linux-apple-resources

Instructions to boot Linux on A7-A11 Apple devices.

Excluded devices:

• HomePod (not tested, so no device tree included)
• T2 (broken bootloader)

Supported firmware versions: iOS/iPadOS/tvOS 9.0 - 18.0

Preparing files

Required files

• checkra1n 1337
• PongoOS (with bootm)
• Linux Kernel branch asahi
• m1n1-idevice
• pongoterm.c
• An arm64 initramfs, an example is included here as well.

Prebuilt PongoOS and m1n1 binaries can be found in this repository.

pongoterm.c compile instructions

Linux:

cc pongoterm.c -DUSE_LIBUSB -Os -lusb-1.0 -o pongoterm

macOS:

clang -x objective-c pongoterm.c -framework IOKit -framework CoreFoundation -framework Foundation -Os -o pongoterm

Kernel config

Enable:

• CONFIG_ARCH_APPLE

Platform Selection
  -> Apple Silicon SoC family

For A7-A8, enable:

• CONFIG_ARM64_4K

Kernel Features
  -> Page size (4KB)

For A9-A11, enable:

• CONFIG_ARM64_16K

Kernel Features
  -> Page size (16KB)

When trying to run on A10(X) also enable:

• CONFIG_ARM64_WORKAROUND_APPLE_FUSION

Kernel Features
  -> ARM errata workarounds via the alternatives framework
    -> Apple Hurricane-Zephyr: Variations between physical P-core and E-core presented as a single logical core

Prepare m1n1 blob

Assuming you are in the m1n1 source tree, the command should look like this.

cat build/m1n1.bin <(echo 'chosen.bootargs=<kernel command line here>')  \
	/path/to/linux-apple/arch/arm64/boot/dts/apple/*.dtb \
	/path/to/linux-apple/arch/arm64/boot/Image.gz  \
	/path/to/initramfs.gz  > m1n1-linux.bin

Booting

DFU mode

You can use palera1n to help you enter DFU mode. Command: palera1n -Dl

Instructions to enter DFU without palera1n.

Booting PongoOS

Run checkra1n as root:

sudo /path/to/checkra1n -pEk /path/to/Pongo.bin

Booting m1n1 and kernel

After booting pongoOS, run pongoterm as root:

printf '/send /path/to/m1n1-linux.bin\nbootm\n' | sudo pongoterm