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Comment by apatheticonion | Hacker News Reader

Until Asahi is daily drivable, I am hoping to use Linux via a VM. Only problem is I haven't found a way to run a VM in exclusive fullscreen mode (or have GPU acceleration).

Ideally, I could run MacOS in some kind of headless mode and allocate all resources to the VM.

Apple please let me use Linux ffs.

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You can download LiViable from the article author's download page https://eclecticlight.co/virtualisation-on-apple-silicon/

You can run in full-screen mode by doing the normal macOS click on the green stoplight button at the top of the window. The current versions of Apple's virtualization libraries para-virtualize the GPU which runs nearly at full native speed.

It sounds like you want a type 1 VM. Unfortunately none exist for macOS that I'm aware of.

Yep.

With an application level VM (type 2 I think?) I haven't found a way to lock the cursor and keyboard shortcuts to the VM - so my three finger swipe will switch my MacOS workspace rather than my Gnome one, spotlight overrides the VM's shortcuts, etc.

Also moving my cursor to the top left/right of the screen expands the MacOS window controls, breaking the 4rth wall and getting in the way of the VM's DE controls (volume, hot corner, power, etc).

I haven't been able to enable GPU paravirtualization within a Linux VM. I think it's for MacOS VMs running on MacOS.

Asahi has a number of ways for people to contribute both code and financial support!

https://asahilinux.org/contribute/

https://asahilinux.org/support/

https://www.youtube.com/@AsahiLina

Haha don't want to sound like a freeloader, I definitely contribute!

> Only problem is I haven't found a way to run a VM in exclusive fullscreen mode (or have GPU acceleration).

Wait what? How is that even possible in 2024?

VMware Fusion offers both - I am using it on my ARM Mac.

Oh cool! A few questions:

When you go to fullscreen mode, do trackpad gestures target the host or the guest? eg, does three finger swipe switch MacOS workspace or Gnome one?

When you run your cursor to the top of the screen (like changing the volume in Gnome's the top bar, or closing a window in KDE), do the MacOS window controls pop up?

Do MacOS shortcuts override VM shortcuts? Like spotlight, screenshots and that sort of thing?

You can basically set up almost everything. Mac trackpad guestures seems to be always active, but you can deactivate them on the Mac side and then use them for Linux. VMWare offers a lot of settings where you can customize the keyboard behavior - Mac keybindings like spotlight can be either sent to the Mac or always pass through to the VM, you can also customize keyboard actions. If you deactivate the 3 finger swipe on the Mac, then Gnome should be able to use it. Just that I haven't found out how to activate it on Gnome :p. Updating my VM now.

When you move the mouse against the border of the screen, the mac toolbar pops up, but unless you do, you have normal access to the full gnome top bar. On my M2 Air the Linux fullscreen ends below the notch. So the Mac toolbar pops up around the notch and so mostly above the top of the Linux screen. At the bottom, the task bar gets displayed if you move against the screen border.

So basically with extremely few exceptions, it is difficult to see that you are not running Linux natively on the machine.

(Sorry for the late answer, didn't check my old posts. Is there a way to get a notification on answers to your posts on HN?)

> Until Asahi is daily drivable

Not going to lie, it seems close!

One does not simply buy Apple to violate the One Apple Way(tm).

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