4 ms·

Can anyone point me to a step by step for how to get debian running on a macbook air? I've googled it and tried at least 4 different approaches, to no avail. I'

by plg 13y ago

Can anyone point me to a step by step for how to get debian running on a macbook air? I've googled it and tried at least 4 different approaches, to no avail. I'm talking about a macbookair3,1 (late 2010 11").

voltagex_ 13y ago
Where are you getting stuck?
- plg 13y ago
  Can't boot from a USB nor from the Debian installer cd (using USB CDROM drive)
  - puppetmaster3 13y ago
    you have to use 64 bit and know a bit about uefi. (or give up and do lubuntu)
    - voltagex_ 13y ago
      Are Macs different enough that the amd64 Debian installer won't boot on it?
      - deleted 13y ago
        [deleted]
      - toast0 13y ago
        Not sure about the airs, but on the 2011 macbook pro, you could boot a lot of things from cd, but not from USB. Apple doesn't have a very good pre-boot environment if you're not running Apple software. (No PXE, either, just their proprietary netboot)
  - sydney6 13y ago
    UEFI Fuck-Up. Or, try waiting 30-60 seconds until the Legacy-BIOS-Mode kicks in..
  - voltagex_ 13y ago
    I remember when I was messing around a few years ago I had to use a bootloader called refit, which is now forked to refind at http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/ http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/ It's been too long since I used a Mac, but if someone wants to donate a recent Macbook to me I'm happy to get Debian set up and blog about it ;)
  - tonyg 13y ago
    Make sure you're using the amd64 image, not the i386 one. Either the netinst or regular CD1 should work fine from a USB stick, if it's amd64. I tried both i386 and amd64 about a week ago on my 2011 Macbook Air, and only the amd64 image booted successfully. You shouldn't need rEFIt.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
throwaway_yy2Di 13y ago
Try it on a VM like VirtualBox (free, OS X supported). Among the advantages, you get vastly superior hardware support, particularly with the trackpad. Source: Running Debian Wheezy on a 2011 Air. edit to add: Here's a quick list what running Debian on a VM gives you: * Seamless full-screen linux with full hardware access (e.g. GPU) * Advantage of native OS X drivers (particularly the amazing trackpad -- linux drivers crippled it in my experience) * Instant, lag-free transition between linux/OS X -- e.g. four-finger "swipe" gesture between desktops. * Shared linux/OS X filesystem ("shared folders") * Zero hassle with linux wifi, custom bootloader hacks (rEFIt), etc. VirtualBox has first-class support in Debian -- everything's just an apt-get away: https://wiki.debian.org/VirtualBox https://wiki.debian.org/VirtualBox
- eyko 13y ago
  However, performance is shite. I ended up going for a native install and you can appreciate the difference. That is, if you run Gnome 3 (which is a pile of shite as well). When on other DMs, if you can call xmonad a dm, virtual box was just awesome, for exactly the reasons you mentioned.
  - mmgutz 13y ago
    Why would you use gnome if you've used xmonad :)I run crunchbang (debian w/ openbox) and it's awesome.
    - 72deluxe 13y ago
      So, you're not running "awesome"? So is crunchbang now awesome? Or awesome has been renamed to crunchbang? The naming of these is confusing :-)
  - oblio 13y ago
    Wouldn't performance be better with VMWare Fusion? I think it includes even 3D acceleration.
drill_sarge 13y ago
I'd recommend using Debian testing instead of stable for that. (testing is preferred in most personal use cases if you don't run in a corporate environment/server or similar) http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/ http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/ I am not sure, but you may need the additional firmware files listed on that page.
- stinkytaco 13y ago
  I thought unstable was more geared toward personal use cases. Testing doesn't even get supported by the security team, that seems like a huge mistake to run as your personal workstation.

by plg 13y ago

voltagex_ 13y ago

Where are you getting stuck?

plg 13y ago
Can't boot from a USB nor from the Debian installer cd (using USB CDROM drive)
- puppetmaster3 13y ago
  you have to use 64 bit and know a bit about uefi. (or give up and do lubuntu)
  - voltagex_ 13y ago
    Are Macs different enough that the amd64 Debian installer won't boot on it?
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
    - toast0 13y ago
      Not sure about the airs, but on the 2011 macbook pro, you could boot a lot of things from cd, but not from USB. Apple doesn't have a very good pre-boot environment if you're not running Apple software. (No PXE, either, just their proprietary netboot)
- sydney6 13y ago
  UEFI Fuck-Up. Or, try waiting 30-60 seconds until the Legacy-BIOS-Mode kicks in..
- voltagex_ 13y ago
  I remember when I was messing around a few years ago I had to use a bootloader called refit, which is now forked to refind at http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/ http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/ It's been too long since I used a Mac, but if someone wants to donate a recent Macbook to me I'm happy to get Debian set up and blog about it ;)
- tonyg 13y ago
  Make sure you're using the amd64 image, not the i386 one. Either the netinst or regular CD1 should work fine from a USB stick, if it's amd64. I tried both i386 and amd64 about a week ago on my 2011 Macbook Air, and only the amd64 image booted successfully. You shouldn't need rEFIt.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]

throwaway_yy2Di 13y ago

Try it on a VM like VirtualBox (free, OS X supported). Among the advantages, you get vastly superior hardware support, particularly with the trackpad. Source: Running Debian Wheezy on a 2011 Air. edit to add: Here's a quick list what running Debian on a VM gives you: * Seamless full-screen linux with full hardware access (e.g. GPU) * Advantage of native OS X drivers (particularly the amazing trackpad -- linux drivers crippled it in my experience) * Instant, lag-free transition between linux/OS X -- e.g. four-finger "swipe" gesture between desktops. * Shared linux/OS X filesystem ("shared folders") * Zero hassle with linux wifi, custom bootloader hacks (rEFIt), etc. VirtualBox has first-class support in Debian -- everything's just an apt-get away: https://wiki.debian.org/VirtualBox https://wiki.debian.org/VirtualBox

eyko 13y ago
However, performance is shite. I ended up going for a native install and you can appreciate the difference. That is, if you run Gnome 3 (which is a pile of shite as well). When on other DMs, if you can call xmonad a dm, virtual box was just awesome, for exactly the reasons you mentioned.
- mmgutz 13y ago
  Why would you use gnome if you've used xmonad :)I run crunchbang (debian w/ openbox) and it's awesome.
  - 72deluxe 13y ago
    So, you're not running "awesome"? So is crunchbang now awesome? Or awesome has been renamed to crunchbang? The naming of these is confusing :-)
- oblio 13y ago
  Wouldn't performance be better with VMWare Fusion? I think it includes even 3D acceleration.

drill_sarge 13y ago

I'd recommend using Debian testing instead of stable for that. (testing is preferred in most personal use cases if you don't run in a corporate environment/server or similar) http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/ http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/ I am not sure, but you may need the additional firmware files listed on that page.

stinkytaco 13y ago
I thought unstable was more geared toward personal use cases. Testing doesn't even get supported by the security team, that seems like a huge mistake to run as your personal workstation.