cannot install linux on my macbook pro

Brickwizard said:
Celeron is a bit of a misnomer, Intel tend to use the name for chipsets based on earlier models for their entry level processors, although not fast by the latest standards they are usually quite capable when it comes to Linux, If you fancy trying Linux on the Fiji then I would suggest a medium build or a light build, If it were mine I would try Mint LMDE, Peppermint,MX-64 bit, or Parrot home [all of these i know work on my older machine] Or for a light build, Linux-Lite, AntiX or Lubuntu
Click to expand...
i had manjaro running until 3 days ago for video game purposes... try as i might.. i just couldnt get eve online to function correctly on this craptop
 


even my main driver back home in Montreal is running some form of manjaro and ive managed to make all video games compatible on that beast
 
Brickwizard said:
yep I still have a 23 yr old Celeron single core 1200 laptop [32bit] which I play with occasionally, but a escargot on dope would be much faster
Click to expand...
lol love the escorgot reference... but i think i figured out why the macbook wont begin any usb installation.. i think secure boot is on but that doesnt explain why it actually boots from the usb
 
corporal_Canada said:
i think secure boot is on but that doesnt explain why it actually boots from the usb
Click to expand...
If you mean you can run the ISO pen-drive in live test mode but not install, it is because the pen-drive loads to and runs from RAM, not hard-drive
 
Brickwizard said:
If you mean you can run the ISO pen-drive in live test mode but not install, it is because the pen-drive loads to and runs from RAM, not hard-drive
Click to expand...
got it.. thank you.. now all i got to do is find a way to get into macbook pro bios.. so far i got cmd + options + O + P but that doesnt work so im looking for an alternative way to get in
 
Have you been running Windows 8.1/W10 on the mac? Then you may be able to disable secure boot & quick start from within windows.

disable Secure Boot
switch on your PC while holding Shift, or access the "Advanced Startup" menu by typing "Advanced Startup" in Windows Search and then restart your PC from there.
find Secure Boot option in the BIOS/UEFI setup menu and disable it. You might have to ajust some other settings in BIOS/UEFI to be able to toggle the Secure Boot option to off
3. Save your changes and restart your PC.
 
Brickwizard said:
Have you been running Windows 8.1/W10 on the mac? Then you may be able to disable secure boot & quick start from within windows.

disable Secure Boot
switch on your PC while holding Shift, or access the "Advanced Startup" menu by typing "Advanced Startup" in Windows Search and then restart your PC from there.
find Secure Boot option in the BIOS/UEFI setup menu and disable it. You might have to ajust some other settings in BIOS/UEFI to be able to toggle the Secure Boot option to off
3. Save your changes and restart your PC.
Click to expand...
i did once, perhaps 5 years ago... the macbook pro has a virgin ssd in it at this moment...
 
corporal_Canada said:
cmd-option-O-P doesnt do anything... possible that the keyboard is failing
Click to expand...

cmd-option-O-P is not a valid choice !
See here, right from the support pages of Apple:

Key combinations for an Intel-based Mac​

Command (⌘)-R: Start up from the built-in macOS Recovery system. Or use Option-Command-R or Shift-Option-Command-R to start up from macOS Recovery over the internet. macOS Recovery installs different versions of macOS, depending on the key combination you use.

Option (⌥) or Alt: Start up to Startup Manager, which allows you to choose other available startup disks or volumes.

Option-Command-P-R: Reset NVRAM or PRAM.

Shift (⇧): Start up in safe mode.

D: Start up to the Apple Diagnostics utility. Or use Option-D to start up to this utility over the internet.

N: Start up from a NetBoot server, if your Mac supports network startup volumes. To use the default boot image on the server, press and hold Option-N instead.

Command-S: Start up in single-user mode. Disabled in macOS Mojave or later.

T: Start up in target disk mode.

Command-V: Start up in verbose mode.

------------

I think what's need to be done on your computer, is to disable SIP (system integrity protection) :

To disable SIP, do the following:​

  1. Restart your computer in Recovery mode (Command (⌘)-R)
  2. Launch Terminal from the Utilities menu.
  3. Run the command csrutil disable.
  4. Restart your computer.

Cheers,
Eddy
 
Oldhabbits said:
cmd-option-O-P is not a valid choice !
See here, right from the support pages of Apple:

Key combinations for an Intel-based Mac​

Command (⌘)-R: Start up from the built-in macOS Recovery system. Or use Option-Command-R or Shift-Option-Command-R to start up from macOS Recovery over the internet. macOS Recovery installs different versions of macOS, depending on the key combination you use.

Option (⌥) or Alt: Start up to Startup Manager, which allows you to choose other available startup disks or volumes.

Option-Command-P-R: Reset NVRAM or PRAM.

Shift (⇧): Start up in safe mode.

D: Start up to the Apple Diagnostics utility. Or use Option-D to start up to this utility over the internet.

N: Start up from a NetBoot server, if your Mac supports network startup volumes. To use the default boot image on the server, press and hold Option-N instead.

Command-S: Start up in single-user mode. Disabled in macOS Mojave or later.

T: Start up in target disk mode.

Command-V: Start up in verbose mode.

------------

I think what's need to be done on your computer, is to disable SIP (system integrity protection) :

To disable SIP, do the following:​

  1. Restart your computer in Recovery mode (Command (⌘)-R)
  2. Launch Terminal from the Utilities menu.
  3. Run the command csrutil disable.
  4. Restart your computer.

Cheers,
Eddy
Click to expand...
launched the macbook holding cmd -R but the ONLY thing i see is a spinng globe.. nothing else no terminal sadly
 
Installation Tips:

Try to download an older Debian netinstall ISO with an older kernel, eg Debian Buster.
Reason: the older 4.19 kernel is known to run on many Macs, including mine.
Currently using 5.10 from Bullseye (aka old-stable), without any issues. Do NOT install the newer 6.x kernels !
  • use a cabled connection to the internet
  • boot that ISO from your USB
  • when you start installing, choose to install ONLY the “standard system utils” at this time, no Gnome, no KDE, nothing but only the basics and a terminal ;-)
  • reboot after install and check that you can login into the CLI.
  • update the basic system first with sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
  • reboot
  • NOW install Gnome or KDE, eg sudo apt -y install kde-plasma-desktop plasma-nm
  • reboot
  • install all extra's: sudo apt install kate kcalc gwenview okular synaptic kaddressbook and all other stuff you need
  • install inxi (sudo apt install inxi) and run "inxi -Fixx" to verify all your hardware is recognized and loaded by the kernel.
It’s the long and slow road to take, I know, but it never failed on me… ;-)

Cheers,
Eddy
 
Last edited:
Oldhabbits said:
Is your computer connected with the internet ? Try a cabled connection if Wifi is not working...
See also item 4. Try alternative Recovery options (Intel Macs) on this link :
https://www.macworld.com/article/672001/command-r-not-working-how-to-reinstall-macos-if-recovery-wont-work.html#:~:text=If you have an older Mac with an,Eventually the Recovery Mode Utilities window will appear.
Succes !
Eddy
Click to expand...
yes it asks which wifi signal to connect to but i plugged in the ethernet now so i will give that a go
 
Oldhabbits said:
Installation Tips:

Try to download an older Debian netinstall ISO with an older kernel, eg Debian Buster.
Reason: the older 4.19 kernel is known to run on many Macs, including mine.
Currently using 5.10 from Bullseye (aka old-stable), without any issues. Do NOT install the newer 6.x kernels !
  • use a cabled connection to the internet
  • boot that ISO from your USB
  • when you start installing, choose to install ONLY the “standard system utils” at this time, no Gnome, no KDE, nothing but only the basics and a terminal ;-)
  • reboot after install and check that you can login into the CLI.
  • update the basic system first with sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
  • reboot
  • NOW install Gnome or KDE, eg sudo apt -y install kde-plasma-desktop plasma-nm
  • reboot
  • install all extra's: sudo apt install kate kcalc gwenview okular synaptic kaddressbook and all other stuff you need
  • install inxi (sudo apt install inxi) and run "inxi -Fixx" to verify all your hardware is recognized and loaded by the kernel.
It’s the long and slow road to take, I know, but it never failed on me… ;-)

Cheers,
Eddy
Click to expand...
booted the macbook with the debian usb in it while pressing cmd+R while using ethernet........ the usb option didnt even appear...it just started the macos recovery without prompting me... honestly i think this macbook is just trying to aggrevate me...
 
corporal_Canada said:
booted the macbook with the debian usb in it while pressing cmd+R while using ethernet........ the usb option didnt even appear...
Click to expand...

I think you are getting confused ;-)

If you want to boot from (any bootable) USB stick -> you have to hold the (left) option key.
If you want to boot into Apple's recovery system (no USB stick needed) -> you hold cmd+R.

Note that the spinning globe from recovery can take a while before anything happens, the system needs to download the whole MacOS recovery-installer (about 650 MB in size) before something can happen, hence that's why you need the cabled internet connection ! Once the recovery installer has run, and the recovery partition is re-installed onto your harddisk, installing the actual MacOS needs several consecutive gigabytes to download first, depending on which version you install... But of course you will install Debian Linux instead, aren't you ? ;-)

Cheers,

Eddy
 
Last edited:
Oldhabbits said:
I think you are getting confused ;-)

If you want to boot from (any bootable) USB stick -> you have to hold the (left) option key.
If you want to boot into Apple's recovery system (no USB stick needed) -> you hold cmd+R.

Note that the spinning globe from recovery can take a while before anything happens, the system needs to download the whole MacOS recovery-installer (about 650 MB in size) before something can happen, hence that's why you need the cabled internet connection ! Once the recovery installer has run, and the recovery partition is re-installed onto your harddisk, installing the actual MacOS needs several consecutive gigabytes to download first, depending on which version you install... But of course you will install Debian Linux instead, aren't you ? ;-)

Cheers,

Eddy
Click to expand...
the macbook acted funny last time i tried to boot it.. the boot chime was on a loop and now it just refuses to boot.. i think the Philippine electricity finally killed it...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 815 (members: 8, guests: 807)

Latest posts

Top