[SOLVED]No Linux Mint Love for Macbook Pro 5,2?

[dekela]

Hi All.

First of all I would like to say great job!!!!
This is by far the best polished linux desktop distro I have seen for a while!!
I am currently running it in Parallel within OSX and cant stop using it!!

I really want to install it natively on my Macbook Pro 5,2.
I downloaded the 64Bit Debian Edition and tried almost everyway to boot the live CD:
I used: mondest in the kernel settings to bypass the graphic issue.
However I never manage to get the Live ISO to fully boot.

Anyone here manage to install this?
Is there a wiki/howto somewhere I can use?

p.s.
I manage to install Ubuntu 64Bit but I want to get rid of it for Linux Mint!

Thanks in advance.
Dekel

[oskarloko]

.. I've tried to install 64 bits Linux (Ubuntu / Mint ) with no luck.
EFI boot manager makes it hard to install linux,try 32 bits Mint

But EFI prevents me to use hardware graphics acceleration

[DrHu]

If I was doing this, I might just try..

• Boot the Ubuntu Linux
• Mount the Mint Linux
• Run gparted, and format or delete the Ubuntu partition
• Install Mint into that Ubuntu partition

MAC EFI boots..
http://blog.christophersmart.com/2009/1 ... 64bit-efi/

To install 64bit Linux onto a Mac using only EFI (and not MBR emulation) then your Mac must have a 64bit EFI. Run the following under OS X to discover whether you have 64bit or only 32bit:

[dekela]

If I was doing this, I might just try..

• Boot the Ubuntu Linux
• Mount the Mint Linux
• Run gparted, and format or delete the Ubuntu partition
• Install Mint into that Ubuntu partition

Thanks.. But..
I am not sure I follow... How can I delete the ubuntu partition if I am running from it?
Do you mean boot using the ubuntu Live CD?
Also, I want to install LM Debian Edition.

MAC EFI boots..
http://blog.christophersmart.com/2009/1 ... 64bit-efi/

To install 64bit Linux onto a Mac using only EFI (and not MBR emulation) then your Mac must have a 64bit EFI. Run the following under OS X to discover whether you have 64bit or only 32bit:

I am running 64Bit EFI, Also, the fact that Ubuntu 64Bit was installed suggests its a problem with the LM Debian Live CD/Installation.

[dekela]

.. I've tried to install 64 bits Linux (Ubuntu / Mint ) with no luck.
EFI boot manager makes it hard to install linux,try 32 bits Mint

With an 8GB RAM installing a 32 Bit seems a waste... I dont want that...

[nevius]

I am currently running 64bit LMDE on a Macbook 4.1.

Are you using rEFIt?
Have you verified that you don't have a botched burn on the live CD/DVD?

[dekela]

Ok, I manage to find a solution:

To boot with the LMDE 64 Live DVD you need to add the following options to the kernel line in Grub:

Code: Select all

nouveau.noaccel=1 blacklist=vga16fb


This will allow the Live CD to boot and you will be able to run the installation.

After the installation is done reboot and add only this option to the kernel line:

Code: Select all

nouveau.noaccel=1


Once booted connect to your network and install the Nvidia Driver.

This is it.
I am now on LMDE running natively on my Macbook Pro 5,2.

Regards,
Dekel

[msm]

Dekel, how does it run on your macbook pro? Are you experiencing any major issues? I would like to run it on my mbp 5,2 as well but haven't been able to find any info on how to install it and how it actually runs.

Can you tell me where the kernel line in Grub is located?

Many thanks!

[AlbertP]

In /etc/default/grub, you will see a line GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT. Between the quotation marks, you can add it.
You can open this file from the terminal with gksudo gedit /etc/default/grub and after you saved the file you need to execute sudo update-grub from terminal.

[msm]

Thanks for the explanation. Just one more thing: how do I get into /etc/default/grub, you will see a line GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT?

[AlbertP]

After installing the system, the 1st time you need to press edit (the E key) in Grub bootloader (the screen that lets you choose between Mac OS X and Linux) to add nouveau.noaccel=1 blacklist=vga16fb. Add it at the end of the line that starts with linux or kernel. Grub will not save this, if you want to do that you need to edit /etc/default/grub.
When Linux Mint has booted, you can open the terminal from the menu and type:

Code: Select all

gksudo gedit /etc/default/grub

and press Enter.
After editing the file (to add nouveau.noaccel=1 blacklist=vga16fb), type:

Code: Select all

sudo update-grub

and again press Enter. You will see some messages about bootloaders and operating systems, when it's finished reboot your computer to see if everything is OK.

[msm]

When I insert the DVD with LMDE 64bit and restart the mbp I hold down the Alt key and it boots from the DVD. But it gives a a black screen with a GRUB Error message.

Grub loading.
error: unknown filesystem
grub rescue> _

Any idea of what needs to be done to fix it? Will the disk need to be partitioned first?

[dekela]

Here is a quick tutorial for how I installed LMDE 64Bit on my Macbook Pro 5,2:

Download LMDE 64 Live DVD ISO.
Install refit (Needed to dual boot OSX and LMDE. (Google refit) make sure it is installed correctly.
Boot from the DVD.
When it shows the grub menu type TAB and edit the grub line right after the quiet option:


Code: Select all

linux   /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-5-amd64 root=UUID=e48640ae-0035-4366-95c1-820140ede1e0 ro  quiet



add:


Code: Select all

linux   /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-5-amd64 root=UUID=e48640ae-0035-4366-95c1-820140ede1e0 ro  quiet nouevau.noaccel=1 blacklist=vga16fb



Type CTRL X to boot.

Your LMDE should boot up correctly.
Install LMDE using the installer.

Reboot

Interrupt grub again and edit the kernel line this time with only: nouevau.noaccel=1
After LMDE boots install Nvidia Driver.
If all went OK you next reboot should boot correctly without editing grub.

So far I have been running LMDE without any problems.
I installed Broadcom Wireless Driver following the debian wiki. http://wiki.debian.org/MacBook/Wireless

Cheers,
Dekel

[dekela]

When I insert the DVD with LMDE 64bit and restart the mbp I hold down the Alt key and it boots from the DVD. But it gives a a black screen with a GRUB Error message.

Grub loading.
error: unknown filesystem
grub rescue> _

Any idea of what needs to be done to fix it? Will the disk need to be partitioned first?

You should install refit http://refit.sourceforge.net/

[msm]

Ok, will try that when I get home (at work now). When I run the live DVD with LMDE I get the above mentioned error. I never get access to even test the LMDE on the mbp. But if I run LM 10 on a live DVD I get in without problems and am able to run a test version.

I already had refit installed. With the LMDE live DVD it shows the internal harddrive and Windows, and with LM 10 live DVD it shows the internal drive, Windows and the DVD.

I tested the DVD with LMDE on a regular PC and it works.

Just more question: should I use Bootcamp in OSX to create the partition for LMDE, or would a clean disk partition via Disk Utility be better? I have a 500GB drive and was thinking of a 50/50 partition so that each OS would have about 250GB each.

Many thanks for your help so far!

[dekela]

Just more question: should I use Bootcamp in OSX to create the partition for LMDE, or would a clean disk partition via Disk Utility be better? I have a 500GB drive and was thinking of a 50/50 partition so that each OS would have about 250GB each.

Exactly the same setup I have, I used bootcamp to partition the drive 50/50.

If you get that grub error when you try to boot from the live DVD I would say that there might be an error with the DVD media, Maybe try to burn it in slow speed.

[msm]

I inserted the nouevau.noaccel=1 blacklist=vga16fb line into GRUB but I get an error message when choosing to boot from Linux in ReFIt: No Bootable Advice.

I've tried a few times now but with no luck. I now see that my mbp is version 7,1 so perhaps that could be the issue.

[nevius]

I inserted the nouevau.noaccel=1 blacklist=vga16fb line into GRUB but I get an error message when choosing to boot from Linux in ReFIt: No Bootable Advice.

I've tried a few times now but with no luck. I now see that my mbp is version 7,1 so perhaps that could be the issue.

Have you tried using rEFIt's partition tool to fix the partition tables?
Did you install GRUB in the MBR or in a partition?

I have found the following guide useful in getting my macbook working with LMDE:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Macte ... stallation

[msm]

[/quote]

Have you tried using rEFIt's partition tool to fix the partition tables?
Did you install GRUB in the MBR or in a partition?

I have found the following guide useful in getting my macbook working with LMDE:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Macte ... stallation[/quote]

Great. I tried rEFIt's partition tool as you suggested, and it worked. It now boots as it's supposed to. Thank you to everyone in this thread who helped me resolve this!

[lamenramen]

Hello,

Completely love Linux Mint. It is beautiful, and just makes you feel happy.
If it's basically ubuntu under the hood, it is certainly not that in practice.
The big thing is that it is so much faster, like 5 times faster.
And getting rid of the unity interface is so wonderful; that thing has no future as I gave it a good 3 months to try to get used to it.

In any event, I can't install on another latop--macbook pro 5,2.

I'm using Linux Mint 14, cinnamon 64 bit.
I've also tried almost all the other distributions of Linux Mint, 32 bit, and tried kde, mate, etc.

I can only get LM to boot up using compatbility mode (the option start linux mint will just crash immediately)

After booting up into the initial screen where you can test drive Linux Mint, I decide immediately that I wish to install to hard drive.
The issue is actually that during installation, my mouse and keyboard freeze and quit working completely.
It's almost as if there is an internal timer--about 2 minutes after boot up from my usb flash drive,
things will freeze. It can freeze whether or not there is a slideshow or not. It seems more like after 2 minutes test driving, keyboard and mouse lock up (pointer disappears).

Any ideas to fix the mouse and keyboard freeze?

Installing to a macbook air 2011 version was completely flawless.

Thanks, and thank you for saving ubuntu. I would not be surprised at all if Linux Mint becomes
what Ubuntu wanted to be.