Macbook pro A2141 trouble booting

Hardware Support
1

Hi all,

I really need help on this. I am dual booting Zorin OS with macOS (dont use macOS at all!! its just for safety)

  1. It boots whenever it wants. sometimes i open the lid and it boots. other times i have to keep pressing the power button several times
  2. the apple chime stopped sounding at all when you press the power button
  3. sometimes after shutdown the keyboard light stays on
  4. many times i click power button and fans spin but nothing shows on screen
  5. i am stuck in an infinite loop of booting issues and if i am lucky it works

my grub file looks lke this :slight_smile:

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden
GRUB_TIMEOUT=0
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=( . /etc/os-release; echo ${NAME:-Ubuntu} ) 2>/dev/null || echo Ubuntu
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash intel_iommu=on iommu=pt pcie_ports=native tsc=unstable "
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

3

Hello and welcome,
Try this
Force an SMC (System Management Controller) Reset

This resets the power management firmware on your MacBook:

  • Hold Shift + Control + Option (all on the left side) + Power button for 10 seconds
  • Release all keys
  • Wait 5 seconds, then press Power again to boot

This often unsticks MacBooks from problematic power states

4

it solves it temporarily

my problem is constant

something deeper is wrong

and i am a noob i use AI models to troubleshoot

5

How you know it's temporary?
Does it happened again since you did it ?

6

yes for example when i shut down the keyboard light and fans stay on

or if i click power button nothing happens

7

I suggest you to remove all the grub options you added

sudo nano /etc/default/grub

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

Save (Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter)

sudo update-grub
sudo reboot

reset SMC, after we will see what we can do

8

I agree with Nourpon about the grub options, I believe this model should work without these.
mgz069, I believe A2141 can be either MacbookPro16,1 or MacbookPro16,4: All MacBook Pro with A2141 Model Number: EveryMac.com
If it is MacbookPro16,1, then you can check this page regarding the state of linux on your specific mac model: GitHub - Dunedan/mbp-2016-linux: State of Linux on the MacBook Pro 2016 & 2017 · GitHub

9

its the 16.1 2019 model. out of frustration i did a full format, removed the macos partition and installed a fresh zorin os. lets see how that goes. regar

10

the problem returned again

i installed the t2 dsp audio pack using geminiAI because i dont know how to do it

it seems that after that it has problems shutting down, powering on, stuck in power on -fans on -screen off loop
i strugle with several power ons/offs just to get it working

wtf is wrong?

11

If you have a Mac with T2 chip, here is a help site:

1 Like
12

and this

this also

13

thank u guys i look into them

but because i am a noob and fighting with gemini and claude AI, i went with linux mint because it has a dedicated ISO specifically for my macbook pro a2141. i wasted hours and hours

i have zorin on my desktop machine though and it runs smooth AF