Installing Linux on Mac mini

Question

Level 1

0 points

Installing Linux on Mac mini

I have decided to install Linux on my Mac Mini. However there is a problem. In order to load a Linux from a CD one needs to make the CD bootable. Unfortunately, after the Linux is installed, there is no way to start it from the HD, since hardware is now set to boot from the CD, and one has no way of changing Mac's equivalent of "CMOS" without the MacOS installed.

Of course I would be the most happy if I could make my Mac mini a dual boot system, with both Linux and MacOS installed, this looks would solve a problem I described above, but I must be missing something, because it appears there isn't an easy way to do this. I am not particularly fond of a virtual OS solution, that some have mentioned elsewhere on this forum.

Does anybody have solution for my problem?

mac mini Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Posted on Feb 26, 2007 4:36 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Feb 26, 2007 6:20 PM in response to aplex

Google is your friend:

http://www.redhat.com/magazine/007may05/features/mac-mini/

Reply

Answer 2

aplex Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 1, 2007 10:25 AM in response to J D McIninch

Unfortunately this didn't help, since it talks about PowerPC and yaboot. yaboot is the Macintosh Open-Firmware loader—it is like the the GRUB equivalent on x86 machines.

There are a stack of surprises waiting for you, should you attempt to install any of the numerous combinations of OSes on your i386 Mac mini, and try to understand the respective installation processes. Even a single wipe out and/or replacement of Mac OS X completely can be a challenge.

You can find many pages of help on the Internet, however, I did not find one that would alone be helpful with any of the installations. In particular they all seem to miss explaining what is really going on, and why one needs to use either, Apple's BootCamp ( http://www.apple.com/bootcamp ), or rEFIt from ( http://refit.sourceforge.net ). Nevertheless, one should find all the info on the Internet very helpful, to at the end finally put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Reply

Answer 3

freefour

Level 1

125 points

Mar 1, 2007 4:54 PM in response to aplex

Just go to here
http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop
and order their free cd's and your done . I have ran it and it is an excelent distro of Linux. You can set up 2 partitions first one OS-X then the second be Linux .

Reply

Answer 4

aplex Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 1, 2007 7:08 PM in response to freefour

You are toooo late, I am running Linux with a full blown partitions just like good old Unix books taught us to do. I found most of the information about installing Linux on Macs on the Internet inaccurate and misleading. Just like your last post could be for some, who moved beyond legacy environments on which you seem to be so pleasantly entertained.

All the same, thank you for your hint, I kicked Mac OS X off my i386 Max mini for the very same reasons you are advertising in your post!

Reply

Answer 5

Mahesh

Level 2

205 points

May 7, 2007 3:16 AM in response to aplex

I have a PowerPC Mac Mini and this is what I did to install Ubuntu:

Download the Ubuntu .iso from the website
Burn a CD from the .iso file using Disk Utility
Boot from the Tiger DVD and partition the HDD into 2 volumes, one marked as 'Free Space'.
Install Mac OS X in the HFS+ volume.
Boot from the Ubuntu CD and proceed with installation.
When installing, choose to install in the largest available free space.
The installation completes and you're good to go !

Regards,
Mahesh.

Reply