Mint on a macbook + thunderbolt display?

[Geeklund]

Does anyone run Mint on a macbook with a thunderbolt display and got it working? It works fine if the display is connected at boot time (not the built in USB hub though, just the display). Shows up as DisplayPort in xrandr, so not sure if it's pure displayport or DP over thunderbolt connection. Disconnecting it does nothing (ie xrands still detects it even if it's not there, and windows does not gather on the laptop screen). Reconnecting it leaves the monitor black. If I boot without the monitor attached at all and try to attach it after logging in, it just stays black and isn't recognized at all.

I'm running Kernel 4.16.1 so should have the latest thunderbolt fixes available. Checked devices in /sys/bus/thunderbolt and they all have authorized=1.

I did some googling and people suggested changing some thunderbolt BIOS settings. As this is a macbook, that's not really an option.

I'm new to both linux and Mint so not 100% sure how to troubleshoot. Googled a bit and get the impression that hotplugging thunderbolt monitors should work now, but maybe it needs some setup before the system can properly recognize a TB peripheral? Any help greatly appreciated!

[Hoser Rob]

There are several Thuinderbiilt models and apparently that matters. Which one?

Plus yu haven't included any useful system info at all. Copy/paste this to the terminal and copy/paste the text output here:

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inxi -Fxz

If it's Mint 18.3 ... beginners usually get the newest one so ... a search of "ubuntu 16.04 thunderbolt display" didn't yield much but you may want to look at this:

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1011956 ... untu-16-04

[Geeklund]

Sorry, should have included more info. The Macbook has a Thunderbolt 2 port. Those are backwards compatible to Thunderbolt 1, which is what my screen has. The screeen is a LG 34UM95.

Here is a dump of inxi -Fxz:

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System:    Host: linuxtop Kernel: 4.16.1-041601-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 7.2.0)
           Desktop: Cinnamon 3.6.7 (Gtk 3.18.9) Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia
Machine:   System: Apple (portable) product: MacBookPro11 5 v: 1.0
           Mobo: Apple model: Mac-06F11F11946D27C5 v: MacBookPro11 5
           Bios: Apple v: MBP114.88Z.0177.B00.1708080033 date: 08/08/2017
CPU:       Quad core Intel Core i7-4870HQ (-HT-MCP-) cache: 6144 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 19955
           clock speeds: max: 3700 MHz 1: 928 MHz 2: 1120 MHz 3: 1795 MHz
           4: 1540 MHz 5: 1510 MHz 6: 1784 MHz 7: 1695 MHz 8: 1781 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Venus XT [Radeon HD 8870M / R9 M270X/M370X]
           bus-ID: 01:00.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: ati,radeon (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1440x900@59.99hz, 3440x1440@59.97hz
           GLX Renderer: AMD CAPE VERDE (DRM 2.50.0 / 4.16.1-041601-generic, LLVM 5.0.0)
           GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 17.2.8 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1 Intel 8 Series/C220 Series High Definition Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Card-2 Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Cape Verde/Pitcairn HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 7700/7800 Series]
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 01:00.1
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.16.1-041601-generic
Network:   Card: Broadcom BCM43602 802.11ac Wireless LAN SoC
           driver: brcmfmac bus-ID: 04:00.0
           IF: wlp4s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 500.3GB (18.4% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: APPLE_SSD_SM0512 size: 500.3GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 122G used: 71G (62%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda3
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 17.00GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda5
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 64.0C mobo: N/A gpu: 68.0
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 282 Uptime: 1 min Memory: 1516.7/15916.9MB
           Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.481) inxi: 2.2.35 

xrandr:

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Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 4880 x 1440, maximum 16384 x 16384
eDP connected 1440x900+3440+540 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 331mm x 207mm
   1440x900      59.99*

DisplayPort-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

DisplayPort-1 connected primary 3440x1440+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 800mm x 335mm
   3440x1440     59.97*+  49.99    29.99  

If I pull out the TB cable and run xrandr again, nothing has changed. It still thinks the display is connected.

I have googled it extensively (that page too) and found others with the same issues, but no simple solution. What I haven't tried yet is the manual fix of running a script on some low level system trigger when you hotplug devices and reset the display drivers that someone suggested, but it seems there would be a better fix than that available.

[Hoser Rob]

Sorry, should have included more info. The Macbook has a Thunderbolt 2 port. ... What I haven't tried yet is the manual fix of running a script on some low level system trigger when you hotplug devices and reset the display drivers that someone suggested, but it seems there would be a better fix than that available.

What script? Link? If it's intended for Ubuntu 14.04 or earlier I wouldn't recommend it necessarily. You're using a Ubuntu 16.04 based OS and need answers that work in 16.04. I can't find anything that wiorks in 16.04, simple or not. Maybe someone else will.

[Geeklund]

What script? Link? If it's intended for Ubuntu 14.04 or earlier I wouldn't recommend it necessarily. You're using a Ubuntu 16.04 based OS and need answers that work in 16.04. I can't find anything that wiorks in 16.04, simple or not. Maybe someone else will.

Hm, I lost the link now, will see if I can dig it up later. Anyway, what they did was use udev to run scripts that in turn removed / re-added the screenmode with xrandr.
I tried

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udevadm monitor

and got this on unplug/replug:

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KERNEL[1004.375121] remove   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.1/0000:06:00.0/0000:07:00.0/0000:08:00.0/domain0/0-0/0-3 (thunderbolt)
UDEV  [1004.375760] remove   /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.1/0000:06:00.0/0000:07:00.0/0000:08:00.0/domain0/0-0/0-3 (thunderbolt)
KERNEL[1012.798216] add      /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.1/0000:06:00.0/0000:07:00.0/0000:08:00.0/domain0/0-0/0-3 (thunderbolt)
UDEV  [1012.799019] add      /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.1/0000:06:00.0/0000:07:00.0/0000:08:00.0/domain0/0-0/0-3 (thunderbolt)

So, the hotplug itself seems to work. I also checked the /sys/bus/thunderbolt/ folder and sure enough the device disappears / reappears there, even recognized by name and vendor. The issue is just that it never "initializes". On unplug xrandr doesn't see it go away, and on plugging back in the display does not light up (and the usb hub is not recognized). I even tried the above method of turning the monitor off and then on / adding the correct resolution with xrandr after re-plugging, but nothing happens.

[Hoser Rob]

But the important thing is, is that script meant for Ubuntu 16.04/Mint 18.x? Because as far as I can tell the previous solutions failed when that came out.

[Geeklund]

But the important thing is, is that script meant for Ubuntu 16.04/Mint 18.x? Because as far as I can tell the previous solutions failed when that came out.

I did not copy / paste the exact script, because it was two lines. first "xrandr <options to disable the display>" and then "xrandr <options to enable display>". Ie just two commands. And since my ports, resolutions and such differed anyway, I just tried running that in the terminal to see if it would re-activate the monitor. The rest of the article was about hooking this up to run automatically on hotplugging, but as it doesn't work, I didn't bother. So that's not the issue.