The Mac is an excellent platform for running not only the Mac OS, such as macOS Sierra but also Windows and Linux. The MacBook Pro is a popular platform for running Linux.
Under the hood, Mac's hardware is remarkably similar to most of the parts used in modern PCs. You'll find the same processor families, graphics engines, networking chips, and a great deal more.
Because Windows and Mac OS X aren't the only two OSes in town. Difficulty Level: Tricky What You Need: A distribution (or 'distro') of Linux.
When Apple changed from PowerPC architecture to Intel, many wondered if the Intel Macs could run Windows. Turns out, the only real stumbling block was getting Windows to run on an EFI-based motherboard instead of the then much more common BIOS-based designs.
Apple even lent a hand to the effort by releasing Boot Camp, a utility that included Windows drivers for all the hardware in the Mac, the ability to assist a user in setting up the Mac for dual booting between the Mac OS and Windows, and an assistant for partitioning and formatting a drive for use by the Windows OS.
If you can run Windows on a Mac, you should be able to run just about any OS that is designed for the Intel architecture, right? In general, this is true, although, as with many things, the devil is in the details. Many Linux distributions can run nicely on a Mac, though there can be challenges to installing and configuring the OS.
This project is for advanced users who have the time to work through issues that may develop along the way and are willing to reinstall the Mac OS and their data if problems occur during the process.
There may not be any huge issues, but the potential exists. Be prepared, have a current backup, and read through the whole process before installing Ubuntu.
The issues that arise when getting a Linux distribution working on a Mac usually revolve around two problem areas: getting an installer to work correctly with the Mac and finding and installing all the needed drivers so the essential parts of the Mac work. This can include locating the drivers required for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, as well as the drivers needed for the graphics system your Mac uses.
It's a shame Apple doesn’t provide generic drivers that could be used with Linux, along with a basic installer and assistant as it has done with Windows, but until that happens, you have to tackle the installation and configuration issues yourself.
This guide can help you get a favorite Linux distribution working on a Mac and introduce you to resources that can help you track down the drivers you need or solve installation issues you may come across.
There are many Linux distributions you can choose from for this project including Debian, MATE, elementary OS, Arch Linux, OpenSUSE, Ubuntu, and Mint. This guide uses Ubuntu, mainly because of the active forums and support available from the Ubuntu community and the coverage of Ubuntu provided online.
There are a ton of reasons to want Ubuntu or your favorite Linux distribution running on your Mac. You may want to broaden your technology chops, learn about a different OS, or have one or more specific apps you need to run. You may be a Linux developer and realize that the Mac is the best platform to use, or you may simply want to try out Ubuntu.
No matter the reason, this guide helps you install Ubuntu on your Mac and enable your Mac to easily dual boot between Ubuntu and macOS. This method for dual booting can easily be expanded to triple booting or more.
The first task in installing and configuring Ubuntu on your Mac is to create a live bootable USB flash drive that contains the Ubuntu Desktop OS. Use this flash drive to not only install Ubuntu but also to confirm that Ubuntu can run on your Mac. You should be able to boot Ubuntu directly from the USB stick without having to perform an install. This lets you check basic operations before you commit to altering your Mac's configuration to accommodate Ubuntu.
One of the first stumbling blocks you may encounter is how the flash drive should be formatted. Many folks mistakenly believe the flash drive needs to be in a bootable FAT format, requiring the partition type to be Master Boot Record, and the format type to be MS-DOS (FAT). While this may be true of installations on PCs, your Mac is looking for GUID partition types for booting, so the USB flash drive must be formatted for use on the Mac.
The following process completely erases any data you have on the USB flash drive.
The UNetbootin utility creates the live Ubuntu installer on the USB flash drive. UNetbootin downloads the Ubuntu ISO, converts it to an image format the Mac can use, creates the boot chain needed by the installer for the Mac OS, and then copies it to the USB flash drive.
The live USB flash drive containing Ubuntu has been created and is ready to try out on your Mac.
If you plan on permanently installing Ubuntu on your Mac while keeping the Mac OS, you need to create one or more volumes specifically for housing the Ubuntu OS.
The process is simple. You use Disk Utility to partition an existing volume, such as your Mac's startup drive, to make room for a second volume. You could also use an entire drive other than your startup drive, to house Ubuntu, or you could create another partition on a nonstartup drive. There are lots of choices.
Just to add another option, you could also install Ubuntu on an external drive connected via USB or Thunderbolt.
You may have heard that Linux OSes need multiple partitions to run at their best; one partition for disk swap space, another for the OS, and a third for personal data.
While Ubuntu can use multiple partitions, it's also capable of being installed in a single partition, which is the method used here. You can always add a swap partition later from within Ubuntu.
You're going to use the disk partitioning utility included with Ubuntu to create the needed storage space. What you need the Mac's Disk Utility to do is define that space, so it's easy to select and use when installing Ubuntu. Think of it this way: when you get to the point in the Ubuntu installation where the drive space is assigned, you don’t want to choose the existing Mac OS drive accidentally, or any of the Mac OS data drives you use. Creating the space erases any information on the selected volume.
Instead, you create a volume with an easy-to-identify name, format, and size that stands out when it comes time to select a volume for the Ubuntu installation.
If you're going to use an existing partition, take a look at these two guides for resizing and partitioning:
Partitioning, resizing, and formatting any drive can result in data loss. Make sure you have a current backup of any data on the selected drives involved.
If you're using a Fusion drive, the Mac OS imposes a limit of two partitions on the Fusion volume. If you've already created a Windows Boot Camp partition, you won't be able to add a Ubuntu partition as well. Consider using an external drive with Ubuntu instead.
If you plan on using an entire drive for Ubuntu, use the formatting guide:
No matter which of the guides you use, the partition scheme should be GUID Partitioning Map, and the format can be MS-DOS (FAT) or ExFat. The format will change when you install Ubuntu. Its purpose is only to make it easy to identify which disk and partition you use for Ubuntu later in the install process.
Give the volume a meaningful name, such as UBUNTU and make a note of the partition size you make. Both pieces of information are helpful in identifying the volume later during the Ubuntu install.
So far, you've worked on getting your Mac ready to receive Ubuntu and prepared a bootable installer you can use for the process. Now you need to take steps to be able to dual boot your Mac into the Mac OS as well as the new Ubuntu OS.
Your Mac already comes equipped with a boot manager that lets you choose between multiple Mac or Window OSes that may be installed on your Mac. You can invoke the boot manager at startup by holding down the Option key, such as is described in the Using the OS X Recovery Disk Assistant guide.
Ubuntu comes with its own boot manager, called GRUB (GRand Unified Boot Loader). You'll use GRUB shortly when you run through the installation process.
Both of the boot managers available to use can handle the dual-booting process; they can even handle more OSes than just two, but the Mac's boot manager won’t recognize the Ubuntu OS without a bit of fiddling, and the GRUB boot manager just particularly easy to use.
Instead, make use of a third-party boot manager called rEFInd. rEFInd can handle all the Mac's booting needs, including letting you select the Mac OS, Ubuntu, or Windows, if you happen to have it installed.
rEFInd is easy to install; a simple Terminal command is all that's needed if you're using OS X Yosemite or earlier. OS X El Capitan and later has an additional security layer called SIP (System Integrity Protection). Euro truck simulator full version. In a nutshell, SIP prevents ordinary users, including administrators, from changing system files, including preference files and folders the Mac OS uses for itself.
As a boot manager, rEFInd needs to install itself within areas protected by SIP, so if you're using OS X El Capitan or later, you'll need to disable the SIP system before proceeding.
The live USB for Ubuntu you created earlier can be used for permanently installing Ubuntu on your Mac and for trying out Ubuntu without installing the OS. You can jump to an installation, but try Ubuntu first. The main reason is that you may discover problems before committing to a full install.
Some of the issues you may find include the install of live USB not working with your Mac graphics card. This is one of the more common problems Mac users face when installing Linux. You may also find out that your Wi-Fi or Bluetooth isn't operating. Most of these issues can be corrected after the install, but knowing about them ahead of time lets you do a little research from your familiar Mac environment. You can track down the issues and possibly acquire needed drivers or at least know where to get them before the installation.
Before you try booting to the live USB drive you created, there's a bit of preparation to perform.
The changes you just made are not saved. They're used just this one time. Should you need to use the Try Ubuntu without installing option in the future, you'll need to edit the line once again.
Adding nomodeset is the most common method of correcting a graphics issue when installing, but it's not the only one. If you continue to have display issues, you can try the following:
Determine the make of the graphics card your Mac uses. You can do this by selecting About This Mac from the Apple menu. Look for the text Graphics, make a note of the graphics being used, and then use one of the following values instead of nomodeset:
radeon.modeset=0
If you're still having problems with the display, check the Ubuntu forums for issues with your specific Mac model.
Now that you have a live version of Ubuntu running on your Mac, check to make sure your Wi-Fi network is working, as well as Bluetooth, if needed.
By now, you have a working live USB flash drive that contains the Ubuntu installer, your Mac configured with a partition ready to be used for installing Ubuntu, and an itchy mouse finger just waiting to click on the Install Ubuntu icon you see on the live Ubuntu desktop.
You now have a working version of Ubuntu installed on your Mac.
After the restart completes, you may notice that the rEFInd boot manager is now operating and displays the Mac OS, the Recovery HD, and the Ubuntu OS. You can click on any of the OS icons to select the operating system you want to use.
If after restarting you have issues, such as missing or nonfunctional devices (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, printers, or scanners), check with the Ubuntu community for tips about getting all your hardware working.
Not sure what to download? See recommended downloads for the latest version of .NET.
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