Ubuntu Budgie on Imac 2017 No Sound

I use unibootin to create a bootable usb with the linux .iso, You can also use Balenaetcher or Mac Linux Usb Loader
I partitioned my ssd external into 3 partitions, 1 800 G with macos journaled + and 1 partition with 100 g in EXFAT, the last one in a little 1 g partition to use as EFI EXFAT

Boot from usb using the ALT key. In ubuntu install the distro. use manual install
use EFI partition as EFI Boot
use the fat32 partition as EXT4 formatted and / as root
Check the disk name eg sda2 or sda3 of the EXT4 volume and select the correct one in the bottom left corner
click on install now and all works perfectly,

An external SSD on a thunderbolt port gives very good performances,

but something’s not working
 or has your audio been resolved?

First, disconnect any external audio devices from your computer. Also disconnect any cables from the USB, Thunderbolt, FireWire, or 3.5mm audio ports.

Apple suggests removing all cables including thunderbolt cables while troubleshooting audio trouble. Please try unplugging the thunderbolt drive and boot directly from the USB installer. Don’t install the OS overtop your macOS, just test it.

Hi again

just tried Solus, same

One thing I don’t understand
MacOs has discontinued OpenGl/OpenCL in Catalina which means my graphics card is no longer recognized by Blender 2.8 if I want to use it to render eevee. This is to force everyone to use Metal but Blender guys don’t seem to give a hoot.

I installed Windows 10 ( UUUURGH ) and everything worked well in blender with the ATI RADEON 575 PRO
So I thought that a linux bistro would do the same and it doesn’t.
Even after forcing an install of the AMD driver instead of the one in linux it still doesn’t show up in Blender.

I seem to be destined to install an ugly OS like windows just to have that one feature.

I don’t think it’s worth it

So bye bye Ubuntu

well, if you’ve gone this far down the rabbit-hole without any success, try Manjaro? It’s a rolling release of Arch Linux. This looks promising:

https://wiki.manjaro.org/Configure_Graphics_Cards

https://manjaro.org/download/#budgie

Hello

OK Linux has still got a long way to go before non-savvy techs can take it in.
Manjaro seems really good but alas, no sound coming out of the speakers. I did get the ATI card to install a non xorg version but that ended up in a black screen boot up., no way of force booting seeing that the keyboard is a macintosh

Coming from the Mac world where everything JUST works, it’s a little dissapointing. I actually really like the way one can totally customize KDE or Ubuntu, but I’m not ready to go back to school and start to learn programming just to get my sound card to work.

If someone finds a way to get the sound and ATI Radeon cards to work on an iMac 2017 27" I will be much appreciated.

Untill then I’ll stay on my mac


Do remember Apple build their products only for themselves. So it’s not surprising when they make things incompatible with everything but OS-X

Very true, that’s the reason I want to try something else. I find Ubuntu Budgie or Kubuntu very beautiful and it works great on an old MacBook,
What is not so good with Apple is that they decide to change something, like their graphical language Metal , or discontinue OpenGL or whatever and they expect the whole industry to follow in their decisions,
I also really like the idea that Linux is open source.
I just need some help on the hardware side, but I’m really getting tired of reading and trying a lot of tips that don’t seem to work.

Alain I’m sorry there doesn’t seem to be a ready solution (and a little worried for my longer term plan, actually!) If you wanted to eventually move off of macOS/Windows, I suppose you could always sell it and buy/assemble something that would suit you more? I have a number of friends who love love love their mac hardware but just can’t bring themselves to buy another apple product. You’d probably get a good $$ locally on kijiji.

1 Like


 if only I had your hardware I would take a very close look
 :slight_smile:

i can send you the specs of the machine
if you tell me how to get all the infos

Go to About this Mac under the Apple Logo top left corner

The first display will show a circle icon
your macOS version and model of mac
CPU
RAM
GPU
we don’t need the serial number, but it will also be there.
If you open the system report at this point (there’s a button) you can drill down deeper into stuff like your wifi card, audio, controllers - all the mechanics

The system report tells me I am using an iMac 12,1, which has these specs:
https://everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac-core-i5-2.5-21-inch-aluminum-mid-2011-thunderbolt-specs.html

Alain, you have stated you are using an iMac 2017, i7. I would guess this one?
https://everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac-core-i7-3.6-21-inch-aluminum-retina-4k-mid-2017-specs.html

Can you confirm from the system report page (one of the top lines) that you are rocking an iMac 18,2?

This is the type of problem where someone will need physical access (hands on) to diagnose and resolve.

Hi Jason

its an iMac 27" mid 2017
macOS Catalina

iMac18,3
Quad-Core Intel Core i7|
4,2 GHz
Nombre total de cƓurs :4
| Cache de niveau 2 (par cƓur) :256 Ko|
| Cache de niveau 3 :8 Mo|
| Technologie Hyper-Threading :Activé
| MĂ©moire :48 Go|
| Version de la ROM de démarrage :181.0.0.0.0
| Version SMC (systĂšme) :2.41f2

AUDIO
Apple Inc.|

Canaux de sortie :2
DĂ©bit d’échantillonnage actuel :44100
Transport :Intégré
Source de sortie :Haut-parleurs internes

Radeon Pro 575
Type : Processeur graphique
Bus : PCIe
Longueur de la voie PCIe : x16
VRAM (totale) : 4 Go
Fournisseur : AMD (0x1002)
Identifiant du périphérique : 0x67df
Identifiant de révision : 0x00c4
RĂ©vision de la ROM : 113-D000AA-931
Version VBIOS : 113-D0001A1P-025
Version du gestionnaire EFI : 01.00.931
Metal : Pris en charge, modÚle de réglages macOS GPUFamily2 version 1
Moniteurs :
iMac :
Type de moniteur : Écran LCD Retina intĂ©grĂ©
RĂ©solution : Retina 5120 × 2880
Profondeur de mĂ©moire d’image : Couleurs 30 bits (ARGB2101010)
Moniteur principal : Oui
Miroir : Désactivé
Connecté : Oui
Régler la luminosité automatiquement : Non
Type de connexion : Interne

This is all I get on the sound side

I know from Everymac that the sound card is a Cirrus Logic CS4208

If this can help

This kernel bug report mentioned the model 203613 – No sound output on Cirrus Logic CS4208 speaker (Macbook 9,1)

There is a link in that bug report to this site where a reporter said the github code there works for that model

Awesome, thank you FF :slight_smile:
Alain report back for results, I’ll need to know for myself what steps you took to achieve your success

Hello

Thanks for the info
tried it in Ubuntu and Manjaro, no help

I followed all the tut/built it but still no sound, Speakers output shows moving sound meters but nothing to hear.

I love how persistent you are Alain :slight_smile:

I still think it’s the Thunderbolt connection. My neighbour is a research scientist at the University of Toronto, and he loves his mac equipment. He was very disappointed when Apple updated the hardware on a new purchase and he lost the ability to connect to a second Apple Display Monitor in his department. It needed a new kind of cable adapter, but he was dismayed to find the new Thunderbolt connection didn’t transfer audio to the speakers in the previously awesome monitor.

I think FF is correct - we might go back and forth on this endlessly without having some hands on. Did you have a chance to boot directly from the USB installer into the iMac?
I know you previously said you installed Ubuntu Budgie on an external Thunderbolt drive, and that you were very happy with it. I wonder if the issue is that your audio instructions aren’t transferring through the Thunderbolt connection the same way my neighbour’s audio wasn’t transferring through to his Thunderbolt monitor.

Well now then I will need to make a bootcamp on my internal drive to install Ubuntu,
I prefer the external SSD because it keeps my hard drive clean,
Maybe it is the thunderbolt cable, I’ll have to check it out
The bluetooth headphones solution actually works well so I’m going to stop trying to get it working.

For the moment I’m going to see if I can really use it on a daily basis. I am really impressed at Manjaro, it is really customizable and versatile . Thanks for the help.

maybe one day I’ll get a new tip and it’ll work

Please write the image to the USB stick and boot your Mac directly from the USB stick. Then you can test ignoring external factors like the SSD

FF is correct, DON"T install Ubuntu Budgie on your iMac – you are merely using the USB installer to test your hardware against the audio drivers that are already present/built into the installer. You are trying to eliminate the Thunderbolt cable as the source of your audio trouble.

IF the audio works directly from the installer, then you can troubleshoot from there.
Although you do seem cool enough with your bluetooth solution: could you pick up some bluetooth speakers and call it solved?