# MacBook OBS Linux

## Video Guide

<p align="center">
  <a href="https://youtu.be/WlmAvf7E8nk">
    <img src="https://img.youtube.com/vi/WlmAvf7E8nk/0.jpg" width="700">
  </a>
</p>

Two scripts for getting a MacBook set up for screen recording and streaming on Linux:

1. **facetimehd-installer.sh** — Install the FaceTime HD camera driver
2. **obs-performance-script.sh** — Optimize OBS performance on Linux Mint

## FaceTime HD Camera Installer

Gets the built-in FaceTime HD camera working on Linux for older MacBooks (2012-2017 models with the Broadcom 1570 PCIe camera).

### Compatible Models

- MacBook Air (A1466, A1369, and similar)
- MacBook Pro (2012-2017 models)
- iMac (2012-2017 models)

> **Note:** Newer MacBooks with T2 chip or Apple Silicon are NOT supported.

### Supported Distros

- Ubuntu 20.04+
- Linux Mint 20+
- Debian 11+
- Fedora 36+

### Usage

```bash
chmod +x facetimehd-installer.sh
./facetimehd-installer.sh
```

Do **NOT** run with sudo — the script uses sudo internally where needed.

### What It Does

| Step | Action |
|------|--------|
| 1 | Detects your distro and kernel version |
| 2 | Checks Secure Boot status (driver won't load with SB enabled) |
| 3 | Installs build tools (gcc, kernel headers, DKMS) |
| 4 | Removes any previous facetimehd installations |
| 5 | Downloads and extracts camera firmware from Apple's driver |
| 6 | Downloads, patches (for kernel 6.x), and builds the kernel module |
| 7 | Installs via DKMS (auto-rebuilds on kernel updates) |
| 8 | Blacklists conflicting `bdc_pci` module |
| 9 | Loads the module and verifies camera appears at `/dev/videoN` |

### Secure Boot

The facetimehd kernel module is unsigned. If Secure Boot is enabled, the module won't load. Options:

1. **Disable Secure Boot** in BIOS/UEFI (recommended)
2. Sign the module yourself (advanced)
3. Try anyway (will likely fail)

### Troubleshooting

```bash
# Check if module is loaded
lsmod | grep facetimehd

# Check kernel messages
sudo dmesg | grep -i facetime

# Check for video device
ls /dev/video*

# Test with a camera app
cheese
```

## OBS Performance Script

Temporarily optimizes your Linux Mint system for OBS recording/streaming by disabling compositor effects and setting performance-mode CPU/GPU.

### Usage

```bash
chmod +x obs-performance-script.sh
./obs-performance-script.sh
```

This launches OBS with optimizations applied. When you close OBS, all settings are automatically restored.

### What It Optimizes

| Setting | Change | Why |
|---------|--------|-----|
| Compositor | Disabled | Frees GPU from rendering shadows, transparency, animations |
| Fullscreen unredirect | Enabled | Bypasses compositor for fullscreen apps |
| VSync | Disabled | Reduces GPU overhead and input lag |
| CPU governor | Performance | Maximum clock speed for encoding |
| GL threading | Enabled | Better OpenGL performance |
| PulseAudio latency | 30ms | Better audio/video sync |

### How It Works

1. Saves your current desktop settings
2. Applies performance optimizations
3. Launches OBS with GPU-friendly environment variables
4. **Waits for OBS to close**
5. Restores all original settings

Your desktop will look plain while OBS is running (no effects/transparency) but returns to normal the moment you close OBS.

### Works With

- OBS installed via apt (`obs-studio`)
- OBS installed via Flatpak (`com.obsproject.Studio`)

## Uninstalling

### FaceTime HD Camera Driver

```bash
# Unload module
sudo modprobe -r facetimehd

# Remove DKMS module
sudo dkms remove facetimehd/0.6.13 --all

# Remove files
sudo rm -rf /usr/src/facetimehd*
sudo rm -f /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-facetimehd.conf
sudo sed -i '/facetimehd/d' /etc/modules

# Remove firmware
sudo rm -rf /lib/firmware/facetimehd
```

### OBS Performance Script

Just delete the script — it doesn't install anything permanently.

## Credits

- [patjak/facetimehd](https://github.com/patjak/facetimehd) - FaceTime HD camera driver
- [patjak/facetimehd-firmware](https://github.com/patjak/facetimehd-firmware) - Firmware extractor
- [OBS Studio](https://obsproject.com/) - Open source streaming/recording
- [Linux Mint](https://linuxmint.com/) - Target distribution for OBS script

## License

This project is provided as-is.