #GRUB_TERMINAL=console — i.e. by removing the “#” at the beginning.

After making any changes to this file, save and enter this command to update GRUB configuration:

sudo update-grub

Try each solution one after the other (and only one at a time) and let us know how it goes.


That said, you could also try manually adjusting the splash to your screen resolution as explained in line 31.
When the GRUB menu appears at startup, press “Esc”, then enter “videoinfo” after the prompt. Note the dimensions of your screen.

Restart UB, edit “/etc/default/grub” file as before, uncomment line 32 #GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480, enter the correct dimensions, save and run sudo update-grub.

Does it works?


Once that’s done, I’ll try to explain the second problem. :grin: