content/blog/2025-05-02-asahi-linux.org

  1#+date:        <2025-05-02 Friday 21:10:00>
  2#+title:       Performance and Compatibility Report of Asahi Linux on Apple M2 MacBook Pro 16"
  3#+description: Documented analysis of installation procedure, system performance, and software compatibility for running Asahi Linux on the Apple M2 MacBook Pro 16-inch model.
  4#+slug:        asahi-linux
  5#+filetags:    :mac:apple:linux:
  6
  7* Trying out Asahi Linux
  8
  9While debating if I should find a replacement laptop and get rid of my MacBook
 10Pro, I decided to try [[https://asahilinux.org/][Asahi Linux]].
 11
 12To put the bottom line up front, I love the experience and support for popular
 13features has come a long way since I originally checked out their website a few
 14years ago.
 15
 16From Asahi's website, as seen below, I noticed that almost all targeted features
 17are now supported. This is a great jump from the state it was at in 2022 - 2023
 18when I last checked.
 19
 20#+caption: Asahi Linux Device Support
 21[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20250502-asahi-linux/device_support.png]]
 22
 23** Installation
 24
 25Luckily, the installation process is as simple as getting started with a single
 26command:
 27
 28#+begin_src shell
 29curl https://alx.sh | sh
 30#+end_src
 31
 32This script will walk you through the standard installation steps to define the
 33size of the Linux partition, define your user and hostname, and give you
 34instructions on how to boot from the new operating system (OS).
 35
 36Once the script completes, it will ask you to completely shut down the device,
 37boot into the Startup Options menu, and follow a handful of prompts to enable
 38your new OS.
 39
 40** Initial Thoughts
 41
 42By default, the installer suggests using the KDE (as does the online community),
 43so I opted to try KDE. Historically, I have always been a Gnome user when
 44utilizing a fully graphical desktop environment (DE), but I'm up for trying
 45something new.
 46
 47KDE on Asahi works wonderfully and supports all of the generic features I'd
 48expect from a vanilla installation:
 49
 50- Snap to tile
 51- Shell and window themes
 52- Graphical updates
 53- Sensible default applications (Dolphin, Firefox, KMail, Konsole, KWrite)
 54- Support for battery percentages, keyboard backlight control, and miscellaneous
 55  sensor controls
 56- Fast and reliable bluetooth adoption
 57- Native game pad support
 58
 59Here's a quick look at the default desktop. In subsequent screenshots, you'll
 60see I started using the WhiteSur theme as it provides a more comfortable layout
 61for macOS users.
 62
 63#+caption: KDE
 64[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20250502-asahi-linux/kde.png]]
 65
 66When diving into the system information panel, we can see that this machine is
 67running Fedora Linux Asahi Remix 42 on an Apple M2 Pro laptop with 16GB of RAM.
 68
 69#+caption: System Information
 70[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20250502-asahi-linux/sysinfo.png]]
 71
 72As I noted above, the first thing I did after installing Asahi and taking a few
 73screenshots was to install and change themes.
 74
 75I prefer the WhiteSur theme, as I used this theme previously on Linux before I
 76switched to macOS. However, I also like themes that incorporate the gruvbox
 77color palette, as well as the Nothing theme that uses a dark black and red color
 78palette.
 79
 80#+caption: Themes
 81[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20250502-asahi-linux/themes.png]]
 82
 83One of the things I use my laptop for the most is consuming media (music,
 84television shows, movies, etc.), so I had to make sure that my bluetooth devices
 85would connect properly.
 86
 87As you can see in the screenshot below, my AirPods Pro 2 connect seamlessly and
 88are available for use. By going through the normal button-holding process, I was
 89able to pair my AirPods in about 10 seconds.
 90
 91However, I have noticed that Asahi doesn't support some of the advanced AirPod
 92capabilities like pausing media when you remove an AirPod from your ear. The
 93lack of these advanced features doesn't bother me, but some people may be.
 94
 95#+caption: Bluetooth
 96[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20250502-asahi-linux/bluetooth.png]]
 97
 98Next, I was able to connect my PS5 controller via USB-C and Asahi picked up the
 99connect instantly in the settings menu. You can move the sticks and press all of
100the buttons to see if they're recognized within this settings menu.
101
102#+caption: Game Pad Settings
103[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20250502-asahi-linux/gamepad_settings.png]]
104
105I had a bit of an issue launching Steam the first time, as I was getting an AVC
106Denial error from SELinux. To fix this, I had to manually allow the Steam
107application access to the requested resources:
108
109#+begin_src shell
110sudo ausearch -c 'passt' --raw | sudo audit2allow -M my-passt
111sudo semodule -X 300 -i my-passt.pp
112#+end_src
113
114While my MacBook only has 16GB of RAM, which seems to be the bare minimum
115required for the virtualization overhead, I was able to test one or two games
116before they crashed due to RAM errors.
117
118However, I did confirm that my PS5 controller worked natively with these games
119on Steam! I don't think I will be gaming much on this laptop anyway, but it
120seems you should have at least the 32GB models if you want to game on Asahi.
121
122** Software Support
123
124One thing to keep in mind is that Apple silicon chips (M*) are based on the ARM
125architecture, which means you will need to install software that supports ARM
126(i.e., ARM64/aarch64).
127
128While I have run into a handful of applications that do not have an ARM package
129available, it is not as difficult as it used to be to find suitable apps for all
130purposes on ARM.
131
132*** Signal Desktop
133
134One specific application that has been causing issues is [[https://signal.org/][Signal]]. The download
135page on their website will prompt you to install their Debian-based package,
136which does not work on RPM-based systems (or any other distribution except
137Debian & downstreams, such as Ubuntu).
138
139There are a few different websites offering potential solutions, but I settled
140on the [[https://github.com/kenballus/asahi-signal-desktop/][asahi-signal-desktop]] repository for now.
141
142#+begin_quote
143One thing to note is that this script does not work with all versions of Signal.
144I tested out 7.53.0 and found that the installer did not work at all.
145
146I had to use 7.44.0, as noted in the project's README, for the script to work.
147#+end_quote
148
149The installation process is simple. You can simply clone the repository and run
150the script:
151
152#+begin_src shell
153git clone https://github.com/kenballus/asahi-signal-desktop/
154cd asahi-linux-desktop
155./install_signal.sh 7.44.0
156#+end_src
157
158At this point, Signal should work. However, I have run into constant crashing
159issues, so it's not a great solution.
160
161[[https://github.com/AsamK/signal-cli][signal-cli]] may work, but I have not tested this yet on Asahi. Before I used
162macOS, I used [[https://github.com/isamert/scli][scli]], which provides a TUI for the signal-cli utility and it
163worked wonderfully.
164
165* Final Thoughts
166
167I am still in the early days of testing out Asahi Linux, so I will be sure to
168come back and update this post occasionally, but I am very happy with the user
169experience so far. Everything is smooth and I am still able to experience the
170great hardware of the Macbook with the software of Linux.
171
172In addition to the screenshots above, I have been testing out [[https://swaywm.org/][SwayWM]], which is
173slightly more difficult to configure after being away for Linux for a couple
174years. Regardless, it's working on Asahi as well and seems to be suitable for
175daily driving.
176
177Overall, I am glad there's continued support for Asahi and will be supporting
178them through their Open Collective going forward. Cheers to the Asahi team on
179such a great product.