Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
How to run linux on a mac. I’m writing this guide for Communism, but I guess it’ll be good for anybody that wants linux on their mac. This guide is written specifically using ubuntu, but it should work with any distro.
Ok first off, lets get a list of everything you’ll need.
A linux install/live cd
An intel mac
A copy of bootcamp. Now this is where you could get your first bump. If you have leopard, then its installed. If you still have tiger, then you will have to find a download of Bootcamp somewhere on the web. I’ll look around, but otherwise your on your own.
rEFIt. This is a bootloader. It’s not absolutely mandatory, but I really recommend it; it makes booting up and all that a lot easier. here is a download link
Ok now lets get into the actual install and set-up.
Preparing your mac
The first step is setting up rEFIt. I don’t remember the exact way to do the install, but I think it’s kinda straight-forward. If you have an trouble, don’t be afraid to ask. Once thats done, you need to make space on your drive for the linux install. This is where the Bootcamp comes into play. Open Bootcamp, standard install its location will be applications > utilities > Bootcamp Assistant. Click continue. Go through the setup as normal, and the only thing is don’t worry about burning the windows drivers cd, its a waste of time for what were gonna do. I reccomend you give atleast 10 gigs for linux, I think I did like 15 or 20. Now once again, I don’t remember the exact set-up process, but if you have any trouble, just ask. Now, step one is done. Time to make your linux cd.
Making your linux cd
First thing you need to do is get the iso for the disk. As I said, I’ll be using ubuntu for this, so here is the download for the ubuntu iso. The download will take a while, so if your impatient then just let it sit overnight. Now that its done, you should have the .iso file on your desktop (or wherever you chose to save it). Open Disk Utility, and drag the iso file to the sidebar in DU. Also, make sure you have a blank cd in. Now select the iso and choose menu -> image -> burn. Click burn and it should burn your cd. There is also a link to these instruction on the ubuntu site if you want another thing to look at. Once the burning is finished, it will pop out the cd, and your ready to get to the install.
Installing and setting up linux.
Pop the linux cd back in, and it should show up on your desktop. Now restart your mac. If you installed rEFIt, you should see the bootloader, and use the right arrow to select over to linux, which will start the cd. Otherwise, if you don’t have that, just hold the “c” button, which will boot of the cd. Now click enter on “start or install”. This will load linux on the live cd. Now here you can play around with it, and it uses your ram so nothing will be installed on the hard drive; but, don’t be surprised if your wireless doesn't work(more on that later). Now before we can install, we need somewhere to install to, and thats where the Bootcamp partition comes in handy. Click System -> administrator -> partition editor. Now a new window will open. You will see your hard disk, and the last thing listed should be a fat32 partition in the size you made in Bootcamp. Select that one, then at the top click delete, then apply. Once that is done, it will leave your drive with a section of just free, unformatted space. Now exit partition editor and double click on the install icon on the desktop. Go through the first few steps. When you get to step 4, it’ll ask where you want to install, select “Guided- use the largest continuous free space”. Go through the last few steps, and it’ll install everything on the free space. Now restart, and it’ll pop out the linux disk. On bootup, rEFIt will run and will give you the option to boot either OS X or Linux. Click over to linux. There ya go. Now linux will boot. Now this is where wireless may become a problem. Depending on your wifi card, it will either work, or not. After many tries, I still have not been able to get my wifi to work, so I don’t have many opinions here. If your wifi isn't working, go over to the macbook section of the ubuntu site, where there are instructions for wifi, as well as isight, and other things. And thats it. Any problems, make a post, or PM me, and I’ll do my best to help.
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Nice guide man! By the way, what exactly is rEFIt? Can you explain what it is and exactly what it does? Thanks!
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Great work, stealthsniper!
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Linux on a mac guide
Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by stealthsniper96, Feb 3, 2008.
