[HELP] Installing Linux on an old iMac

[Larry Philips]

Hi,

 

I want to turn my old iMac (early or late 2009, can't remember and I'm not at home, sorry) into a Linux office machine.

I'll totally erase Mac Os and will probably end up using Lubuntu as it's running on my old Sony Vaio laptop and I'm kinda used to it by now.

 

I checked the internet and found several how-to's.

Main problem : as usual, most tutorials differ and I'm quite lost.

 

eg: some tutorials such as this one https://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/mac/how-install-linux-on-mac-3637265/ talk about this step

 

" Edit the line that begins with Linux and place the word "nomodeset" after "quiet splash". The whole line should read: "linux /casper/vmlinuz.efi    file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper quiet splash nomodeset -- "

 

While other tutorials make zero reference to any line to edit.

 

Could anyone confirm if the Macworld tutorial is to be trusted?

 

Thanks

 

[Nayr438]

nomodeset just tells the kernel not to load the video drivers during boot and instead to wait for xorg to start.

This should really only be needed if your experiencing lockups or black screens during the boot process.

 

So boot without it, if you experience issues, then add it to to the kernel argument list in grub.

 

That guide is however outdated, posted Oct 6, 2016. It's possible at the time that guide was made, it was necessary. I am however willing to bet that it is currently unnecessary as long as your using a up to date Distro.

[Wild Penquin]

Just get a USB bootable USB Linux media (i.e. burn a suitable image on USB stick / MMC card) and boot from it (hold Option during boot). It should boot without issues. Some Macbooks (and even other laptops) might have graphics card which have issues with some Linux Kernels. Only add nomodeset if the boot hangs after bootup.

 

The only difficulties (compared to regular PCs) might be with the bootloader; but even some "PC-laptop" -manufacturers (quotes since even MacBooks have been x86 for at least a decade). Just install ReFind and be done with it.

 

TL;DR: There is nothing special with installing a Linux on a MacBook vs. a regular laptop, since that's what they are.

 

EDIT: OOPS! I'm not sure how I red the OP, but he's saying it's an iMAC. I red MacBook Pro . However, that doesn't change the main point: there's nothing special, they're just PCs with Apple design and a peculiar BIOS (after Apple stopped using PowerPC architecture)

Edited June 17, 2020 by Wild Penquin

[Larry Philips]

Thanks!!