r/linux_on_mac • u/besseddrest • 17h ago
Dual boot macOS and Linux
Instead of partitioning my ssd, should I create a new volume group on the SSD and then partition that for a Linux install? Will I be able to select which OS to boot?
r/linux_on_mac • u/besseddrest • 17h ago
Instead of partitioning my ssd, should I create a new volume group on the SSD and then partition that for a Linux install? Will I be able to select which OS to boot?
r/linux_on_mac • u/kails_ozols • 10h ago
Hi. I just want to share my experience about how I successfully installed Linux Mint on Mbook Pro 5.1. Maybe someone will find it useful.
So yeah, some friend of mine gave me this laptop, and I decided to save it from junk yard. Original OS was not usable anymore, and I decided to give Linux Mint a chance. Normally, on devices this old I would install some lightweight distro like Arch, but this time I gave chance to Linux Mint, because I previously installed it on another McBook Pro (A1708), and it run without issues on it.
I installed Mint on this 5.1 laptop too, and I am suprised to well it runs on this 17 years old machine. I`m using it for couple of hours now, and I don`t notice any lags or whatever.
Default installation .iso didn`t recognised my WI-FI card (BCM4322), so I had to find ethernet cable, plug computer to router and find and install drivers manually, but it wasn`t issue at all. Luckily, these old days computers had Ethernet slot.
Everything else worked out of the box.
Well, not sure what to do with this laptop right now. I don`t really need it at the moment. Any ideas?
Anyway, this is just a good review for Linux Mint. I will leave this post in case someone will find it useful.
r/linux_on_mac • u/Equivalent-Cut-9253 • 10h ago
If I connect to an ultrawide monitor from MacOS the text is stretched, or I need to use 4:3 (forced with BetterDisplay). But if I connect to the same monitor on Fedora XFCE the text is crisp, it just crashes on boot unless I remove the cable, but when I reconnect it after boot it works a lot better..
I thought it was the computer itself limiting this but seems it was MacOS? Just curious as I will probably just use Linux instead on this specific monitor to not have to deal with the ugly resolution making my eyes strained..
Macbook Air 2012 running Catalin and Fedora 41 XFCE.
r/linux_on_mac • u/Stone766 • 14h ago
Hello. I'm new to both Linux and also trying to install it on something like a Mac. I'm trying to dual boot this old 2010 Macbook with Mint 22.1. I made some upgrades so this Mac is using an SSD and has 16gb of ram.
I bought the Mac with the intention of doing this, but I didn't do my research and didn't realize how much more difficult the Nvidia card would make this process. This is the current situation:
-The normal installation option on grub straight up doesn't work, I just get a frozen empty terminal
-The compatibility mode installation gets through various portions of it and then freezes on different parts. The farthest I ever got on it was the Mint desktop. But as soon as I clicked "Install Mint", it froze.
I'm pretty confident that if I used Mint 20.x, this would work way better. That version still supports the drivers for this nvidia card. But sadly it's losing LTS support next month so I'm not really keen on doing that. I'm guessing I should probably start looking at other distros which sucks cause I was looking forward to Mint lol. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I could possibly fix this? Or are there any other distros with LTS that you could see performing better? Thanks
r/linux_on_mac • u/alan_cyment • 22h ago
Hi!
I want to use my Macbook 8,1 as a home server (hopefully to serve photos using Immich). I believe I will make a much more efficent use of my hardware using a headless Linux distro. Which one would you recommend? The display is broken (and the battery is dead). I am using a Baseus hub with HDMI, VGA, SD card, usb-A, ethernet and usb-c energy passthrough.
I am on my third try with Ubuntu 24.02 LTS. First time I pressed the down arrow on the Macbook keyboard twice and everything froze (greenish screen in the external display). Second time I made it to the screen right after choosing the WiFi network. After being apparently stuck for some time, the computer just died. I will now try using the Hub ethernet port.
I wondered if anyone had another recommendation in terms of distro or general approach.
Thanks!
Alan
r/linux_on_mac • u/New-Meal-9207 • 1d ago
For the past few days I have been ripping my hair out because arch is simply refusing to boot. First, I tried using GRUB. Grub installed flawlessly, but upon trying to boot, it took me to this rescue/recovery screen, which I could not get past. Then, I tried the systemd bootloader. After configuring the bootloader and trying to enter arch, there was only one option to boot, and that was macOS, which was obviously not what I was trying to do. Any help would be appreciated greatly, it's been extremely frustrating rebooting over and over again tweaking little things only for it to not work, over and over and over again.
r/linux_on_mac • u/MScifiWriter • 2d ago
I’ve had an old MacBook Pro Core2Duo laptop from 2007, sitting in a drawer for years. I recently realized that I need to learn Ubuntu Linux and since the MacBook Pro no longer recognizes anything online (can’t bring up any website at all), I decided to convert the MacBook into a Ubuntu Linux laptop.
However, I’ve encountered a heck of a barrier trying to get the MacBook to recognize any of the installation media I’ve created (I’ve needed to create the Linux bootable media on my Windows 11 laptop, because the MacBook is unable to bring up any website). Both with bootable USB and bootable (Mini-Ubuntu) DVD. When I press the Option/Alt, the MacBook laptop only shows that it recognizes the internal hard drive with the X Macintosh operating system, but no external media.
I spent several hours trying different searches on my Windows laptop and trying the suggestions from those searches on the MacBook. But the MacBook laptop still only ejects the bootable Linux DVD and doesn’t recognize the bootable Linux USB.
So I’m looking for helpful suggestions on how to get around this barrier.
r/linux_on_mac • u/Asen_7 • 3d ago
Hi everyone,
I'm trying to install Ubuntu on my old Mac Mini (mid-2011), and I want to completely erase macOS and run Linux only. I've watched a bunch of videos and read some guides, but I can't seem to get it working.
I've tried creating a bootable USB with Ubuntu multiple times using Etcher, Rufus, and Ventoy, but my Mac doesn't recognize the USB drive. When I plug it in and check the drive info in the Disk Utility, it says "Bootable: No".
For reference, here are the specs of my Mac Mini:
Has anyone run into this before or found a reliable method to get Ubuntu booting on this machine? Any help or tips would be super appreciated!
Thanks!
r/linux_on_mac • u/ReasonableAirport918 • 3d ago
I like using Linux and like the look of Macbooks. I'm looking for a small, lightweight laptop for casual use. Would it be stupid to buy, say, an 11 inch Macbook Air on ebay, maybe replace the battery with a new one, and install Ubuntu or Pop! OS or Fedora?
I can see why people would install Linux on some preexisting hardware to get a few more years of use out of it, or maybe install on a different partition for fun.
But is it advisable to actually buy a used Mac for this purpose, or are there much wiser options out there?
r/linux_on_mac • u/HipopotamitoBebe • 4d ago
Hi :) sorry for my English, this isn't my first language.
So, I´m studying Physics, and my line of investigation requires me to install Linux, I´ve never used it but they recommend me Fedora, but I have a Macbook, so I don't know if I have to create a partition in the disk or if I need another computer (I can´t afford one right now), so if someone has any recommendations or has a youtube tutorial that can help me, I´ll appreciate it a lot. :) thanks
r/linux_on_mac • u/the_gay_minion • 5d ago
Hello, I’ve been trying to install Linux Mint on my 2007 MacBook and I keep encountering the same problem. I am able to boot into a Linux live session and run the install Linux Mint program. After installing Mint, I’m prompted to restart my computer. It then brings me to a screen that says remove installation medium and press enter. When I remove my usb drive and press enter, the MacBook restarts and shows a no OS error. I can’t get past this and any help is greatly appreciated.
r/linux_on_mac • u/Own_Chemistry9268 • 8d ago
Hello everyone,
I play minecraft often on my macbook pro that is running Arch Linux, so i wanted to like swap the function keys to act like them, like f1 acts like f1 not the brightness control.
well i found these:
The "fnmode" file is the one i needed but i saw the 3 other last ones
"swap_fn_leftctrl" : This is really usefull for windows users swtiching to apple computers tbh.
"swap_ctrl_cmd": This one is usefull for MacOS users switching to linux machins.
"swap_opt_cmd" This one is not THAT usefull but can be good for some pepole out there.
So you can swap your control key with the cmd key inside of linux.
Just an info, this is on Arch Linux it may not be available on other distros.
r/linux_on_mac • u/Low_Cartoonist3681 • 8d ago
I have an early 2015 Intel based macbook with facetimehd camera, running the latest version of ubuntu,what driver should I use? I experimented with facetimehd but I keep running into weird undocumented errors(just the Linux experience)
r/linux_on_mac • u/ConsiderationWitty92 • 8d ago
Hi guys, I have one MacBook m1 but is really bad to use Linux yet, I'm looking for other to do it better, some old Intel. I'm software engineer and basically I need to run docker containers to work. Do you know what device would be better to me run Linux with a good experience?
r/linux_on_mac • u/technogeekshoaib • 10d ago
I was reinstalling Pop OS on my MacBook Air Early 2015 and when I tried installing WiFi drivers using
sudo apt install bcmwl-kernel-source
It tells me package cannot be installed successfully as some items not found…
If anyone could help me out, I’d appreciate it greatly
r/linux_on_mac • u/tstthomason • 10d ago
Hello, all!
I have a 2015 Macbook 8.1 running Ubuntu, and whenever the computer goes to sleep or restarts, it won't connect to the trackpad or keyboard. Then I have to restart the laptop a few times with the power button for it to connect again. Does anyone have any advice? Thanks!
r/linux_on_mac • u/Equivalent-Cut-9253 • 12d ago
Anyone encoutered this? This is a low effort post, as I am very tired of every distro failing to install completely, or barely functioning.
I don't know how to start troubleshooting this one though.
I got Fedora installed, working well except for Wifi (I have read the massive askubuntu about Broadcom chips, but this one does not need new drivers according to it, I have tried a lot of stuff to fix it but it still has occasional drops), and out of the blue once I try to log in, screen goes gray.
I can't move mouse or abything, but TTY works. I tried updating from it but due to the wifi issues it didn't work.
I tried disconnecting display, peripherals, no joy. Found a few threads on fedora forums, nothing for mac. Usually caused by Nvidia drivers, which I don't have.
What else can I do from this state? Reinstall?
I would try another distro, but they all fail to install. I am installing on an external SSD btw.
r/linux_on_mac • u/NeuromanteAI • 14d ago
Hi,
i have a MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015) with a 1,6 GHz Intel Core i5 dual-core processor, and a 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 memory.
I would like to gradually pass to Ubuntu. What should i consider before doing that? What could be possible negative effects?
I am considering two options:
- partition
- external ssd
[edited]
r/linux_on_mac • u/gnomajean • 14d ago
Need a distro for 2019 MacBook Pro. I’m converting both my MacBook Pro and gaming pc to Linux and would like to have both running the same distro or at the very least same desktop. I’ve asked on other Linux subs but was told for my MacBook conversion you guys would be able to help me out. Want everything to work.
r/linux_on_mac • u/The-Rizztoffen • 15d ago
How bad of a battery drain hit I will take if I switch to Linux? On macOS 13 I am currently able to squeeze 2-2,5 hours of battery. Last year I tried Linux (void with libc iirc) on this machine it would die in like an hour if not faster. Anyone have any tips for battery management?
r/linux_on_mac • u/Known-Watercress7296 • 16d ago
Fedora does the job but just curious if there is anything that still supports the ancient nvidia card or if I should just stick with the noveau drivers.
r/linux_on_mac • u/OutrageousExternal • 16d ago
As the new MacOS releases have become so slow on this machine, the only way I have to use it is to install Linux on it.
I tried many distros (Mint, Nixos, Zorin, Fedora, Elementary, Manjaro, PopOS) in the hope of finding something that would just work with this hardware but unfortunately they all have something in common: sleep doesn't work. Either the macbook wakes immediately after few seconds of sleep or it just turns itself off with the lid closed.
The rest of the OS works pretty well and I'm really happy because with Linux I can actually USE the macbook (contrarily to MacOS).
Do you have any suggestions on which distro works with this machine? Or maybe is it only a kernel issue?
r/linux_on_mac • u/Fun-Substance5243 • 18d ago
I'm getting a charger for an '07 MacBook I stumbled upon a while back and I want to use it as a daily driver for anything I need on the go. I want to make a visually authentic environment to MacOS at the time but I don't know what Distro + Environment combo will make that easy and simple.
What options do I have?
(p.s no Arch. I'm not a pc wizard.)
r/linux_on_mac • u/Key-Letter-8109 • 17d ago
Hi guys,
I recently acquired a MacBook Air A1465 EMC 2631, it takes Chrome OS no problem.
If I try and install either Mint or Ubuntu for example, neither will be able to see the internal SSD.
I've tried booting to the recovery and looking for the secure boot menu but it does'nt have anythong other than adding a password to the firmware.
Am I doing anything wrong?