This post is not a review of Ubuntu 8.04 per-se but it will describe the compatibility and performance of the operating system with my 2nd generation Macbook.

Macbook2,1 Specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.16 GHz
1GB DDR2 SDRAM 667 MHz (2x 512MB)
120 GB Hitachi Hard Drive
HL-DT-ST DVDRW  GSA-S10N (LG DVD Drive)
Intel GMA 950 Graphics
Atheros Wi-Fi
Intel HD Audio
Apple Bluetooth

Note that this is my personal experience with Ubuntu 8.04 on my Macbook. YMMV.

Installation

I wiped the entire hard drive clean using Ubuntu’s installer to avoid partitioning issues described in a bug. Other than that, installation is extremely straightforward and flawless.

Wireless

The lack of MadWifi drivers in Hardy continue the annoyance of tethering your laptop to an RJ-45 cable to manually download and compile the drivers to get online. My preferred method is to install the Windows Atheros drivers with Ndiswrapper. The instructions for doing so are in the Ubuntu documentation.

The wireless gear that are on my network are configured to have a static IP address for organizational purposes. Once the Atheros drivers are installed, I couldn’t get static IPs to work even with the correct desired IP address, subnet mask, DNS Server, and router address from my working Windows and OSX. I tried both Ndiswrapper and MadWifi drivers and neither of them can get the Internet on a static IP. Maybe I’m just doing it wrong (?).

Trackpad

To be honest the default trackpad settings in a fresh installation is terrible. In OSX, a light brush of the trackpad is enough to move the cursor. However, in Ubuntu more pressure must be applied to the trackpad to increase the surface area that is in contact. This raises an issue with moist fingers that do not slide smoothly. In addition, sometimes a quick brush may register as a click, which will often cause undesired actions such as unfocusing a window, or accidentally clicking on a link.  The scroll bar is on the right side of the trackpad, which is not really a problem once you realize it’s there. Because the Apple trackpad has only one button, right clicking is impossible with the default settings.

Fortunately, a much better configuration exists and replacing it in /etc/X11/xorg.conf  with this little gem from the Ubuntu documentation is a relief.

Section “InputDevice”
Identifier “Synaptics Touchpad”
Driver “synaptics”
Option “SendCoreEvents” “true”
Option “Device” “/dev/psaux”
Option “Protocol” “auto-dev”
Option “SHMConfig” “true”
Option “LeftEdge” “10″
Option “RightEdge” “1200″
Option “TopEdge” “10″
Option “BottomEdge” “370″
Option “FingerLow” “10″
Option “FingerHigh” “20″
Option “MaxTapTime” “180″
Option “MaxTapMove” “220″
Option “SingleTapTimeout” “100″
Option “MaxDoubleTapTime” “180″
Option “LockedDrags” “off”
Option “MinSpeed” “1.10″
Option “MaxSpeed” “1.30″
Option “AccelFactor” “0.08″
Option “TapButton1″ “1″
Option “TapButton2″ “3″
Option “TapButton3″ “2″
Option “RTCornerButton” “0″
Option “RBCornerButton” “0″
Option “LTCornerButton” “0″
Option “LBCornerButton” “0″
Option “VertScrollDelta” “20″
Option “HorizScrollDelta” “50″
Option “HorizEdgeScroll” “0″
Option “VertEdgeScroll” “0″
Option “VertTwoFingerScroll” “1″
Option “HorizTwoFingerScroll” “1″
EndSection

This configuration will increase the sensitivity, add right clicking via two finger tap, scrolling with two fingers, and middle clicking with three fingers (which is something even OSX doesn’t have)! It would be nice if that configuration comes with a fresh install.

Keyboard

During install, I chose “US – Macintosh” as my keyboard. The function keys work just fine. A press of the F keys will toggle screen and volume settings and fn + F keys will result in the actual F1, F2, F3, etc. (Almost identical to OSX.) :)

Graphics

Compiz 3D effects worked straight away and ran quite smoothly with extra effects. No additional drivers needed. :)

At home, I like to use my external monitor (Samsung SyncMaster 225BW) instead of the laptop’s screen. Using Ubuntu with that DVI monitor works, but somewhat strangely. In the Screen Resolution application, I set the external to its native resolution, 1680×1050 and my laptop’s screen to “Off.” Chances are, once I apply the settings my external will display a garbled screen. After much experimenting, I realized that I must move the mouse around the screen as I apply the setting to temporarily prevent it. (Looks like bug#209528)
I posted a video of the problem here. Note: The distorted screen appears only at higher resolutions, including 1280×1024.

iSight

Does not work out of the box but I didn’t try to install the drivers. Instructions are in the Ubuntu documentation. Linux distros seem to lack a high quality web conferencing client anyway.

Sound and Microphone

Worked out of the box, but seems a little quiet even when volume controls are set to maximum. The volume slider is also not very smooth. The first ~0%-50% produced almost no volume difference and ~70%-100% changes the volume significantly which suggests that the slider is not logarithmic. There is a section in the Ubuntu Documentation that may help, but I experienced distortion at high volumes. I had to enable and unmute “Surround” inside volume controls. With enough experimenting to find a satisfactory setting, it may not be a critical issue.

Did not test the microphone, but it seems to be a simple volume issue.

Other

Bluetooth

Seems to be working out of the box.

iPod Touch/iPhone

I was disappointed when I realized my iPod Touch does not work as well as I thought it would after reading some stuff about it. The package ipod-convenience does enable the iPod to be mounted wirelessly but the software constantly crashes and freezes my desktop, turning several processes into zombies. I understand that the iPhone/iPod Touch software is completely different under the hood so there’s nothing to do but wait.

For those who are interested in trying it out, this is the article I used.

Battery

My informal testing felt like Ubuntu and OSX has the same battery life when Ubuntu is running nothing but the bare essentials (such as Ndiswrapper) and OSX is running a bunch of processes in the background during my casual use (including Wifi, CoverSutra, Google Notifier, Time Machine, Dashboard Widgets). Naturally, I assume that running OSX a roughly equal load will offer a longer battery life. The battery life when running Ubuntu is rather disappointing.

Etc.

Also, I also notice that applications very often hang such as Firefox and Synaptic. Importing my collection of mp3s into Banshee (my preferred media player) froze the application after every 400th imported song or so. I had to kill the process to quit Banshee. These rough edges may not be caused by the hardware, but I think they should be noted.

Conclusion

Ubuntu has made great strides from previous versions fixing bit by bit with every version. There are, however, some annoyances that are present such as the garbled external display.  In general, Hardy Heron is a good and usable on a 2nd generation Macbook after some post-installation setup, especially if you don’t care about external displays, webcam conferencing, etc. A huge annoyance for me was the external display issue because I use it very often. The two deal breakers for me were unsatisfactory iPod Touch support and battery life. I will switch back to OSX but still continue experimenting with Linux.

References: Ubuntu Community Documentation