Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@mkurz

mkurz/readme.md

Forked from flightmansam/readme.md
Created December 11, 2024 23:54
Show Gist options
  • Save mkurz/d835c4fd926f54d46de0956d81ae5ca1 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Save mkurz/d835c4fd926f54d46de0956d81ae5ca1 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Download ZIP
Using a Studio Display with asahi linux
Raw
readme.md

Preface: I f**king love where Asahi linux is going. After installing it on my macbook pro a year ago I have had an absolute blast getting it all up and running. I haven't ever had so much fun just enjoying the experience of an operating system.

I am one of those apple fanbois who setup a mac and a Studio Display. I have been itching to connect my display. But as I eagerly await USB-C DP (alt) mode support in Asahi I must make do with using the HDMI port of my Asahi Linux MacBook Pro. For those playing along at home, the Studio Display has only a usb-c port for display input. People (including Apple's own ambiguous advertising) mistake this to be a Thunderbolt only display however it is very happy connecting to any device that supports USB-C DP (alt) (I was even using my phone as a daily driver with the display for a cheeky bit there). Perhaps that's my fuzziness around the topic of USB-C/Thunderbolt3/4

I have been successful in connecting my display to the asahi linux macbook pro (M1 Pro 16") with two different methods.

!Note this solution only works for Asahi compatible devices that have a HDMI port!

Method 1 (video only).

  1. Connect HDMI port to an active HDMI->DP converter (I used this one)
  2. Connect the DP to a DP->USB-C (alt) converter (I used this one)
  3. Profit! I even use this technique to connect my nintendo switch to it 😈

This method has no audio (speakers in the display are USB-C devices). The method can't change brightness using DDC (because Apple).

Method 2 (usb and video)

  1. Connect HDMI port to an active HDMI->DP converter (I have tried a few converters, details below)
  2. Connect DP to a DP->USB-C 'centralizer' (bridge?). These are rare to find easily. I had to import one direct from the taiwanese manufacturer. I used this one.
  3. Profit and listen to your tunes!

HDMI->DP converters:

  • comsol 5K (5120x2880) never worked and could not push 4K (3840x2160) resolution without overheating/crashing. For this one I am stuck using it in 1440p with solid performance.
  • cablechick This works well at 4K resolution but once again 5K is not possible (neither ever advertised as such).

Brightness:
There is a user space tool to set brightness (it might be related to the author of the patch). It works great! I have written a gnome quick settings slider to control the brightness using this tool.

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment