solaar Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Hi experts, I would appreciate if someone could tell me if there's a simple (and when I say simple I don't mean just simple I mean bloody SIMPLE) method to install Ubuntu (very preferably but may be another distro) on an Intel MacBook (no core 2 duo). I just need Ubuntu temporarily. I will eventually restore OSX on it. It has to be on the HD though, the live CD won't do. None of the tutorials and hints I found worked for me. I have to say although I'm a heavy Mandriva user I suffer from serious command line phobia. Give me commands and I guarantee I'll screw up something. Also all of the tutorials I found are written for dual or multi boot configs. None of those worked properly for me so I was hoping there's a simple way to just reformat the whole HD as ext3 and install Ubuntu on it. With none of that bootcamp business, that is. Is it possible at all or does OSX always have to reside on the HD? How would you specialists tackle this? cheers sol Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/39510-ubuntu-on-an-intel-macbook-standalone/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soündless Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 umm, put the disk in, install. when you need mac, install mac. or use boot camp to partition the hd and have both Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/39510-ubuntu-on-an-intel-macbook-standalone/#findComment-282105 Share on other sites More sharing options...
solaar Posted January 23, 2007 Author Share Posted January 23, 2007 (edited) Cheers for the reply mate, but that's exactly my problem. When I put the CD in it boots straight into the live CD mode. Then when I try to install from there by reformatting the entire HD the install gets stuck with a bunch of error messages and finally reboots after a few seconds. It never installs anything. I'm unable to force the CD straight into install mode at boot. It will only go into live mode. Could it have something to do with EFI and Ubuntu not finding BIOS? edit: after reading some posts on other forums I'm getting closer to give myself an answer to the initial question - 'no', at least some part of OSX (at least bootcamp) has to reside on the HD and since bootcamp can't seem to exist by itself OSX has to be there. But I stand corrected very happily... cheers Edited January 23, 2007 by solaar Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/39510-ubuntu-on-an-intel-macbook-standalone/#findComment-282800 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soündless Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 (edited) i cant even boot on my mbp, i will see whati can do http://desrt.mcmaster.ca/macbook.xhtml Edited January 24, 2007 by Soundless Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/39510-ubuntu-on-an-intel-macbook-standalone/#findComment-283254 Share on other sites More sharing options...
solaar Posted January 24, 2007 Author Share Posted January 24, 2007 (edited) Cheers mate. I know that site, it was one of the first I found on my quest for Ubuntu on the Macbook. The last paragraph actually sums it all up, doesn't it? The Linux kernel won't boot because of EFI. I also tried the rEFIt thing but no joy. I was just hoping that some brilliant head would figure something out in the meantime. Otherwise I'll have to try the dual boot method again. I'm not very hopeful though cos all that my poor non-code, non-command-line brain is able to do is to follow instructions to the T. If the instructions have a gap or assume too much background knowledge I screw up. Isn't it ironic that it's way easier to install OSX on non-Apple hardware than a non-Apple OS on a Mac? edit: would it make sense to try a Mac specific Linux distro? (I kinda doubt it cos they are probably not made for Intel gear, but who knows...) l8r sol Edited January 24, 2007 by solaar Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/39510-ubuntu-on-an-intel-macbook-standalone/#findComment-283440 Share on other sites More sharing options...
-jordn- Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 hey bud, you say you only need ubuntu temporarily? why dont you just run it in a virtual machine if your not doing anything graphically demanding (i.e attempting to run counter strike ports in linux). set it to use both cores and a decent amount of memory and your away. to me, if you use decent settings, the difference between native and virtualised linux is hardly noticeable. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/39510-ubuntu-on-an-intel-macbook-standalone/#findComment-283502 Share on other sites More sharing options...
solaar Posted January 24, 2007 Author Share Posted January 24, 2007 Cheers jordn! I'll try that. I wasn't sure if it's possible to set up a virtual server in Ubuntu if the OS runs already virtualised. I'll give it a shot. It's actually for my wife who only has access to the Macbook right now. She needs to do some testing on a 'remote' database within the machine and without having to connect to the internet. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/39510-ubuntu-on-an-intel-macbook-standalone/#findComment-283658 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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