[reportbug][MacBook Pro] What package is for the trackpad?

[Osama Albahrani <osalbahr@ncsu.edu>]

Dear Debian Users,

Long story short, in the Debian 12 installer iso, beyond the initial boot screen, the trackpad/keyboard do not work on a 2017 MacBook Pro (Intel-based). However, they work with the GNOME live iso and I was then able to install just fine. But I'd like it if they worked in the installer iso.

I went ahead and ran `reportbug` but was given a prompt asking which package has the bug, with a reference to this mailing list. What should the answer be for my situation? Should I simply answer "linux-base"?

Also, is there a "beta" or "release candidate" for Debian 13 yet? I'd love to test out whether this issue persists.

I have inquired about this issue in the user forums (pasted below) with no feedback. So I decided to file a bug report for this to be tracked. Especially with Debian 13 coming up soon. Hopefully this issue gets resolved with the upcoming release.

---

Copied from https://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=163130:

I am using a 2017 MacBook Pro (Intel-based), code: `MacBookPro14,1`. I noticed when booting into `debian-12.11.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso` that the trackpad does not work. The keyboard does not seem to work either after selecting "graphical installer".

But the trackpad and keyboard work on `debian-live-12.11.0-amd64-gnome.iso`. So I am suspecting there are missing drivers.

Why might there be missing drivers? And is there a way to include them in the installer just like in the live ISO in the next release?

I am able to install from the live ISO, but it would be nice if I could use the default installer.

I'd like to note that the same issue happens with the RHEL 10 and CentOS Stream 10 installer ISOs. But not Fedora, Ubuntu, or Arch Linux.

Related forum post: https://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?p=744557

---

It seems that the driver is `applespi`, which is included in the kernel since 5.3:

> The `applespi` driver for the internal keyboard and trackpad of the MacBookPro13,* and MacBookPro14,* is now included upstream and works out of the box. (https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commi ... e2332e07ff). The commit dates back to 2019.

Source: https://github.com/Dunedan/mbp-2016-linux

So, they should already be included in the kernel used by Debian 12, I presume. Idk for sure.

The commit message mentions something about the SPI drivers needing to be loaded. So it might be that.

Best,

Osama