Can you install Linux on 2011 Macbook Air? Live? Can you undo it?

[roof]

Couple related questions on installing Linux on old Macbook Air.

- Does it work; is there any reason not to; anything special I need to know? I have no need for macOS at all (was given the Air and have never used it myself) unless there's some reason for doing dual boot which I doubt. 2011, High Sierra 10.13.6 (the last version Apple supported), 4 Gb, 1.8 Ghz Intel Core i7, Intel HD Graphics 3000 384 Mb

- Can you use Live distros from USB to try them out? I've done this on Windows.

- If something goes wrong how do I restore the MBA to factory condition? I have no idea how you do this and know nothing about Macs. I've done this many times in Windows with no problem where you just pop in the OS cd and reinstall; very simple.

I'm only doing this to have a lightweight second computer to use 99.99% only for very very very basic word processing, spreadsheets, email, simple web surfing and play non-streaming video and music. Nothing a computer couldn't do in 2000, no games, no networked server spy cam drone bitcoin whatever blah blah. New to Linux, zero Mac experience but have tinkered and tweaked Windows extensively. No coding experience except I once wrote five or six lines of VBA.

 

[PuppyHome]

Can you use Live distros from USB to try them out? I've done this on Windows.

Yes you can You can even INSTALL on USB and run it from a MacBook. I have Mint installed on a MacBook Air from 2018 and have run "live" for a while before installing it.
As long as you have 4gb of RAM you are good to go.

 

[PuppyHome]

- If something goes wrong how do I restore the MBA to factory condition? I have no idea how you do this and know nothing about Macs. I've done this many times in Windows with no problem where you just pop in the OS cd and reinstall; very simple.

As far as booting a second OS on your MacBook insert the USB stick, boot up and press the Alt key.
You will get a promt that lets you choose which OS you'd like to boot. This is the prcoedure. Apple allows you no access to the BIOS/UEFI directly so this is the way to boot a different OS.
If you'd like to install it just follow the Linux installer and install on your internal device.

 

[PuppyHome]

If something goes wrong how do I restore the MBA to factory condition?

You can't. If anything goes wrong during the installation on your internal drive and you will just make it say half way you will be left with a MacBook without an OS.
As soon as you click "begin installation" the process of wiping your drive is irreversible.

However, by choosing a "low entry" and dependable Linux version such as Mint Or Ubuntu this is highly unlikely.
When your machine has less than 4GB of RAM I'd recommend Lubuntu or MX-Linux. Lightweight with solid installers.

 

[PuppyHome]

@roof Welcome to Linux.org of course

 

[gvisoc]

You can restore the MBA to factory condition if, before beginning, you prepare a USB with the installation media corresponding to the macOS version that was shipped with the device, or the version that it last got after updates.

I had done it several times with a MacBook Pro mid 2014, back and forth from Linux to macOS. I just recommend you try the macOS media you’ve prepared before beginning, to make sure it’ll work (e.g.: restore the computer from it).

 

[PuppyHome]

@gvisoc (I didn't know that, good to know)

 

[roof]

Yes you can You can even INSTALL on USB and run it from a MacBook. I have Mint installed on a MacBook Air from 2018 and have run "live" for a while before installing it.

Are you saying it's possible to do a full-blown real installation on USB? I'm confused by the part where you say "run 'live' for a while before installing it". The live versions I ran from USB on my Windows laptop are sort of trial versions with limited capabilities; I think you can't save things on it (not sure, I only played around to see what they looked like) and you use them mainly just to see what a distro looks like.

 

[gvisoc]

Are you saying it's possible to do a full-blown real installation on USB? I'm confused by the part where you say "run 'live' for a while before installing it".

The idea is to make sure of what hardware will work after you wipe macOS from the hard drive, so that you can manage your expectations and prepare all the workarounds.

By testing the live versions, despite of their limitations, you'll know, for example, if you'll need to gather specific drivers for things like the WiFi and the webcam (which were the ones I had to procure myself). By doing so, you can anticipate what you'll need once you install it for real, in order to finish the post-installation work arounds, e.g.: an ethernet dongle, test it, make sure you'll have network access, etc..

 

[Brickwizard]

Are you saying it's possible to do a full-blown real installation on USB? I'm confused by the part where you say "run 'live' f

Welcome to the forums

"Run Live" is something you can do with most distributions that have a GUI, if you like its a test drive to make sure everything works but when you are finished nothing is saved.
Running a full-blown distribution from a pen-drive, SD card and or similar is called running with persistence, your work will be saved to the drive as if it were your main machine hard-drive, the main advantage with a persistent drive, is that it becomes your computer in your pocket and will run on almost any machine you boot it into [subject to driver compatibility,] you will find lots of instruction on making a persistent drive on the net.

 

[ML_113]

New to Linux, zero Mac experience

That's not promising.
Apple don't make life easy for non-MAC users.

I suggest you make a USB with a 1) System recovery distro (I use Parted Magic) 2) MX Linux
(because it handles weird drivers better than most).
I use Yumi for that, but you try Ventoy, Balena Etcher, Rufus ... if they do not let you make multiboot (Ventoy does) then use 2 USB.

1- Use Parted Magic to clone the whole hard disk, just in case.
2- Boot up MX, try Internet and/wifi, sound ... to be sure that everything works before hitting the install button. Use option Erase and use the whole Hard Disk

 

[CptKrf]

Apple making it difficult for Linux users is a considerable understatement.

I have pretty well given up with Linux on Mac. I can usually make it boot on my stash of old Intel boxes, but there is always something that doesn't work right or takes days to hack through - fans stay at high speed, display can't quite be set to the proper resolution, no network, etc. For my programming tasks, I always went back to my ordinary black box tower homebuilt with Debian.

However, recently I have put UTM and Debian on my M1 Studio, and even virtualized it works better than on a native Intel or Amd. It is certainly far faster than my Ryzen 5 and totally quiet (roaring fans being something that I no longer tolerate). Now I usually just boot the Studio, then immediately enter UTM for my daily use, only moving to a MacOs desktop for mundane Apple only stuff, and that not often.

My hope is that someone comes up with an ARM or RISC box that has the horsepower, the low heat and noise characteristics of Apple Silicon so Linux can be run natively. (Yes, I know about current devices, but I meant one that doesn't suck.)

For now, if Linux in a VM suits your needs, I can say it works very well, and fast, on any M1 (or M2, I assume). At least until Apple changes something that nobody is expecting.

A couple of associates use Parallels for the same thing and report that it works even better, but as I am allergic to subscriptions, I haven't tried that configuration.

FYI

 

[APTI]

Couple related questions on installing Linux on old Macbook Air.

- Does it work; is there any reason not to; anything special I need to know? I have no need for macOS at all (was given the Air and have never used it myself) unless there's some reason for doing dual boot which I doubt. 2011, High Sierra 10.13.6 (the last version Apple supported), 4 Gb, 1.8 Ghz Intel Core i7, Intel HD Graphics 3000 384 Mb

- Can you use Live distros from USB to try them out? I've done this on Windows.

- If something goes wrong how do I restore the MBA to factory condition? I have no idea how you do this and know nothing about Macs. I've done this many times in Windows with no problem where you just pop in the OS cd and reinstall; very simple.

I'm only doing this to have a lightweight second computer to use 99.99% only for very very very basic word processing, spreadsheets, email, simple web surfing and play non-streaming video and music. Nothing a computer couldn't do in 2000, no games, no networked server spy cam drone bitcoin whatever blah blah. New to Linux, zero Mac experience but have tinkered and tweaked Windows extensively. No coding experience except I once wrote five or six lines of VBA.

seems you already have plenty of info on installing linux on the mac. follow them it is good advice. as for if you want to go back then it is normally not tough. apple did something right on these and to go back to original do the following. This is a copy paste from my notes. just adjust to the type of keyboard you are using and make sure you have internet connection available. usually just plug in a network wire is easiest but wifi can be used and it will walk you thru.

detects proper or latest version and installs
press and hold prior to startup until message appears.

Command option R
Or
Command option shift R
or
windowskey r

 

[CptKrf]

I have to modify my previous post. After receiving an old Mac Pro Cheesegrater (2010 model or thereabouts) it has become the best Linux box that I have ever owned. Built like a tank (and weighs like one, also), it took Debian 12 without a hiccup. I kept expanding it out to see what it would do (64g ram, dual 6 core Xeons, SSDs of one size or another, 4 port USB 3.0, Latest Wifi) and it has become my go-to programming box.

Obviously, even big Xeons from fourteen years ago are not going to beat most modern systems in a geekbench match, but for a programming studio I have nothing to match it for usablity. Unlike my modern Mac, I have no worry about some sudden OS upgrade totaling unhooking stuff and requiring days of searching to find out why - and sometimes finding that there is no fix.

Interestingly enough, in this age of water-cooled, hyperfanned processors, it is even quiet.

And... It has no LED glitz.

 

[ghageysh]

I have a 2011 11 inch Macbook Air running Jammy Jellyfish. It has 4 GB of RAM and a 128 GB ssd, and the i5 processor. Ubuntu supported everything out of the box except for the webcam, which I did eventually get working. I will have to find the notes for that. I'm using it to respond to this thread. I like it, it makes a good travel computer for email and browsing and if it gets lost or damaged then I'm not out much. I have not tried Mint or just straight debian, we had an ubuntu 22.04 usb stick sitting around so I tried it first. I really like how it's been working. Much better than it did on High Sierra. Also, if you do install a version of linux and don't like it, you can easily go back to the Mac OS, just start up the computer and hold down command+option+R to get the newest version of the MacOS that can run on your system. You'll need a stable internet connection and patience, but it'll get you back to MacOS. It worked well on the non retina 15" 2012 Macbook Pro I have too and you can bump those up to 16 GB of RAM.
I've been hoarding any retina Macbook pro computer I see, just because I know that it'll run linux really well. It drives me crazy how much techno trash we have to deal with now -

 

[Caluser2000]

I've tested live and run a number of modern Linux distros on 2009 up x86 iMacs by just pressing the C key on the keyboard to boot the cd/dvd and load Linux Live then run the Installation Wizard from the live environment. Running current MX Linux at the moment on one.

Very straight forward.

 

[ProphetPX]

Hey, first time here, but i just installed Fedora Silverblue 36 on an old Mac Book Air model from 2011 and everything works great!!