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What exactly is bootcamp if you don't install windows? I know I need it to dual-boot my mac with linux but it's not clear why.
by Technically 6y ago
What exactly is bootcamp if you don't install windows? I know I need it to dual-boot my mac with linux but it's not clear why.
- nijaru 6y agoI don’t think bootcamp has ever been a requirement to boot into linux on a mac, and I never have used it to do so on various macbook pros over the last ~10 years
- wtallis 6y agoInitially, Bootcamp for Intel Macs consisted of three things: 1. a BIOS compatibility support module (CSM) for Apple's EFI firmware, allowing legacy bootloaders and option ROMs to be used. (Macs released after the first version of Bootcamp came with a CSM out of the box, while earlier Intel Macs needed a firmware update to provide the CSM.) 2. a collection of Windows drivers for the peripherals shipped in Intel Macs 3. a graphical tool to assist with the process of installing Windows (partitioning, etc.) Linux never needed (2), and (3) was always more of a convenience than a necessity. The need for (1) lessened over the years as both Linux and Windows gained full support for booting from UEFI without a BIOS CSM, and as Apple's firmware evolved to more closely resemble UEFI 2.x than EFI 1.10.