Background

1. Ubuntu Server 18.04 Download
2. Ubuntu Free Download 64 Bit
3. Can You Download Ubuntu On A Mac Os

Jan 21, 2021 The post includes a tutorial for installing Ubuntu on M1 Macs, and there's a Github repo (corellium/linux-m1) that you can download the kernel from. Following the steps, you'll end up booting. Once you’ve installed Parallels Desktop on your computer, simply launch the program and you’ll be given a variety of options for proceeding: The option you seek is on the lower left: “Download Ubuntu Free”. That’s really all you need to do, it’s going to do everything else in a surprisingly automated fashion.

What I’ll be showing you today is how to rescue your 2011 Macbook Pro by putting Linux on it. I understand you might be asking “Why would I do such a thing!?” So imagine this scenario:

You have a 2011 Macbook Pro — the Macbook Pro 8,2 as it will come to be known to you — and it is dying. The battery barely holds a charge and it has fallen victim to a cruel fate¹ which has rendered the display all but useless. Some have chosen to sue Apple because of this and, justified though they may be, you have opted for another path.

You’re going to attempt the impossible, and bring it back from near certain death.

You’ve tried a few home remedies before with only temprorary success so now, now you’re ready for the nuclear option.

You are going to blow OS X away, and replace it with something else.Not something better. Something different. Not something superior. Something sufficient. You’re going to put linux on it and disable the faulty AMD graphics card with extreme prejudice.

Well, I am. You’re just going to read about it and decide whether you’re interested in doing something similar.

Step 1 - Download Ubuntu

The primary reason I chose Ubuntu is convenience. I’m familiar enough with Ubuntu Linux and it’s software ecosystem to feel confident that if there is some software I need, it’s likely available for Ubuntu with minimal effort. That is to say, the applications I’m interested in are likely already available via Ubuntu’s Software Center/App Store, or provided by third parties in a format that is usable by the Software Center.²

Getting Ubuntu Linux is easy enough just go to the download page and pick a version. I settled on the 64-bit 14.04.1 LTS version so everything I say from here on out is done with this version in mind.

Step 2 - Install Ubuntu

Once Ubuntu is downloaded we’re left with an iso file containing the installer. However, before we can begin installing, this iso needs to be burned to a disk or made installable by other methods.

Though I have a 2011 Macbook Pro with a functional SuperDrive I chose “other methods”. More fun that way (and I didn’t have any readily available disks). The “other method” was to install via a USB flash drive. A step-by-step guide to the process can be found at Ubuntu’s exceptionally helpful community forum.

The steps involved running a series of commands in the Terminal , which I’ll reproduce here for my own benefit. If you have any issues though, I highly recommend the original thread.

First, convert the iso file to an img file.

Now use the diskutil program to find the device identifier of the USB drive we’ll be using. What I do is run the command, plug in the USB drive, then run the program again to see what has changed. The new device that shows up is my drive.

** **PLUG IN FLASH DRIVE** **

Then we eject the drive from the desktop (but not physically from the computer) using the device identifier we just found.

Next we write the contents of the image file we created earlier directly to the raw device (which is why we use rdisk)

At this point I diverged from the Ubuntu forum guide. I had no need for refit — though I do recommend installing it — as I was only installing linux. I rebooted the computer and invoked Apple’s Startup Manager to boot from the external USB drive.

1. Restart Mac.
2. Immediately press and hold the Option key.
3. Use your mouse, trackpad or left/right arrows keys to select the USB drive. It’ll be the one that’s not like the other one.
4. Hit Enter on the keyboard.
5. Profit.

If the mac is currently having display issues the screen might not be clear, but once we switch from the light grey Mac Startup screen to a darker (black, or potentially blue if this is a bad day for you) screen you’ll be in the GRUB bootloader.

Once in GRUB press the e key. We’re now going to disable the AMD graphics card while we boot into the Ubuntu Live CD. Look for the line set gfxpayload=keep. Once you’ve found it, type the following lines underneath to disable the AMD graphics card:

Next find the kernel line and after “quiet splash” , add the following

After checking to make sure that we’re mistake-free press F10 (likely Fn + F10) on the Macbook. This should allow us to boot with the integrated Intel graphics card, and then install Ubuntu as per the installationdocumentation.³ Once the installation is done you can reboot into your new linux system.

Step 3 - Disable AMD graphics card permanently

But wait! There. Is. More. Not much more mind you, but enough to warrant another section. Or two.

Once you reboot you’ll need to press e again, find set gfxpayload=keep and add the outb lines shown above again, along with the kernel parameters after “quiet splash”.

This will load your new Ubuntu Linux system with Intel graphics. Now we just need to set things up so you don’t need to do that ever again. Start a Terminal and run the following command to edit the necessary file:

This will ask you for your user account password to get admin privileges. Enter it and when the file opens search for the line

and change it to

Once this change is made, check for errors then save and exit.

Next we’ll run another command in the Terminal

Again, enter your password if asked and when the file opens find the line

And place the following immediately before this line:

Check to make sure that everything is correct and save, then exit gedit once more.

Finally run

This will update the boot loader settings we just changed and make them stick. The next time we reboot we won’t have to type out all those obnoxious commands to disable and enable things.

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Step 4 - Use proper Wi-Fi Drivers

So after all that I would be remiss if I left you without the capability to use reliable Wi-Fi. I’m not sure why, but the proprietary driver for the Macbook Pro’s Wireless adapter — that comes directly from the manufacturer — doesn’t work very well. Wi-Fi connections using this driver are spotty and drop all the time. What’s worse, I think the throughput is pretty slow. Slow and unreliable. What a travesty.

Here’s what I believe I did to get a reliable wifi connection going.⁴

**PLUG IN ETHERNET CABLE**

Since I actually wanted these drivers, when asked to fetch and install the firmware, I said YES. Finally, I loaded the driver with:

At this point you should be able to go to the menubar up top, click on the networking notification icon (One arrow up, One down, if ethernet cable is plugged in) and click “Enable Wi-Fi” If this doesn’t work for you, I would reboot the computer and try again.

Step 5 - Profit!

Enjoy your functioning computer. That’s it. Enjoy! I got nothin’ else for yah. Well, not today at least. God willing, at this point we have a functional Ubuntu Linux 14.04 LTS system installed on a 2011 Macbook Pro. Easy, right?

Have questions? Comments? @reply to @opinion8d_logic on twitter with the hashtag #freedom.

1. It seems 2011 Macbook Pros are prone to graphical glitches and ultimately, outright failures in booting. These failures have been linked to their discrete ATI graphics cards. ↩

2. Just FYI: Ubuntu’s Software Center is a wrapper around something known as a repository in linux. Packages for a large variety of software are stored in these repositories. What’s more, others create software repositories to work with both new and older versions of Ubuntu. e.g. The Steam gaming client, Google’s Chrome browser, Netflix and Spotify streaming services, etc. ↩

3. Now the installer allows you to do many things. One of those things is encrypting the entire drive. I would hold off on that until you are more familiar with linux. ↩

4. Instructions adapted from the Ubuntu Community and Ask Ubuntu sites. ↩

I’ve been experimenting with running Linux on Macs for some time and – for a variety of reasons – needed to make a clean install of Ubuntu 14.04 LTS on my early 2008 24″ iMac. The Mac is now on its last legs, and Mac OS does not run very swiftly on it – my aim is to run Ubuntu on it, and use it as a computer for watching TV and DVDs, and for web browsing for guests.

So here’s the guide as to how to get Ubuntu up and running.

First, third prerequisities. First there is no way to do this without using the command line – accessible through the Terminal app in both Mac OS and Ubuntu. It is a matter of copying and pasting the right commands – there is rather little need to fully understand what is going on. Command line is needed very seldom once Ubuntu is running, but is required for the setup. Second, the solution to more or less any Ubuntu on a Mac problem can be found by Googling around (probably the way you found this blog entry!) Third, you’re going to need an empty USB stick (at least 2Gb capacity) to make this work.

Step 1 – Make a Ubuntu bootable USB stick while running Mac OS
This is simple – follow the instructions here. Note that step 3 is not very well described – you will end up with a file called “ubuntu.img.dmg” that you will need to rename “ubuntu.img” by just renaming the file in the Mac OS finder. Simply copy and paste the relevant commands into Terminal.

Step 2 – Install rEFInd to allow dual booting
This presumes that you want to be able to boot your Mac in either Mac OS or Ubuntu, and to be able to switch between them. For this you will need a software utility called rEFInd. Its interface looks horrid, but it works. You can find instructions of how to install it from How To Geek here, and you can get the latest edition of the rEFInd software here. Before you start this connect your Mac to the internet with an ethernet cable – wifi will not work initially, and if you are connected to the internet then extra Ubuntu packages will be downloaded while you are installing it.

Please note that the final screen from the How To Geek piece can be inaccurate – for me there was no “install alongside Mac OS” option – I instead needed to choose “Something else” for the disk partitions, following the instructions here about how to set this up – putting / as the mount point for the main (60Gb size) ext4 partition, and 6Gb for swap. At the end of the installation process Ubuntu will ask you to reboot your machine.

Step 3 – Get the wifi working
Go to “System Settings” in the left apps bar in Ubuntu, then choose “Software & Updates”

Then click “Additional Drivers” and select the Broadcom driver (note this is how it looks on an iMac – the driver manufacturer might be different on other Macs, but the procedure will be the same). You may need to restart before the wifi works.

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Step 4 – Software updates
Click the search button at the top left of the screen (shown here to the right), and type “Software Updater”. Run it, and it will download and update your installation.

Step 5 – Further software
You can install GIMP (equivalent of Photoshop), Dropbox, Kaffeine (for DVB), and VLC (for DVD playback) from the “Ubuntu Software Center” in the left apps bar. Some other apps are more complex – follow these instructions for Skype (and note I needed to use the Skype 4.3 on 15.04 instructions – including the extra instructions to get this to work). To install the ownCloud sync client follow these instructions (needs command line).

Can You Download Ubuntu On A Mac Os

Step 6 – Peripherals
I have a Brother MFC-J4510DW printer-scanner – Brother’s linux support is a bit sketchy, but this series of commands did the job perfectly – just note that you need to find the local IP address of your scanner under Settings on the device itself. Note that Ubuntu defaults to letter size paper – you’ll need to set this to A4 in Printers in System Settings. I also use the pre-installed app Simple Scan for my scanning – works with either the flatbed scanner or the sheet feeder on the Brother device.

Step 7 – DVB and DVD playback
I have an old DVB TV tuner Stick – a Miglia TV Mini. This can be used with Ubuntu, using Kaffeine (see above) as the playback software and following this french language guide to get it installed (requires command line, and a restart). Extra installations are also required to allow Ubuntu to read movie DVDs – instructions for how to do this are here (command line and restart required) – and I use VLC for the playback.

Step 8 – Tunnelbear VPN
Instructions to get Tunnelbear working on Linux are here. Works simply enough!

Step 9 – number pad
I had the issue that numbers on the number pad on the right hand side of my Mac keyboard were not working, and worked as arrow keys instead. To get them to work press the “Clear” button as shown (varies between US and European keyboards) – this has the same function in Ubuntu as the Num Lock key on a PC keyboard.