How to Install Ubuntu 14.04 on a Macbook Air
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- Опубліковано 5 лип 2024
- How to Install Ubuntu Linux on Macbook Air. This is model MacbookAir3,1 made in 2010. This may seem like a lot of steps, but you really only have to do it once. Once your OS is installed you just open the computer and start using it.
1. Obtain Ubuntu image and burn to DVD
cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/14...
ubuntu-14.04.2-desktop-amd64+mac.iso
This image is adjusted to work properly on Mac systems.
2. Backup data
3. Boot DVD from external drive. Start while holding C
4. Erase SSD using gParted
- go to System / Administration / Partition Editor
- choose Device / Create Partition Table...
- choose "msdos" for the type of partition table
5. Install Ubuntu without WiFi
6. Enable WiFi
7. select nVidia driver and reboot, to eliminate graphic glitches and crashes
- search for “drivers” to find Additional Drivers utility
- if no drivers show, use Ubuntu Software Center to activate nVidia restriced source
- select proprietary driver and click Apply, then exit
- sudo nvidia-xconfig
- reboot
- Upon logging in immediately run NVIDIA X Server Settings, select X Server Display Configuration, and click Save to X Configuration File.
Optional Optimizing Steps
1. disable Apport to prevent “System Program Problem Detected” popups
sudo gedit /etc/default/apport
2. Enable TRIM wear leveling on ext4
As of Ubuntu 14.04, scheduled TRIM is enabled by default for Intel, SAMSUNG, OCZ, Patriot and Sandisk SSDs. If you have another brand, you can disable the vendor check by editing the file /etc/cron.weekly/fstrim and add -no-model-check
sudo gedit /etc/cron.weekly/fstrim
3. Fix brightness keys
sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Add Option line to Device section:
Option "RegistryDwords" "EnableBrightnessControl=1"
4. Avoid long EFI wait “white screen” before GRUB
Boot from a Mac OSX USB device, then click Utilities/Terminal, and enter:
sudo bless --device /dev/disk0s1 --setBoot --legacy
Assuming that the bootloader is on sda1, otherwise /dev/disk0s2 if it's on sda2, etc.
5. Turn off password lock when screen dims
- Settings / Brightness & Lock
- dim after 10 minutes
- lock off
6. Settings / Mouse & Touchpad / Tap to Click
Thankyou so much for taking your time to explain in detail this extremely tedious task. Many thanks.
Cheers Carl, excellent video.
Instructions also worked well on a MacBook (unibody) mid-2010 and MacBook Pro mid-2012. It is crucial to choose the right Ubuntu version. While on OSX, Disk utility was used to generate the installation DVD using "ubuntu-14.04.1-desktop-amd64+mac" file downloaded from ubuntu website. During all process, the system crashed a number of times, so you just have to restart and continue. After successful installation, The Macbook pro was overheating. This was fixed by:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mactel-support/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install macfanctld
sudo reboot
Very helpful video, thank you for making this!
Very good. I dont have a mac book but your videos are very good. You worth a subscription.
As much as this video is detailed, I wouldn't class this as a 'complete' guide. For starters, You have to think about the AppleSMC (System Management Controller) chip. On first install, It won't be initialised and that will mean that the Processor will be stuck at the base clock speed UNTIL you interface with it using a third party tool called 'lm-sensors' which will find all of the mac's temperature sensors that can then be read by a front end GUI like psensor. (Such as those for the processor, GPU and so on)
As long as the processor is being interfaced with in terms of reading the temps, the SMC will accept it and allow the Processor to run at full speed, or turbo boost If the processor has the ability to. Also, heat is another issue. You'll want to install a fan manager like mbpfan which will adjust the fans based on how hot the processor gets. It can be configured with a low temp (How you would view the processor's temp at idle), high temp (For something like HD Streaming, Watching Videos etc) and finally the Max temp for when you want the fans to rev into high gear. (If you're running a 3D Game, or something demanding)
Having the fans on all the time will only cause them to wear out sooner, and not managing the fans will only lead to the processor and everything around it becoming seriously hot to the touch. Left on for long enough, the temps could cause it to overheat, and suddenly shut off.
I do NOT condone the use of Linux on a Mac unless you know exactly what you're doing. It can be particularly daunting, and If you're trying to custom boot using UEFI and you accidentally install grub-pc (Bios Booting) instead of grub-EFI-x86_64 (EFI Booting) then you'll have to reboot into Ubuntu and reinstall it to use UEFI or use boot-repair to allow the Mac to run it using It's BIOS Compatibility Layer.
Not to mention the Mac's UEFI structure is very specific (/EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI) and even manually mounting the EFI partition alone is a can of worms for another topic. It certainly is a challenge, but in the end, Linux is a lot less consuming compared to OS X, but again;
If you don't know what you're doing, I would strongly NOT advice this. Just giving some caution, but good video, nontheless.
Thank you so much for the video very clear and easy to follow I would like to do the same but with my old MacBook Pro 2009 as it is no longer supported by Apple and don't like Windows and have used Ubuntu on my other computer so I think a full install is the way to go but I am not a tech guy so your video was very helpful so will it work the same??
Lots of great info here. Great vid. Running 'sudo apt install ubuntu-restricted-extras' will give you all of the third party codecs and fonts you didn't get because there was no internet when you installed. It essentially does the same thing as what happens when you check the box to install third party software. :)
Joe Collins Thanks Joe. I got it from the Software Center, but apt install is good too
Carl Blemming By the way, I had my Mint install setup with TRIM on all the time. I didn't know 14.04 had it setup as a chron job.I checked and it's the same in Mint. I have an OCZ and Intel SSD so they're already good to go. I turned off TRIM all the time and the machine runs a bit faster. Thanks for turning me on to that. :)
Excellent step-by-step guide, Carl! Thanks very much -- Canonical should hire you!
Hi!
Excellent video.
Thanks!
Great renfence/learning video.
Thanks for the video!
Hi carl,
What about battery performance... I think macbook air 3,1 gives 5 hrs battery backup with OSX.
How install dual boot ubunt with usb?
love the intro! :)
Hey Carl, thanks for the detailed tutorial! My question: after installing Ubuntu using your tut will I have an option that Ubuntu or Mac load automatically but in the beginning I have say 30 seconds to decide which OS to load?
he is erasing all the data in the ssd, so there's no way to boot into the MacOS
I LMAO @ your little opening here 0:00
lol yeah
Hi!
I have a mba 1.1 and looking for some time for a good description!
After what I found so far, your video far exceeds my expectations;) But what about your good work is not difficult.
all speak only of the dualboot .....
if the mba works I do not need a dualboot with osx .. but that is a matter of course ;)
will wait until zorinos 15 lite xfce (it will be the end of august). since this builds on ubuntu I hope that this can be solved as synonymous in your video? it´s a very good distri.
Ultimate would certainly be more intriguing but at 80gb hdd and the 2gb ram is more of a wish dream :)
until then I will experiment with the core version.
the boot with optical lw is a bios boot and does not lead into the efi is for example one of the things I learned today with you.
I am sure that this will help me on the way to my -zorinmacbook- :)
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
greetings
MD
Great Info- Thanks
super clean & informative video! i'm attempting this asap.
I have the exact same model. (only with 128Gb drive)
2gb ram, core2 dual 1,4GHz. How do you find it in the longrun? speed wise.. Stabillity? Any more Tweaks you have done after making this video?
I'm doubting between Lubuntu and Ubuntu. One thing is sure. this OSX will vanish from this system. Also, wich ISO did you get from the ubuntu site? the regular 64bit? or do i need a special blend?
Kind Regards
+DrDevos he tell's you what version he has if you watch the video
Very interesting video. I made a bootable USB Ubuntu MATE installation. It works very well on a DELL computer. It has limited storage capacity, so I just plug in an external drive to hold my pictures and stuff. I found that MATE was the most stable of all the Ubuntu's available for USB.
***** I have heard good things about MATE but not tried it myself. Do you run it from a USB hard drive, or a USB flash drive?
Carl Blemming I put it on a USB pen (flash) drive with "persistence". You only need an 8 GB drive at most because the largest persistence area (partition?) can only be 4 GB. The persistence allows you to make changes and they stick, just like with a hard drive. So you can add bookmarks to Firefox, change your desktop, add more applications, etc. and the USB will remember the changes next time you boot up. The storage area for data,. movies, pictures, etc., is small however (about 2.6 GB) even if the USB stick is greater than 8GB. its the persistence thing. Anything larger than 4GB will not be addressed, but there are ways to free it all up with Gparted and Partitions and a bunch of things I do not understand. So I just stay away from it. Instead I use a data only external drive.
You can mount a whole bunch of versions. I read this advice on a website for MINT on a USB... but its similar for Ubuntu:
"If you have a new and modern computer then use Cinnamon. If you have a 64-bit computer use the 64-bit otherwise use the 32-bit. If you decide that Cinnamon isn't your thing then try again but go for the KDE version.
If you have an older computer then use MATE. Again if you have a 64-bit computer use the 64-bit otherwise use the 32-bit. If you decide that MATE isn't your thing then try out the XFCE version.
Ignore the no codecs and the OEM versions."
I then followed the instructions from: www.pendrivelinux.com
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Since I have two up front USB ports (meaning, easily accessed from the front of my computer) I plug the Flash drive into one, boot the system (I have set the BIOS to look for a bootable USB item first, then the CD, then the internal hard drive - so as soon as the machine detects the USB flash drive, it launches it)
Once Linux is running, I plug my USB hard drive into the other port. It sees it as a data drive and I can store stuff on it. If my second non-bootable drive is plugged in too soon, the BIOS will get confused and just thrash, looking for that one to boot as well. Not sure why it does this.
The MATE desktop in both Mint and Ubuntu is very similar to the Windows desktop so it's an easy transition from Windows, except the task bar in Ubuntu MATE is on top and in Mint it's on the bottom, like Windows.
Both are reported to be very stable with older type machines - like a DELL Dimension or Optiplex.
I haven't had any crashes of the OS, but I have had Firefox lock up a couple of times. But Linux catches it eventually and asks me if it can shut the thing down. The distros also come with all the applications you might need, so there's no need to go looking unless you want something special. The one thing to be careful of is that it will always offer to install Linux on your main computer. Unless you want to do that, best to stay away from that icon (which appears every time you boot.)
I just use my USB flash for playing with Linux and surfing around on the Internet (because it is extremely difficult to get a virus in Linux, though not impossible, but hey, if I get one, it takes 15 minutes to completely rebuild the whole system on the USB!)
Carl Blemming I use MATE with Fedora Linux on a cheapy pre-built PC. It's basically Gnome 2, and even works with Gnome 2 themes such as Sun's Nimbus and Blueprint themes from Solaris, always my top preferences.. As for Windows, I like to toy with it in virtual machines and emulators on other platforms, but I've learned not to trust it as my primary OS. My PC came with 8.1 and I made an effort to use it, but after the 2nd or 3rd blue screen of death, I was finished with it. Linux has been absolutely rock solid on here, and that's with all open source drivers to boot! Actually, one reason I favour Fedora these days is that it's much more current than Ubuntu and the like. The upshot of this is more functionality, and that really seems to have helped with the video drivers in particular.
how to install wifi driver on ubuntu
Can I use macintosh after than?
pretty cool
Carl Blemming Hey! Did u see heating problem after the installation? Because i did exactly same as u did but with the plain desktop edition of ubuntu 14.04 and i found that MBA is getting hot very often on lite use itself. Most of the time i could hear the fan sound and the core temp are around 70 C on lite use.
Yosemite was better than ubuntu i felt on power consumption but its bit laggy than ubuntu ofcourse!
Did u find any heating issues on this exact model on ubuntu?
I did not notice any heating problems. The battery life is not as good as OSX - I was watching a streaming video on the battery and it only lasted one hour. It is 4 years old though.
Also the graphics around the menus don't display correctly after restoring from suspend. A reboot fixes this.
Otherwise it is working well.
Ya even i encountered the graphics issue. Could you please give me instruction to boot from usb instead of DVD. I wiped my SSD and now pressing alt/option is not showing my USB drive to install ubuntu.
Only option left for me is internet recovery since i lost my SL installation drive, and internet recovery is only showing Lion which i have to buy to install.
I almost bricked my MBA now.
Try booting while holding down the C key. Or try putting the drive in the other USB port
it is a long process but it is certainly fulfilling. Is is possible to only use Windows10 and Ubuntu side by side without the IOS?
I just think of liberating my Macbook air with the 20GB dedicated for IOS.
It's the 2012 macbook ?
very cool
Very nice but i have problem with overhiting, my MacbookAir going after 1 hour very hot!
MacBooks do have a fan. The only one that doesn't is the 12" MacBook.
nice wallpaper
It’s default
Can i install my ios back on macpro???
Are you aware if this same process is applicable for a 5,5 2009 Macbook Pro?
Maxwell Dean It should be mostly the same, depending on your graphics card and if you have a hard drive or SSD. Also if you have an ethernet port I'd plug into a network so you can download updates as it's installing. No such port on the Air
Carl Blemming Thanks for the quick reply and great video by the way, this will really help me. My particular laptop was handed down to me from a friend & unfortunately never updated. As such it can only be upgraded to a certain point, so installing Ubuntu is a last ditch effort to save it without shelling out the bread for a new one. The laptop has a 2gb HD with a NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics card. I'm new to this but I think I can get through the steps with your video, for starters I just download the desktop CD image, and follow suit, correct?
Is this process can be revert - can you install mac os again if necessary?
Yes, just boot from the OSX DVD and erase the SSD then install again
+Carl Blemming I have mid 2012 macbook, I think those came without install DVD.
In case you erase the entire drive I guess the recovery partition is deleted.. Would the Internet recovery work in that case (cmd+alt+R at startup)
Oh that's right, no DVD. Mine has a USB flash stick with the install media. I haven't tried the internet recovery. Then I would clone the Mac OS boot drive to an external drive in case I need to clone it back onto the SSD (prior to installing linux)
+Carl Blemming is it possible for you to check if one can boot for Internet recovery?
According to Apple you can, read this:
support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314
I can't see anything on the installation screen it just looks like a blank white screen.
+Obadiah Robert Robinson, Jr I know, not a good picture of the screen. I wrote up what I did in the description
Will my mac still run OSX after I install Ubuntu?
+Shivang Chawla If you do it the way I did, then no. With a 60 GB drive, I decided to have only one OS. It is also possible to dual boot.
Thanks Carl
basically, a white screen inside your window, so not very helpful
2 GB or RAM??? That's not much....
Morgan Beck Its a old MacBook
BLASPHEMY. How could you? ( just joking) 2008 20 inch IMac running OS X Yosemite 10.10.5
+Obadiah Robert Robinson, Jr To see if it could be done :)