Users who are interested in Asahi Linux on their Mac should check which Apple-Silicon chip you have in your device. The current M4 models, like the predecessor, have so far been unsupported. One of the developers, Sven Peter, recently announced on Mastodon that one was still focused on macs with M1 and M2. These arm chips came onto the market in Macs in 2022 and 2023.
Bootloader doesn’t want to
“It looks like the support for the M4 for Asahi Linux is quite painful.” One is still concentrating on the “upstreaming” of the M1 and M2 support. “But a few people tried (the boot loader) m1n1 To bring the M4 and it looks like a few things have changed. “You are now being thrown into an environment” in which (Apple’s Secure Page Table Monitor) runs in the GL2 register and we should communicate with him from EL2 (Exception Level 2) with already activated memory management to set up page table. This does not work for Linux or for the execution of XNU under our hypervisor to carry out reverse engineering of the new hardware. “
What this means for practical feasibility is still unclear. Even with a RAW boat object, all Apple-specific extensions would probably be turned off. Linux itself does not interfere, but there is no possibility of insight into the hardware. Peter and other team members are not yet sure what the schedule looks like. Information about the M3 – which is even more widespread than the more current M4 – have not yet been given.
Asahi Linux with changes to the project tip
Most recently, the Asahi team had changed again. Project manager Hector Martin had for burnout and community conflicts Already became the towel in February. His criticisms were that he was repeatedly asked – including when the support for M3 and M4 finally comes.
“No matter how much we did, how many impossible things we did, people wanted more and more. And more. In the meantime, the donations and commitments have decreased slowly, and that since the project started,” said Martin in his farewell posting.
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